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HIV/AIDS leading cause of death among women ages 15-44, WHO study shows

In follow-up coverage to the WHO's report on women's health, several news outlets examine the impact HIV/AIDS is having on women around the world. "In its first study of women's health, the World Health Organization said yesterday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44," the Associated Press/Boston Globe reports (11/10).

11 Nov 2009

Six universities aim to expand drug access in developing countries

Six universities have agreed to an effort to "encourage companies to give poor countries better access to drugs and medical products stemming from discoveries made on their campuses," Bloomberg reports (Lauerman, 11/9).

10 Nov 2009

Lawsuit against California Department of Health Care Services

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has filed a federal lawsuit against David Maxwell-Jolly, Director of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) seeking an injunction to prevent implementation of a new state law singling out nonprofit safety net providers—including AHF—forcing drastic Medi-Cal (Medicaid) reimbursements cuts for drugs purchased by AHF clinics and other safety net providers while favoring giant national for-profit pharmacy chains including Rite Aid, CVS, Walgreens and others.

10 Nov 2009

Speaker Pelosi praises H.R. 3962 that will improve Medicaid access to HIV/AIDS-affected people

"Effective drug treatments have improved both health and quality of life for thousands of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. However, many uninsured, low-income HIV-positive individuals still do not have access to these life-saving medications because they generally do not meet Medicaid requirements until becoming disabled by full-blown AIDS.

10 Nov 2009

Kenya to launch MSM survey to help control spread of HIV

TIME examines the Kenyan government's upcoming survey of gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM) in the country's "three biggest cities" in an effort to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.

10 Nov 2009

Transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance established, experts welcome initiative

Experts on both sides of the Atlantic applaud President Barack Obama and Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, representing the European Union (EU) Presidency, for establishing a transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance, an urgent and growing problem that threatens patient safety and public health worldwide.

7 Nov 2009

Researchers discover a fungal protein that causes disease in plants and animals

Researchers at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) at Virginia Tech and Montana State University have discovered a fungal protein that plays a key role in causing disease in plants and animals and which also shields the pathogen from oxidative stress.

7 Nov 2009

Experts applaud the EU Presidency for establishing a transatlantic task force to address antibiotic resistance

7 Nov 2009

San Francisco map of HIV viral loads shows where care lags

Researchers in San Francisco have identified how much virus people infected with HIV are carrying and mapped their results, which show that that AIDS treatment lags in certain neighborhoods. The work also showed that the sickest patients were often African-American, homeless and transgender.

7 Nov 2009

NIH awards UAB School of Public Health $11.5M to research new methods of identifying youth with HIV

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health has been awarded a total of $11.5 million from the National Institutes of Health to explore new ways to identify adolescents and young adults infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and link them to medical care.

7 Nov 2009

Men's Wellness Center launched at AHF Blair Underwood Healthcare Center’

On Thursday, November 5th, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, which provides medical care and/or services to more than 120,000 individuals in 22 countries worldwide, opened a Men's Wellness Center at the new ‘AHF Blair Underwood Healthcare Center’ located in Washington D.C.

7 Nov 2009

GeoVax Labs announces financial results and operational update for the third quarter of 2009

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based, biopharmaceutical company developing human vaccines for diseases caused by HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and other infectious agents, today announced its third quarter 2009 financial results and provided an operational update.

6 Nov 2009

Publications examine U.S. funding for global HIV/AIDS

In light of a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) report calling for sustained HIV/AIDS funding, VOA News writes: "Many AIDS-related groups and activists have been calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to fulfill his funding pledges made during the presidential campaign. But are they asking too much, considering the economic downturn?" Sharonann Lynch, an HIV policy advisor for MSF, said, "PEPFAR has the opportunity to save six million lives and it shouldn't settle for three."

6 Nov 2009

President Obama discusses Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic with president of Botswana

President Barack Obama met with Botswana's president, Ian Khama, on Thursday to discuss issues facing the country, including the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa, Bloomberg reports (Johnston, 11/5).

6 Nov 2009

Gonorrhea medication may help fight cancer

Drugs sometimes have beneficial side effects. A glaucoma treatment causes luscious eyelashes. A blood pressure drug also aids those with a rare genetic disease. The newest surprise discovered by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is a gonorrhea medication that might help battle cancer.

6 Nov 2009

National Institutes of Health grants $6-million for brain disease research

Brown University, in collaboration with two other institutions, has been awarded a five-year, $6-million National Institutes of Health program project grant to help determine how a virus that can cause a rare brain disease attaches to host cells.

6 Nov 2009

Californians who lose jobs find health care safety net badly frayed

In this article for Kaiser Health News, Janet Wilson focuses on California and reports on how the safety net is fraying as economic woes take their toll on state budgets. "With a nip here and a slash there, California's budget crisis is now affecting health care for millions of residents, from wealthy Orange County to the struggling city of Oakland.

6 Nov 2009

ART as part of HIV prevention strategy supported by WHO

"AIDS drugs should be given to all who need them to reduce new infections, the World Health Organization said," following a three-day meeting on the topic of using antiretroviral therapy (ART) to help prevent the spread of HIV, Bloomberg reports. "Providing more antiretroviral drugs 'will achieve a significant transmission benefit,' Teguest Guerma, interim director of the WHO's AIDS department, said … 'In the past, there has been a false dichotomy between prevention and treatment. …'That is really what has been corrected. Prevention and treatment are two faces of the same coin'" (Bennett, 11/5).

6 Nov 2009

Grant awarded for research into a new treatment for methamphetamine addiction

Dr. Keith Flower - a research physician at the Addiction Pharmacology & Research Laboratory in San Francisco, CA - has been awarded a grant to investigate a new medication treatment for methamphetamine addiction. This grant has been awarded to California Pacific Medical Center's Research Institute through President Obama's AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009.

6 Nov 2009

UCSF HIV researchers receive two NIH grants to improve health of HIV positive patients

UCSF HIV researchers have received two NIH grants of $1 million each to study the use of web-based, patient controlled personal health records to improve health and HIV prevention outcomes for HIV positive patients.

6 Nov 2009