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New HIV documentary tackles stigma faced by teachers in Africa

Addressing the discrimination against HIV-positive teachers in Africa is a key aim of a new documentary and accompanying book being launched in Senegal today by the Partnership for Child Development based at Imperial College London.

3 Dec 2008

PNG struggling to come to terms with HIV/AIDS epidemic

While the rest of the world acknowledged World AIDS Day this week in a number of ways, Papua New Guinea (PNG) appears to be struggling to come to terms with the HIV/AIDS epidemic which threatens the population.

3 Dec 2008

WHO boss says major milestone reached in fight against AIDS

Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General says a major milestone in the long struggle against HIV/AIDS has been reached.

3 Dec 2008

Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe

As of 1 December 2008, the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe has reported a total of 11 735 cholera cases with 484 deaths since August 2008, affecting all provinces in the country. The overall case fatality rate is 4% but has reached up to 20¨C30% in remote areas. Out of the total number of cases, 50% have been reported from Budiriro, a high density suburb of the capital city, Harare.

2 Dec 2008

Six bad bugs increasingly escaping effects of antibiotics

Infectious disease experts warn that new drugs are urgently needed to treat six drug-resistant bacteria that cause most hospital infections and increasingly escape the effects of antibiotics.

1 Dec 2008

Measles Initiative to announce new achievements

The Measles Initiative partners - led by the American Red Cross, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and the World Health Organization - will announce the latest achievement in global health during a press teleconference on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. EST, 4:00pm CET.

1 Dec 2008

College students vaccinated against influenza less likely to develop flu-like illnesses

College students who are vaccinated against influenza appear less likely to develop flu-like illnesses, require related health care visits or experience impairments in academic performance during flu season, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

1 Dec 2008

Routine HIV screening for all patients recommended

On World AIDS Day, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is giving doctors a call-to-action to routinely encourage HIV screening to all of their patients older than 13 years.

1 Dec 2008

20th anniversary of World AIDS day - experts say universal, voluntary testing could reduce new HIV cases by 95%

December the 1st 2008 marked the 20th anniversary of World AIDS day - a day when people around the world take stock of the AIDS situation and consider those who have died from the disease and those who are struggling to live with it.

1 Dec 2008

South Africa's battle with AIDS receives funding boost

South Africa's revitalised drive against AIDS has received a £15 million boost which could help save millions of lives and stop the spread of HIV across the country.

30 Nov 2008

Selenium may slow march of AIDS

Increasing the production of naturally occurring proteins that contain selenium in human blood cells slows down multiplication of the AIDS virus, according to biochemists.

30 Nov 2008

AIDS communication breakdown means new threat to the UK

With World AIDS Day on December 1, a leading expert is urging the Government to repeat the 1980s campaigns in order to deal with a new crisis of awareness and understanding of the AIDS threat in the UK.

30 Nov 2008

Novel target for therapeutics against Staphylococcus aureus

Researchers at the Texas A&M Health Science Center Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and the University of Edinburgh have uncovered how a bacterial pathogen interacts with the blood coagulation protein fibrinogen to cause methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, a finding that could aid in developing therapeutics against the potentially deadly disease.

28 Nov 2008

Clear seasonal variation in bacterial infections

In the same way that winter is commonly known to be the "flu season," a new study suggests that the dog days of summer may well be the "bacterial infection" season.

26 Nov 2008

Universal voluntary testing, immediate treatment can reduce new HIV cases by 95% within 10 years

Universal and annual voluntary testing followed by immediate antiretroviral therapy treatment (irrespective of clinical stage or CD4 count) can reduce new HIV cases by 95% within 10 years, according to new findings based on a mathematical model developed by a group of HIV specialists in WHO.

26 Nov 2008

Genomics and bioinformatics could be the future in battle against malaria

Malaria, one of the oldest diseases known to man, has shown no signs of slowing down as it ages.

26 Nov 2008

AIDS research group reports significant viral load drop in HIV/AIDS infected study groups

AIDS Research Assistance Institute, a non-profit organization, has been monitoring hundreds of people with AIDS/HIV when they add the immunity boosting food supplement, 'concentrated Flax Hull Lignans' (FHL) to their diets.

26 Nov 2008

AHF: Lancet’s Africa AIDS study shows global testing woefully under-funded

A study published in the British medical journal Lancet yesterday suggesting that testing all adults in Africa annually for HIV and immediately treating every person who tests positive could halt the AIDS epidemic in Africa within a decade has spurred the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) to renew its call for the massive scale up of, and dramatically increased funding for global HIV testing and antiretroviral treatment worldwide.

26 Nov 2008

Schoolies warned that after-effects of drinking or drug-taking could disguise the start of meningococcal disease

Following reports that an 18-year-old student celebrating 'schoolies' week on Queensland's Gold Coast has been hospitalised with meningococcal disease, health officials have warned schoolies that the after-effects of drinking or drug-taking could disguise the onset of the disease.

26 Nov 2008