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New screening method for cervical cancer holds promise

A method of screening women in Ghana for early signs of cervical cancer and providing preventive treatment at the same visit appears to be safe, acceptable to women and feasible, according to a study by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

2 Apr 2007

Mexico City lawmakers begin hearings on abortion during first three months

Mexico City lawmakers on Wednesday began hearings on a bill that would allow pregnant women in the city to obtain a legal abortion during the first three months' gestation, the Los Angeles Times reports (Tobar, Los Angeles Times, 3/29). Lawmakers from Mexico's Party of the Democratic Revolution recently proposed the measure.

2 Apr 2007

FDA discourages consumers from purchasing Accutane online

FDA last week launched a Web page aimed at discouraging consumers from purchasing the acne drug isotretinoin, sold by Roche under the brand name Accutane, on the Internet, Dow Jones/Marketwatch reports.

2 Apr 2007

USAID is extending its HIV/AIDS prevention and care project in Pakistan

USAID is extending its HIV/AIDS prevention and care project in Pakistan by awarding grants to three organizations working to combat the disease among high-risk groups in the country, USAID Director for Pakistan Jonathan Addleton said last week at the grant awards ceremony, the PakTribune reports.

2 Apr 2007

Efficacy of Ugandan HIV prevention programs decreasing

The efficacy of Uganda's HIV prevention programs is decreasing because a new generation of young people are no longer receiving the messages of fidelity that helped curb the country's HIV epidemic in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Washington Post reports.

2 Apr 2007

Bahrain launches campaign to involve religious leaders in fight against HIV/AIDS

Officials in Bahrain have launched a wide-scale campaign aimed at involving religious leaders in the country's fight against HIV/AIDS, the Gulf Daily News reports.

2 Apr 2007

California Senate Committee approves bill that would allow HIV-positive men to have sperm washed

The California Senate Health Committee on Wednesday voted unanimously to approve a bill (SB 443) that would allow HIV-positive men to have their sperm washed and used for fertility treatments, including artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization, under certain guidelines, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

2 Apr 2007

About 50% of people fail to take medication as directed

USA Today on Thursday examined how multiple studies have shown that only about half of people with chronic conditions in the U.S. and other developed countries continue to take medication as directed.

2 Apr 2007

Dingell says tobacco tax increase might not be good source of funding for SCHIP

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) on Thursday at a forum sponsored by the Center for American Progress said increasing the federal tobacco tax might not be a practical way to fund a reauthorization of SCHIP and indicated that a better funding source would be to reduce Medicare Advantage payments, CQ HealthBeat reports.

2 Apr 2007

Critics question Wikipedia-style web site created by physicians

Several Cleveland Clinic physicians recently launched the Web site Ask Dr Wiki -- a medical version of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that users can edit -- but critics have raised concerns about the reliability of the new site, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

2 Apr 2007

HHS Inspector General Office to review conflicts of interest for NIH grantees, employees

HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson has announced that investigators will examine conflict-of-interest policies at NIH regarding scientists who are not employed by the agency but who use federal grant money, the AP/New Orleans Times-Picayune reports.

2 Apr 2007

Scientists uncover bacterial cloaking

Scientists have uncovered the workings of a method bacteria responsible for diseases such as meningitis and blood disorders use to hide from the body's immune system.

2 Apr 2007

ESMO explores collaboration to fight cancer on all fronts

Leading figures in the global fight against lung cancer are meeting in the city of Geneva, Switzerland this week to discuss the latest tools for preventing and treating chest malignancies, which kill more than 1.3 million people each year.

2 Apr 2007

People who are pre-diabetic or who have Type 2 diabetes have much shorter telomeres

New genetic markers may be able to predict whether a person is likely to have coronary heart disease (CAD) in the future.

2 Apr 2007

Breastfeeding significantly reduces risk of HIV transmission from mother to child

A study by scientists at the Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, South Africa, has shown that exclusive breastfeeding can significantly reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child in infants aged under six months when compared to those also given solid foods or replacement feed (i.e. formula milk).

2 Apr 2007

What forced early hominins onto two legs?

The next time you are struggling to carry your bags home from the supermarket just remember that this could, in fact, be the reason you are able to walk upright on two legs at all!

2 Apr 2007

How does the highly pathogenic bird flu virus spread to new countries?

Might the domestic bird trade be responsible? Or is it wildfowl? Since last year, a team from CIRAD has been working on wildfowl. To date, the virus has not been detected in healthy wild birds, but many dead or dying birds have been found near infection foci.

2 Apr 2007

USAID strengthens fight against avian influenza globally

The U.S. Government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a one- year, $19 million project to provide critical commodities to fight avian influenza.

2 Apr 2007

Warning on consumption of raw milk sold by York County dairy

State Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson has advised consumers who purchased raw milk from Stump Acres Dairy of New Salem, York County, after March 19 to consider not consuming the raw milk due to possible health concerns.

2 Apr 2007

Cephalon provides update on Nuvigil NDA

Cephalon has announced that it has received an approvable letter, together with draft labeling, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new drug application (NDA) for NUVIGIL (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV] for the treatment of excessive sleepiness associated with narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and shift work sleep disorder (SWSD).

2 Apr 2007