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Interests and advocates wait anxiously for Supreme Court's health law decision -- for very different reasons

The Associated Press reports that people with HIV/AIDS have a lot at stake regarding the health law's future -- specifically, its Medicaid expansion and ban on pre-existing condition exclusions. In a second story, though, AP reports on why the small business group, the NFIB, hopes to see the law overturned. Meanwhile, MarketWatch reports that some wealthy Americans would save big money if the high court rejects the overhaul.

27 Apr 2012

Poverty linked to HIV infection among heterosexuals living in inner-city neighborhoods

In a groundbreaking study published last year, scientists reported that effective treatment with HIV medications not only restores health and prolongs life in many HIV-infected patients, but also curtails transmission to sexual partners up to ninety-seven percent. However, a new study by UCSF scientists shows that lack of basic living needs severely undercuts these advances in impoverished men.

27 Apr 2012

Ghana rolls out vaccines against pneumonia and diarrhoea

Ghana has become the first African country to introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines at the same time, simultaneously tackling the leading causes of the world’s two biggest childhood killers – pneumonia and diarrhoea.

26 Apr 2012

Mad cow disease raises concern but safety nets are in place says USDA

Four sick cows ever discovered in the U.S., the one announced Tuesday being the first since 2006, and no human version of the illness linked to eating U.S. beef, is not enough to worry about. “From simply a public health issue, I put it very, very low,” Cornell University food safety expert Martin Wiedmann said of the level of concern about mad cow disease. Maintaining confidence in exports fuels the nation's monitoring of the beef supply as much as continuing safety concerns, he said.

26 Apr 2012

International Microbicides Conference 2012 concludes

The conclusion of the 2012 International Microbicides Conference, a gathering of researchers, advocates and funders in the HIV prevention field, wrapped up three days of discussion focused on access to prevention technologies, adherence in clinical trials, innovative financing, dual prevention technologies and new methods of preventing rectal transmission of HIV.

26 Apr 2012

PLoS launches new collection on control, elimination of human helminthiases

"The April 2012 issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases features the launch of a new collection, 'A research agenda for the control and elimination of human helminthiases,'" the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog reports.

26 Apr 2012

MSF says number of annual malaria cases treated in DRC has tripled since 2009

Ahead of World Malaria Day on April 25, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday said the number of malaria cases it has treated in the country "more than tripled to 155,000 last year from two years previous," Reuters reports.

26 Apr 2012

Funding for HIV programs among MSM populations lacking, largely due to stigma

"Despite high prevalence rates of HIV among men who have sex with men (MSM), funding for HIV prevention, treatment and care consistently neglects these populations, often due to stigma and discrimination," Owen Ryan, deputy director of public policy at amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, writes in this guest post in the Funders Concerned About AIDS blog.

26 Apr 2012

Opinion pieces recognize World Malaria Day

Wednesday, April 25, marks World Malaria Day, which this year has the theme "Sustain Gains, Save Lives: Invest in Malaria." The following opinion pieces address the fight against malaria.

26 Apr 2012

Dutch government rule export permit required to publish controversial bird flu study

Ron Fouchier of Erasmus Medical Center, "[t]he Dutch scientist at the center of the controversy over recent bird flu experiments, says that his team applied for government permission today to submit a paper describing their research to a science journal," NPR's health blog "Shots" reports.

26 Apr 2012

Study identifies prime target for better anti-dandruff medicines

Research on the fungus that ranks as one cause of dandruff - the embarrassing nuisance that, by some accounts, afflicts half of humanity - is pointing scientists toward a much-needed new treatment for the condition's flaking and itching.

26 Apr 2012

'Global Pulse' summarizes event launching USAID child survival social media campaign

At an event on Monday launching USAID's "Every Child Deserves a Fifth Birthday" social media campaign, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah described how $30 worth of materials contained in a backpack he carried onto stage, including zinc to prevent diarrhea and vaccines to prevent pneumococcal diseases, "can lead to a massive reduction in preventable child death in the developing world," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports.

26 Apr 2012

Report identifies strategies necessary to improve marketplace for LLINs

The universal coverage campaign for bed nets succeeded in dramatically extending access to these life-saving products, though recent gains may be in jeopardy unless rapid action is taken. Over 560 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) are required through 2015 alone to achieve and maintain universal coverage in Africa, at a total global cost of $2.4 billion.

26 Apr 2012

Allowing countries to use PEPFAR funding for voluntary contraception for women aligns with GHI's 'women-centered' approach

"PEPFAR has said it will use" nearly $1.5 billion in unspent aid "to invest in commodities (condoms, HIV rapid test kits and voluntary medical male circumcision kits), systems and institutions, and program strengthening," Suzanne Ehlers, president of Population Action International, writes in this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

26 Apr 2012

Text-message intervention may help boost flu vaccination rates in children

Text message reminders to parents about flu vaccinations may help boost the number of children vaccinated, according to researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Full study findings are reported in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

26 Apr 2012

Study sheds new light on common food poisoning bug

BBSRC-funded researchers at Cambridge University have shed new light on a common food poisoning bug. Using real-time video microscopy, coupled with mathematical modelling, they have changed our assumptions about Salmonella and how it infects human cells.

26 Apr 2012

Gladstone researcher wins 2012 Alumni Achievement Award from WUSTL

Warner C. Greene, MD, PhD-who directs virology and immunology research at the Gladstone Institutes-has won the 2012 Alumni Achievement Award from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

26 Apr 2012

Pig mucus effective at blocking viruses associated with cervical and oral cancer

Scientists are reporting that the mucus lining the stomachs of pigs could be a long-sought, abundant source of "mucins" being considered for use as broad-spectrum anti-viral agents to supplement baby formula and for use in personal hygiene and other consumer products to protect against a range of viral infections. Their study appears in ACS' journal Biomacromolecules.

26 Apr 2012

World Malaria Day observed

The 25th of April was observed as World Malaria Day. According to Ray Chambers, the U.N. secretary-general's special envoy for malaria, there has been a marked progress in reducing malaria deaths using bed nets, insecticide spray and drugs. He cited a World Health Organization report in December which used figures from 2010, saying malaria deaths had decreased by over one-third. Since then, he said at a news conference Monday, the world has delivered 160 million additional bed nets “so we expect the number of deaths to be much less now.”

25 Apr 2012

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine launches Centre for Global Non-Communicable Diseases

The Centre for Global Non-Communicable Diseases, a unique initiative that brings together researchers, policy makers, funders and patient advocacy groups worldwide to focus research and expertise on this growing global health challenge, is launched today (25 April) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

25 Apr 2012