Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

U.S. Senators introduce legislation to encourage R&D aimed at neglected pediatric diseases

"New bipartisan legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week which seeks to encourage innovative [research and development] R&D by drugmakers aimed at treating rare and neglected pediatric diseases," PharmaTimes reports.

11 Aug 2010

Three-year efficacy data on STELARA for psoriasis presented at American Academy of Dermatology meeting

New study findings showed that a majority of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis who had a previous response to STELARA® (ustekinumab) sustained a clinical response for up to three years with continued treatment regardless of their body weight. Investigators also presented findings from an integrated safety analysis that included data from one Phase 2 and three Phase 3 trials in which treatment with STELARA demonstrated a favorable benefit-risk profile for up to three years of treatment, consistent with previous analyses.

10 Aug 2010

Scientists suggest daily intake of vitamin D helps to reduce disease frequency

Anthony Norman, a leading international expert in vitamin D, proposes worldwide policy changes regarding people's vitamin D daily intake amount in order to maximize the vitamin's contribution to reducing the frequency of many diseases, including childhood rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and muscle weakness.

10 Aug 2010

GWA Study helps scientists identify genetic variant that increases tuberculosis susceptibility in African populations

Scientists have identified a genetic variant which increases susceptibility to tuberculosis (TB) in African populations using a technique known as a genome-wide association (GWA) study. This is the first novel disease variant to be identified using this technique in Africans and demonstrates that such studies are viable in African populations, which have a high degree of genetic diversity.

9 Aug 2010

Bloomberg Businessweek explores growing trend in pharma to license, donate HIV drugs

"Pharmaceutical companies, once blasted as uncaring or downright greedy for charging thousands of dollars for a year's worth of AIDS medicines … in poor countries, lately have been slashing prices and licensing their drugs for free or nominal cost to nonprofits or local manufacturers in the developing world," Bloomberg BusinessWeek writes in an analysis piece that examines how this trend, combined with a growing capability among aid agencies to distribute drugs, has the potential to increase access to HIV/AIDS drugs worldwide.

7 Aug 2010

Equatorial Guinea, ECCAS partner to form network to fight H1N1, HIV

Equatorial Guinea (Republica de Guinea Ecuatorial) and the Global Viral Forecasting Initiative, along with several Central African States, have partnered with the Economic Community of Central African States to form a network to fight H1N1 and HIV. The purpose of the network's recent forum was to share knowledge and best practices, and to collect data and prevention procedures among military health professionals in the region.

7 Aug 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

According to a Lancet Comment, "alcohol remains conspicuously absent from the larger field of research and programming in HIV and substance use. ... Patterns of hazardous alcohol consumption prevail in countries with the most severe HIV epidemics, notably eastern and southern Africa." In addition, "hazardous drinking patterns also dominate in the concentrated epidemics of eastern Europe and Asia, where alcohol use by injecting drug users and other marginalised groups might be an additional barrier to effective efforts to prevent HIV infection."

7 Aug 2010

Akonni Biosystems receives patent for TruTip Extraction Kits

Akonni Biosystems, a developer of low-cost, multiplex molecular diagnostic testing systems, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent on July 20, 2010 for its method for rapidly purifying nucleic acids. U.S. Patent No. 7,759,112 entitled, "Apparatus, system, and method for purifying nucleic acids" protects the Company's use of its pioneering nucleic acid binding matrix when inserted into a pipette tip, tubing or cartridge for nucleic acid purification. The patent is owned by Akonni Biosystems.

6 Aug 2010

Nature News examines how scientists, farmers are working to meet the growing demand for artemisinin

"From bust to boom to bust again: artemisinin, the key ingredient of front-line antimalarial drugs, is entering the third chapter of its turbulent history," Nature News writes in an article that examines the challenges scientists and farmers are facing as they attempt to keep up with the growing demand for the compound just as a "$343-million initiative starts to battle malaria through hugely subsidized medicines."

5 Aug 2010

President Obama, Sec. of State discuss U.S. commitment to development, fighting disease in Africa with young African leaders

During a gathering of over 100 young African business and civil leaders at the White House on Tuesday, President Barack Obama "urged [them] to help spur economic development and fight corruption, disease and extremism on the continent," MSNBC's "First Read" blog reports.

5 Aug 2010

Scientists invent Global Focus microscope for tuberculosis diagnosis

A compact microscope invented at Rice University is proving its potential to impact global health. In a paper published online today in the journal PLoS ONE, Rice alumnus Andrew Miller and co-authors show that his portable, battery-operated fluorescence microscope, which costs $240, stacks up nicely against devices that retail for as much as $40,000 in diagnosing signs of tuberculosis.

