HIV News and Research

RSS

Africa's agricultural sector grew in '08, 'concerted' policy action needed for growth to continue, FAO paper says

The growth of sub-Saharan Africa's agricultural sector in 2008 is a "a break with the past," but "concerted and purposeful policy action" is required for developments to continue, according to a new U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paper, VOA News reports (De Capua, 9/28).

29 Sep 2009

New microchip to detect type and severity of cancer

UofT researchers have used nanomaterials to develop a microchip sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient's cancer so that the disease can be detected earlier for more effective treatment.

29 Sep 2009

Biomagnetics Diagnostics to develop handheld testing platform for malaria and bovine TB

Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a producer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and technology for malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and hepatitis testing today announced it has received a equity-based financing commitment up to $1 million from investors and an anonymous philanthropic source. These funds will be used to further develop the company’s unique handheld testing platform targeting the areas of malaria and bovine tuberculosis testing.

29 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: News outlets explore AIDS vaccine research; chloroquine resistance unraveled; authorities contest maternal mortality report

The Associated Press examines the role of the Thai participants in the recent clinical trial of an experimental HIV vaccine which showed modest potential for preventing infection. "Nearly 16,000 Thais ignored the false rumors that they were being infected by the AIDS virus, and overcame their fears of becoming social outcasts to participate in trials of the first vaccine found to prevent infection with the deadly virus," the news service writes (Ahuja/Casey, 9/27).

29 Sep 2009

CIHR and CMAJ honour eight Canadian Health Researchers

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) today honoured eight outstanding Canadian individuals and teams with the first ever CIHR-CMAJ Top Canadian Achievements in Health Research Awards, which recognize and celebrate Canadian health research and innovation excellence.

29 Sep 2009

Protection of front-line healthcare workers compromised

According to George Kappler, "If hospitals were subjected to the same protection standards as factories, many would have been shut down a long time ago." Those are tough words for healthcare workers to hear as they brace for an onslaught of H1N1 patients, but the CEO of Kappler, Inc., a 33-year veteran in the protective garment business, knows of what he speaks.

29 Sep 2009

Lecture to focus on the increasing need to fund and develop methods of contraception

On October 2nd, 2009, Henry Gabelnick PhD, Executive Director of The CONRAD Program, will give the prestigious Alan F. Guttmacher lecture at the 2009 Association for Reproductive Health Professionals conference being held in Los Angeles, California.

29 Sep 2009

G20 Addresses Food Aid, Advocates React To Commitments

The G20 said the World Bank trust fund for agricultural investment in poor countries that they called for on Friday "should be designed so that money will be disbursed quickly and countries can decide for themselves where they want it spent," Reuters reports.

28 Sep 2009

Presentations on Inovio Biomedical's electroporation-delivered DNA vaccines

Inovio Biomedical Corporation, a leader in DNA vaccine design, development and delivery, announced today it will make multiple presentations at the Vaccine 3rd Global Congress being held in Singapore October 4th – 6th.

28 Sep 2009

Investigational vaccine regimen 31% effective in preventing HIV infection

In an encouraging development, an investigational vaccine regimen has been shown to be well-tolerated and to have a modest effect in preventing HIV infection in a clinical trial involving more than 16,000 adult participants in Thailand. Following a final analysis of the trial data, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, the trial sponsor, announced today that the prime-boost investigational vaccine regimen was safe and 31 percent effective in preventing HIV infection.

27 Sep 2009

Millennium Foundation announces fundraising initiative for global health

The Millennium Foundation for Innovative Finance for Health today announced MASSIVEGOOD, a new, innovative travel-related fundraising initiative that will help finance health care for the world's poor.

26 Sep 2009

GenVec to receive $2.3M from NIAID for HIV vaccine candidate production

GenVec, Inc. announced today that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has executed its third option period (year four) under a previously announced, five-year contract with GenVec valued at up to $52 million for the production of HIV vaccines.

26 Sep 2009

Associated Press/Washington Post examine contributions of military research to reducing global disease burden

In light of the U.S. Army's announcement yesterday that an experimental HIV vaccine trial it is sponsoring in Thailand showed modest potential for preventing infection, the Associated Press/Washington Post examines how military research is contributing to the fight against major diseases around the world.

25 Sep 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A study appearing in the Journal of Infectious Diseases explores how well access to safe drinking water reduces rates of diarrhea experienced by 6-month-old infants born to HIV-infected mothers following weaning.

25 Sep 2009

Non-AIDS-defining malignancies more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that non-AIDS-defining malignancies such as anal and lung cancer have become more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients since the introduction of anti-retroviral therapies in the mid-1990s.

25 Sep 2009

Prevention and cure of Alzheimer's disease important to Americans

A new voter survey sponsored by the ACT-AD Coalition (Accelerate Cure/Treatments for Alzheimer's Disease) finds that three-quarters of Americans nationwide and across party lines say it is personally important to them to find a cure or to prevent Alzheimer's disease, while a similar proportion of the national electorate say they look to Congress to make it "a national priority" to speed up the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) review process in specific ways for therapies that slow, halt or reverse the disease.

25 Sep 2009

Phase III clinical trial of investigational HIV vaccine regimen complete

Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases (“GSID”) announced today that a Phase III clinical trial of an investigational HIV vaccine regimen has been shown to be safe and modestly effective in preventing HIV infection. The double-blind, placebo controlled study was conducted in Thailand among more than 16,000 volunteers.

25 Sep 2009

Also in global health news: Urban malnutrition in CAR; U.S. HIV travel ban; East Africa hunger

"The global financial crisis has led to an alarming rate of urban malnutrition in the south of the Central African Republic, where diamond mines have closed as demand for the gems falls, the medical relief group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) says," Reuters AlertNet reports (Fominyen, 9/24). In a related blog post, Reuters AlertNet writes that aid agencies are warning that without additional support from donors, the Central African Republic could "start sliding backwards after three years of progress at a time when humanitarian assistance was raised" (Fominyen [2], 9/24).

25 Sep 2009

African Leaders Malaria Alliance launched at U.N. General Assembly

On the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday, African heads of state formed a 20-member African Leaders Malaria Alliance with the goal of eliminating deaths from malaria by 2015, the Associated Press writes. "With an estimated 500 million annual cases, Africa is the continent most affected by malaria, accounting for 86 percent of all cases and 91 percent of all malaria deaths worldwide, President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania said at the alliance's launch," according to the news service (9/24).

25 Sep 2009

Partial success reported in the Phase 3 trial of HIV/AIDS vaccine

GeoVax Labs, Inc., an Atlanta-based, biopharmaceutical company developing human vaccines for HIV/AIDS (HIV-1, Human Immunodeficiency Virus), was pleased to hear the announcement today of partial success in the recently completed Phase 3 trial in Thailand of a candidate HIV/AIDS vaccine owned by Sanofi-Aventis and Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases.

25 Sep 2009