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Inadequate funding for research, prevention will not help eradicate HIV in Quebec

On the XVIII International AIDS Conference's Eve (Vienna, Austria, July 18th to 23rd 2010), Mark Wainberg, PhD, co-director at Réseau Sida/Maladies infectieuses (FRSQ) and Dr. Réjean Thomas, president of clinique médicale l'Actuel denounce chronic underfunding in research and prevention related to HIV in Quebec and it's dramatic impact on the HIV epidemic and STI's. Researchers insist that the government double the amounts dedicated to these sectors.

13 Jul 2010

AHF to criticize President Obama's NHAS in a press conference

AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the largest global AIDS organization, will host a press conference Tuesday, July 13th at 3:30 PM Eastern, to criticize President Obama's National HIV/AIDS Strategy which is being formally released in a White House press conference at 2pm Tuesday. The strategy, 15 months in the making, was crafted as the nation's AIDS Drug Assistance Program the federal and state funded, state run network of programs that supply lifesaving AIDS drugs to low-income Americans in need, collapsed.

13 Jul 2010

MD+DI survey names Crux Biomedical as one of "50 Companies to Watch"

Crux Biomedical® was named one of "50 Companies to Watch" in an annual survey of medical device and diagnostic companies. The survey, conducted by Medical Device and Diagnostics Industry (MD+DI), was published in its June 2010 issue. The purpose of the survey was to identify firms that have either achieved success or have the potential to revolutionize medical practice with their respective products.

13 Jul 2010

Tart cherry juice could help reduce severity of insomnia in older adults: Study

Drinking tart cherry juice daily could help reduce the severity of insomnia and time spent awake after going to sleep, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

13 Jul 2010

Obama administration prepares to announce first national HIV strategy

Kaiser Health News: "Federal officials plan to announce Tuesday a national strategy designed to ramp up and better coordinate the government's attack on the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic." Many HIV/AIDS advocates "say many more resources need to be committed to fight the disease, especially considering it doesn't get the attention it once did.

12 Jul 2010

Administration plans to release new HIV/AIDS strategy this week

Kaiser Health News staff writer Kate Steadman reports: "Federal officials plan to announce Tuesday a national strategy designed to ramp up and better coordinate the government's attack on the country's HIV/AIDS epidemic, an effort to deliver on a Barack Obama campaign promise delayed by the health care overhaul debate and other issues" (Steadman, 7/12).

12 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: Churchillian Berwick?; Government's obesity fight; WSJ on paying for health reform

In an ideal world, Berwick would be Medicare's Winston Churchill, a prophetic voice who emerges from the wilderness and ends years of appeasement and denial. He tells the truth about federal health care and medicine generally. It's no wonder the Obama administration didn't think the Senate could handle it (Jay Hancock, 7/11).

12 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 12, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include previews of the expected release of a national strategy to curb the AIDS epidemic and reviews of a White House official's Sunday talk show defense of the Berwick nomination.

12 Jul 2010

Lectures on DermaVir to be presented at International Conference on Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies

Julianna Lisziewicz, PhD, President of Genetic Immunity, a biopharmaceutical company developing nanomedicine-based immunotherapies, is an invited speaker at this week's 7th International Conference on Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies in Ouranoupolis Halkidiki, Greece. The conference gathers front-line researchers, scientists and industry experts specialized in nanotechnology applications. Leading experts such as Dr. Lisziewicz are invited to present lectures covering the latest research in this rapidly progressing field.

12 Jul 2010

Discovery of antibodies that kill more than 90% of HIV viruses gives new hope for vaccine

"An effective vaccine against the AIDS virus may have moved one step closer to reality, researchers said Thursday," the Los Angeles Times reports. "Federal researchers have identified a pair of naturally occurring antibodies that are able to kill more than 90% of all strains of the AIDS virus, a finding they say could lead to the development of new treatments for HIV infections and to the production of the first successful vaccine against the virus" (Maugh, 7/9).

12 Jul 2010

Study examines impact of universal HIV testing, immediate ART program in Washington, DC

Implementing a program of universal HIV testing and immediate antiretroviral treatment for infected individuals could have a major impact on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Washington, DC, but a new study finds that it would not halt the epidemic, something that a previous report had projected. In a paper that will appear in the August 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases and has been released online, researchers find that the so-called "test-and-treat" strategy could reduce new HIV infections by 15 percent over the next five years while conferring large survival benefits to HIV-infected patients.

12 Jul 2010

World Bank announces new head for its HIV/AIDS program

"The World Bank on Thursday named David Wilson, a Zimbabwean national who has written extensively about AIDS in the developing world, to head the poverty-fighting institution's global HIV/AIDS program," Reuters reports.

12 Jul 2010

Science special section examines HIV/AIDS in Russia, Ukraine

In a special section in advance of the International AIDS Conference, Science examines the "state of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Russia and Ukraine, which account for more than 90% of HIV infections in Eastern Europe."

12 Jul 2010

Sirtuin1 protein promotes memory, brain flexibility: MIT researchers

The same molecular mechanism that increases life span through calorie restriction may help boost memory and brainpower, researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory report in the July 11 issue of Nature.

12 Jul 2010

News roundup: NYC program to help poor, elderly with insurance gets cut; Colo. promotes wellness programs for small businesses

A program that for a decade helped New York City's poor and elderly navigate their way through insurance problems — and that became a model for a similar federal program — has become a casualty of city budget cuts, an administrator of the program said on Thursday. The $4 million program sent ombudsmen to 25 social service agencies across the city.

9 Jul 2010

HHS to give states $25 million for HIV drugs; Researchers identify antibodies that may help in AIDS vaccine research

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Thursday "that she would provide $25 million more to help states buy life-saving medications for people with H.I.V. or AIDS. Advocates for patients said the money was not nearly enough to eliminate waiting lists, which have surged to record levels as people have lost health insurance, along with their jobs, and states have cut their budgets. Ms. Sebelius said she was 'reallocating and transferring $25 million in existing resources' to provide medicines for people on waiting lists.

9 Jul 2010

AHF: 15 Zambian health care professionals to train HIV Medics

Graduation ceremonies will be held Saturday, July 10th in Lukasa for 15 Zambian health care professionals from several districts throughout the country who have completed an educational training program administered by AIDS Healthcare Foundation. This will enable the graduates to train classes of HIV Medics to work in the country's growing fight against HIV/AIDS.

9 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 9, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include news about some little-known health reform provisions and how the Obama administration is using technology to help consumers navigate changes resulting from the health overhaul.

9 Jul 2010

State AIDS programs struggle as joblessness increases demand

Growing joblessness and shrinking state and federal budgets have exacerbated the financial burden on the government that provides prescription drug treatment to people with HIV/AIDS. "Now, many people with HIV are losing jobs, along with insurance, or discovering that they are infected at a time when the AIDS Drug Assistance Program — ADAP — they depend on is being overwhelmed by demands being made on it.

9 Jul 2010

IRIC scientists identify vitamin B3 as potential antifungal treatment

A team of scientists from the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the University of Montreal have identified vitamin B3 as a potential antifungal treatment. Led by IRIC Principal Investigators Martine Raymond, Alain Verreault and Pierre Thibault, in collaboration with Alaka Mullick, from the Biotechnology Research Institute of the National Research Council Canada, the study is the subject of a recent article in Nature Medicine.

9 Jul 2010