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Post-speech debates: Illegal immigrant coverage, tort reform, abortion funding

President Obama's speech opened the door for experts and lawmakers to examine his proposed health reforms, with questions ranging from how reforms affect illegal immigrants' coverage to abortion funding.

11 Sep 2009

HIV/AIDS patients in U.S. have no long-term treatment options: ATAC report card

With the estimated 1.2 million people with HIV/AIDS in the United States expected to live close to a normal life span, the majority of pharmaceutical companies are not developing innovative, new long-term treatment options that offer improved efficacy, safety and tolerability when taken for decades, according to a report card on the pharmaceutical industry released today by the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition's (ATAC) Drug Development Committee.

11 Sep 2009

Proposal calls for Medicare coverage of HIV screening

A new government proposal calls for Medicare beneficiaries to receive coverage for Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection screening.

11 Sep 2009

Under-five mortality rate continues to decline

UNICEF today released new figures that show the rate of deaths of children under five years of age continued to decline in 2008.

11 Sep 2009

FDA approves Supplemental New Drug Application for DOXIL

Centocor Ortho Biotech Products, L.P. today announced that it received a Complete Response letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding its Supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for DOXIL (doxorubicin HCI liposome injection) in combination with docetaxel for the treatment of women with locally advanced and metastatic breast cancer.

10 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: PEPFAR in Swaziland; GSK HIV patent pool; Pediatric ARVs in Uganda; PNG declares health emergency; Israeli, ECOWAS agreement; Somali children

PEPFAR on Wednesday donated eight computers to Swaziland's Ministry of Health to aid in the country's ability to track the progress of the nation's HIV/AIDS programs, the Swazi Observer reports. According to the newspaper, the computers will be distributed to regional clinics across the country (Masilela, 9/10).

10 Sep 2009

St. Vincent develops the first-ever HIV educational widget

Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers and the New York State Department of Health (DOH) today unveiled a novel Web-based technology to rapidly instruct health care providers throughout New York State about HIV diagnosis and prevention.

10 Sep 2009

Non-invasive CR-2000 Research System to be used in START clinical trial

Hypertension Diagnostics, Inc., today announced that its non-invasive HDI/PulseWave CR-2000 Research System (CR-2000) has been selected for use in the Strategic Timing of AntiRetroviral Treatment (START) substudy on Arterial Elasticity that will examine blood vessel function and cardiovascular risk during HIV infection.

10 Sep 2009

ARUP Laboratories' scientist receives grant to research HIV therapies

ARUP Laboratories, a national clinical and anatomic pathology reference laboratory and a leader in innovative laboratory research and development, announced that ARUP's Tanya Sandrock, PhD, Research & Development scientist, received a prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to research additional HIV therapies.

9 Sep 2009

University of California receives $3.5 million grant from NIDA for AIDS vaccine research

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has awarded a $3.5 million grant for AIDS vaccine research to Phillip Berman, professor and chair of biomolecular engineering at the Jack Baskin School of Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

9 Sep 2009

INSPIRE Phase I/IIa study data to be presented at ICAAC

Cytheris SA, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on research and development of new therapies for immune modulation, today announced that data from an interim analysis of its INSPIRE Phase I/IIa study of HIV-infected patients with low CD4 T cell counts treated with a three injection cycle of the Company’s investigative immune-modulator, recombinant human Interleukin-7 (CYT107), will be presented during an oral late breaker session at the 49th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), to be held September 12-15, 2009, in San Francisco, CA.

9 Sep 2009

Maxim Health to launch its annual influenza vaccination program on October 1

It is the start of the flu season and with seasonal influenza responsible for more than 36,000 deaths per year, getting a flu vaccine is critical. Today, Maxim Health Systems announced on October 1 it will launch its annual influenza vaccination program and will provide flu shots nationwide through more than 44,000 clinics.

9 Sep 2009

ORT remains underutilized in U.S. prison systems

Almost a quarter of a million individuals addicted to heroin are incarcerated in the United States each year. However, many prison systems across the country still do not offer medical treatment for heroin and opiate addiction, despite the demonstrated social, medical and economic benefits of opiate replacement therapy (ORT).

9 Sep 2009

Consortium awarded $3.75M to set up an AIDS research center in Chicago

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a consortium of Chicago-based institutions, led by Rush University Medical Center, a five-year, $3.75-million grant to establish a Developmental Center for AIDS Research, creating a comprehensive research infrastructure to spur basic science, clinical studies and translational research in the prevention, detection and treatment of HIV infection and AIDS.

9 Sep 2009

Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby believes Zimbabwe's ailing health system can be strengthened

Concluding his recent trip to Zimbabwe, the Global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR Eric Goosby said the country can rebuild and strengthen its health care delivery systems, the Zimbabwean reports. "I have seen fatigue in health care delivery in the country. A fatigue that that has come out of sustaining the response (to HIV and AIDS) with diminishing resources, but at the same time a feeling of hope and anticipation that they have hit bottom and are now on the return," Goosby said (9/4).

9 Sep 2009

FDA approves Cochlear's Nucleus 5 System

Cochlear, the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the Nucleus((R) )5 System for adults and children with severe-to-profound hearing loss.

9 Sep 2009

African health ministers adopt resolutions to improve health as WHO regional meeting closes

At the conclusion of the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, African health ministers agreed on four resolutions that aim to improve health on the continent, the Guardian reports.

8 Sep 2009

Opinion: Local drug production in developing countries; Obama's PEPFAR changes

The international community focuses on lowering drug prices as a means of improving access and "today its idea is local pharmaceutical production .

5 Sep 2009

Recent releases: PEPFAR in Zimbabwe; dengue in Thailand; blogs on improving U.S. foreign aid; examining allocations of health aid

The U.S. plans to support efforts to develop a sustainable health system in Zimbabwe and increase its capacity to treat people, Eric Goosby, U.S. global AIDS Coordinator for PEPFAR, said on Wednesday after a visit to the country with USAID and CDC officials, according to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe. Goosby said he is "optimistic" that the Zimbabwe PEPFAR team's experience will be used "to develop a response that fits the existing health infrastructure, supports it and reinforces it in a way that creates a durable and lasting response" (9/2).

5 Sep 2009

More PMTCT interventions needed, experts at WHO Regional meeting say

Experts participating in the 59th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa called for more interventions to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT), New Times/allAfrica.com reports.

5 Sep 2009