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Researchers create roadmap to integrin activation

Calling it an important technical advance in the study of the complex receptors and pathways of the body's cellular system, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have reconstructed the signaling pathways that impact activation of a receptor that is critical to the control of bleeding and to the thrombosis that occurs in heart attacks and strokes.

18 Sep 2006

Sen. DeMint pledges to hold Von Eschenbach's FDA Commissioner nomination unless steps taken to take Mifeprex off market

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) plans to place a hold on President Bush's nomination of acting FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to permanently head the agency unless "immediate steps" are taken to remove Danco Laboratories' medical abortion drug Mifeprex from the market, DeMint press secretary Wesley Denton said recently, the New York Times reports.

18 Sep 2006

Most working adults shopping for individual insurance turned down or found it too costly

Of working-age U.S. residents who sought individual health coverage in the last three years, 89% were rejected for medical reasons or felt that the available plans were unaffordable, according to a study released last week by the Commonwealth Fund, the Los Angeles Times reports.

18 Sep 2006

Children continue to be ignored in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Despite the "bluster" of last month's XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, there was "hardly a mention" of children and "stunning[ly] ... little attention was paid to them," Ruthann Richter, Stanford University School of Medicine director of media relations, writes in a San Jose Mercury News opinion piece.

18 Sep 2006

Fortune Magazine profile Clinton, the Clinton Foundation, Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative

Fortune Magazine recently profiled former President Clinton and his involvement in the global battle against HIV/AIDS, including the work of the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative.

18 Sep 2006

HIV-positive Batwa in Democratic Republic of the Congo have little access to treatment

Although HIV prevalence among the Batwa, or pygmies, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is estimated to be lower than the rate for the entire country, "little help is available" for HIV-positive Batwa because of the community's poverty, undernutrition, "social isolation" and lack of health care services, PlusNews reports.

18 Sep 2006

Zimbabwean antiretroviral drug manufacturers seeking WHO certification to receive U.N. funding

Zimbabwean antiretroviral drug manufacturers are seeking certification from the World Health Organization to receive U.N. and other multilateral agency funding to produce more affordable antiretroviral drugs.

18 Sep 2006

GSK to supply antiretroviral drugs to Russia at discounted price

GlaxoSmithKline has announced it would supply 90,000 packs of its antiretroviral drugs Combivir, Epivir and Ziagen to Russia at discounted prices by the end of 2006, the AFP/Yahoo! U.K and Ireland reports (AFP/Yahoo! U.K and Ireland, 9/15).

18 Sep 2006

More physicians now visit web sites to find information on brand-name prescription drugs

An increased number of physicians visited Web sites that promote brand-name prescription drugs during the first six months of 2006 to seek information about dosages and side effects, according to a recent Manhattan Research study, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.

18 Sep 2006

Extremely virulent, drug resistant strain of TB running wild in South Africa

It was 18 months ago when doctors in South Africa who were treating HIV/AIDS patients first raised the alarm that an untreatable form of tuberculosis (TB) was circulating.

18 Sep 2006

Bill Gates puts hand in pocket and gives $70 million for research into tropical diseases

Bill Gates has once again put his money where his mouth is by donating almost U.S$70 million for research into fighting tropical diseases in the 'third world'.

18 Sep 2006

Latest studies reveal more risks with Vioxx

Two major studies by experts in the U.S. and Australia have provided new evidence of the cardiovascular and kidney risks attached to both COX-2 inhibitors and NSAID painkillers.

18 Sep 2006

Primary election results for races involving women's health issues

Nine states and the District of Columbia on Tuesday held primary elections, and some of the races involved women's health issues.

14 Sep 2006

George Soros to donate $50 million to the Millennium Villages Project

Financier and philanthropist George Soros on Tuesday announced he will donate $50 million to the Millennium Villages Project -- which aims to fight poverty and diseases, including malaria and HIV/AIDS, in villages throughout Africa -- the New York Times reports (Dugger, New York Times, 9/13).

14 Sep 2006

India must enhance HIV/AIDS programs in Uttar Pradesh to defeat epidemic

India must scale up its HIV/AIDS programs in the densely populated state of Uttar Pradesh to accurately estimate the number of HIV-positive people and curb the epidemic, according to HIV/AIDS advocates, Reuters India reports.

14 Sep 2006

Fewer than half of studies conducted on effect of medications on children are published

Fewer than half of studies conducted on the effects of prescription drugs in children are published in medical journals, according to a study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the AP/Lexington Herald-Leader reports.

14 Sep 2006