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Zimbabwe in line to reach antiretroviral treatment target, health official says

Zimbabwe could meet its target of providing 140,000 HIV-positive people with access to no-cost antiretroviral drugs by the end of the year, Owen Mugurungi, head of the Zimbabwean government's HIV/AIDS unit, said on Tuesday at a two-day workshop on drug access issues in the country, the Herald/AllAfrica.com reports (Herald/AllAfrica.com, 10/26).

29 Oct 2007

One-third of people with TB in U.S. unaware of HIV status

Nearly one-third of people living with tuberculosis in the U.S. are unaware of their HIV status, according to a study published Friday in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Reuters reports (Dunham, Reuters, 10/25).

29 Oct 2007

New Zealand's influenza pandemic preparedness report released

The New Zealand Ministry of Health has released the key findings of Exercise Cruickshank, one of the biggest exercises ever staged by government.

29 Oct 2007

What's the brain got to do with education?

Quite a lot - according to teachers in a recent survey commissioned by The Innovation Unit and carried out by researchers at the University of Bristol.

29 Oct 2007

Scientists use shared genome data to confirm SORL1 gene linked to Alzheimer's

Until recently, only one of the approximately 30,000 genes in the human genome has been linked to risk of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD).

29 Oct 2007

Homelessness increases risk of infection for injecting drug users

A new report from the Health Protection Agency shows that around three-quarters of injecting drug users (IDUs) have been homeless at some point. In addition, those who have been homeless have higher levels of injecting risk and associated infections, primarily through the sharing of needles and low standards of hygiene.

29 Oct 2007

Planned Parenthood files suit against Missouri law that would require abortion clinics to upgrade facilities

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri last week filed a second lawsuit in Jackson County, Mo., asking the court to exclude clinics that offer only medical abortions from a state law (SB 370) designating facilities providing some abortions as "ambulatory surgical centers" to exclude clinics that offer only medical abortions, the AP/Hays Daily News reports.

29 Oct 2007

U.S. political candidates' views on abortion 'not especially important,' opinion piece says

Although some voters might "care deeply" about how a candidate views abortion "because that stance is accurately considered an important signifier of the candidate's sensibilities and sympathies, and of his or her notion of sound constitutional reasoning," those views are "not especially important" when it comes to abortion policy Washington Post columnist George Will writes in a Post opinion piece.

29 Oct 2007

Women who have precancerous lesions removed have increased risk of developing cervical, vaginal cancer for at least 25 years

Women who have precancerous lesions removed from their cervix are at an increased risk of developing cervical or vaginal cancer during the 25 years after the procedure, according to a study published on Friday in BMJ, Reuters reports.

29 Oct 2007

Egypt, Morocco, Palestinian territories to join U.S.-Middle East breast cancer partnership, First Lady Bush says

First lady Laura Bush on Thursday at the King Hussein Cancer Center in Amman, Jordan, announced that Egypt, Morocco and the Palestinian territories will join the U.S.-Middle East Partnership for Breast Cancer Awareness and Research, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (AFP/Yahoo! News, 10/25).

29 Oct 2007

Giuliani's 'implied' link between increase in adoptions, decrease in abortions 'unsupportable,' opinion piece says

The link "implied" by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, between an increase in the number of adoptions and a decrease in abortions in the city is "unsupportable," Cory Richards, senior vice president and vice president for public policy at the Guttmacher Institute, writes in a Los Angeles Times opinion piece.

29 Oct 2007

Hairpin-shaped mimetics imitate the helical protein that plays a role in the spread of HIV

When a host cell is infected with HIV, the virus brings its own genetic material into the host cell. This cell then replicates, reads the viral RNA, and uses it as a blueprint to produce more viral proteins.

29 Oct 2007

Tests find lead in more products

Lead hazards in consumer products aren’t limited to the millions of toys recalled so far this year, according to test results and a four-month investigation published in the December issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

29 Oct 2007

Hopkins report: Next generation contraceptive implants are cheaper, highly effective, and available now

The next generation of contraceptive implants offer an extremely effective way to expand family planning choices for women and reduce the incidence of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the latest issue of Population Reports, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

29 Oct 2007

Early autism detection

In an attempt to spot autism earlier, the American Academy of Pediatrics has recently recommended that all children be screened for autism twice by age 2 - advice that many St. Louis families already heed thanks to a partnership between Saint Louis University and Parents as Teachers.

29 Oct 2007