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AHF to Dr. Fauci and the CDC: "show us the AIDS numbers"

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is calling for the immediate release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) latest HIV incidence numbers, after Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) referred to them while in attendance at the United Nations' 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York this week. The US largest AIDS organization and operator of free AIDS treatment clinics in the U.S., Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, also called for massive scale-up of HIV testing throughout the nation.

11 Jun 2008

Simple steps can help reduce your risk of contracting potentially deadly superbug

With beach-season looming, the fitness bug is motivating Chicagoans to fill area gyms in droves, all hoping to buff up before the warm-weather season of fun gets into full swing.

11 Jun 2008

U.N. Secretary-General calls for end of discrimination against, travel restrictions on people living with HIV/AIDS

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the opening of the U.N. 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS on Tuesday called on the international community to end discrimination against HIV-positive people, including travel restrictions, describing such practices as "an affront to our common humanity," Xinhuanet reports.

11 Jun 2008

Public health agencies call on G8 leaders to allocate increased resources to health programs worldwide

The heads of several organizations involved in public health issues worldwide on Tuesday called on the Group of Eight industrialized nations to invest more resources in health and disease programs, the AP/USA Today reports.

11 Jun 2008

FDA advisory panel voices concern over risks of HIV vaccine trials in teenagers

An FDA advisory panel on Monday voiced concern over the potential risks of conducting early HIV vaccine trials among teenagers in the U.S., Bloomberg reports. According to the panel, although such trials are justified in countries where HIV/AIDS is spreading more quickly, the risks might not outweigh the benefits in the U.S.

11 Jun 2008

UNAIDS Executive Director Piot to step down

UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot will step down from his position when his term is over at the end of the year, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Tuesday at the United Nations 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS in New York, Reuters reports. Piot has served as UNAIDS executive director since the organization's inception in 1995.

11 Jun 2008

Mycobacterium tuberculosis can grow in surface-level bacteria clusters known as biofilms

University of Pittsburgh-led researchers discovered that the primary bacteria behind tuberculosis can grow on surfaces and that drug-tolerant strains flourish in these bacterial communities, the research team recently reported in Molecular Microbiology.

11 Jun 2008

European businesses not properly advised on how to prepare for flu pandemic

A new report entitled Business Continuity Planning and Pandemic Influenza in Europe, published by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), has found huge gaps and differences across Europe in the level of advice given to businesses to prepare for a possible influenza pandemic.

11 Jun 2008

Quick responses to influenza outbreaks reduces illness and death

Influenza outbreaks were shorter and resulted in fewer cases and fewer deaths at long-term care facilities that started residents on preventive antiviral medications within five days of the first case, compared to those that started later, according to a new study in the July 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, currently available online.

11 Jun 2008

Gender affects reaction to HIV-prevention brochures

Various intervention strategies have been implemented to curb the rise of HIV, and a factor that might affect exposure to interventionsis gender.

11 Jun 2008

The 'Big Apple' - not the place to be sassy and single!

According to official statistics, living in New York City is risky in more ways than one.

11 Jun 2008

Horse industry let off the hook over horse flu debt

The horse industry in Australia has been let off the hook over last year's equine influenza (EI) outbreak.

11 Jun 2008

Few HIV-positive people receiving antiretrovirals in Mozambique despite no-cost treatment program

Few HIV-positive people in Mozambique are coming forward to receive no-cost antiretroviral drugs despite a government program that provides access to the medications, Mozambican Health Minister Ivo Garrido said recently at a news conference, Reuters reports.

11 Jun 2008

U.N. high level meeting on AIDS to review progress in fighting disease

World leaders are expected to review progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS worldwide during the United Nations 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in New York, the Washington Post reports (Lynch, Washington Post, 6/10).

11 Jun 2008

Guardian examines rise of pregnancies among HIV-positive women in Malawi

London's Guardian on Saturday profiled Grace Mathanga, an HIV-positive pregnant woman living in Malawi whom the newspaper first profiled five years ago.

11 Jun 2008

Campaign launches in five Massachusetts communities to encourage blacks to be tested for HIV

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Friday launched a campaign -- "Get Talking, Get Tested" -- to encourage blacks in Boston, Brockton, Lynn, Springfield and Worcester to be tested for HIV, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports.

11 Jun 2008

Neglect of HIV/TB coinfection 'undermining' gains against HIV, U.N. officials say at conference

Failure to adequately address HIV/tuberculosis coinfection is "undermining" recent gains against HIV/AIDS, United Nations officials said at the first HIV/TB Global Leaders Forum at U.N. headquarters in New York, the New York Times reports.

11 Jun 2008

When it comes to catching an infection, planes no riskier than airports

A study carried out by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has found there is no greater risk of catching an infection on a plane than in any other crowded and confined space.

10 Jun 2008

World leaders call for action to reduce TB deaths among HIV-positive people

For the first time ever, heads of governments, public health and business leaders, heads of UN agencies and activists came together at UN Headquarters today to confront a threat to global health that could undermine investments in life-saving drug treatment for people living with HIV.

10 Jun 2008

Washington Post examines Jamaican campaign to address HIV/AIDS stigma

The Washington Post on Sunday examined an HIV/AIDS campaign launched last year in Jamaica that aims to "destigmatize" the disease and to teach HIV-positive people the "importance of protecting others" from contracting the virus.

10 Jun 2008