2007

FACTBOX: Angelina Jolie tops poll of best celebrity do-gooder: Reuters NewMedia - December 27, 2007; (Reuters) - Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie tops a Reuters poll released on Thursday of the best celebrity humanitarians of 2007. The poll by humanitarian Web site Reuters AlertNet (www.alertnet.org), which surveyed 606 people from December 7 to 19, also found fellow adoptive mother Madonna was the least respected cel
FDA to add HIV warning to contraceptive products: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, December 18, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Tuesday finalized a rule requiring makers of certain contraceptive gels, foams, films and inserts to carry a warning that the products do not protect against sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will require the warning on over-th
FACTBOX-Big issues for South Africa: Reuters NewMedia - December 15, 2007; (Reuters) - South Africa s ruling African National Congress will choose a new leader during a December 16-20 congress, amid some of the worst factional feuding in its history. Here are some details of South Africa s main issues. * CRIME: -- South Africa has some of the highest rates of murder and rape in the world. Opp
Ingredient in human semen may enhance HIV infection: Reuters NewMedia - December 13, 2007; CHICAGO (Reuters) - An ingredient in human semen may actually help the HIV virus infect cells, German researchers said on Thursday. They said naturally occurring prostatic acidic phosphatase or PAP, an enzyme produced by the prostate, can form tiny fibers called amyloid fibrils that can capture bits of the human immuno
Group hopes new ANC leader promotes AIDS "Glasnost": Reuters NewMedia - December 11, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG, Dec 11 (Reuters) - South Africa s main AIDS advocacy group on Tuesday refused to endorse Thabo Mbeki or Jacob Zuma for leader of the ruling African National Congress, but hinted it would be more comfortable with Zuma at the helm. The Treatment Action Campaign, which has accused Mbeki and his government of
Sharon Stone in Dubai to raise $1 mln for AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, December 11, 2007; Ola Galal; DUBAI, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Hollywood star Sharon Stone hopes to raise more than $1 million dollars for AIDS research at an auction in Dubai to spread awareness about the deadly virus that remains taboo in the Arab world. Cinema Against AIDS, an artist-led drive to raise funds for AIDS research, is being held on the side
AIDS crisis looms over ANC ahead of leadership vote: Reuters NewMedia - December 7, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG, Dec 7 (Reuters) - AIDS has driven a wedge between the leadership and rank-and-file of the ruling African National Congress, with top officials accused of ignorance and activists aghast at the government s handling of the pandemic. South African President Thabo Mbeki and his former deputy, Jacob Zuma, who
FACTBOX-AIDS in South Africa: Reuters NewMedia - December 7, 2007; Dec 7 (Reuters) - South Africa s AIDS crisis looms over the ruling African National Congress as it prepares to set policy and elect a president this month, with leaders and grassroots activists at times divided over how to stop the deadly pandemic. Here are some key details about AIDS in the region: * SOUTH AFRICA:
U.S. care for HIV detainees falls short: report: Reuters NewMedia - December 7, 2007; Robert MacMillan; NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has failed to provide adequate care to immigrant detainees with HIV, putting their health and lives at risk, Human Rights Watch charged on Friday. In a 71-page report, whose findings were challenged by Homeland Security, the rights group said the agency deni
China Launches First Major Safe Sex TV Campaign: Reuters NewMedia - December 6, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China rolled out its first major television campaign on Thursday to promote condom use to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, now mostly being transmitted by sex in the world s most populous country. The short public service announcements will mainly be shown on screens in buses, trains and planes, on the
China enforces HIV tests for returning nationals: Reuters NewMedia - December 6, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China , which is to scrap laws that restrict people with HIV/AIDS traveling to the country, is to make Chinese citizens who leave for a more than a year have HIV tests on their return, a newspaper said on Thursday. The apparently contradictory regulations, introduced by quarantine authorities, start
Hirst and Bono to hold art charity sale: Reuters NewMedia - December 5, 2007; LONDON (Reuters) - Artist Damien Hirst has invited some of the world s leading contemporary artists to donate works for an auction on February 14 next year which is expected to raise more than $40 million ($20 million pounds) for charity. The (RED) Auction at Sotheby s in New York, also supported by Irish rocker Bono,
Mylan gets tentative FDA OK for generic of AIDS drug Viread: Reuters NewMedia - December 4, 2007; Dec 4 (Reuters) - Drugmaker Mylan Inc (MYL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said India-based Matrix Laboratories Ltd (MAXL.BO: Quote, Profile, Research), which is majority controlled by Mylan, received tentative U.S. regulatory approval to market the generic version of Gilead Sciences Inc s (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Researc
No AIDS estimate available yet: CDC: Reuters NewMedia - December 3, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New federal numbers put the number of Americans infected with the AIDS virus each year close to 50 percent higher than previous estimates, activist groups and some media reported, but federal officials denied on Sunday that the data was finished yet. The groups say the new numbers put the number
Circumcision does not affect HIV in U.S. men: study: Reuters NewMedia - Monday December 3, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; Circumcision may reduce a man s risk of infection with the AIDS virus by up to 60 percent if he is an African, but it does not appear to help American men of color, U.S. researchers reported on Monday. Black and Latino men were just as likely to become infected with the AIDS virus whether they were circumcised or not,
Roche urged to cut drug price to stop blindness: Reuters NewMedia - December 3, 2007; Sam Cage; ZURICH, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) to cut prices for its antiviral Valcyte in developing countries, saying it would help prevent unnecessary cases of blindness. Cytomegalovirus ( CM
China HIV-positive farmer gets all clear 6 years on: Reuters NewMedia - December 3, 2007; BEIJING, Dec 3 (Reuters) - A Chinese farmer has been given the all clear from HIV six years after testing HIV-positive, Xinhua news agency said on Monday. Wen Congcheng, from the Chuanying district of northeastern Jilin, first tested HIV positive in 2001 at the Chuanying Disease Prevention and Control Centre when it wa
Estimate of H.I.V. Cases May Increase: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2007; WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - The U.S. government is raising its estimate of how many Americans are becoming infected with the AIDS virus every year by 50 percent, according to newspaper reports on Saturday. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now believes the number of new HIV infections each year i
South Africa Cites Progress on AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2007; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa , which has one of the world s worst AIDS epidemics, has made headway in fighting the HIV virus, but condom use is still insufficient, government leaders said on Saturday. One in nine South Africans are infected with HIV, but President Thabo Mbeki s government has been criticized f
Fighting AIDS in Iran seen tough due to taboos: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2007; Zahra Hosseinian; TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran is fighting the spread of the AIDS virus by treating sufferers for free but taboos about the issue in the Islamic Republic are hindering efforts to raise public awareness, Iranian health officials said on Saturday. Injecting drug users are the main risk group in Iran, which is on a heroin smuggl
Bush announces Africa trip, presses for AIDS funds: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2007; Matt Spetalnick; MOUNT AIRY, Maryland (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Friday announced a trip to Africa early next year for a first-hand look at U.S.-sponsored HIV/AIDS programs and pressed Congress to approve a doubling of funds to combat the disease globally. Bush used an appearance at a church in Mount Airy, Maryland, the da
China's Hu presses the flesh with AIDS patients: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2007; BEIJING, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Chinese President Hu Jintao visited a number of AIDS patients and their families on Friday, a public show of solidarity in a country where HIV/AIDS sufferers still face widespread stigmatisation. Beijing was initially slow to acknowledge the threat of the disease, but has since stepped up th
U.S. aims to take HIV tests to high-risk people: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A program backed by U.S. health authorities brought HIV tests to about 24,000 people at high risk for infection who otherwise might have been missed by AIDS prevention efforts, officials said on Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention described the results of a program it funded
Global vigil for AIDS orphans begins in Toronto: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2007; TORONTO (Reuters) - Christopher Wachira couldn t help but think of 9-year-old Hamisi Kombo as the names of 360 children, orphaned as a result of AIDS, were read out at Toronto s CN Tower on Thursday. The Kenyan boy, who is HIV-positive, has seen his parents, and two subsequent sets of caregivers die from AIDS. He s be
One in three in G7 ignorant about AIDS: survey: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2007; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - One in three adults in the world s top industrial democracies say they know little or nothing about AIDS, a disease thought to have killed more than 28 million people in the past 26 years, a poll showed on Thursday. But the survey, carried out by Ipsos for the World Vision charity, found that
China AIDS rate slows, main transmission now sex: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2007; Ben Blanchard; BEIJING, Nov 29 (Reuters) - The rate of new HIV/AIDS infections in China is slowing and is now mainly being transmitted through sex, which the government could tackle with a circumcision campaign, the health minister said on Thursday. The country will have an estimated 50,000 new infections in 2007, compared with 70,00
Clinton, AIDS and evangelicals make unusual trio: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2007; Jill Serjeant; LAKE FOREST, California (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton makes a rare foray into the U.S. evangelical community on Thursday with an address to an AIDS conference that is seen as a bid to woo the religious right. Clinton is the only one of six invited presidential candidates to attend a m
Bollywood shorts on AIDS to get YouTube release: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2007; Tony Tharakan; PANAJI, India (Reuters) - Four short films made by top Bollywood directors to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS in India are slated to be released on the video-sharing Web site YouTube in February after making their debut on local television. The 18-minute creations of Mira Nair, Santosh Sivan, Farhan Akhtar and Vishal B
INTERVIEW-World Bank launches new AIDS strategy for Africa: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2007; Lesley Wroughton; WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Overtaken as the largest funder of global HIV/AIDS programs, the World Bank is now focusing on easing the economic damage inflicted by the disease in Africa and finding ways of controlling its spread through better prevention, care and treatment. Its changing role has been forced by billi
AIDS leaves Africa's grannies to raise children: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2007; Barry Moody; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Skinny and gap-toothed, her nose smudged with black dust, grandmother Kanotu Mumo sorts charcoal into small pots for sale on the stoop of her slum hut. Mumo is an AIDS granny in Kibera, one of Africa s biggest slums. Like grandmothers all over Africa, they have been left to fend for orphans after th
Don't treat AIDS victims with disdain, Pope says: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2007; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Wednesday called for increased efforts to stop the spread of AIDS and said victims of the disease should not be treated with disdain. I am spiritually close to those who suffer from this terrible sickness as well as to their families, particularly if they have lost a loved one.
U.S. evangelicals strive to change attitudes on AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2007; Jill Serjeant; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kay Warren says five years ago she was a white suburban mom with a minivan helping her husband run one of the most influential evangelical churches in the United States and barely aware of the global AIDS crisis. Today, Warren will host the third conference on her church s role in fighting the H
HIV/AIDS discrimination widespread in China: U.N.: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China s efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS-related discrimination have failed to stamp out widespread stigmatization of sufferers, United Nations. officials said on Wednesday. Subinay Nandy, China country director for the U.N. Development Programme, said China had done a tremendous job implementing anti-HI
Iceland best place to live, Africa worst - UN: Reuters NewMedia - November 27, 2007; BRASILIA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Iceland has overtaken Norway as the world s most desirable country to live in, according to an annual U.N. table published on Tuesday that again puts AIDS-afflicted sub-Saharan African states at the bottom. Rich free-market countries dominate the top places, wi
Capital has severe HIV epidemic, report finds: Reuters NewMedia - November 26, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Washington, D.C., has the highest rate of AIDS in the United States , and more babies are born with the AIDS virus in Washington than in other U.S. cities, according to a report released on Monday. People living in Washington also are not getting tested for HIV and show up with advanced infection
Older white women join Kenya's sex tourists: Reuters NewMedia - November 26, 2007; Jeremy Clarke; MOMBASA, Kenya , Nov 26 (Reuters) - Bethan, 56, lives in southern England on the same street as best friend Allie, 64. They are on their first holiday to Kenya, a country they say is just full of big young boys who like us older girls . Hard figures are difficult to come by, but local people on the coast estimate that
Beijing hotels told to stock all rooms with condoms: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, November 23, 2007; Beijing, preparing to host the 2008 Olympics, has ordered hotels to provide condoms in all bedrooms in a bid to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS after cases of infection soared 54 percent in the first 10 months of this year. Announcing the move, the official Xinhua news agency made no direct reference to the Games, saying o
Former Soviet Union sees most new HIV infections: report: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, November 23, 2007; Former Soviet states had the largest number of new HIV infections last year in the European region, mainly due to shared drug needles, an EU report said on Friday. Former Soviet states reported 59,866 new cases of HIV, which causes AIDS, or 210.8 infections per million people, the European Centre for Disease Prevention
AIDS ad breaks Italy taboo over using word "condom": Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, November 22, 2007; ROME, Nov 22 (Reuters) - The word condom is to be uttered for the first time in an advertisement to raise AIDS awareness in Italy , breaking a bizarre taboo in the Catholic country. Since the spread of HIV/AIDS started in the 1980s, the Italian government has run health campaigns about the disease, some of which have f
HIV drug resistance seen in central China: expert: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, November 22, 2007; Significant numbers of people living with HIV in central China have developed full-blown AIDS despite receiving free anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, a leading AIDS researcher said on Thursday. Recent studies found that a significant portion of patients still developed AIDS after two years of treatment due to the problem o
HK group rolls out campaign to fight HIV stigma: Reuters NewMedia - November 22, 2007; Tan Ee Lyn; HONG KONG (Reuters) - Four Hong Kong celebrities and a politician threw their weight behind a campaign aimed at stamping out prejudice against people living with HIV/AIDS by asking: If I were HIV positive, would you still love me? Starting on Wednesday, posters of the five -- who include actor Daniel Wu and politicia
Brazil moving closer to curbing AIDS - officials: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, November 21, 2007; Raymond Colitt; BRASILIA, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Brazil may be close to reversing the AIDS epidemic, health officials said on Wednesday citing a government report that showed fewer HIV and AIDS infections in Latin America s largest country. Brazil s AIDS infection rates climbed exponentially until the early 1990s when international health
Julia Roberts Designs A First In Armani Bracelet: Reuters NewMedia - November 21, 2007; MILAN (Reuters) - Pretty Woman star Julia Roberts has designed a bracelet for Giorgio Armani to sell for World AIDS Day, the fashion house said on Tuesday. It is the first time the Italian designer has worked with another name on a product. The leather bracelet in red or brown has a Tree of Life design and inside carri
Beijing sees jump in HIV/AIDS cases: Reuters NewMedia - November 21, 2007; Lindsay Beck; BEIJING (Reuters) - China s capital has registered nearly 973 new HIV/AIDS cases so far this year, a jump of more than 50 percent from 2006, state media reported on Wednesday. Incidents of the disease are still on the rise in Beijing and it is spreading from the high-risk groups of people to the general population, Xi
UN warns AIDS could spike if countries drop guard: Reuters NewMedia - November 20, 2007; Michael Kahn; LONDON, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The world risks a resurgence of the AIDS epidemic if countries let their guard down, United Nations officials cautioned on Tuesday. Lower estimates of how many people are infected with the virus, and more effective treatments, are causing countries to relax their vigilance, they said. Earlie
AIDS in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - November 20, 2007; Nov 20 (Reuters) - More than 33 million people are infected with the AIDS virus globally, fewer than original estimates of close to 40 million, the United Nations said in its latest report. Here are some key details about AIDS in southern Africa: AIDS - THE GLOBAL PICTURE: ** Around 33.2 million people are living with
