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Gene targeting discovery opens door for vaccines and drugs

In a genetic leap that could help fast track vaccine and drug development to prevent or tame serious global diseases, DMS researchers have discovered how to destroy a key DNA pathway in a wily and widespread human parasite.

13 Apr 2009

Safety of Bitter orange herbal weight loss product questioned

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is reportedly examining whether there are any risks associated with an over-the-counter (OTC) herbal weight loss programme sold in Australia.

13 Apr 2009

Early administration of HIV antiretroviral therapy improves survival

The first antiretroviral treatments appeared in 1996. Since then, new and better drugs have been discovered that have almost turned AIDS into a chronic disease.

12 Apr 2009

Rural AIDS and HIV expert comments on media campaign

A recent study revealed that the public's concern about the HIV/AIDS problem in the United States has lessened: In 1995, 44 percent of people surveyed considered HIV/AIDS the most urgent health problem, but only 5 percent of study participants reported feeling this way today, said William L. Yarber, senior director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University.

9 Apr 2009

Youth as young as 12 engaging in risky sexual activity

Middle school youth are engaging in sexual intercourse as early as age 12, according to a study by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health.

9 Apr 2009

HIV virus may have become more virulent

Damage to patients' immune systems is happening sooner now than it did at the beginning of the HIV epidemic, suggesting the virus has become more virulent, according to a new study in the May 1, 2009 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

8 Apr 2009

AIDS organizations endorse new HIV testing bill

Five AIDS service organizations have endorsed legislation proposed by State Senate Health Committee Chair Thomas Duane that would bring New York's HIV counseling and testing law up-to-date with the realities facing the epidemic today.

8 Apr 2009

$45 million public awareness campaign on HIV/AIDS epidemic in U.S.

The U.S. government has announced a $45 million program to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

8 Apr 2009

Stanford study shows PEPFAR program saved a million lives

The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the ambitious U.S. government program begun in 2003, has cut the death toll from HIV/AIDS through 2007 by more than 10 percent in targeted countries in Africa, though it has had no appreciable effect on prevalence of the disease in those nations, according to a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that is the first to evaluate these outcomes.

6 Apr 2009

Mass spectrometry technique analyzes defensive chemicals on seaweed surfaces for potential drugs

A new analytical technique is helping scientists learn how organisms as simple as seaweed can mount complex chemical defenses to protect themselves from microbial threats such as fungus.

6 Apr 2009

First Lady Obama to partner with French First Lady Bruni-Sarkozy on global HIV/AIDS efforts

First lady Michelle Obama and French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on Friday in Strasbourg, France, agreed to collaborate on efforts to address HIV/AIDS worldwide, AFP/Google.com reports.

6 Apr 2009

Ugandan First Lady calls for increased efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission

Uganda's first lady Janet Museveni recently called for increased efforts to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission in the country, Uganda's New Vision reports.

6 Apr 2009

Cambodia aims to decrease HIV/AIDS prevalence to 0.6% by 2010

Cambodia aims to decrease its HIV/AIDS prevalence to 0.6% by 2010, compared with a prevalence of more than 0.7% in 2008 and 0.9% in 2006, Xinhuanet reports.

6 Apr 2009

Inter Press service examines research into PrEP

Inter Press Service last week examined how researchers are investigating the use of antiretroviral drugs as a possible method of pre-exposure prophylaxis. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition's Executive Director Mitchell Warren recently said that such efforts are "a pivotal moment in HIV/AIDS research."

6 Apr 2009

California HIV/AIDS group launches web-based program aimed at MSM

The Palm Springs, Calif.-based Desert AIDS Project has launched an Internet-based education and prevention program aimed at men who have sex with men, the Desert Sun reports. The program was launched ahead of the area's White Party Easter weekend, according to the Sun.

6 Apr 2009

Texas needle-exchange bill deserves 'fair hearing' in State House, editorial says

The Texas Legislature should give a bill (S.B. 188) to establish a needle-exchange program a "fair hearing so that Texas can join the other 49 states in allowing the creation of programs that save lives and save taxpayer money," a San Antonio Express-News editorial says.

5 Apr 2009

U.S.-funded HIV/AIDS, malaria initiatives represent 'new approach' to foreign aid, opinion piece says

In her book "Dead Aid," author Dambisa Moyo comes to "disastrously wrongheaded conclusions" regarding U.S. foreign aid, columnist Michael Gerson writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

5 Apr 2009

New York Times examines use of message placement on TV programs

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is "set to expand its involvement" with the entertainment industry and "spend more money on influencing popular culture" through a new deal with Viacom, the parent company to television networks that include MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and BET, the New York Times reports.

5 Apr 2009

Canadian Senator proposes process to expedite export of low-cost drugs for HIV, other diseases

Canadian Sen. Yoine Goldstein earlier this week proposed a bill that would reform Canada's Access to Medicines Regime by expediting the process of exporting generic drugs for diseases such as HIV to developing countries, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

5 Apr 2009

UNITAID reaches deal with travel agencies to raise donations for HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria

UNITAID on Wednesday announced that it has reached an agreement with three travel reservation systems that will allow users to make voluntary $2 donations to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria efforts, AFP/Google.com reports.

5 Apr 2009