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Experts discuss antibiotic resistance, tuberculosis, malaria, vaccines, maternal mortality, childhood diseases and health sector reform

New challenges ahead and the unfinished agenda in public health in the Americas" will be the focus of joint efforts by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

14 Sep 2004

Early use of combination-drug treatments could improve HIV survival rates

Survival rates of HIV-positive patients could be improved if combination-drug treatment were begun earlier than current clinical guidelines now recommend, according to a new study by researchers from The New York Academy of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

14 Sep 2004

California Chamber of Commerce lends support to stem cell research

The California Chamber of Commerce has joined with a broad and growing coalition of business groups, patient advocates and medical organizations in endorsing a "YES" vote on Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative, on the November 2004 statewide ballot.

14 Sep 2004

New insights into the international burden of malaria

Malaria research scientists from around the globe have published new insights into the international burden of malaria and what can be done about it.

14 Sep 2004

First molecular-scale images of DNA binding to an adenovirus enzyme

The images, which appear on the cover of the October 2004 issue of Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, show how binding to DNA may stimulate the enzyme and are already being used to design new antiviral drugs to block this interaction.

14 Sep 2004

Chiron announces settlement with Roche in HIV patent dispute

Chiron Corporation has announced that it has reached a settlement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche (Roche) in a dispute over licensing fees and royalties that Chiron had asserted was owed to the company under a licensing agreement related to its U.S. Patent No. 6,531,276 (the "276 Patent").

12 Sep 2004

World Health Organisation's strategy to control the worldwide rise of tuberculosis has not worked

The World Health Organisation's (WHO) strategy to control the worldwide rise of tuberculosis (TB) has not worked, say Harvard researchers in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. It is time to go beyond simply treating people with active disease, which has been the cornerstone of its strategy, they say.

12 Sep 2004

Homophobic lyrics in reggae music, a health issue for black gay men

The issue of homophobic lyrics by certain reggae artists is being hotly debated in the media in the run-up to the MOBO awards in late September.

10 Sep 2004

New view of chromatin and gene activity

A genome - the DNA instructions for an organism - does not act alone. DNA is packaged with proteins into 'chromatin', which may be more or less tightly condensed. A popular proposal is that active genes are in 'open' chromatin (to allow access to them) and inactive genes are in tightly packed 'compact' chromatin.

10 Sep 2004

Secrecy and silence clouds the true picture of AIDS related deaths among doctors in South Africa

A culture of 'secrecy and silence' clouds the true picture of AIDS related deaths among doctors in South Africa, says Dr Dan Ncayiyana, editor of the South African Medical Journal, in this week's BMJ.

9 Sep 2004

Researchers uncover how HIV causes abnormalities in antibody-producing cells

HIV wreaks much of its damage by targeting the “orchestra conductor” of the immune system, a key class of T cells—CD4+ T cells—whose destructive relationship with HIV has been well-studied by AIDS researchers.

8 Sep 2004

Advances in gene silencing on the agenda

Recent advances in using 'RNA interference' (RNAi) to improve plant, animal and human health will be the major focus of the CSIRO-hosted Horizons in Livestock Sciences Conference on the Gold Coast from 12-15 September.

8 Sep 2004

Generic tritherapy can be used as a basic treatment for AIDS

A clinical trial, conducted in Cameroon by IRD researchers working with other organizations and supported by the ANRS, has demonstrated that one of the most common combinations currently deployed in Africa, using nevirapine, stavudine and lamivudine, satisfies these criteria.

5 Sep 2004

Many low-income countries are unlikely to reach the health targets set for 2015

Many low-income countries are unlikely to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) health targets set for 2015; the main reasons for this are fragile health systems and insufficient investments in understanding how to strengthen them, suggest authors of a Public Health article in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

2 Sep 2004

World needs to commit more resources to treat people infected with HIV

Leaders of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) have stressed that as the world commits more resources to treat people infected with HIV, it must also intensify efforts to develop a vaccine to prevent new infections and stop the continuing spread of the virus.

2 Sep 2004

Highly active antiretroviral therapies for AIDS are not initiated soon enough

Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been shown to delay progression of AIDS and reduce mortality, yet the optimal time to start it is unknown.

2 Sep 2004

More women and adolescents needed in HIV vaccine clinical trials

Greater participation of women and adolescents is needed in HIV vaccine clinical trials, according to a group of international experts, who attended a consultation on HIV vaccine trials in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 26-28 August.

1 Sep 2004

Epimmune presents SIV vaccine study data showing control of virus despite the presence of viral mutations

Epimmune today presented preliminary data from its ongoing SIV rhesus macaque vaccine study at the AIDS Vaccine 2004 conference in Lausanne, Switzerland.

31 Aug 2004

Major trends in AIDS research that the different research teams throughout the world are pursuing

The science will be presented during the conference which is taking place in Lausanne until September 1, 2004. The advances in fundamental research, notably through a better understanding of the complex processes of immune defence, HIV and the functioning of vaccines, promote the genesis and development of new vaccine candidates.

30 Aug 2004

Interim data from human clinical trials of two AIDS vaccine candidates, named DNA.HIVA and MVA.HIVA

The interim data, from 205 volunteers in clinical trials in Kenya, Uganda and the United Kingdom, show that DNA.HIVA and MVA.HIVA are generally safe and well tolerated. However, the candidates’ ability to elicit an anti-HIV cell-mediated immune response is poor, using currently accepted measures of immune response.

30 Aug 2004