U.N. estimates 33 million infected with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - November 20, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 33 million people are infected with the AIDS virus ** far fewer than original estimates of close to 40 million, the United Nations said in its latest report. Here are some facts about AIDS, according to UNAIDS : ** An estimated 33.2 million people were infected with the human immunodefi
U.N. slashes AIDS estimates in latest report: Reuters NewMedia - November 19, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - The United Nations has slashed its estimates of how many people are infected with the AIDS virus, from nearly 40 million to 33 million. In a report to be issued on Tuesday, the U.N. says revised estimates on HIV in India account for a large part of the decrease. The agency admitted it
Pope says groups "promoting" abortion in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - November 19, 2007; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict accused international agencies on Monday of promoting abortion in Africa and partly blamed the spread of diseases like AIDS on disordered notions of marriage and the family. The globalized secular culture is exerting an increasing influence on local communities as a result of camp
U.S. regulators join HIV transplant probe: Reuters NewMedia - November 16, 2007; Julie Steenhuysen; CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has joined an investigation into how four Chicago transplant recipients contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a single organ donor, U.S. officials said on Friday. CMS, a federal agency that regulates organ procurement, is checking whether three Chicago ho
Study shows how some AIDS vaccines may harm: Reuters NewMedia - November 15, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Some viruses being used in experimental AIDS vaccine may damage the immune system by exhausting key cells, researchers reported on Thursday in a finding that may further cloud the field of HIV vaccines. They said vaccines using the viruses should not be tested on people until more studies
Madonna and Gucci team up for Malawi charity gig: Reuters NewMedia - November 15, 2007; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Madonna is joining forces with luxury goods-maker Gucci to raise funds for orphans in Malawi , the impoverished southern African nation where she has been trying to adopt a child since last year. The American pop star and Gucci will host a fund-raising event with dinner, a musical performance and a
Merck tells AIDS vaccine volunteers who got jab: Reuters NewMedia - November 13, 2007; Maggie Fox; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thousands of people who volunteered to test an experimental AIDS vaccine that may have actually raised the risk of infection will be told if they got the actual shot, researchers said on Tuesday. Merck & Co. Inc. and academic researchers said they would unblind the study, meaning everyone wo
Haggling saves Brazil $1 billion on AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - November 13, 2007; Maggie Fox; WASHINGTON, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Brazil s policy of haggling long and hard for lower prices for lifesaving AIDS drugs saved the country $1 billion between 2001 and 2005, U.S. researchers estimated on Tuesday. Amy Nunn and colleagues at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed the costs of individual AIDS drugs in Bra
Four Chicago transplant recipients contract HIV: Reuters NewMedia - November 13, 2007; Julie Steenhuysen; CHICAGO, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Four transplant recipients at three Chicago hospitals have contracted HIV and hepatitis C from a single organ donor, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday. The cases mark the first incidence of HIV infection contracted from organ donation in more than 20 years, according to Dr. Matthew Kuehn
HIV Programs In Workplace Save Money: IOM: Reuters NewMedia - November 13, 2007; GENEVA (Reuters) - Companies can save money and retain more staff by offering their workers HIV programs, particularly in areas where infection rates are high, an international aid agency said on Tuesday. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) analyzed conditions in Zambia , where 17 percent of adults ha
Drug injecting triggers most Mauritius HIV cases: Reuters NewMedia - November 12, 2007; ROCHE BOIS, Mauritius , Nov 12 (Reuters) - Drug abuse accounts for 92 percent of new HIV infections in Mauritius, up from just 14 percent in 2002, the government said on Monday. The Indian Ocean island nation has an estimated HIV prevalence rate of 1.8 percent, which is low for the region. On the African mainland, HIV
EU Socialists petition for tax cut on condoms: Reuters NewMedia - November 8, 2007; BRUSSELS, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Aiming to combat AIDS by cutting the cost of safe sex, the European Parliament s Socialist group launched a campaign on Thursday to press EU governments to cut sales tax on condoms. The 27 European Union member states are free to fix their own Value Added Tax rates on condoms, with a nimimum
ANALYSIS-AIDS vaccines experts confused, dismayed: Reuters NewMedia - November 8, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - AIDS vaccine researchers are worried about the future of their field after learning an experimental HIV vaccine not only does not work, but just might make recipients more susceptible to infection with the AIDS virus. They are worried about their volunteers and the future of AIDS vaccines
China to ease travel restrictions on HIV-carriers: Reuters NewMedia - November 8, 2007; Lindsay Beck; BEIJING, Nov 8 (Reuters) - China is to scrap immigration laws that restrict people with HIV/AIDS travelling to the country, a health ministry official and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said on Thursday. The travel restrictions have been a hindrance blocking people who are HIV-positive from ent
Cold virus chief suspect in AIDS vaccine failure: Reuters NewMedia - November 7, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cold virus used to make an experimental HIV vaccine that was discontinued in September somehow may have caused volunteers to be more susceptible to the AIDS virus, the vaccine s developers said on Wednesday. Researchers were doubly dismayed when it appeared that those who had been vaccinated we
Monogram Biosciences obtains coverage for Trofile Assay from California ADAP program: Reuters NewMedia - November 7, 2007; Co announces that the California ADAP program under the California Office of AIDS has established coverage and reimbursement for Monogram s Trofile Assay. This coverage will be administered by the Public Health Service Bureau , the California ADAP Program s Pharmacy Benefit Manager. The California Office of AIDS has th
New China HIV cases grow to over 3,000 a month: Reuters NewMedia - November 6, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China s new HIV/AIDS cases have accelerated to more than 3,000 a month, with the proportion of cases caused by sexual transmission increasing, state media said on Tuesday. China recorded 3,223 new infections per month on average between January and October, the official China Daily said on Tuesday,
South Africa AIDS activist urges new TB plan: Reuters NewMedia - November 5, 2007; Wendell Roelf; CAPE TOWN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - African nations are failing to control tuberculosis and could be overwhelmed by drug resistant strains of the infectious lung disease, with dire implications for the war on AIDS, a leading AIDS activist said on Monday. The explosion of tuberculosis on the continent is combined with the expl
TB vaccine sickens HIV-infected children: report: Reuters NewMedia - November 2, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A vaccine aimed at protecting children in developing countries from deadly tuberculosis may be killing and sickening some vulnerable infants infected with the AIDS virus, researchers said on Friday. They said the Bacille Calmette-Guerin or BCG vaccine, which is made using a bovine version of tube
FTC Says Internet Ad Self - Regulation Falling Short: Reuters NewMedia - November 2, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Internet advertisers have fallen short of promised self-regulation in respecting Internet users privacy, a Federal Trade Commission official said on Thursday, even as one firm, Tacoda, said it decided to refrain from collecting some sensitive information. FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz said Inter
Gilead HIV drug beats Hepsera in second big trial: Reuters NewMedia - November 2, 2007; NEW YORK, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Friday said a second late-stage trial has shown that its HIV treatment Viread was more effective in treating hepatitis B than Gilead s drug Hepsera, which is already approved for treating the liver infection in adults.
Zimbabwe AIDS prevalence rate falls further: Reuters NewMedia - November 1, 2007; HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s HIV prevalence rate has continued falling and now stands at less than 16 percent from more than 18 percent last year, government figures in the southern African country showed on Thursday. We should caution ourselves that this is still an alarming figure that we must address, Health Minist
Cat's Eye View Of DNA Sheds Light on Human Disease: Reuters NewMedia - October 31, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The first full genetic map of a cat -- a domestic pedigreed Abyssinian -- is already shedding light on a common cause of blindness in humans and may offer insights into AIDS and other diseases, researchers reported on Wednesday. And the cat genome shows some surprising qualities that cats and hum
WFP plans $100 mln aid to HIV, disaster-hit Malawians: Reuters NewMedia- October 30, 2007; LILONGWE (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) hopes to raise $103 million for operations in Malawi over the next three years to help those affected by natural disasters, WFP officials said on Monday. WFP officials expect in this time to assist 1.2 million Malawians affected by HIV/AIDS and natural
Bono's U.S. - Based Anti - Poverty Groups to Merge: Reuters NewMedia - October 29, 2007; Lesley Wroughton; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Anti-poverty groups the ONE Campaign and DATA, both co-founded by rock star Bono, will merge in the United States to form a single organization in tackling poverty, especially in Africa, officials said on Monday. The new organization will be known as ONE in the United States and will include the
AIDS virus invaded U.S. from Haiti in 1969: study: Reuters NewMedia - October 29, 2007; Will Dunham; The AIDS virus invaded the United States in about 1969 from Haiti , carried most likely by a single infected immigrant who set the stage for it to sweep the world in a tragic epidemic, scientists said on Monday. Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona evolutionary biologist, said the 1969 U.S. entry date is earlier th
Hepatitis scandal sparks anger at Japan government: Reuters NewMedia - October 26, 2007; Linda Sieg; TOKYO, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Eriko Fukuda was an active young woman of 20 when she was told she had contracted potentially deadly hepatitis C after being treated with a tainted blood product as an infant and needed costly and grueling treatment. This week, she was outraged when Japanese health ministry officials admitted
Quest Diagnostics licenses technology underlying SensiTrop HIV: Reuters NewMedia - October 26, 2007; Co announce that it has entered into a non- exclusive license agreement for the heteroduplex tracking technology underlying Pathway Diagnostics SensiTrop HIV co-receptor tropism test. Tropism refers to the way a virus targets host cells. A molecular-based assay for HIV co-receptor tropism will help physicians personali
INTERVIEW-Liberia needs cash to stop its doctors quitting: Reuters NewMedia - October 26, 2007; Peter Apps; LONDON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Liberian Health Minister Walter Gwenigale says he is thankful Western donors are willing to fund drugs, vehicles and fuel -- but what he really wants is enough money to pay his doctors not to quit. Most of Liberia s medical staff fled to Europe or the United States during its civil war, a
Combine treatment to fight dangerous TB: report: Reuters NewMedia - October 26, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Simple, common-sense measures such as opening hospital windows and using face masks would greatly reduce the number of new cases of extensively drug-resistant or XDR tuberculosis, doctors reported on Thursday. Use of face masks, reducing how long patients spend in the hospital and treating more p
Many U.S. TB patients also HIV infected: report: Reuters NewMedia - October 26, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly a third of U.S. tuberculosis patients do not know whether they are infected with the AIDS virus, showing more needs to be done to get these people tested for HIV, a federal report said on Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that details the link
SA finances healthy, AIDS, crime a threat: Reuters NewMedia - October 25, 2007; Gordon Bell; South African public finances are sound and the financial system is healthy, while strong economic growth will continue, albeit as a slower pace, Moody s Investor Service said on Thursday. But political and socio-economic risks may dampen investor sentiment and cloud prospects for a ratings upgrade. South Africa s fore
AIDS vaccine may raise infection risk: researchers: Reuters NewMedia - October 25, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 3,000 people who volunteered to receive an experimental Merck and Co. AIDS vaccine are being told to come back and get extra tests because the jab may itself raise the risk of infection. Researchers stress that they do not yet have enough information to say whether those who got the sho
Pharmasset's hepatitis C drug gets fast-track status: Reuters NewMedia - October 24, 2007; Aradhana Aravindan; BANGALORE, Oct 24 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical company Pharmasset Inc (VRUS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said its chronic hepatitis C treatment, R7128, received fast-track status from U.S. health regulators, sending shares up as much as 6 percent. R7128, which is being developed in collaboration with Roche (ROG.VX: Quote
Catholic condom ban helping AIDS spread in Latam: U.N.: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, October 23, 2007; TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The rapid spread in Latin America of the virus that causes AIDS is made worse by the Roman Catholic Church s stand against using condoms, a U.N. official said on Monday. Some 1.7 million people across Latin America are infected with the HIV virus or full-blown AIDS, and the epidemic is spreading
Safe Syringes Could Avert 1.3 Million Deaths A Year: WHO: Reuters NewMedia - October 23, 2007; GENEVA (Reuters) - Safer syringes could avert 1.3 million deaths a year, especially in poorer countries where 40 percent of all injections involve unsterilized reused needles, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday. In a statement, the U.N. agency linked 33 percent of new hepatitis B infections and 2 milli
HIV spread most by those with moderate virus level: Reuters NewMedia - October 22, 2007; Michael Kahn; LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - People with moderate levels of HIV in their blood are the most likely to infect others, researchers said on Monday in a study that provides a better understanding of how the deadly virus spreads. Looking at several groups of HIV-positive people in Europe, the United States and Africa, the
Researchers say HIV testing in U.S. remains low: Reuters NewMedia - October 22, 2007; Will Dunham; HIV testing rates have remained low in the United States this decade, with only about one-fifth of people at high risk for infection getting a test in any given year, according to a study published on Monday. The study also found that many more people at high risk of HIV infection -- men who have sex with men, injectio
Fraud and Florida's multimillion-dollar wheelchair: Reuters NewMedia - October 22, 2007; Tom Brown; MIAMI (Reuters) - One Miami-area medical equipment supplier managed to bill the U.S. government so often for a wheelchair it ended up costing $5 million. Last year south Florida accounted for 80 percent of the drugs billed across the entire United States for Medicare beneficiaries with HIV/AIDS, even though the region
Roche says EU reinstates Viracept licence: Reuters NewMedia - October 19, 2007; Sven Egenter, sven-markus.egenter@reuters.com; ZURICH (Reuters) - The European Commission has reinstated the licence for Roche s (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) HIV drug Viracept , the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday. The timing of the reintroduction of the drug, which was suspended earlier this summer, will vary from country to country and it is likely to be a f
Gilead HIV drugs drive profit after year-ago loss: Reuters NewMedia - October 18, 2007; Lisa Baertlein and Bill Berkrot; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc posted a third-quarter profit that topped Wall Street targets on Thursday, driven by drugs that fight the virus that causes AIDS, reversing a year-ago loss on acquisition-related costs. Gilead said it now expects 2007 product revenue to land at the high end of its existing fo
S.Africa parliament backs defiant health minister: Reuters NewMedia - October 18, 2007; Wendell Roelf; CAPE TOWN, Oct 18 (Reuters) - South Africa s parliament rejected a motion by the opposition on Thursday for an investigation into whether controversial Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was fit to hold her job. President Thabo Mbeki has ignored repeated calls to sack Tshabalala-Msimang, dubbed Dr. Beetroot by h
New strain of strep emerges as major US infection: Reuters NewMedia - October 18, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - A new strain of bacteria is emerging as a major cause of childhood infections but even drug-resistant versions of the bug can be killed off with the right antibiotics, doctors said on Thursday. Doctors and parents should be aware of it, however, and switch antibiotics for children with se
More collaboration needed after HIV vaccine flop: Reuters NewMedia - October 12, 2007; LONDON (Reuters) - AIDS researchers must step up collaboration following the failure last month of a key experimental HIV vaccine, the new head of a global group coordinating the hunt for an effective shot said on Thursday. Merck & Co, which had been working with the U.S. government-funded HIV Vaccine Trials Networ
Study sees differences in how US Hispanics get HIV: Reuters NewMedia - October 11, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - There are major differences among U.S. Hispanics in how they get infected with the AIDS virus depending on where they were born, officials said on Thursday, requiring more care in tailoring prevention efforts. The trend was detailed in a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
INTERVIEW - S.Africa forgets children in AIDS fight - UN: Reuters NewMedia - October 9, 2007; Michael Georgy; JOHANNESBURG, Oct 9 (Reuters) - South Africa is neglecting most of the 100,000 children born there every year with HIV/AIDS and half of them are likely to die before the age of 2, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday. This is unacceptable, Ann Veneman, executive director of the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF)
