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AHF praises the California Governor for signing rapid HIV testing bill

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the operator of the largest non-government HIV testing program in California, today praised the California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signing Assembly Bill 221, legislation which updates and streamlines the training of counselors for rapid HIV testing by exempting persons administering finger stick rapid HIV tests from the requirement for certification as a limited phlebotomy technician (LPT).

13 Oct 2009

Johnson & Johnson announces financial results for the third quarter of 2009

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $15.1 billion for the third quarter of 2009, a decrease of 5.3% as compared to the third quarter of 2008. Operational results declined 2.8% and the negative impact of currency was 2.5%. Domestic sales declined 8.1%, while international sales declined 2.5%, reflecting operational growth of 2.4% and a negative currency impact of 4.9%.

13 Oct 2009

USAID awards Abt Associates 'Strengthening Health Outcomes Through Private Sector' grant

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded a five-year grant, Strengthening Health Outcomes through the Private Sector, to Abt Associates, Inc. Sub-recipients under the grant are Banyan Global, Jhpiego, Marie Stopes International, the Monitor Group, and O'Hanlon Health Consulting, LLC.

13 Oct 2009

Pharmaceuticals to provide safe needle collection and disposal programs for patients

It is illegal in the state of California to unsafely dispose of "sharps" (medical waste such as needles and syringes) in the home, and thanks to California State Senator Joe Simitian's Senate Bill 486, and contributors from his annual "There Oughta Be A Law" contest, 1 million Californians will not be breaking the law anymore (see http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/hhw/sharps/).

13 Oct 2009

Massive mismanagement leads to catastrophic decline in freshwater biodiversity

The world will miss its agreed target to stem biodiversity loss by next year, according to experts convening in Cape Town for a landmark conference devoted to biodiversity science.

13 Oct 2009

Also in global health news: HIV immigration rules; Global Fund Aid in Kenya; water shortage in Yemen; testing for TB

NPR examines U.S. policy for HIV-positive visitors and immigrants. While "Congress has removed the statute, and the Department of Health and Human Services is working on a more lenient immigration rule,"

12 Oct 2009

Some scientists question results of recent HIV vaccine clinical trial

Weeks after clinical trial results showed an experimental HIV vaccine offered some potential protection against the virus, "a second analysis of the $105 million study, not disclosed publicly, suggests the results may have been a fluke, according to AIDS scientists who have seen it," the Wall Street Journal reports.

12 Oct 2009

Wake Forest University School of Medicine honours researchers

Wake Forest University School of Medicine honored eight of its researchers with awards for excellence at the 13th Annual Research Awards Day Oct. 1.

12 Oct 2009

Data undermining Thai HIV vaccine trial not reported, AHF disappointed

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider in the US which now provides treatment and services for more than 110,000 individuals in 21 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, expressed frustration and disappointment at the news that data that seriously undermines a widely reported Thai HIV vaccine trial were not released publicly when other, more favorable data from the vaccine trial were publicly reported late last month.

12 Oct 2009

NIH awards Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center $38.2M in grants

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has been awarded $38.2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).

12 Oct 2009

NIH to launch 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine trials in HIV-infected pregnant women, children and youth

The first clinical trials to test whether the 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine can safely elicit a protective immune response in pregnant women launched yesterday, and a trial to conduct the same test in HIV-infected children and youth will begin next week.

12 Oct 2009

World’s first engineered T cell receptor trial opens with new cellular therapy for HIV

Researchers at Adaptimmune Limited and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, have announced the approval of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and opening for enrolment of the first ever study using patients’ cells carrying an engineered T cell receptor to treat HIV (SL9 HA-GAG-TCR). The trial may have important implications in the development of new treatments for HIV potentially slowing – or even preventing – the onset of AIDS.

11 Oct 2009

Clinical trial reveals cholera vaccine is safe, offers protection for up to 2 years

A clinical trial of an Indian-made "modified killed-whole-cell" oral cholera vaccine "that meets WHO standards" has found that the vaccine is safe and effective in children living in parts of India where the disease is endemic, Reuters reports. The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Lancet, hope to soon introduce the vaccine into other cholera endemic settings.

9 Oct 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet comment examines an Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria (AMFm) program to help countries procure subsidized artemisinin-based combination treatments (ACTs).

9 Oct 2009

VOA News examines U.S. global health funding

VOA News examines how the recession will be a factor in U.S. funding decisions about PEPFAR and other global health initiatives. According to VOA, the Obama administration's proposed funding for HIV, tuberculosis and malaria in 2010 is "higher than the current fiscal year. However, the proposed increase is lower than in some years past."

9 Oct 2009

SCAA to host Survivor Celebration event to mark SCA Awareness Month

A nationwide gathering of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) survivors will mark SCA Awareness Month with a Survivor Celebration on Friday, October 9th at 7 p.m. in Chicago. This survivor event, hosted by the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Association (SCAA) at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare, 9300 Bryn Mawr Avenue in Rosemont, is part of three-day program that will make up the organization’s annual meeting.

9 Oct 2009

FDA Advisory Committee approves use of Selzentry tablets in combination with HIV therapy

Pfizer Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee voted (10 to 4) to recommend the approval of Selzentry (maraviroc) tablets for use in treatment-naïve adult patients with CCR5-tropic HIV-1 virus as part of combination therapy.

9 Oct 2009

Millions of people with HIV/AIDS lack access to lifesaving treatment, says AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today hailed the news that four million people from low and middle income countries living with HIV/AIDS were on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment in 2008, a 36% increase over 2007.

9 Oct 2009

CytoDyn to conduct a study on Cytolin at Massachusetts General Hospital

In response to new economic and regulatory realities, CytoDyn, Inc. has made a sea change in its strategy for developing Cytolin®, the Company’s unique immune therapy for treating HIV/AIDS.

9 Oct 2009

AHF criticizes Pfizer for its current pricing of Selzentry AIDS drug

Responding to today’s news that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Antiviral Advisory Committee has approved Pfizer Inc.'s AIDS therapy, Selzentry (maraviroc), for use in therapy-naïve patients, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) strongly criticized Pfizer for its current pricing of the drug at an Average Wholesale Price (AWP) of $13,767 per-patient per-year—which, if this price remains when use is expanded, would make it the most expensive first-line AIDS drug on the market.

9 Oct 2009