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Global Health Group to assist Namibia in developing strategic malaria control plan

A five-member team from the University of California-San Francisco's Global Health Group will help Namibia develop a strategic plan aimed at eradicating malaria in the country, the New Era reports. The team, which arrived in Namibia on Oct. 5, has conducted site visits in the country's malaria-endemic northern region and met with Prime Minister Nahas Angula on Wednesday to discuss malaria control efforts.

13 Oct 2008

Ultra-sensitive nanoprobes help tackle MRSA

This week Nature Nanotechnology journal (October 12th) reveals how scientists from the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) at University College London are using a novel nanomechanical approach to investigate the workings of vancomycin, one of the few antibiotics that can be used to combat increasingly resistant infections such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

12 Oct 2008

Newsweek examines global malaria action plan

Newsweek in its Oct. 6 issue examines malaria eradication efforts and the Global Malaria Action Plan, which aims to eradicate malaria worldwide and was released last week during the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (Carmichael/Cunningham, Newsweek, 10/6).

5 Oct 2008

HIV infection rates rising among self-injecting drug users

According to new research HIV infection rates amongst people who inject themselves with drugs appear to be on the rise and there are huge discrepancies worldwide.

24 Sep 2008

National Journal examines advocates,' lawmakers' efforts to create domestic HIV/AIDS plan

The National Journal on Saturday examined the efforts of some lawmakers and advocates to call for "renewed attention" to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S., including pushing for a national plan to address the epidemic.

24 Sep 2008

Greater awareness of HIV/AIDS, other global health issues attributed to the growth in public health students

The Washington Post on Friday examined the "record numbers" of undergraduate college students who are taking classes in epidemiology, global health and public health, driven in part by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and a motivation to contribute to the field.

22 Sep 2008

30 years on from Alma-Ata and the pendulum is swinging back to primary health care

Thirty years on from the signing of the historic Alma-Ata declaration, the famous rallying call to the global health community, the concept of Primary Health Care, which lay at its heart, is back on the global agenda.

15 Sep 2008

Employers offering deals for workers who travel domestically for medical care

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how some employers "are looking to take advantage of the geographical variations in quality and cost of health care within the U.S.," and others are "leveraging deals they've struck with foreign hospitals in order to secure better rates with U.S. hospitals."

11 Sep 2008

Nicolas Sarkozy launches international malaria campaign

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday launched an international malaria campaign during the opening of a photo exhibit on the disease in Paris, Panapress/Afriquenligne reports.

11 Sep 2008

Social determinants, inequality have negative impact on global health, WHO report says

Social inequalities such as inadequate education, a lack of human rights, poverty and poor housing negatively can impact global health conditions, according to a report released Thursday by the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports.

1 Sep 2008

NanoBio vaccine for hepatitis B shows promise

Chronic hepatitis B infects 400 million people worldwide, many of them children. Even with three effective vaccines available, hepatitis B remains a stubborn, unrelenting health problem, especially in Africa and other developing areas. The disease and its complications cause an estimated 1 million deaths globally each year.

13 Aug 2008

Luminaries call for continued support for an AIDS vaccine to end the epidemic

Discussions about how to manage AIDS in the long term and how to improve prevention efforts globally took center stage at this year's International AIDS Conference (IAC) held in Mexico City.

10 Aug 2008

Eliminating funds for HIV/AIDS vaccine research, shifting funds to treatment 'dangerous sentiment,' opinion piece says

The call to eliminate all funding for HIV/AIDS vaccine research and prevention programs and "shifting" those funds to the expansion of HIV/AIDS treatment is a "dangerous sentiment" that is "sweeping over the AIDS establishment," Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in an International Herald Tribune opinion piece.

3 Aug 2008

An unsuspected weakness in tuberculosis - potential drug target

With antibiotic resistance on the rise, tuberculosis is emerging as a bigger global health threat than ever before.

31 Jul 2008

Bush says he will sign PEPFAR reauthorization

President Bush on Saturday during his weekly radio address said he is eager to sign legislation (HR 5501) that would reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief through 2013, the AP/Google.com reports (Reichmann, AP/Google.com, 7/26).

29 Jul 2008

New antibiotics to fight MRSA

A new paper by Shahriar Mobashery, Navari Family Professor in Life Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, and researchers in his lab provides important insights into promising new antibiotics aimed at combating MRSA.

28 Jul 2008

New report examines donor funding for health in low and middle income countries

With the U.S. poised to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and almost triple its financing over the next five years, a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation looks at trends in health funding provided by donor governments to low- and middle- income countries.

28 Jul 2008

Bloomberg and Gates to tackle tobacco use globally

Michael Bloomberg and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a truly historic commitment of $500 million to the global fight against tobacco use, focused on helping governments in developing countries implement proven policies and programs to reduce tobacco use.

23 Jul 2008

Drugs industry protecting 'morally unacceptable' patent system

Major drugs companies are using fierce lobbying tactics to protect a pharmaceutical patent system that is "simply morally unacceptable", a world-leading political philosopher will tell a major meeting of UK and European pharmacologists today (Thursday 17 July 2008).

From The University of Manchester 16 Jul 2008

New technology revolutionizing drug discovery

The National Science Foundation has awarded Weill Cornell Medical College researcher Dr. Scott Blanchard its prestigious Career Award, recognizing his groundbreaking work in cell biology -- work that is poised to revolutionize research for the next generation of young scientists.

15 Jul 2008