AIDS cocktails preserve brain, study finds: Reuters NewMedia - October 8, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cocktails of drugs widely used to treat infection with the AIDS virus appear to stop brain damage caused by HIV as well, researchers reported on Monday. Writing in the journal Neurology, the researchers said their study also pointed to a way to measure this progressive brain damage when it does o
S.Africa Online dating helps fight AIDS stigma: Reuters NewMedia - October 8, 2007; Michael Georgy; JOHANNESBURG, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Jeanette is seeking the ideal man. Someone sensitive. Funny. Sexy. And, most of all, HIV-positive. That s why she turned to The Positive Connection, an online dating agency that offers HIV-positive South Africans looking for love a way to get around the stigma of the disease. Everything
Program launched to counter TB drug shortfalls: Reuters NewMedia - October 8, 2007; GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) and an international initiative launched a program on Monday to provide anti-tuberculosis drugs to people in poor countries who are unable to cover their full medical needs. The $26.8 million program will deliver drugs to around 750,000 people in 19 countries, cove
Uganda opens first AIDS, malaria drugs factory: Reuters NewMedia - October 8, 2007; Tim Cocks; KAMPALA, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A factory producing low-cost drugs to treat HIV/AIDS and malaria -- Africa s two biggest killers -- opened in Uganda on Monday. The factory, which will make the vital three-in-one combination pill used to treat African AIDS patients, is a 50-50 partnership between privately owned local manufa
Russia must stop flood of Afghan heroin-UN: Reuters NewMedia - October 5, 2007; Oleg Shchedrov; DUSHANBE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - The United Nations urged Russia and ex-Soviet Central Asia on Friday to stem drug trafficking from Afghanistan to Europe and said the proceeds from a record opium crop were funding global terrorism. This year Afghanistan produced some 8,000 tonnes of opium, equivalent to a record 1,000 tonne
Canada grants patent waiver for Rwanda AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - October 5, 2007; GENEVA, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Canada has authorised a company to make a generic version of a patented AIDS therapy drug for export to Rwanda , in the first case of a patent waiver under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. According to a notification from Canada to the WTO on Friday, posted on the WTO s website, Canada wi
Sarkozy receives medal for helping to free HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - October 3, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) - President Nicolas Sarkozy received Bulgaria s top honour for his role in the freeing of Bulgarian medics from a Libyan jail on Thursday during a visit Paris hopes will help seal major commercial deals. Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death on accusations of deliberat
Roche, Trimeris pull application for device: Reuters NewMedia - October 3, 2007; Lisa Baertlein; LOS ANGELES, Oct 3 (Reuters) - Roche Inc (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) and Trimeris Inc (TRMS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday they were withdrawing an application with U.S. regulators for approval to market the Biojector 2000 needle-free injection device for use with the HIV drug Fuzeon. While the d
Canada gives more time to drug injection site: Reuters NewMedia - October 3, 2007; Allan Dowd; VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - The government granted another reprieve on Tuesday to North America s only sanctioned injection site for drug addicts, saying it wants more research before deciding its fate. Vancouver s Insite facility had faced closure at the end of the year, but Health Minister Tony Clement no
Doctors acquitted in Canada tainted-blood trial: Reuters NewMedia - October 1, 2007; Cameron French; TORONTO, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Three former Canadian health officials and a U.S. pharmaceutical company were acquitted of criminal charges on Monday following a tainted-blood scandal in which thousands of Canadians contracted HIV and hepatitis C from blood transfusions. Roger Perrault, a former director of the Canadian Red
Mandela AIDS Charity Announces Benefit Concert: Reuters NewMedia - October 1, 2007; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela announced on Monday a group of local and international musicians would perform at a concert in Johannesburg to raise money for his 46664 AIDS charity. The concert, which will coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1, is an offshoot of similar show
Pfizer faces $8.5 bln suit over Nigeria drug trial: Reuters NewMedia - September 30, 2007; Mike Oboh; KANO, Nigeria , Sept 30 (Reuters) - A court case brought by Nigeria against Pfizer resumes on Wednesday with the U.S. drug maker saying it answered a call for help to save the lives of African children during a meningitis epidemic. Nigeria alleges Pfizer deceived patients and caused the death of 11 children in 1996 whe
Once-puritan South Africa holds its first sex fair: Reuters NewMedia - September 30, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - South Africans queued to learn about sex toys and pole-dancing this weekend, at the first sex fair ever held in a country founded by conservative Christians and still home to many sexual taboos. The exhibition, modelled on a show running in Australia since 1996, would have been unt
Rwanda to urge male circumcision in AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - September 28, 2007; KIGALI, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Rwanda plans to encourage male circumcision to help the tiny African nation curb HIV/AIDS rates, a senior official told Reuters on Friday. Studies on the continent have found circumcision reduces the risk of HIV transmission from females to males by 60 percent. However, U.N. research car
Merkel urges rich nations to give to Global Fund: Reuters NewMedia - September 27, 2007; German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday appealed to about 30 donor countries gathered in Berlin to promise money to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Organizers of the three-day replenishment conference for the Fund expect to raise at least $8 billion for 2008-2010 for projects to fight the t
U.S. gives Kenya grants worth $500 million in 2007: Reuters NewMedia - September 27, 2007; NAIROBI, Sept 27 (Reuters) - The United States has given Kenya $500 million in grants this year for education, health and good governance, and to strengthen procurement rules, the U.S. ambassador said on Thursday. This was an increase from about $42 million given five years ago, when most Western donors had drastically
Donors pledge $10 bln to Global Fund to fight disease: Reuters NewMedia - September 27, 2007; Madeline Chambers; BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) - Donor countries promised nearly $10 billion to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the next three years at a meeting on Thursday. Campaigners said the pledges were welcome but fell short of the long-term needs of the multilateral Fund, which provides resources for pr
European condoms AIDS-tainted: Mozambique bishop: Reuters NewMedia - September 26, 2006; Charles Mangwiro; The head of the Catholic church in Mozambique said on Wednesday he believed some European-made condoms were deliberately tainted with the HIV/AIDS virus to kill African people. I know of two countries in Europe who are making condoms with (the) virus on purpose, they want to finish with African people as part of their
Boost in funds needed to fight AIDS - UN: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, September 26, 2007; Tom Armitage; ZURICH, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Global AIDS funding needs to be quadrupled to fight the epidemic s spread in the developing world, the United Nations said on Wednesday. UNAIDS , a U.N. agency, called for between $32 billion and $51 billion to secure universal access to HIV/AIDS treatments by 2010 for the low- and middle-in
Global Fund eyes $8 bln from donors to fight disease: Reuters NewMedia - September 25, 2007; Madeline Chambers; BERLIN, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Anti-poverty campaigners led by rock star Bono want the world s rich nations this week to pledge about $8 billion for the next three years to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Global Fund, a multi-lateral body which channels funding for projects to combat the diseases, opens a three-
EU urged to boost health care for illegal migrants: Reuters NewMedia - September 25, 2007; BRUSSELS, Sep 25 (Reuters) - European Union countries should guarantee access to health care for illegal immigrants, a French medical aid group said on Tuesday. Medecins du Monde said a survey in seven EU countries showed illegal immigrants often had the right to health care, but more than half did not know where to go
Crucell says it not to blame for Merck's HIV flop: Reuters NewMedia- September 25, 2007; AMSTERDAM, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Dutch biotech firm Crucell (CRCL.AS: Quote, Profile, Research)(CRXL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday that the discontinuation of Merck & Co s (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) experimental HIV vaccine was not related to the use of Crucell s PER.C6 technology, and kept its
Thailand may override patents on some cancer drugs: Reuters NewMedia - September 24, 2007; Nopporn Wong-Anan; BANGKOK, Sep 24 (Reuters) - Thailand , which has overridden international patents on three drugs in the past year, plans to issue four more licences for copycat versions of cancer medicines, Health Ministry officials said on Monday. The government would impose compulsory licences on four drugs sold by Novartis
S'pore scientists create device to detect H5N1: Reuters NewMedia - September 24, 2007; Tan Ee Lyn; HONG KONG, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Researchers in Singapore have created a handheld device that can detect the H5N1 bird flu virus from throat swab samples in under 30 minutes, raising hopes it will lead to rapid detection and containment of the virus. Conventional laboratory tests take around 4 hours, and require machines
Europe gives final approval to Pfizer HIV drug: Reuters NewMedia - September 24, 2007; LONDON, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the world s largest drugmaker, said on Monday the European Commission had approved its AIDS drug Celsentri, the first in a new class of oral HIV medicines. The drug -- which is known generically as maraviroc and as Selzentry in the
Mbeki opens international HIV centre: Reuters NewMedia - September 23, 2007; SOUTH African President Thabo Mbeki opened an international biotechnology centre recently that aims to develop vaccines for HIV/AIDS and other diseases that kill thousands of Africans daily. The Cape Town-based branch of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology will focus on infectious disease
Merck halts study of "ineffective" HIV vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - September 21, 2007; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Merck & Co has halted testing of its experimental HIV vaccine, long considered one of the most promising vaccines in development, after a monitoring board found it was ineffective, the company said on Friday. The failed tests represent a major setback in the global effort to stem infec
Roche says Viracept licence in Europe re-instated: Reuters NewMedia - September 20, 2007; ZURICH, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday a European medical committee had recommended the reinstatement of its HIV drug Viracept s marketing authorisation. The positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency s Committee for Human Medicin
Zimbabwe kids endure harrowing trip to SAfrica -report: Reuters NewMedia - September 19, 2007; Peter Apps; LONDON, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Economic crisis, hunger and the impact of AIDS are pushing Zimbabwean children as young as seven to risk exploitation and walk alone or in small groups into South Africa , aid group Save the Children said on Wednesday. Hungry, tired and often orphaned, the children come in hope of food, work
Nigeria triples number on free HIV drugs -agency: Reuters NewMedia - September 19, 2007; LAGOS (Reuters) - A tripling of the number of Nigerian HIV treatment centres in a year has enabled 135,000 infected people to get free life-saving drugs, up from 40,000 a year ago, Nigeria s AIDS control agency said on Tuesday. But the country s ambitious plan to tackle HIV/AIDS failed to meet its targets last year, an
HIV prevention could save millions in Africa: study: Reuters NewMedia - September 18, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Using drugs to prevent HIV infection could prevent as many as 3 million new cases in Africa if it was done right, researchers predicted on Tuesday. A daily pill would not even have to prevent infection all the time to have this effect, if it was given to the right people with the proper counselin
Japan gives Tanzania 2.3 bln yen to fight Aids, poverty: Reuters NewMedia - September 18, 2007; DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Japan has given Tanzania 2.3 billion yen in loans and grants to help the country fight poverty and HIV, Tanzania s Finance Ministry said on Tuesday. Of the total, a 2 billion yen loan will support the east African nation s budget, the ministry said. The rest will pay for medicines and test kit
Schering-Plough HIV drug begins late-stage trials: Reuters NewMedia - September 18, 2007; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that it had begun late-stage trials of an experimental HIV drug that showed promising effectiveness in earlier studies but aroused safety concerns because of cancers seen in some patients taking it. The U.S. drugmak
J&J says Prezista matches Kaletra in HIV trial: Reuters NewMedia - September 18, 2007; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday its drug Prezista was at least as effective in a late-stage trial as Abbott Laboratories Inc s (ABT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Kaletra in cutting HIV to undetectable
WFP to increase HIV/AIDS food handouts in Malawi: Reuters NewMedia- September 17, 2007; Mabvuto Banda; LILONGWE, Sept 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme will nearly double food handouts for HIV/AIDS sufferers in Malawi largely due to a donation from the southern African nation s government, the WFP said on Monday. Buoyed by bumper harvests, Malawi donated 10,425 tonnes of maize to the U.N. agency las
China haemophiliacs face dangerous shortage of drug: Reuters NewMedia - September 14, 2007; BEIJING, Sept 14 (Reuters) - China s efforts to clean up an unsafe blood supply chain, blamed for many HIV infections, has led to a severe shortage of an effective haemophilia drug and put tens of thousands of patients in danger. Some haemophiliacs in China had died since July because they could not get any factor 8 --
Ex-S.Africa deputy minister accuses former boss: Reuters NewMedia - September 14, 2007; JOHANNESBURG, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The former deputy to South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the minister deliberately undercut her efforts to tackle chronic illness in the AIDS-ravaged country. In a speech on Thursday night, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge said Msimang, dubbed Dr. Beetroot for her cont
Skip work, make babies, says Russian governor: Reuters NewMedia - September 12, 2007; James Kilner; ULYANOVSK, Russia , Sept 12 (Reuters) - The governor of a central Russian province urged couples to skip work on Wednesday and make love instead to help boost Russia s low birth-rate. And if a woman gives birth in exactly nine months time -- on Russia s national day on June 12 -- she will qualify for a prize, perhaps e
UNICEF says child deaths down sharply since 1990: Reuters NewMedia - September 12, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Global efforts to promote childhood immunization, breast-feeding and anti-malaria measures have helped cut by nearly a quarter the death rate of children under age 5 since 1990, UNICEF said on Wednesday. Strong improvements in China and India helped drive a decline in worldwide ch
Zimbabwean targets poverty in fight against rape: Reuters NewMedia - September 11, 2007; Timothy Gardner; NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Having had some success dispelling the myth that the blood of virgins cures AIDS, Zimbabwean Betty Makoni is now also fighting what she calls a root cause of the disease -- poverty. Many girls don t have anything to eat or drink. Then a sugar daddy comes and says, If you have sex with me I
US blood shortage puts safety measures in question: Reuters NewMedia - September 10, 2007; Ishani Ganguli; BALTIMORE, Sept 10 (Reuters) - On a Friday afternoon in August, a few donors trickle in to the Baltimore Red Cross donation room, filling only a small fraction of the dozen or so steel-blue beds. Nationwide, regional branches of the Red Cross, the humanitarian organization that collects, processes, and distributes bloo
Africa gets biotech boost against killer diseases: Reuters NewMedia - September 10, 2007; CAPE TOWN, Sept 10 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki opened an international biotechnology centre on Monday that aims to develop vaccines for HIV/AIDS and other diseases that kill thousands of Africans daily. The Cape Town-based branch of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
China needs to speed up AIDS fight - UN official: Reuters NewMedia - September 9, 2007; Jason Subler; DALIAN, China , Sept 9 (Reuters) - China needs to speed up efforts to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS by giving freer rein to civil society organisations and enrolling the help of companies, a U.N. official said. Peter Piot, head of the United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS , gave Beijing high marks for open
China reports leap in new HIV/AIDS cases: Reuters NewMedia - September 8, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China reported 18,543 new cases of HIV/AIDS in the first half of this year, state media said, near the number for the whole of 2006. Drug abuse was the main cause of new infections, Xinhua news agency quoted Han Mengjie, an official with AIDS Control Work Committee of the State Council, as saying in
Malawi donates food to WFP for its own people: Reuters NewMedia - September 7, 2007; Peter Apps; LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Malawi s government has donated more than 10,000 tonnes of maize to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), keeping the agency s programmes in the country running to the end of the year. Malawi suffered years of serious food shortage as a result of dry weather, lack of inputs such as s
Twenty two people contract HIV in Kyrgyz hospitals: Reuters NewMedia - September 7, 2007; BISHKEK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Seventeen babies and five adults have contracted HIV through infected blood transfusions in Kyrgyzstan , a senior health official said on Friday. Sagynaly Mamatov, head of the state AIDS watchdog, said transfusions took place in a number of hospitals in the south of the Central Asian state.
