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IVI receives WHO prequalification for new oral cholera vaccine

Shanchol-, a new oral cholera vaccine developed through the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), an international organization established by the United Nations and based in Seoul, recently received prequalification from the World Health Organization.

13 Nov 2011

Brazilian Ministry of Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb sign technology transfer agreement for Reyataz

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company today announced a technology transfer agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to expand access to Reyataz (atazanavir sulfate) in Brazil.

13 Nov 2011

Smoke-reducing chimneys prevent pneumonia among young children

Researchers at the University of Liverpool and the universities of California, Berkley and del Valle, Guatemala, have found that cases of severe pneumonia among young children are reduced by one-third in homes with smoke-reducing chimneys on cooking stoves.

11 Nov 2011

Rapid expansion of global vaccine campaign against pneumonia 'unprecedented'

"A global push to bring a vaccine against the bacterial cause of pneumonia to communities that need it most is ramping up quickly, expanding to nearly 60 countries in the next five years," PBS NewsHour's "The Rundown" reports.

11 Nov 2011

PEPFAR AIDSRelief shows success of country partnerships

Leia Isanhart Balima of Catholic Relief Services writes in this ONE blog post about the successes of the AIDSRelief program in Rwanda, and how that country's Ministry of Health has taken ownership over operations.

11 Nov 2011

UNICEF distributing hygiene, sanitation items in flood-affected Thailand to help prevent disease spread

"The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is distributing more than 300,000 hygiene and sanitation items to flood-affected families in Thailand, in an effort to prevent the spread of communicable diseases in the Asian country," Bernama reports.

11 Nov 2011

End to AIDS epidemic in sight, but political support needed for success

In this Washington Post opinion piece, columnist Michael Gerson recaps advances in the science of HIV/AIDS prevention over the last 18 months and the projected benefits of using combination preventive tools.

11 Nov 2011

Annual European CDC report says infectious diseases, drug resistance are concerns

"Europe's health is suffering, with around 80,000 cases of tuberculosis infection a year and serious problems with measles, HIV and threats from 'superbug' infections, an annual health report" from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said Thursday, Reuters reports.

11 Nov 2011

Mutations make Staph more resistant to antibiotics

Infectious diseases specialists from Austin Health are working closely with Microbiologists from the University of Melbourne to understand how Staph is becoming resistant to all antibiotic therapies.

11 Nov 2011

Third annual World Pneumonia Day to be observed on Saturday

The third annual World Pneumonia Day will be observed on Saturday.

11 Nov 2011

Kenya launches 5-year strategic plan to fight NTDs

"The Kenyan government launched a five-year national master-plan on Thursday to address neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that have become a public health challenge in remote parts of the country," making Kenya "the first country in Africa to launch a broad-based strategic plan on combating neglected tropical ailments that include bilharzia, trachoma, kalaazar, intestinal worms, elephantiasis and Hydatid disease," Africa Science News reports.

11 Nov 2011

Advocacy groups run full-page ad on end of AIDS

Several advocacy groups, including amfAR, AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention, the Center for Global Health Policy, and the Treatment Action Group (TAG), took out a full-page advertisement in Politico on Thursday, stating, "We can begin to end the AIDS pandemic. Will we?"

11 Nov 2011

Vaccination dramatically reduces incidence of Hib disease in young children

Vaccination against Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, once the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in children, has dramatically reduced the incidence of Hib disease in young children over the past 20 years, according to a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases and available online.

11 Nov 2011

Global Press Institute examines HIV/AIDS among women in Zambia

"With the HIV prevalence rate higher among women than men in Zambia, experts say the epidemic now has a women's face here and, therefore, requires more specialized intervention programs," and "women living with HIV say that women must be taught how to live positively with it," the Global Press Institute reports in a story examining the epidemic among women in Zambia.

11 Nov 2011

Report examines donor funding for health in low- and middle-income countries

A new report by the Kaiser Family Foundation tracks the most recently available data on funding from donor governments, including the United States, and from multilateral institutions for health in low- and middle-income countries. The report examines funding data through 2009 for a variety of health efforts, including malaria, AIDS and HIV, family planning, basic health and other areas.

11 Nov 2011

Xylitol can prevent inner ear infections in healthy children

There is "fair evidence" to support the use of xylitol, a natural sweetener used in gums and mints, to prevent inner ear infections in healthy children, a new evidence review finds.

11 Nov 2011

Pharmaceutical industry should invest more in NTDs

In this Forbes opinion piece, contributor Sarika Bansal examines "what needs to happen for the pharmaceutical industry, academic researchers, and other key players to begin investing more seriously in" neglected tropical diseases.

11 Nov 2011

An end to AIDS is possible in our generation

In this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, Sheila Nix, executive director of ONE in the U.S., summarizes progress in the global fight against HIV/AIDS in the 30 years since the first cases were documented and writes that "as budgets constrict and leaders turn their attention inward, it's easy to see why a renewed push on global AIDS doesn't seem possible. Yet 2011 marks a critical inflection point in our fight against AIDS."

11 Nov 2011

Translating science into service delivery to achieve Clinton's vision of an AIDS-free generation

In this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby responds to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech on HIV/AIDS given at the NIH on Wednesday, in which she called for an "AIDS-free generation," writing that "her vision was an affirmation of the progress made over the past decade, and a mandate to redouble our efforts with global partners to bring the latest scientific advances to bear in order to save lives."

11 Nov 2011

Wood stoves with chimneys linked to reduced childhood pneumonia

Cooking stoves with chimneys can lower exposure to indoor wood smoke and reduce the rate of severe pneumonia by 30 percent in children less than 18 months of age, according to a new air pollution study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health.

11 Nov 2011