5 Aug 2010

Asian ministers review MDGs progress

South Asia is "lagging behind" in poverty and hunger reduction and is "in danger" of missing key Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets, a U.N. official told Asian ministers gathered to discuss MDGs progress, Agence France-Presse reports. At the meeting, "senior officials told delegates from dozens of countries that global food, energy and financial crises in recent years had jeopardized progress toward achieving the goals set for 2015," the news service writes.

4 Aug 2010

Telormedix, Swiss TPH Institute collaborate to develop effective vaccines for Malaria, Buruli Ulcer

Telormedix, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company using targeted immunity to treat cancer and other diseases, today announced the start of a collaboration with the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) on a pilot study using Telormedix's adjuvant, TMX-201, in connection with immunization for Malaria and Buruli Ulcer.

3 Aug 2010

An overview of IntraHealth-UNC Summer Fellows Program

Four master's students and one doctoral candidate from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health shared their global health research and insights at the culmination of a 10-week joint fellowship with IntraHealth International this Wednesday during a poster exhibition and discussion with faculty and staff.

2 Aug 2010

WHO expert: Faster MDR-TB test should be made available to vulnerable populations

A new diagnostic tool that shortens the diagnosis of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) from eight weeks to two hours should be made available to vulnerable populations according to a WHO expert, Reuters reports.

31 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 follow-up coverage: Global HIV/AIDS funding; HIV/AIDS studies, releases

Media outlets continued to reflect on news from the International AIDS Conference-AIDS 2010, which attracted over 19,000 participants from 197 countries to Vienna last week, according to the conference blog.

30 Jul 2010

New paradigm in TB research may lead to improved vaccination, treatment

Often causing no symptoms in carriers of the disease, worldwide tuberculosis (TB) infects eight to ten million people every year, kills two million, and it is highly contagious as it is spread through coughing and sneezing. "It's a global health disaster waiting to happen, even here in Canada, but this new paradigm in TB research may offer an immediate opportunity to improve vaccination and treatment initiatives," explains Dr. Maziar Divangahi of McGill University and of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

30 Jul 2010

African leaders agree to expand maternal health campaign as AU Summit concludes

African leaders participating in the 15th African Union Summit, which concluded on Tuesday, agreed to expand a campaign aimed at curbing maternal mortality on the continent and adopted other "key actions" in an effort to reduce infant and maternal mortality, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports.

29 Jul 2010

PFSCM wins Supply Chain Innovation Award, Best Value Supply Chain Provider Award

The Partnership for Supply Chain Management, a partner of the U.S. Agency for International Development under the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has won two prestigious awards for groundbreaking work on PEPFAR's Supply Chain Management System. PFSCM received the Supply Chain Innovation Award and Best Value Supply Chain Provider Award during the European Supply Chain and Logistics Summit held in Prague.

29 Jul 2010

At summit, AU leaders discuss funding challenges for maternal, child health

African leaders focused on the theme of the 15th African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday: maternal and infant mortality on the continent, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports (7/26).

28 Jul 2010

Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

U.S. Senators introduce legislation to encourage R&D aimed at neglected pediatric diseases

Three-year efficacy data on STELARA for psoriasis presented at American Academy of Dermatology meeting

Scientists suggest daily intake of vitamin D helps to reduce disease frequency

GWA Study helps scientists identify genetic variant that increases tuberculosis susceptibility in African populations

Bloomberg Businessweek explores growing trend in pharma to license, donate HIV drugs

Equatorial Guinea, ECCAS partner to form network to fight H1N1, HIV

Recent releases in Global Health

Akonni Biosystems receives patent for TruTip Extraction Kits

Nature News examines how scientists, farmers are working to meet the growing demand for artemisinin

President Obama, Sec. of State discuss U.S. commitment to development, fighting disease in Africa with young African leaders

Scientists invent Global Focus microscope for tuberculosis diagnosis

Asian ministers review MDGs progress

Telormedix, Swiss TPH Institute collaborate to develop effective vaccines for Malaria, Buruli Ulcer

An overview of IntraHealth-UNC Summer Fellows Program

WHO expert: Faster MDR-TB test should be made available to vulnerable populations

AIDS 2010 follow-up coverage: Global HIV/AIDS funding; HIV/AIDS studies, releases

New paradigm in TB research may lead to improved vaccination, treatment

African leaders agree to expand maternal health campaign as AU Summit concludes

PFSCM wins Supply Chain Innovation Award, Best Value Supply Chain Provider Award

At summit, AU leaders discuss funding challenges for maternal, child health

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Tuberculosis News and Research

Latest Tuberculosis News and Research

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