China's blood still unsafe, needs help -report: Reuters NewMedia - September 6, 2007; Ben Blanchard; BEIJING, Sept 6 (Reuters) - China s blood supply is still not being properly monitored for HIV/AIDS a decade after a blood-selling scandal, and it needs international help to tackle the problem, a report said on Thursday. The government has tried to clean up the sector after hundreds of thousands of farmers in central
Asia must deal bravely with HIV/AIDS - UN official: Reuters NewMedia - September 6, 2007; Tan Ee Lyn; HONG KONG, Sept 6 (Reuters) - A top U.N. official urged countries in Asia on Thursday to deal squarely and bravely with HIV/AIDS, which he said was being driven dangerously underground because of stigma and conservative attitudes. In Papua New Guinea , India ,
New health scheme launched to help world's poor: Reuters NewMedia - September 5, 2007; Adrian Croft; LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - Seven developing countries in Africa and Asia will be the first to take part in a new global health campaign aimed at directing aid more effectively at the basic needs of poor countries, Britain said on Wednesday. Health ministers from Burundi , Ethiopia ,
France's first lady defends Libya HIV medics role: Reuters NewMedia - September 4, 2007; PARIS, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Cecilia Sarkozy, wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has rejected calls to appear before a parliamentary commission to explain her role in securing the release of six foreign medics from a Libyan jail. In her first major interview on the affair, Cecilia Sarkozy told the L Est Republicain
HIV infections hit record high in Hong Kong: Reuters NewMedia - September 3, 2007; HONG KONG, Sept 3 (Reuters) - HIV infections soared to a record high in Hong Kong in the second quarter of 2007 and government doctors said they found a worrying cluster of new infections among homosexual men. The government reported 111 new HIV infections between April and June this year, up from 91 in the first quart
Bulgaria donates $56 million to help Libya HIV victims: Reuters NewMedia - September 3, 2007; SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria donated $56.6 million in Soviet-era debt owned by Libya as its contribution to a deal that led to the release of six medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV. The European Union newcomer signed on Monday an agreement to donate the debt, accumulated for arms and technical deliver
AIDS Drug Shows Potential as Weapon Against Cancer: Reuters NewMedia - August 31, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug used to treat people infected with the AIDS virus has shown promise as a possible future weapon against cancer, U.S. researchers said on Friday. Scientists at the U.S. National Cancer Institute examined how drugs called protease inhibitors , usually given in combination with other drugs
S Africa HIV vaccine results promising - researchers: Reuters NewMedia - August 31, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 31 (Reuters) - South African researchers said on Friday they were encouraged by results from two HIV studies indicating that vaccines might one day be effective in controlling viral levels and even preventing infections. Preliminary data from a clinical trial involving 480 uninfected people, half of t
US FDA staff support benefits of Merck AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - August 31, 2007; Kim Dixon; WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) - An experimental AIDS drug developed by Merck & Co got a boost on Friday when U.S. drug reviewers ahead of a key advisory panel meeting said its benefits outweigh risks. Staff with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said they support the safety and effectiveness data of the pill, ca
Tutu slams S.Africa's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - August 31, 2007; James Macharia; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Archbishop Desmond Tutu berated South Africa s government on Friday over delays in introducing an HIV/AIDS drug treatment plan and said its leaders unorthodox views had led to unnecessary deaths. Recalling fallen anti-apartheid heroes, the Nobel peace laureate said they would be shocked
South Africa recalls 20 million risky condoms: Reuters NewMedia - August 28, 2007; Bate Felix; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 28 (Reuters) - South Africa s health department said on Tuesday it has recalled 20 million potentially defective condoms approved by an official accused of taking bribes from a manufacturer. Unsafe sex is especially risky in South Africa, which has one of the world s highest HIV infection rates with a
Mozambique links health officials to drug thefts: Reuters NewMedia - August 28, 2007; Charles Mangwiro; MAPUTO, Aug 28 (Reuters) - About 100 Mozambique health officials face dismissal for helping gangs siphon drugs from the impoverished African nation s health system for resale on a thriving black market, a government official said on Tuesday. We have launched a campaign to hunt these unscrupulous officials, to weed out
HIV impact on Zimbabwe less than some feared-study: Reuters NewMedia - August 27, 2007; Michael Kahn; LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - HIV has slashed life expectancy in Zimbabwe by up to 19 years for men and 22 years for women but births still outpace deaths, according to the first study to detail how the AIDS epidemic has impacted the country s wider population. The study, led by Simon Gregson of Imperial College London, s
Ugandan Government Accused Of "State Homophobia": Reuters NewMedia - August 24, 2007; NAIROBI (Reuters) - An international human rights group has accused President Yoweri Museveni s government of promoting state homophobia in Uganda and urged the repeal of a colonial-era law against sodomy. Human Rights Watch s attack added to a fierce social debate in the east African nation, where gays and lesbians ha
Infectious Diseases Spreading Faster Than Ever: UN: Reuters NewMedia - August 23, 2007; GENEVA (Reuters) - Infectious diseases are emerging more quickly and spreading faster around the globe than ever and becoming increasingly difficult to treat, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. With billions of people moving around the planet every year, the U.N. agency said in its annual World Healt
Asia must step up HIV/AIDS fight, experts say: Reuters NewMedia - August 23, 2007; Ranga Sirilal; COLOMBO, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Asian countries must work hard to keep their HIV/AIDS prevalence rates low compared to that in Africa by tackling root causes like poverty, gender inequality and marginalisation, experts said on Thursday. Human trafficking into prostitution, intravenous drug use and conflict continue to spre
IUD May Be Option for Risk Group: Reuters NewMedia - August 22, 2007; Intrauterine devices appear to be safe and effective for women who ordinarily might not be considered good candidates for this form of contraceptive because of factors such as a history of sexually transmitted infections, multiple partners or prior pelvic inflammatory disease, according to a new report. IUDs are usuall
Human trafficking helps spread HIV/AIDS in Asia: UN: Reuters NewMedia - August 22, 2007; Ranga Sirilal; COLOMBO (Reuters) - About 300,000 women and children are trafficked across Asia each year, accelerating the spread of HIV/AIDS, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Trafficking ... contributes to the spread of HIV by significantly increasing the vulnerability of trafficked persons to infection, said Caitlin Wiesen-Ant
Britain, Germany Launch Third World Health Scheme: Reuters NewMedia - August 22, 2007; LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Germany s Chancellor Angela Merkel announced on Wednesday a global health campaign to target aid more effectively at the basic needs of poor countries. The International Health Partnership, to be officially launched on September 5, aims to reduce child and mate
South African study backs drugs over food against HIV: Reuters NewMedia - August 21, 2007; CAPE TOWN, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Neither food nor food supplements are alternatives to drug therapy in treating people with HIV/AIDS, South Africa s top scientific advisory panel said on Tuesday, amid a controversy over the nation s AIDS policies. The report by the Academy of Science of South Africa was issued as Presiden
INTERVIEW - Drugs, conflict spur HIV in Asia Pacific region: Reuters NewMedia - August 21, 2007; Simon Gardner; COLOMBO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - HIV infections are increasing at a worrying 10 percent a year in the Asia Pacific region, a top UN AIDS official said on Tuesday, putting the rise down to intravenous drug use, sex workers and conflicts. Governments need to spend more money on prevention programmes and look at bypassing pate
Some facts on female circumcision: Reuters NewMedia - August 20, 2007; Aug 20 (Reuters) - Egypt strengthened its ban on female genital cutting in June by eliminating a legal loophole allowing girls to undergo the procedure for health reasons. A U.N women s forum urged the world to ban the procedure last March. However the practice remains widespread as a rite of passage for girls. Her
Global Fund urges private sector to help fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - August 20, 2007; COLOMBO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Governments cannot be expected to win the fight against AIDS alone and it is time the private sector and civil society dug deeper, the head of an organisation leading a worldwide programme to prevent the disease said. Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, the executive director of The Global Fund, also wa
Sex Now Primary Cause Of China HIV Spread: Report: Reuters NewMedia - August 20, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - Unsafe sex has overtaken intravenous drug use as the primary cause of new HIV infections in China, suggesting that AIDS is spreading from high-risk groups to the general public, state media reported on Monday. Of the 70,000 new HIV infections recorded in 2005, nearly half contracted the virus throug
Asia AIDS conference opens in Sri Lanka: Reuters NewMedia - August 19, 2007; Shihar Aneez; COLOMBO, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Officials and health care workers met in Sri Lanka on Sunday to urge a comprehensive approach to tackling AIDS in Asia, which has some 8.6 million people infected with the HIV virus. The Asia-Pacific region has the world s second largest number of people living with HIV after sub-Saharan Afr
Fish Farms Help Families In Africa Hit By AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - August 19, 2007; OSLO (Reuters) - Tiny fish farms have helped 1,200 poor families hit by AIDS in Malawi to raise their incomes and improve their diets in a scheme being expanded to other African nations, a report showed on Monday. About $90 can enable construction of a small rain-fed pond that can be stocked with juvenile fish costing
Mbeki attacks critics over deputy minister sacking: Reuters NewMedia - August 17, 2007; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 17 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki, battling to maintain leadership of the ruling ANC party, accused supporters of his sacked deputy health minister on Friday of trying to undermine the party. Mbeki sacked the respected Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge last week for insubordination, sparking
Sri Lanka HIV rate low, but poverty, war a threat-UN: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2007; Shihar Aneez; COLOMBO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has one of the lowest prevalence rates of HIV in Asia, but poverty and displacement of civilians due to renewed civil war are making the island increasingly vulnerable, the United Nations said on Thursday. An estimated 5,000 people had HIV in Sri Lanka by the end of 2005, out o
S. Africa health min goes to court over drink story: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2007; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 16 (Reuters) - South Africa s health minister has asked a court to recover missing records that a newspaper says it used to support a story that she smuggled whisky and wine into a hospital during treatment. The Health Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that lawyers for Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
FDA, Bristol warn doctors over hepatitis B drug: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2007; Kim Dixon; CHICAGO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators on Thursday warned doctors of the potential for Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. s hepatitis B treatment to lead to resistance to the HIV virus in patients with both diseases. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also added a black boxed warning, the strongest caution wielded
California in hot spot with medical pot: Reuters NewMedia - August 15, 2007; Corinne Heller; LOS ANGELES, Aug 15 (Reuters) - They advertise in newspapers and on the Internet, where they supply their telephone numbers and addresses and offer free samples to new customers. Finding medical marijuana vendors in California is about as easy as locating a Starbucks coffee shop. But fresh raids by the federal governme
AIDS virus is a 'double hit' to the brain- study: Reuters NewMedia - August 15, 2007; WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (Reuters) - The AIDS virus damages the brain in two ways, by not only killing brain cells but by preventing the birth of new cells, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, helps shed light on a condition known as HIV-associated demen
S. Africa AIDS activists to take government to court: Reuters NewMedia - August 15, 2007; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African AIDS activists said on Wednesday they planned to take the government to court again over its HIV strategy and said the sacking of a respected deputy health minister had caused panic and fear . The Treatment Action Campaign, South Africa s most influential AIDS lobby group, won a Cons
China's Henan bans AIDS activist meeting -group: Reuters NewMedia - August 15, 2007; BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) - A Chinese province that was one of the country s first areas hit by AIDS has banned a group of activists from holding a meeting about how to combat the disease, saying it was illegal, an AIDS group said on Wednesday. The conference would have brought together 30 Chinese grass-roots AIDS acti
Trimeris shareholder asks company to explore sale: Reuters NewMedia - August 14, 2007; BANGALORE, Aug 14 (Reuters) - HealthCor Management L.P., an investment firm that own shares of biotechnology company Trimeris Inc. (TRMS.O: Quote, Profile, Research), on Tuesday asked Trimeris board to seek strategic alternatives, including a sale of the company. HealthCor said despite having significant revenue stream
Mbeki vulnerable after sacking deputy health min: Reuters NewMedia - August 14, 2007; Michael Georgy; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 14 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki s dismissal of his respected deputy health minister has handed political ammunition to critics who accuse him of purging opponents as he tries to hold on to political power. Mbeki, facing a fierce battle to maintain leadership of his ruling African Na
Ostracised Indian AIDS couple plea for euthanasia: Reuters NewMedia - August 12, 2007; RAMGARH, India , Aug 12 (Reuters) - An Indian couple suffering from AIDS has asked the country s president to allow them and their daughter to die through euthanasia as they were being harassed in their village. Vijayshankar Pandey, who lives in the populous northern state of Uttar Pradesh, sought the president s permi
S. Africa's Mbeki explains sacking of deputy minister: Reuters NewMedia - August 11, 2007; Michael Georgy; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 11 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki, who sparked an outcry by firing his deputy health minister, broke his public silence over the decision on Saturday and accused her of insubordination. Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge had won widespread praise for her direct and proactive approach to tackli
Kenya bans use of recalled HIV/AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - August 10, 2007; NAIROBI, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Kenya said on Friday it had stopped using an HIV/AIDS treatment drug that was recalled in Europe in June after it was found to be contaminated, a senior Kenyan official said on Friday. Viracept , known generically as nelfinavir, was withdrawn in Europe and other countries in June after Sw
S. African minister sees AIDS row link to sacking: Reuters NewMedia - August 10, 2007; Ingrid Melander; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 10 (Reuters) - South Africa s sacked deputy health minister said on Friday that disagreements over how to fight AIDS might have led to her dismissal. Opposition politicians and AIDS activists, who had applauded Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge s direct and proactive approach to tackling the deadly disease, h
U.N. grants Mozambique $496 million in aid: Reuters NewMedia - August 10, 2007; MAPUTO, Aug 10 (Reuters) - The United Nations will grant Mozambique $496 million in aid over the next two years to boost the country s efforts to develop its economy, improve governance and fight against AIDS, an official said on Friday. The southern African country is one of the poorest in the world, ranking 168 out o
Mbeki blasted over deputy health minister sacking: Reuters NewMedia - August 9, 2007; Michael Georgy; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 9 (Reuters) - South African opposition parties and AIDS activists lambasted President Thabo Mbeki on Thursday for sacking his deputy health minister, who has won widespread praise for her outspoken approach to the disease. A statement from the presidency said Mbeki, whose government has been accused o
Abbott Labs receives supplemental FDA approval for its HIV-1 Viral Load Test: Reuters NewMedia - August 9, 2007; Co announces it has received supplemental Pre-market Approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its recently introduced RealTime HIV-1 viral load test. The approval allows Abbott to market a number of enhancements to the test, including a new design feature that will give laboratories the flexibility to pe
Mbeki sacks outspoken deputy health min - report: Reuters NewMedia - August 8, 2007; JOHANNESBURG, Aug 8 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki has sacked his deputy health minister, who won praise from activists for speaking out about AIDS, South African radio reported on Wednesday. Public radio broadcaster SAFM quoted unnamed sources as saying Mbeki, whose government has been accused of drag
New vaccines, drugs needed for TB fight-WHO study: Reuters NewMedia - August 8, 2007; Michael Kahn; LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Health workers will need new vaccines and drugs to bolster tuberculosis treatments in order to meet a goal of eliminating the disease by 2050, World Health Organisation researchers said in a study on Wednesday. The analysis highlights the need for new vaccines and drugs to wipe out the vast re
EU executive suspends sale of Roche HIV drug Viracept: Reuters NewMedia - August 7, 2007; BRUSSELS, Aug 7 (Reuters) - The European Commission has suspended Swiss drugmaker Roche s (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) licence to market the HIV drug Viracept in the European Union, it said on Tuesday. The suspension is due to the contamination of certain lots of Viracept with ethyl mesilate, a genotoxic substanc
Freed doctor plans UN complaint against Libya: Reuters NewMedia - August 7, 2007; AMSTERDAM, Aug 7 (Reuters) - A Palestinian doctor who says he was tortured to confess he deliberately infected hundreds of Libyan children with HIV plans to file a complaint against Libya with a U.N. human rights panel, his lawyer said on Tuesday. Ashraf Alhajouj and five Bulgarian nurses were freed on July 24, after m
Pfizer wins U.S. approval for new HIV drug: Reuters NewMedia - August 6, 2007; Lewis Krauskopf; NEW YORK, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that U.S. regulators approved its AIDS drug Selzentry, the first in an new class of oral HIV medicines. Selzentry is the first drug designed to keep the HIV virus that causes AIDS from entering healthy immune cells. Older AIDS medic
Hollywood producers to make film about HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - August 6, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA (Reuters) - Hollywood filmmakers hope to bring to the big screen the eight-year ordeal of six foreign medics convicted of deliberately injecting 460 Libyan children with the HIV virus. Sixth Sense Productions Inc, which helped raise funding for Oscar-nominated genocide drama Hotel Rwanda , said the five
Niger's religious leaders unite to fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - August 6, 2007; Abdoulaye Massalatchi; NIAMEY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders in Niger have joined together to try to teach the impoverished country s young people how to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS. The religious leaders formed an alliance meant to lend weight to government efforts to combat the spread of the disease, inc
Indian court rejects Novartis patent challenge: Reuters NewMedia - August 6, 2007; S. Murari; CHENNAI, India , Aug 6 (Reuters) - An Indian court rejected on Monday a challenge by Novartis to Indian law that denies patents for minor improvements to known drugs, and the Swiss drug giant said it was unlikely to appeal. The closely-watched case in the Madras High Court had become a key battle in the long-running wa
Pfizer's SelzentryTM (Maraviroc) Tablets, novel treatment for HIV, approved by FDA: Reuters NewMedia - August 6, 2007; Co announces that the FDA has approved SelzentryTM (maraviroc) tablets, the first in a new class of oral HIV medicines in more than 10 years. Selzentry blocks viral entry into white blood cells, significantly reducing viral load and increasing T-cell counts in treatment-experienced patients infected with a specific typ
S. Africa HIV/AIDS rate falls on behavior change: minister: Reuters NewMedia - August 2, 2007; Muchena Zigomo and Bate Felix; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among pregnant women in South Africa has fallen for the first time in eight years, pointing to a possible decline across the entire population, the health minister said on Thursday. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, speaking at the release of an annual report that tracks infe
Bulgaria forgives $56.6 mln of Libyan debt: Reuters NewMedia - August 2, 2007; SOFIA, Aug 2 (Reuters) - The Bulgarian government agreed on Thursday to forgive $56.6 million in Soviet-era debt owed by Libya and said the money would instead be paid into an international fund to help Libyan HIV/AIDS victims. The announcement follows the release by Libya last week of six medics -- five Bulgarian nurs
New TB vaccine shows promise in animal studies: Reuters NewMedia - August 1, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A new tuberculosis vaccine has shown promise in animal studies, researchers said on Wednesday, raising hope it might replace the current vaccine that has failed to stop one of the world s top killers. If all goes well, human trials of the new vaccine with some modifications to make it safe
Strait-laced Chechens admit AIDS is a problem: Reuters NewMedia - August 1, 2007; GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - In Chechnya, a society built on traditional values that has been fighting a separatist war for a decade, even talking about AIDS has been taboo. But faced with a growing HIV/AIDS problem, the leadership of the Russian republic is being forced to confront the problem. At a public ceremony
HIV survey reveals Nepal girls' plight in India: Reuters NewMedia - July 31, 2007; HONG KONG (Reuters) - Nearly 40 percent of Nepalese women and girls rescued after being forced into prostitution in India are HIV positive, a study by the Harvard School of Public Health has found. Appearing in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association , the study highlights concerns o
India to step up fight against HIV in children: Reuters NewMedia - July 31, 2007; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India launched a drive on Tuesday to supply drugs to tens of thousands of mothers and newborns to stop HIV transmission to infants. India has the world s third highest HIV caseload, after South Africa and Nigeria , with around 2.5 million people living with the virus -- of wh
HIV-positive prisoner threatens Indian jailers: Reuters NewMedia - July 30, 2007; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An HIV-positive Indian prisoner has threatened to infect inmates and officials if he is not given special privileges, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported on Monday. The 24-year-old man -- charged with attempted murder, robbery and assault -- has been threatening to injure himself and touch jail
Bicycling banker shoots for $1 mln to battle AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 30, 2007; LUSAKA (Reuters) - Former investment banker Thabang Skwambane said on Friday he plans to raise $1 million for AIDS orphans and poor kids during a nine-week bicycle trip across Africa that ends with a climb up Mount Kilimanjaro. I am doing this because in Africa we have a problem of standing with a bowl to beg from the
China bans AIDS rights meeting, group says: Reuters NewMedia - July 29, 2007; BEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) - China has banned AIDS activists from holding a meeting on the rights of people with the disease, one of the organisers said on Sunday, citing official fears over foreign involvement in the sensitive subject. The conference would have brought together 50 Chinese and foreign experts and activ
Czechs, Qatar paid into HIV children fund - Libya: Reuters NewMedia - July 28, 2007; TRIPOLI, July 28 (Reuters) - The Czech Republic , Slovakia , Qatar and Bulgaria contributed to an international fund to treat hundreds of children who contracted HIV at a Libyan hospital and support their families, Libya said on Saturday.
