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United Arab Emirates establishes committee to develop HIV/AIDS strategy

The United Arab Emirates has established a committee to develop a national HIV/AIDS control and prevention strategy, Nada Al Marzouqi, National AIDS Program manager at the Ministry of Health, said recently, the Khaleej Times reports.

23 Apr 2008

Thailand's anti-drug efforts hindering fight against HIV/AIDS, advocates say

Thailand's efforts to fight drug use are hindering HIV/AIDS control programs in the country, some HIV/AIDS and human rights advocates said recently, Thailand's Nation reports.

23 Apr 2008

FDA approves guayule latex gloves

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing the first device made from a new form of natural rubber latex, guayule latex. The product, the Yulex Patient Examination Glove, is derived from the guayule bush, a desert plant native to the Southwestern United States.

23 Apr 2008

Independent examines U.K. insurers' practices regarding MSM, risk of HIV

London's Independent on Saturday examined the practices of some insurance companies in the United Kingdom regarding men who have sex with men who are applying for policies for life insurance or major illnesses.

22 Apr 2008

Chicago Tribune profiles home for HIV-positive men

The Chicago Tribune recently profiled the Jo-Ray House, a home for HIV-positive men in Chicago. Jo-Ray was founded in 2003 by Ida Byther-Smith, who was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1991.

22 Apr 2008

Sub-Saharan African countries not on track to meet MDGs, U.N. Secretary General Ban says

Sub-Saharan African countries likely will not meet the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals -- which include reducing the spread of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria -- by 2015, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development in Accra, Ghana, AFP/Google.com reports.

22 Apr 2008

Zimbabwe HIV/AIDS Union calls on groups to provide post-testing services

The Zimbabwe HIV and AIDS Activist Union recently called on organizations involved in the fight against the disease to stop offering HIV tests if they cannot provide post-testing services, the Herald/AllAfrica.com reports.

22 Apr 2008

Jamaica to launch new female condom as part of HIV/AIDS prevention efforts

Jamaica's National Family Planning Board in the next few weeks plans to launch a new female condom in an effort to provide women with increased control over HIV/AIDS prevention methods, the Jamaica Gleaner reports.

22 Apr 2008

Life expectancy declines in some U.S. populations

Although life expectancy has been increasing in the U.S. for most people, there is a growing disparity in mortality depending on race, income and geography, according to a study published on Monday in the online journal PLoS Medicine, the New York Times reports.

22 Apr 2008

Red colobus monkeys in Uganda found to harbor antibodies to an unknown orthopoxvirus

Researchers report this month that red colobus monkeys in a park in western Uganda have been exposed to an unknown orthopoxvirus, a pathogen related to the viruses that cause smallpox, monkeypox and cowpox. Most of the monkeys screened harbor antibodies to a virus that is similar - but not identical - to known orthopoxviruses.

22 Apr 2008

NIAID tackles drug-resistant tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) has long been one of the world’s great killers. Now, forms of drug-resistant TB--multidrug (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)--are occurring at an ominous and accelerating rate. To help in the fight against drug-resistant TB, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has formulated an MDR and XDR TB research agenda.

22 Apr 2008

Number of HIV-positive state and federal inmates drops

Between 2005 and 2006 the number of state and federal prisoners who were HIV-positive decreased 3.1 percent -- from 22,676 to 21,980 inmates, according to a report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). Another BJS report estimated that 44 percent of state inmates and 39 percent of federal inmates reported a current medical problem other than a cold or a virus.

22 Apr 2008

Life expectancy of a significant segment of the U.S. population is declining or at best stagnating

One of the major aims of the U.S. health system is improving the health of all people, particularly those segments of the population at greater risk of health disparities. In fact, overall life expectancy in the U.S. increased more than seven years for men and more than six years for women between 1960 and 2000.

21 Apr 2008

South Carolina House to consider bill that would eliminate requirement to inform school officials of students' HIV-positive status

The South Carolina House this week is scheduled to consider a bill (SB 970) that would eliminate a state law that requires the Department of Health and Environmental Control to notify school district superintendents and nurses if students test HIV-positive, the Columbia State reports.

21 Apr 2008

Daily Star examines antiretroviral access in Bangladesh

Bangladesh's Daily Star on Friday examined how most people living with HIV/AIDS in the country do not have access to antiretroviral drugs. According to the Star, the country's Essential Drugs Company does not manufacture or provide antiretrovirals to Bangladesh's only infectious diseases hospital because of the drugs' high cost.

21 Apr 2008

Commitment to conducting more basic research in search for HIV/AIDS vaccine 'prudent,' editorial says

The cancellation last fall of a Merck HIV/AIDS vaccine trial was "branded as a 'catastrophe' by one scientist and as setting the race for a cure 'back to square one' by others," a Washington Post editorial says, adding, "The hyperbole is understandable, but some perspective is in order."

21 Apr 2008

HHS Secretary Leavitt meets with health officials in Vietnam to discuss health issues, including HIV/AIDS

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Thursday met with health officials in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, to discuss health issues, including HIV/AIDS, Thanhnien News reports.

21 Apr 2008

Disabled people in Botswana largely neglected in HIV/AIDS efforts

Disabled people in Botswana have been largely excluded from the country's HIV/AIDS efforts, disability advocates said at a recent two-day workshop, Botswana's Mmegi reports.

21 Apr 2008

New technology tracks medication adherence in patients with HIV/AIDS

Most of us have missed a dose of antibiotic or forgotten to take a daily vitamin. But when the stakes are higher - as they are for people with HIV/AIDS - a skipped pill could mean the difference between health and hazard for the entire population.

21 Apr 2008

BioAlliance Pharma announces preliminary results from U.S. phase III trial for Loramyc

BioAlliance Pharma SA today announced the preliminary positive results for its US pivotal Phase III clinical trial with Loramyc (miconazole Lauriad), Mucoadhesive Buccal Tablets (MBT) developed for the treatment of OroPharyngeal Candidiasis in immunocompromised population. This trial was conducted to support an NDA filing to market the product in the US.

21 Apr 2008