China's Hunan to HIV test "recreational workers": Reuters NewMedia - July 27, 2007; BEIJING, July 27 (Reuters) - HIV tests will be compulsory for workers at recreational venues in Hunan Province in central China , to try and stem an increase in sexually transmitted diseases, the Xinhua news agency said on Friday. Prostitution is rampant in China, which also has hundreds of millions of migrant workers
Hotels told to provide condoms: Reuters NewMedia - July 27, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China has ordered all hotels, holiday resorts and public showers to provide condoms, part of nationwide efforts to fight the spread of AIDS, a newspaper said on Friday. The regulation, issued by the commerce and health ministries, also required pamphlets about AIDS prevention to be displayed, the Be
Libya protests over pardons for HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA (Reuters) - Libya accused Bulgaria on Thursday of violating an agreement between the two countries by pardoning six medical workers convicted of intentionally infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. Libya s formal protest came a day after the HIV victims families condemned Bulgaria s recklessness and c
OraSure Tech signs agreement with the Supply Chain Mgmt System for supply of OraQuick HIV test to PEPFAR countries: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2007; Co announces the execution of an agreement for the supply of its OraQuick Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test to the Supply Chain Management System. Created with funds from the President s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, SCMS procures essential medicines, diagnostic tests and other supplies for the prevention and tr
Palestinian doctor will not forgive Libyan jailors: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA, July 26 (Reuters) - Palestinian doctor Ashraf Alhajouj says he will never forgive Libyan jailors who he says tortured him and five Bulgarian nurses to confess they deliberately infected hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. We were treated like animals. We were tortured in an awful way, with electricity, we were
AIDS conference call for child specific HIV drugs: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2007; Michael Perry; SYDNEY, July 25 (Reuters) - The world s biggest AIDS conference closed on Wednesday with a call for the development of child-specific drugs to ensure millions of HIV-infected children not only survive to adulthood, but also live without damaging side effects from their treatment. We must do more to protect our future,
Polydex Pharmaceuticals says analysis of Ushercell HIV trials reveals difference in seroconversion groups not statistically significant: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2007; Co announces it reported further analysis of HIV results from the trial. The trial of Ushercell was halted in January of this year. Women who seroconverted tested positive for HIV during the course of the clinical trials referred to herein. Latest analysis of the data from the Conrad study showed that the difference in
Bulgaria may forgive Libya debt in HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2007; Tsvetelia Ilieva and Anna Mudeva; SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria is considering writing off Soviet-era debt it is owed by Libya to contribute to a deal that led to the release of six medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV. After more than eight years in jail, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who recently took Bulgarian citizen
West opens arms to Libya but HIV saga continues: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA (Reuters) - Western diplomats rushed to rebuild ties with Libya on Wednesday after Tripoli freed six foreign medics convicted of infecting children with HIV, but the victims families called for them to be returned to jail. A day after setting the medical workers free and shrugging off a diplomatic millstone that
Progenics Pharma presents additional positive clinical results for HIV-Entry Inhibitor PRO 140: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2007; Co reports positive preclinical findings for a subcutaneous form of PRO 140 which will be advanced into clinical trials later this year. New data from the phase 1b trial presented included the detailed kinetics of the antiviral effects. In the high-dose group, significant viral load reductions were observed four days a
Pfizer's maraviroc reduces HIV viral load in treatment-naive patients, 48 week data show: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2007; Co announces rates of virologic suppression in patients receiving Pfizer s CCR5 antagonist, maraviroc, compared to efavirenz were 70.6% vs. 73.1% for less than 400 copies/ml and 65.3% vs. 69.3% at less than50 copies/ml in the full analysis set study population, according to a presentation at the International AIDS Soci
Drought, disease, poverty hitting southern Africa: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS, July 24 (Reuters) - Drought, AIDS and chronic poverty in the landlocked southern African states of Lesotho , Swaziland and Zimbabwe are putting hundreds of thousands at risk of hunger, a U.N. official said on Tuesday. You have got very severe drought in three countries, some of th
Boehringer to compare Aptivus with J&J's AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, July 24, 2007; FRANKFURT, July 24 (Reuters) - Boehringer Ingelheim wants to know if its AIDS drug Aptivus is as good as Johnson & Johnson s (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Prezista for treating patients who do not first improve with other treatment, the German drugmaker said on Tuesday. Boehringer said in a statement the ma
Early treatment sees more HIV babies survive: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Michael Perry; SYDNEY, July 24 (Reuters) - HIV-infected babies have a greater chance of survival if they receive treatment before they show signs of illness or a weakened immune system, the International AIDS Society (IAS) was told on Tuesday. A study of infants in Cape Town and Soweto in South Africa , which began in 2005, found
Merck: ISENTRESS in combination therapy demonstrated HIV RNA reduction comparable to Efavirenz in treatment-naive HIV-positive patients: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Co announces results from an ongoing 48 week Phase II study of ISENTRESS, an investigational oral HIV integrase inhibitor, under development by MRK, in combination with tenofovir and lamivudine demonstrated that ISENTRESS provided reductions in HIV R.N.A to undetectable levels of less than 50 copies/mL (83 to 88% of pa
HIV medics freed from Libya after 8-year ordeal: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA, July 24 (Reuters) - Six foreign medics convicted of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV were freed on Tuesday after a partnership deal between Tripoli and the European Union ended their eight-year ordeal. Their return to Bulgaria ends what Libya s critics called a human rights scandal and
Modern technology and ancient surgery battle AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Michael Perry; SYDNEY (Reuters) - The emergence of new and improved drugs, genetic engineering and the ancient surgical practice of circumcision are the latest weapons in the fight against AIDS, the International AIDS Society conference was told on Tuesday. A new batch of drugs that slow the progress of HIV in patients and geneticall
Phase IIa study results demonstrate that once-daily 200 mg dosing of Incyte's INCB9471 provided antiviral activity in HIV-infected patients: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Co announces results from a 14-day Phase IIa clinical trial, presented today at the International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, demonstrate that INCB9471, an investigational drug for the treatment of HIV-1, provided a significant decline in viral load when used as monotherapy in
Circumcision could save millions from AIDS: studies: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2007; Jane Lee; SYDNEY (Reuters) - Millions of new HIV infections in Africa could be avoided if more men were circumcised, an International AIDS Society conference was told on Tuesday. Studies in Africa have found that male circumcision, the world s oldest surgical procedure dating back to 2300 BC, reduces HIV transmission from female
Clinton pilots subsidized malaria drugs in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 23, 2007; Emmanuel Kwitema; DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton launched a program on Sunday to make subsidized malaria drugs available in Tanzania in a test scheme that could serve as a blueprint for Africa as a whole. The project will make life-saving ACT drugs available at 90 percent less than the current market price to a
New interim results demonstrate high response rate with Trimeris's FUZEON plus darunavir regardless of existing protease inhibitor resistance: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 23, 2007; Roche and co announce interim results from BLQ (Below the Level of Quantification), an ongoing study evaluating the use of FUZEON with the most recently-approved boosted protease inhibitor, darunavir/ ritonavir , in combination with other anti-HIV drugs. The data show that almost two-thirds of three-class, treatment-ex
Medical "brain drain" hindering AIDS battle: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 23, 2007; Michael Perry; SYDNEY (Reuters) - The biggest challenge in the global fight against AIDS is no longer money for drug research and treatment but the lack of local health services in nations worst-hit by the disease, the World Bank said on Monday. While some two million people were now receiving treatment for HIV-AIDS, the lack of heal
Adventrx Pharma combination therapy demonstrates synergistic inhibition of HIV-1 in preclinical tests: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 23, 2007; Co announces it presented results demonstrating synergistic HIV inhibitory activity of the co s broad spectrum antiviral drug candidate, ANX-201, when combined with approved nucleoside and nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors in preclinical tests.
AIDS women fight fear and stigma as well as disease: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 23, 2007; Jane Lee; SYDNEY, July 23 (Reuters) - When Papua New Guinea s Maura Elaripe was diagnosed with HIV she thought it was a death sentence, but 10 years later she is still fighting the disease and the fear and stigma associated with it in her homeland. The 31-year-old former nurse said many afflicted with the disease are left untrea
Bulgaria seeks quick deal with Libya for HIV nurses: Reuters NewMedia - July 23, 2007; TRIPOLI, July 23 (Reuters) - Bulgaria said it hoped Libya would finalise a deal on Monday to free six foreign medics convicted of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, a move that would boost Tripoli s relations with the West. Libya lifted death sentences against the medics last week but is now asking for nor
EU aide, French first lady in Libya for HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 23, 2007; Paul Taylor; BRUSSELS, July 23 (Reuters) - A top European Commission official and France s first lady have travelled to Libya to seek the release of six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV. The European Union s executive said in a statement on Sunday that EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-
Major HIV/AIDS conference opens in Sydney: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday, July 22, 2007; Michael Smith; SYDNEY (Reuters) - The world s biggest scientific HIV/AIDS conference opened in Australia on Sunday with experts calling for more funding for research and new findings which suggest male circumcision can reduce infection by 60 percent. About 5,000 delegates from more than 130 countries are attending the conference in S
Rwanda launches key test of WTO drug patent waiver: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 20, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA, July 20 (Reuters) - Rwanda plans to import a generic HIV/AIDS medicine made in Canada , making it the first country to test a World Trade Organisation waiver on drug patents, the WTO said on Friday. In a filing to the global trade arbiter, Rwanda said it intended to import 260,000 packs of TriAvir, a fixed-dose
Samaritan Pharma announces preliminary results in a Phase IIb study for its oral HIV entry inhibitor: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 20, 2007; Co announces its oral HIV entry inhibitor SP-01A, being developed as an adjunct treatment for HIV drug resistance, has received positive preliminary results in a Phase IIb 28-Day Monotherapy Study.
European committee issues positive opinion of Monogram Biosciences's Celsentri for treatment-experienced patients infected with CCR5-tropic HIV-1: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 20, 2007; Co announces that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency issued a positive opinion recommending marketing authorization of collaborator Pfizer s (PFE) investigational HIV medication Celsentri - a CCR5 antagonist for use along with other antiretroviral agents for treatment-ex
EU dangles better ties with Libya over HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 20, 2007; BRUSSELS, July 20 (Reuters) - The European Union held out the prospect on Friday of a quick boost to relations with Libya if the fate of six jailed foreign medics is resolved in a satisfactory way. The 27-nation EU is asking for the five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who became a Bulgarian citizen recently
Samaritan's oral HIV entry inhibitor shows promise: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 20, 2007; July 20 (Reuters) - Samaritan Pharmaceuticals Inc. (LIV.A: Quote, Profile, Research) said its oral HIV entry inhibitor showed promise in preliminary results from a mid-stage trial. The biopharmaceutical company said the HIV entry inhibitor SP-01A is being developed as an adjunct treatment for HIV drug resistance. (R
Scientists detect 3 genes that control HIV levels: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists have pinpointed three genes that help some HIV-infected people rein in the virus and postpone the onset of AIDS in a finding that may help guide vaccine and drug development, they said Thursday. They identified variations in the three genes that may help the immune systems of some peop
EU backs Pfizer HIV drug facing U.S. delay: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2007; NEW YORK, July 19 (Reuters) - The scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency said on Friday it had recommended approval of Pfizer Inc. s (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Celsentri, a new type of treatment for HIV whose approval has been delayed in the United States . The Committee
Gilead profit rises on sales of HIV fighters: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2007; LOS ANGELES, July 19 (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday its second-quarter profit rose 54 percent on strong demand for its drugs that combat HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The maker of Truvada and Atripla,
Bulgaria asks Libya to transfer HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2007; SOFIA, July 19 (Reuters) - Bulgaria asked Libya on Thursday to allow it to take custody of six foreign medics jailed for infecting hundreds of children with HIV after Tripoli commuted their death sentences to life imprisonment. After intensive diplomatic talks and payment of hundreds of millions of dollars to the famil
HIV patients build normal immune strength in study: Reuters NewMedia - 18 July 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - AIDS drug cocktails may be able to restore the ravaged immune systems of some people infected with HIV, researchers reported on Wednesday. Immune cells known as CD4 T-cells returned to normal levels in an ideal group of patients, picked because they responded optimally to a combination o
Syphilis prompts HIV fears in Malagasy mining town: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2007; ANTANANARIVO, July 18 (Reuters) - A spike in syphilis infections in a major Malagasy mining town could point to an HIV epidemic there in future, an official said on Wednesday. Syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease, is passed from one person to another by direct contact with a sore -- and it can facilitate HIV infect
World struggling to treat HIV-AIDS: report: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2007; Michael Perry; SYDNEY (Reuters) - Global AIDS treatment will fall far short of a universal target to have five million people being treated by 2010, due to a continued lack of access to drugs by many of the world s impoverished people, said a new report. The report analyzing AIDS treatment in 17 countries and titled Missing the Targe
Bulgaria, EU move to secure freedom for HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA, July 18 (Reuters) - Bulgaria and the European Union called on Libya on Wednesday to transfer six foreign medics to Sofia, after Tripoli lifted their death sentences for infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus. The five Bulgarian nurses and the Palestinian doctor, who have spent more than eight years in
U.S. officials to review Gilead AIDS drug patents: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2007; WASHINGTON, July 18 (Reuters) - U.S. patent officials have agreed to review the validity of four patents on a Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) AIDS drug, the nonprofit group that challenged the patents said on Wednesday. The patents apply to tenofovir
UNAIDS chief sees signs of progress in China: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2007; Ben Blanchard; BEIJING, July 17 (Reuters) - There are signs for optimism in China s fight against HIV/AIDS such as growing use of anti-retrovirals, but harassment of civil society activists remains a worry, a top U.N. official said on Tuesday. Peter Piot, head of the United Nations AIDS agency UNAIDS , said Chinese government and
Bio-Rad Labs signs two multi-year agreements with Quest Diagnostics: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2007; Co announces that the co has signed two multi-year agreements with Quest Diagnostics (DGX) to place BioPlex 2200 systems and autoimmune test reagents as well as BIO s HIV-1/HIV-2 PLUS O E.I.A assay, which allows DGX to detect HIV-1 and HIV-2 in their network of reference laboratories nationwide. Terms of the agreements
Libya lifts death sentences on medics in HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2007; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI, July 17 (Reuters) - Libya lifted death sentences on Tuesday against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of deliberately infecting children with HIV, paving the way for them to be freed after eight years in jail. The ruling, following a payment of $1 million each to 460 HIV victims familie
Bulgaria to ask Libya to transfer HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2007; SOFIA, July 17 (Reuters) - Bulgaria said it would ask Libya to transfer six foreign medics to Sofia after the North African country commuted their death sentences for infecting children with HIV, Bulgaria s foreign minister said on Tuesday. This decision is a big step ... For us the case will end once they come back t
New clue for HIV drug side effects: study: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2007; Ishani Ganguli; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have a new clue about why a widely used AIDS drug has certain side effects such as mysterious fat deposits, they reported on Monday. Parallels between the side effects of protease inhibitors -- a critical component of HIV drug cocktails -- and genetic conditions that cause early aging
Libya lifts death sentences on medics in HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2007; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya lifted death sentences on Tuesday against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor convicted of deliberately infecting children with HIV, paving the way for them to be freed after eight years in jail. The ruling by Libya s highest judicial body, made possible by a financial settlement of
Don't trust your man, Indian minister tells women: Reuters NewMedia - July 16, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI, July 16 (Reuters) - Indian men cannot be trusted in their sexual behaviour and are fuelling the country s HIV epidemic, a female government minister said on Monday, slamming the country s hypocrisy about sex. Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury said Indian women should protect themselves fr
Libya Postpones Decision on Medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 16, 2007; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s top judiciary body has put off until Tuesday a ruling on the fate of six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV. The High Judicial Council has put off its decision on the items left from its schedule until tomorrow morning (Tuesday), state news agency Jana r
Malawi Unveils Mass HIV Testing Campaign: Report: Reuters NewMedia - July 16, 2007; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Health officials in Malawi were preparing on Monday to launch a massive HIV testing programme to identify tens of thousands of people unknowingly infected with the virus in the southern African nation. Many of the estimated 14 percent of Malawian adults who are HIV-positive do not know they are
S.Africa to raise nurses' pay by 20 percent: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 13, 2007; JOHANNESBURG, July 13 (Reuters) - AIDS-hit South Africa , which has seen many health workers leave for better pay overseas, will raise nurses salaries by around 20 percent in an effort to keep more at home, the health minister said on Friday. The announcement followed a pay strike by public servants last month which cr
EU kept in dark about Libya trip by Sarkozy's wife: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 13, 2007; BRUSSELS, July 13 (Reuters) - France kept European partners in the dark about a trip by President Nicolas Sarkozy s wife Cecilia to Libya to visit Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting children with HIV, an EU source said on Friday. The European Commission has been patiently negotiating with Tripoli for y
More child rape cases reported in Burundi: UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, July 13, 2007; GENEVA (Reuters) - More and more children in Burundi have reported being raped or sexually abused by men in uniform, in a climate of impunity from prosecution, the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday. Bintou Keita, UNICEF representative in Burundi, said the Bujumbura government needed help to reform
Diaphragms no extra help against AIDS, study finds: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday July 12, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Giving women diaphragms to use in addition to condoms provides no extra protection against the AIDS virus, researchers reported on Thursday. The hope was that a female-controlled method of contraception might give women a little extra protection against the virus, especially when so many men are
EU optimistic on HIV medics after Libya talks: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2007; BRUSSELS, July 12 (Reuters) - A top European Union official said on Thursday she was cautiously optimistic Libya shared the EU s aim of reaching a deal on the fate of six foreign medics facing death sentences for infecting children with HIV. I am cautiously optimistic that we have reached a point where we all want to s
Hungry Lesotho declares food crisis: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2007; Muchena Zigomo; JOHANNESBURG, July 12 (Reuters) - The impoverished African kingdom of Lesotho has declared an official food crisis after bad harvests left more than 400,000 people in need of food aid, a U.N. agency said. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Lesotho s government had declare
EU pledges easier drug access for poorer nations: Reuters NewMedia - 11 July 2007; Huw Jones; STRASBOURG, France , July 11 (Reuters) - The European Union will exclude medicine patent provisions from future trade deals with poorer countries to ease their access to cheaper drugs, the bloc s executive Commission said on Wednesday. The European Commission is responsible for negotiating trade agreements for the 27-n
China orders video monitoring of blood collection: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China, reeling from a series of health scandals, has ordered video surveillance at blood collection centers across the country in a bid to stamp out a persistent black market trade, state media reported on Wednesday. The order comes after six people were jailed for illegally soliciting blood from mi
Libya court upholds death sentence on medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI, July 11 (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court upheld death sentences on Wednesday against six foreign medics for infecting Libyan children with HIV, but officials said they could win a reprieve next week. Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said the government-controlled High Judicial Council, which has
Chinese roll up for condom fashion show: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - Condoms of all shapes and sizes were on display at a Beijing fashion show on Wednesday featuring dresses, hats and even lollipops made of the said item. Models fought through extravagant soap bubble special effects to show off tight-fitting wedding gowns, scaly-looking evening dresses, outrageous bi
FACTBOX - AIDS and the mining sector: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; LONDON, July 11 (Reuters) - South America, Africa and Asia -- the world s three main mining continents -- face a major health challenge as workers risk infection with AIDS, hampering operations at a time of booming demand for minerals. Here are some key questions about mining and AIDS -- the world s leading cause of de
Is HIV a time bomb under the mining industry?: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; Anna Stablum; LONDON (Reuters) - From Africa to Russia , from Peru to China , mining companies face a problem: the workers who haul up the earth s riches are coming down with AIDS, and it is hampering operations at a time of booming demand for minerals.
EU says confident of accord on Libyan HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; STRASBOURG, France , July 11 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Wednesday it was confident of finding a solution to free five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor after their death sentences were upheld in Libya for infecting children with HIV. We regret that these decisions have been taken, but I would a
"My wife got HIV from me" - South African miner: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; CARLETONVILLE, South Africa , July 11 (Reuters) - Bongani is a South African miner who has AIDS. The 28-year-old, whose name doctors have changed to protect patient confidentiality, is one of thousands with the disease at mining group Gold Fields, which launched an AIDS programme in 2000 and started offering anti-retro
US health group opposes Bush surgeon general pick: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - A leading public health group opposed President George W. Bush s surgeon general nominee on Wednesday, a day before Dr. James Holsinger, already under fire by Democrats and gay rights groups, faces a tough Senate confirmation hearing. The American Public Health Association, founded in 18
U.S. says Libya should send medics home: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States urged Libya on Wednesday to immediately allow six foreign medics to return home after the country s Supreme Court upheld death sentences against them for infecting children with HIV. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack held out hope that Libya s government-controlled High
TIMELINE: Libyan trials of foreign medics: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld death sentences on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, a judge said. Following is a chronology of key events in the case: February 1999 - Nineteen Bulgarian medical workers are detained in i
FACTBOX - Profiles of foreign medics in Libyan HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2007; July 11 (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld death sentences on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, a judge said. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were convicted in December 2006 of deliberately infecting 426
Take an AIDS test, win a truck - one miner's lure: Reuters NewMedia - July 10, 2007; Eric Onstad; CARLETONVILLE, South Africa (Reuters) - After years of limited success cajoling and pleading with miners to take voluntary tests to check their HIV status, mining firm Gold Fields adopted modern marketing tactics. We said let s up the game, let s dangle a carrot so people can come and know their status , said Stella N
Zambia bans use of AIDS drug, may seek compensation: Reuters NewMedia - July 10, 2007; Shapi Shacinda; LUSAKA, July 10 (Reuters) - Zambia has banned the use of an imported HIV/AIDS drug that was recently recalled in Europe due to contamination and might seek compensation from the company that manufactures it, a senior Zambian official said on Tuesday. Viracept , an HIV medication commonl
Bulgarian families see no quick end to Libya case: Reuters NewMedia - July 10, 2007; Anna Mudeva; SOFIA, July 10 (Reuters) - Bulgarian nurse Snezhana Dimitrova has spent eight years in a Libyan jail and her family is convinced that a court there will on Wednesday confirm the death sentences passed on her and five other foreign medics. There will be another death sentence. It is clear, said Ivailo, her 34-year-old s
China minister says blood donation worries remain: Reuters NewMedia - July 9, 2007; BEIJING, July 9 (Reuters) - China faces a problem with a lack of blood donors in some areas, improper health screening and absence of local government concern, a deputy health minister was quoted as saying on Monday. China has promoted voluntary blood donations for decades and while they fulfil 95 percent of needs, the
AIDS-striken Africa comes to Australia in exhibit: Reuters NewMedia - July 9, 2007; Jane Lee; SYDNEY, July 9 - You are about to step into Africa promises the sign outside a white tent in downtown Sydney, just a walk away from designer boutiques. World Vision last week launched One Life Experience , an interactive walk-through exhibition that gives visitors the chance to experience life through the eyes of impov
Roche signs up to $1 bln deal with Alnylam on RNAi: Reuters NewMedia - July 9, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON/ZURICH, July 9 (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) has signed a deal worth up to $1 billion with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ALNY.O: Quote, Profile, Research), giving it access to the U.S. firm s skills in the new science of RNA interference. The agreement is the largest drug discov
Thailand seeks deeper drug price cuts than Brazil deal: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2007; Darren Schuettler; BANGKOK, July 6 (Reuters) - Thailand wants deeper price cuts than Brazil agreed with Abbott Laboratories Inc (ABT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) this week to prevent it breaking the patent on its AIDS drug Kaletra , a Thai health official said o
India's HIV cases plunge by nearly half - survey: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2007; NEW DELHI, July 6 (Reuters) - The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in India is between 2 and 3.1 million, around half of previous official estimates, according to new U.N.-backed government estimates released on Friday. India was thought to have the world s biggest HIV-positive caseload but the new estimate puts i
FACTBOX-Five facts about India's HIV threat: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2007; July 6 (Reuters) - India , thought to have the most HIV infected people in the world, announced dramatically lower U.N.-backed estimates on Friday, more than halving the figure to 2.47 million. The new numbers put India behind South Africa and Nigeria . Here are five facts about
India's HIV cases highly overestimated, survey shows: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The number of people living with HIV/AIDS in India is 2.47 million, less than half of previous official estimates, according to new U.N.-backed government estimates released on Friday. India was thought to have the world s biggest HIV-positive caseload with 5.7 million infections but the new estim
Brazil Gets Abbott Discount: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2007; BRASILIA -- Abbott Laboratories said it will cut the price it charges Brazil for its Kaletra AIDS drug 29.5% as part of a strategy to lower costs for developing nations. The lower price for Kaletra, a combination of the drugs lopina
New drug combo helps HIV patients with few options: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2007; WASHINGTON, July 5 (Reuters) - A combination of two experimental AIDS drugs can help control the deadly virus in people who are infected with highly resistant forms, an international team of researchers reported on Thursday. The two drugs -- called etravirine, or TMC125, and darunavir, or TMC114 -- are both made by Tib
Soccer stars to honor Mandela on his birthday: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2007; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa will celebrate Nelson Mandela s 89th birthday this month with an all-star soccer match to raise funds for HIV/AIDS, organizers said on Thursday. More than 50 past and present international players including Brazilian legend Pele and three-time African player of the year Samuel Eto
India HIV caseload seen dramatically lower: Reuters NewMedia - July 4, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India has fewer than 2.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, a senior health official said on Wednesday, nearly 60 percent lower than the 5.7 million estimated by the United Nations. India has been ranked with the world s biggest HIV-positive caseload, but the dramatically lower new figure based
Brazil says Abbott to cut price of AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - July 4, 2007; BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil s health ministry said Wednesday that Abbott Laboratories Inc. agreed to cut the price of its Kaletra AIDS drug by 29.5 percent. The lower price for the drug, also known as lopinavir and
South Africa taps Tunisia, UK for help on health crisis: Reuters NewMedia - July 4, 2007; Paul Simao; PRETORIA, July 4 (Reuters) - South Africa is recruiting some 1,000 doctors from Tunisia and luring back medical professionals from Britain and elsewhere to reverse a brain drain that has hit its public health system, its health minister said on Wednesday. Thousands of doctors, nurses and medical assistants have lef
HIV-positive Vietnamese send message through arts: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, July 3, 2007; Grant McCool; NHA TRANG, Vietnam - Vietnamese choreographer Ke Doan says his attitude changed toward people with HIV and AIDS after he helped create performances that tell their stories through dance, music and song. At first I was afraid that when practicing I would have to hold their hand or hug them or hold them up and whether th
FACTBOX-U.N. progress report on development goals: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 2, 2007; Following are highlights of a United Nations report charting progress on the Millennium Development Goals, eight international targets adopted in 2000 that are due to be met by 2015. * GOAL 1 - ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY AND HUNGER - The number of people in developing nations living on less than $1 a day fell to 980 mil
Millennium targets at risk without new funds - U.N.: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, July 2, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA, July 2 - The world will struggle to meet U.N. goals to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015, but it can be done if rich countries boost their international aid budgets, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Monday. Presenting a report at the mid-point to the deadline, Ban blamed a lack of development funds fo
FACTBOX: What the stars said about Diana at concert: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday, July 1, 2007; An international lineup of pop stars paid tribute to Princess Diana on Sunday at a concert watched by her sons Princes William and Harry and a crowd of 60,000. Here is what the stars and politicians said about Diana: FERGIE (before concert): I just remember her being a humanitarian, using her celebrity to make people n
India looking for "Mr Condom": Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2007; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India , struggling to promote greater condom use among its population, is looking to hire its own condom man to follow the example of a former Thai cabinet minister who successfully pushed for safer sex, the Times of India reported. National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) chief Sujatha Rao said
U.S. Senate panel OKs aid to foreign abortion groups: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Senate committee on Thursday joined the House of Representatives in defying a White House veto threat and moving to reverse a ban on contraception aid to overseas groups that offer abortion. The Senate Appropriations Committee included the proposal in a $34.24 billion foreign aid bill that also
Genmab says regains rights to HuMax-CD4: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2007; COPENHAGEN, June 29 (Reuters) - Danish biotech firm Genmab (GEN.CO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it had regained rights to its drug candidate HuMax-CD4 from Merck Serono, saying it planned to expand development in cancer and HIV. The worldwide rights to HuMax-CD4 were licensed to Merck Serono in August 2005
U.S. tracks serious form of syphilis in gay men: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A particularly serious form of the sexually transmitted bacterial disease syphilis has been detected in gay and bisexual U.S. men infected with the AIDS virus, federal health officials reported on Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tracked 49 HIV-infected gay and bisexu
Wars don't fuel African HIV crisis: study: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - War, refugee crises and large-scale rape of women in sub-Saharan African nations have not spawned higher HIV infection rates in this region hard hit by AIDS, according to a study contradicting a common belief. Writing in the Lancet medical journal on Thursday, researchers said they tracked HIV in
U.S. Democrats battle for black votes in debate: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2007; John Whitesides, Political Correspondent; WASHINGTON, June 28 (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and the other Democratic presidential contenders battled for black support on Thursday with attacks on the ravages of racism and promising to lift up the poor. In a debate at historically black Howard University in Washington, the eight Democrats condemned a
India's HIV caseload may fall by nearly two-thirds: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI, June 28 (Reuters) - The number of HIV-positive people in India could be nearly two thirds lower than previously estimated, a senior official said on Thursday, as donors and government worked to establish the true figure. India is said to have 5.7 million people living with the virus, the world s highest case
Myanmar Frees Agitators For Suu Kyi Release: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2007; YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar s military government has freed all but one of 52 people detained for holding prayer vigils for the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said on Thursday. So far as we can confirm, 51 out of the 52 have been released from four different det
Needle sticks endanger surgeons-in-training: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2007; Gene Emery; BOSTON, June 27 (Reuters) - Surgeons in training are accidentally stuck with a potentially contaminated needle once every seven months, increasing the risk that they will develop AIDS or hepatitis, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. Many do not bother to report it, the researchers said in the New England Journal o
Merck wins speedy U.S. review for HIV drug: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2007; NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - Merck & Co. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday said U.S. regulators will review its experimental HIV drug Isentress on a priority basis, and that it anticipates a decision on the first in a new class of medicines by mid-October. Merck said the drug, if approved, would be us
World Bank gives Kenya $80 mln to help fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2007; NAIROBI (Reuters) - The World Bank has approved an $80 million credit to help Kenya in its fight against AIDS, which the government says kills hundreds of people daily. The money will be used to improve governance in the state-run National AIDS Control Council, which coordinates activities of non-governmental organizat
Health Workers Jailed In Kazakh Baby AIDS Death Case: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2007; SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan (Reuters) - A Kazakh court jailed 17 health workers on Wednesday for infecting dozens of babies with HIV/AIDS but provoked outrage from parents for sparing four senior officials from incarceration. The 21 doctors and officials went on trial in the southern city of Shymkent in January on charges of
Brazil health chief takes on bishops, beer drinkers: Reuters NewMedia - June 26, 2007; Andrea Welsh; BRASILIA, June 26 (Reuters) - Brazil s new health minister has upset people from bishops to beer-drinkers in his few months in the job. But Jose Gomes Temporao has also won fans among social activists, pro-abortion groups and Brazil s poor. The outspoken Temporao has emerged as the most contentious member of President
Laura Bush pushes education, AIDS fight in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - June 26, 2007; Nick Tattersall; DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Laura Bush began a four-nation tour of Africa in Senegal s capital Dakar on Tuesday, pledging Washington s support in improving education and combating AIDS on the world s poorest continent. The five-day trip, during which Bush will visit Mozambique ,
Kenya says AIDS rate down to 5.9 percent: Reuters NewMedia - June 25, 2007; NAIROBI, June 25 (Reuters) - Kenya s AIDS rate has dropped to 5.9 percent and should fall further in coming years, but hundreds a day still die from it, authorities said on Monday. Although we have made impressive progress in fighting AIDS, we still face a big challenge ahead of us, minister of state for special progra
Gilead says drug meets goal of hepatitis B trial: Reuters NewMedia - June 25, 2007; BOSTON, June 25 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday that a late-stage clinical trial evaluating its top-selling HIV drug Viread as a treatment for hepatitis B met its main goal of showing it to be as effective as the company s drug Hepsera.
Gilead Sciences' second Phase III study evaluating Gilead's Viread for the treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B Virus meets primary endpoint: Reuters NewMedia - June 25, 2007; Co announced that Study 103, a Phase III clinical trial evaluating the company s once-daily anti-HIV drug Viread 300 mg as a potential treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus infection, met its primary efficacy endpoint. The data show that Viread is non-inferior to the company s once-daily antiviral drug Hepsera among
AIDS-ravaged Mozambique to recruit African doctors: Reuters NewMedia - June 25, 2007; Charles Mangwiro; MAPUTO (Reuters) - Mozambique hopes to recruit 8,000 doctors from other African nations to improve a health-care system battered by one of the continent s worst AIDS epidemics, the country s health minister said on Monday. There are some 650 doctors serving Mozambique s estimated 20 million people. That figure is about
U.S. House backs more contraceptive donations abroad: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, June 22, 2007; Richard Cowan; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives ignored a White House veto threat and voted on Thursday to allow government donations of contraceptives to family planning groups outside the United States even though they engage in abortion activities. By a vote of 223-201, the House voted to lift the prohibiti
Africa faces better food year but crises remain: Reuters NewMedia - Friday June 22, 2007; Peter Apps; LONDON (Reuters) - Most of Africa has seen better rains and better harvests than in recent years, aid workers say, but they fear a looming crisis in Somalia while drought and HIV are slashing crop output in parts of southern Africa. Last year saw a serious drought in East Africa, while 2005 saw a food crisis in
EU agrees care for Libya HIV children: source: Reuters NewMedia - Friday June 22, 2007; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - EU officials trying to free six medics jailed in Libya for infecting 426 children with HIV have offered medical care for the children but have yet to agree on compensation for their families, a Libyan source said on Friday. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were sentenced to death i
Ancient viral battle left people vulnerable to HIV: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, June 21, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A battle won by human ancestors against a virus that infected chimpanzees and other primates millions of years ago may have left people today more vulnerable to the AIDS virus, scientists said on Thursday. That ancient battle helped humans evolve and rely on a gene that may not protect so well ag
Families of Bulgarian HIV nurses plead EU to help: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, June 21, 2007; Ingrid Melander; BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Families of foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS urged European Union leaders in Brussels on Thursday to help clinch a deal to end their nightmare . Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were convicted in December of deliberately i
Signs "encouraging" on Libya HIV nurses, but no deal yet: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, June 21, 2007; Ingrid Melander and Mark John; BRUSSELS (Reuters) - An international fund and families of HIV-infected children in Libya have not yet agreed a financial package for them, a lawyer for foreign medics sentenced to death in the case said on Thursday. However, the lawyer and European Union officials said there were grounds for optimism that an accord co
New Pfizer AIDS drug approval delayed: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, June 20, 2007; NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday that U.S. health regulators will approve its novel AIDS drug called maraviroc once certain conditions have been met, although the world s biggest drugmaker did not elaborate on what was necessary to obtain outright approval.
Panacos Pharma announces substantial antiviral response in bevirimat 250 mg cohort, data support further dose escalation in phase 2b study: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, June 20, 2007; Co announces preliminary results from the 250 mg cohort of a Phase 2b study of bevirimat in patients failing H.I.V therapy due to drug resistance. Bevirimat plasma concentrations and antiviral effect were approximately double those seen in the first Phase 2b cohort that had used a suboptimal tablet formulation. No safe
TIMELINE: Libyan trials of foreign medics: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, June 20, 2007; (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court will rule on July 11 on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV, its top judge said. Following is a chronology of key events in the case: February 1999 - Nineteen Bulgarian medical workers are detained in investigation into how children
FACTBOX: Profiles of foreign medics in Libyan HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, June 20, 2007; (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court will rule on July 11 on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV, its top judge said. The case is reserved for a verdict on July 11, the judge, Fathi Dhan, told the court. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were convicted
Libya Court hears medics appeal in HIV cases: Reuters NewMedia- Wednesday, June 20, 2007; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI, June 20 (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court will rule in July on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV in a trial that has affected Tripoli s ties with the West. The case is reserved for a verdict on July 11, the judge, Fathi Dhan, told the court on Wednesday.
Libya Sets July 11 For HIV Nurses Ruling: Reuters NewMedia - June 20, 2007; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court will rule on July 11 on an appeal by six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV, marking the final stage of a trial that has affected Libya s ties with the West. The case is reserved for a verdict on July 11, the judge, Fathi Dhan, told the cou
Palestinian in HIV trial gets Bulgaria citizenship: Reuters NewMedia - 19 June, 2007; SOFIA, June 19 (Reuters) - Bulgaria has granted citizenship to a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death along with five Bulgarian nurses for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus, Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said on Tuesday. The decision could help bring him out of Libya if the verdicts are eventua
Half of Papuans unaware of AIDS: Indonesian report: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, June 19, 2007; Adhityani Arga; JAKARTA (Reuters) - Nearly half the people in Indonesia s remote Papua region have never heard of HIV/AIDS despite having the country s highest prevalence rate of the disease, a government study says. While 48 percent of Papuans are unaware of AIDS, the number of cases per 100,000 people in Papua is nearly 20 times the
Medi-Cal expands coverage of baseline HIV resistance testing: Reuters NewMedia - Monday June 18, 2007; Co announced that Medi-Cal has expanded its coverage of HIV resistance testing to include treatment naive patients as well as patients failing therapy. While genotypic resistance testing has traditionally been covered for patients who fail anti-HIV treatment, the expanded coverage allows for baseline genotypic resistan
Libya nurses deal yet to be agreed: families: Reuters NewMedia - June 17, 2007; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Efforts to free six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus have yet to result in a deal on compensation, a group representing the families of the children said on Sunday. Libya s Supreme Court is due to hear an appeal by the five Bulgarian nurses and a Pal
Rwanda village gives AIDS victims second chance: Reuters NewMedia - June 16, 2007; Arthur Asiimwe; MUHANGA, Rwanda (Reuters) - For a decade, Beata Uwitije never slept in her own bed at home. It was always a police cell, an alleyway, a bar or one of her client s homes. But the 37-year-old Rwandan ex-prostitute has made a new start in a village project that aims to re-integrate former sex workers into communities by t
India Film Focuses on Prostitution as Family Trade: Reuters NewMedia - June 15, 2007; MUMBAI (Reuters) - A new film will examine a centuries-old tradition among some underprivileged Indian communities where girls in the family become prostitutes, with their brothers and fathers acting as pimps. Mostly restricted to a few male-dominated ethnic groups in central and southern India, this custom means women
Libyan court to sit on HIV medics trial on June 20: Reuters NewMedia - June 15, 2007; Tsvetelia Ilieva; SOFIA, June 15 (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court will hear an appeal next week by five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death on charges of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus, Bulgaria said on Friday. However, the sitting is unlikely to mark the end of a case that has weighed
AIDS-linked illnesses major causes of S.Africa deaths: Reuters NewMedia - 15 June 2007; Muchena Zigomo; JOHANNESBURG, June 15 (Reuters) - AIDS-related illnesses were among the major causes of death in South Africa in 2005, with the country posting a 3.3 percent jump in the total number of deaths, South Africa s statistical office said. Mortality figures released by Statistics South Africa showed that TB, influenza and pn
Pharmasset presents Clevudine and Racivir data at International HIV drug resistance workshop: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, June 14, 2007; Co announces scientific data presentations about Clevudine and Racivir were made during the 16th International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop. An in vitro study of Clevudine, expected to enter Phase 3 registration clinical trials for the treatment of hepatitis B virus, demonstrated that it does not inhibit human immunode
China says faces threat from illegal blood sales: Reuters NewMedia - June 14, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China still faces a problem with the illegal sale of blood to hospitals, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, years after such trade sparked an AIDS outbreak in the central province of Henan. China has promoted voluntary blood donations for decades and while they fulfill 95 percent of needs, the sy
Interview - HIV rates on the rise in Iran - U.N. official: Reuters NewMedia - June 13, 2007; Fredrik Dahl; TEHRAN - HIV infection rates in Iran are increasing rapidly due both to a growing inflow of cheap heroin from Afghanistan and more sexually transmitted cases, according to a senior United Nations official. Christian Salazar, the world body s coordinator on HIV in Iran, praised the country s progressive and pragmatic
Africa's AIDS epidemic slowing - World Bank: Reuters NewMedia - June 13, 2007; Arthur Asiimwe; KIGALI, June 13 (Reuters) - The pace of Africa s deadly AIDS epidemic is slowing as communities are empowered to help themselves in tandem with better delivery of condoms and live-saving treatments, a World Bank report said on Wednesday. Launched in the Rwandan capital Kigali, the study noted a marked increase in acces
AIDS programs work best when nations take lead: experts: Reuters NewMedia - June 13, 2007; Julie Steenhuysen; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Countries that take the lead in directing domestic efforts against HIV and AIDS seem to have the greatest success, global AIDS experts said on Tuesday. We get the best results in countries where the host government assumes the leadership for the response, said Dr. Tom Kenyon, chief deputy coordinato
Research effort to seek new drugs for TB: Reuters NewMedia - June 13, 2007; Daisuke Wakabayashi; SEATTLE, June 13 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co. (LLY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has joined forces with U.S. health experts in the search for new drugs to fight tuberculosis, which kills someone in the world every 20 seconds, the company said on Wednesday. About 1.6 million people die from TB each year, with the diseas
EU Cites Progress In Bid to Free Bulgarian Nurses: Reuters NewMedia - June 12, 2007; BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union said on Tuesday it made substantial progress in talks with Libya this week to secure the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor held in Libya, but more talks were needed. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and German Foreign Minister Fran
Targeting HIV better than broad screening -study: Reuters NewMedia - June 11, 2007; Julie Steenhuysen; CHICAGO, June 11 (Reuters) - A program targeting people most likely to be infected with HIV and offering counseling to prevent further infection would be far more effective than the government s recommendations for mass testing, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevent
OraSure Tech receives CE mark for OraQuick Advance rapid HIV test: Reuters NewMedia - June 11, 2007; Co announces that it has received approval to affix the CE mark to its OraQuick Advance Rapid HIV-1/2 Antibody Test, which is required to sell this product in the 27 countries that currently make up the European Union.
Drug-users raise risk of HIV in India's heartland: Reuters NewMedia - June 11, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; JIND, India (Reuters) - India s injecting drug problem may be worse than thought, a new survey of the country s breadbasket region shows, worrying health experts and activists who say it could fuel the spread of HIV and AIDS. The UNAIDS-backed survey by the Society for Promotion of Youth and Masses (SPYM) -- a group fi
Bush urges release of Bulgarian nurses in Libya: Reuters NewMedia - June 11, 2007; Caren Bohan and Tsvetelia Ilieva; SOFIA, June 11 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Monday it was a high priority for the United States to win the release of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya for infecting children with HIV. Ending an eight-day European tour in Bulgaria, Bush also called for an exchange of information with
India's "Condom Bar" urges safety first: Reuters NewMedia - June 10, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; CHANDIGARH, India (Reuters) - Jagjit Singh and Ravnish Bhola are finding it difficult not to think about sex. Safe sex, that is. Singh, 23, and Bhola, 22, are customers at India s first Condom Bar in the northern city of Chandigarh where tablemats have messages such as: Get It On! , next to a condom design. Behind
EU, Germany head to Libya for talks on medics: Reuters NewMedia - June 10, 2007; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI, June 10 (Reuters) - Two senior European officials were on their way to Libya on Sunday to try to solve the case of six foreign medics sentenced to death for deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV, the children s families said. Driss Lagha, chairman of the Association for the Families of the HIV-infect
Gaddafi son sees "positive" EU move over nurses: Reuters NewMedia - June 10, 2007; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Efforts to free six foreign medics sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV may be near a conclusion after positive European initiatives, a son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Sunday. Speaking after talks with European Union External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Wa
India's HIV cases may be 2 mln fewer than thought: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI, June 9 (Reuters) - The number of people with HIV in India , thought to have the world s highest caseload, could be lower than estimated, with infections possibly distorted by more than 2 million, officials said on Saturday. The United Nations AIDS agency has said India has 5.7 million cases, followed by
G8 Africa pledge is a smokescreen, says Bono: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2007; Madeline Chambers; HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - Rock star Bono denounced world leaders on Friday for producing a deliberately misleading pledge to fight AIDS and other killer diseases. I am exasperated, Bono told Reuters in a telephone interview at the Baltic resort where leaders from the world s rich nations were rounding off their
G8 to raise global HIV/AIDS aid to $60 billion: diplomat: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2007; HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - The Group of Eight industrialized nations have struck a deal to increase their global aid for the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis to $60 billion, a G8 diplomat said on Friday. The issue is now fixed. The text is agreed, the diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity. The
Myanmar detains 11 HIV patients for prayer vigil: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2007; YANGON, June 8 (Reuters) - Myanmar s military junta has detained 11 HIV patients in a hospital for holding a prayer vigil seeking the release of a prominent health activist, the opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) said on Friday. The group have been confined at the Waybargi Infectious Diseases Hospital on th
S. Africa AIDS summit ends with unity, call to arms: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2007; Paul Simao; DURBAN, June 8 (Reuters) - Researchers, scientists and health-care workers resolved on Friday to open a new front in South Africa s war on AIDS, encouraged by the government s fresh approach to the crisis and improved weapons to protect those most at risk of infection. The call came at the end of a major AIDS conferenc
FACTBOX: G8 pledges to help Africa and combat disease: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2007; (Reuters) - World powers at the Group of Eight summit in Germany agreed a package of measures to fight disease and to support development in Africa. Here are some details on what they announced. - G8 underlined its strong interest in a stable, democratic and prosperous Africa. - the Group said it would implement de
G8 Trumpets Africa Aid Deal as Summit Ends: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2007; HEILIGENDAMM, Germany (Reuters) - World powers on Friday pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS and other diseases ravaging Africa but development campaigners complained the Group of Eight had offered little fresh cash for the poor. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosting G8 leaders and heads of five African states, trumpe
Rome high-end restaurants to help stem African AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2007; Philip Pullella; ROME (Reuters) - Patrons of Rome s high-end restaurants now have a chance to share their good fortune by helping victims of AIDS and malnutrition in Africa. Italy s Sant Egidio religious group, which will be host to U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday, has unveiled a new initiative to help finance its highly succ
U.N. AIDS head urges S. Africa to promote condom use: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2007; Paul Simao; DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa should promote condoms more widely to try and curb its AIDS epidemic, the head of the United Nations AIDS program said on Thursday. We all like simple solutions, but anything that has the word only in it is not effective, UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot told reporte
HIV down among pregnant women: S.Africa health min: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2007; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s controversial health minister returned to the spotlight on Thursday after snubbing a major AIDS conference, announcing a significant decrease in the number of pregnant women infected with HIV. This is mainly as a result of our continued focus on prevention as the mainstay of our res
U.S. gives Zimbabwe $18 mln for HIV/AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2007; HARARE, June 7 (Reuters) - The United States government said on Thursday it would provide $18 million worth of life-saving anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs to help Zimbabwe add 40,000 people to its HIV/AIDS treatment programme. The southern African country is among the worst hit by the epidemic, which kills more than 3,000
Dual TB, HIV treatment key to Africa AIDS battle: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2007; Paul Simao; DURBAN, June 7 (Reuters) - African, especially southern African, nations must link tuberculosis testing and treatment with HIV prevention programmes if they are to win the AIDS battle, a top World Health Organisation official said on Thursday. Dr. Kevin de Cock, head of WHO s HIV/AIDS department, told the Third South A
S. Africa must raise wages to fight AIDS-activist: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2007; Paul Simao; DURBAN, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa will not be able to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS unless it increases wages for government health care workers and other public servants, the head of a leading HIV/AIDS advocacy group said on Wednesday. In a presentation at the third South African AIDS conference, Siphokazi Mthathi
INTERVIEW - S. Africa AIDS war at pivotal point - WHO official: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2007; Paul Simao; DURBAN, June 6 (Reuters) - South Africa is at a pivotal point in the battle against AIDS and may emerge as a role model for other African nations devastated by the disease, the director of the WHO s HIV/AIDS department said on Wednesday. In an interview with Reuters at the Third South African AIDS Conference, Dr. Kevin
Indian school kicks out 5 HIV-positive kids again: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2007; NEW DELHI, June 6 (Reuters) - Five HIV-positive children have been turned away from a school in southern India for the second time, despite a government promise that they would be allowed to return, newspapers reported on Wednesday. The children -- a boy and four girls aged between five and 11 -- were first thrown out
India passes out condoms at porn movie halls: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2007; AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Health officials in western India are distributing condoms outside cinema halls screening illegal pornographic films, to promote safe sex and curb the spread of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS. Officials in Gujarat state said many of those watching the blue movies were from high
Roche says Viracept recall hits Europe, not U.S.: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2007; LONDON, June 6 (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG (ROG.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday a recall of its HIV drug Viracept affected Europe and some other world regions but not the United States , Canada or Japan .
U.S. House considers shipping contraceptives abroad: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2007; Richard Cowan; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Family planning groups outside of the United States would be allowed to receive contraceptives from the U.S. government under a Democratic plan moving through the U.S. House of Representatives that could prompt a veto by President George W. Bush. Next week, the House Appropriations Committee is e
Senators seek jump in TB control spending: Reuters NewMedia - June 5, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of U.S. senators on Tuesday sought $300 million in U.S. spending to combat tuberculosis while new tests confirmed that the U.S. man at the center of an international TB alarm is not highly infectious. Democratic Sens. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Republica
Quarter of Chinese students reject HIV carriers: Reuters NewMedia - June 5, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - Nearly a quarter of students in the Chinese capital would be unwilling to take a class with someone infected with HIV/AIDS, the official Xinhua agency said on Tuesday, citing a new survey. Nearly a third of students also said people carrying the virus should only be allowed on campus if they accepte
S. African health minister snubs AIDS conference: Reuters NewMedia - June 5, 2007; Paul Simao; DURBAN, June 5 (Reuters) - South Africa s controversial health minister has withdrawn from a major AIDS conference because organisers did not give her a prominent place in the programme, the deputy president said on Tuesday. The minister withdrew from the programme because of the place you put her in the programme, de
AIDS seen as new threat to African democracy: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, June 4, 2007; Bate Felix; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - AIDS may be killing elected officials in some Southern African countries faster than they can be replaced, creating a new threat to democracy and governance in the region, a new study said. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) said a study of mortality patterns in South Africa,
Signs of progress as SAfrica AIDS conference opens: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, June 4, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - AIDS researchers from around the world gather in South Africa on Tuesday amid tentative signs the nation is finally embracing mainstream approaches to fighting the epidemic. Hopes of a shift in South Africa s attitude to a disease affecting nearly 12 percent of its 47 million people have been b
FACTBOX: AIDS in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, June 4, 2007; The third South African AIDS Conference begins on Tuesday. Here are some key details about AIDS in southern Africa: * AIDS - THE GLOBAL PICTURE: -- Around 39.5 million people are living with HIV worldwide, 2.6 million more than in 2004, and the number of new infections reached 4.3 million in 2006, according to
South Africa's traditional healers help fight HIV: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, June 4, 2007; Rebecca Harrison; MTUBATUBA, South Africa (Reuters) - Tryphina Ngwenya slides a pink condom over the magic wooden stick normally used to conjure up ancestral spirits, unleashing a ripple of laughter among her audience of traditional South African healers. You see it s easy -- there s nothing poisonous or dangerous about condoms, she to
It's In The Bones: Portrait Of A Witchdoctor: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, June 4, 2007; MTUBATUBA, South Africa (Reuters) - Philisiwe Zulu was 51 when she got the call from the spirits of her ancestors. I didn t believe in traditional medicine and the ancestors, but then I got so sick, my children all got sick and my cattle started dying, said the 57-year-old in the small beehive hut where she calls on th
HIV infections up sharply among women in China: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, June 4, 2007; HONG KONG - The proportion of females among those infected with HIV/AIDS in China jumped to 27.8 percent in 2006 from 19.4 percent in 2000, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. The ratio of new infections between males and females has narrowed from 5:1 in the 1990s to 2:1, the agency said, quoting China
Libya warns against foreign pressure in HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday, June 3, 2007; TRIPOLI, June 3 (Reuters) - Libya warned foreign governments on Sunday against trying to force the release of five nurses sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, saying talks to find a mutual solution were under way. U.S. President George Bush reiterated his unwavering support for the rel
Bush hopes Bulgarian HIV nurses will be freed soon: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, June 1, 2007; SOFIA, June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President George Bush said in an interview aired on Friday he hoped the five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV would soon be freed. Speaking to Bulgarian National Television ahead of his June 10-11 visit to Sofia, Bush said
California allows gay conjugal visits in prisons: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, June 1, 2007; Adam Tanner; SAN FRANCISCO, June 1 (Reuters) - California has decided to sanction gay sex within prison walls for the first time by allowing inmates to have conjugal visits with registered same-sex domestic partners, officials said on Friday. The change in the rules follows demands by Vernon Foeller, 40, a former club disc jockey w
Bulgaria nurses deal may be near: Libya families: Reuters NewMedia - June 1, 2007; Salah Sarrar; SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - A deal to resolve the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for deliberately infecting Libyan children with HIV may be close, the children s families said on Friday. The remarks by the Association for the Families of the HIV-infected Children were the latest
Zimbabwe state doctors strike for better pay: Reuters NewMedia - June 1, 2007; MacDonald Dzirutwe; HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s junior state doctors officially went on strike on Friday to press President Robert Mugabe s government to pay better wages they say have been eroded by the country s economic crisis. The strike, the second in six months, is set to further cripple the country s health sector, especially maj
FACTBOX: TB, a scourge for millennia, has new Generation X: Reuters NewMedia - June 1, 2007; (Reuters) - Health authorities in the United States and Europe are tracing about 100 airline passengers and crew who may have been in contact with a man infected with a hard-to-treat form of tuberculosis called XDR TB. Here are some facts about tuberculosis and the XDR strain: -- About one-third of the world s populati
Targeted Genetics and its collaborators reports advances in HIV vaccine manufacturing capabilities at ASGT: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2007; Co announces its academic collaborators at Columbus Children s Research Institute and Children s Hospital of Philadelphia presented data describing a novel cell line-based method for manufacturing AAV-based vaccines. The data are to be presented today in a poster session (Abstract #84) at the 10th Annual Meeting of the
EU to give AIDS/TB/malaria fund 400 million euros: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2007; BRUSSELS, May 31 (Reuters) - The European Commission plans to give 400 million euros ($537 million) to an international fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over four years, it said on Thursday. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, launched by the Group of Eight industrialized nations (G8),
Germany raises development aid ahead of G8 summit: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2007; BERLIN, May 31 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced a 750 million-euro ($1.01 billion) increase in German development aid, a week before she is expected to press other countries to honour aid promises to Africa. Merkel is due to host Group of Eight (G8) leaders at a summit in Heiligendamm next week and ho
Isolated US TB patient arrives at Denver hospital: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, May 31 (Reuters) - A U.S. man infected with a dangerous form of tuberculosis who sparked an international incident when he fled health authorities arrived at a specialist hospital in Denver for treatment on Thursday. National Jewish Medical and Research Center said the patient was feeling well when he arriv
Bush aims to double US funds to fight global AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - May 30, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, May 30 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday asked the U.S. Congress to double the U.S. financial commitment to combat AIDS globally, particularly in hard-hit Africa, to $30 billion over five years starting next year. Bush also said first lady Laura Bush will travel to four countries in Africa n
Dutch arrest three for injecting others with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - May 30, 2007; AMSTERDAM, May 30 (Reuters) - Three men in the Netherlands have been arrested on suspicion of drugging, raping and then injecting other men with their own HIV-infected blood during sex parties, Dutch police said on Wednesday. Two of the men have confessed to intentionally injecting their blood, which tested positive wi
WHO calls for massive expansion in HIV testing: Reuters NewMedia - May 30, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON, May 30 (Reuters) - Voluntary HIV tests should be offered to all patients attending clinics, for whatever reason, in countries where AIDS is widespread, the World Health Organisation said on Wednesday. Elsewhere, testing is recommended for all patients attending selected facilities, such as antenatal or sexual h
New HIV infections among homosexuals up sharply in HK: Reuters NewMedia - May 30, 2007; Tan Ee Lyn; HONG KONG, May 30 (Reuters) - New HIV infections among homosexual men are on the rise in Hong Kong and a government consultant warned on Wednesday that prevalence of the disease in this group could hit 30 percent by 2020 if nothing is done. The government this week reported 91 new HIV infections in the first quarte
Islamic bank launches $10 bln poverty fund: Reuters NewMedia - May 30, 2007; Diadie Ba; DAKAR, March 30 (Reuters) - The Islamic Development Bank launched a $10 billion fund on Wednesday to combat poverty in developing Muslim nations in Africa and other parts of the world. The fund, which has an initial endowment of $1.4 billion, will be dedicated to alleviating poverty, promoting health and universal educ
G8 summit to unveil higher spending on AIDS-Germany: Reuters NewMedia - May 30, 2007; BERLIN, May 30 (Reuters) - Members of the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrial nations will announce plans to increase the money they spend combating AIDS at an upcoming summit, the German government said on Wednesday. Germany , like other G8 member states, will increase the resources devoted to combating AIDS, Chan
Panacos Pharma says preclinical study finds protease inhibitor-resistant HIV may have reduced potential to develop resistance to co's Bevirimat: Reuters NewMedia - May 29, 2007; Co announces the results of a new study indicating that HIV resistant to Protease Inhibitors may have reduced potential for the development of resistance to the HIV maturation inhibitor bevirimat in laboratory assays. The study, carried out by scientists in Dr. Eric Freed s group at the HIV Drug Resistance Program at t
Brazil plays down Mozambique AIDS drug plant offer: Reuters NewMedia - May 29, 2007; RIO DE JANEIRO, May 29 (Reuters) - Brazil has prepared a feasibility study for a pharmaceutical plant in AIDS-ravaged Mozambique but did not offer to fund it, the Brazilian Health Ministry said on Tuesday. Earlier, Mozambique s Noticias newspaper said that Brazil offered to build a $23 million factory, which would prod
Indian HIV patients unite to battle fake AIDS cures: Reuters NewMedia - May 29, 2007; Krittivas Mukherjee; MUMBAI, May 29 (Reuters) - A network of HIV-positive people in India has launched a national campaign against thousands of illegal backstreet clinics and quacks who cheat patients with the promise of curing AIDS. Patients often end up going to quacks and witch doctors who use fake herbal, homeopathic and drug treatment
Brazil offers drug factory to AIDS-ravaged Mozambique: Reuters NewMedia - May 29, 2007; Charles Mangwiro; MAPUTO, May 29 (Reuters) - Brazil has offered to build a $23 million pharmaceutical plant in Mozambique that will provide drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, Mozambique s national newspaper said on Tuesday. Brazil, a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer, will monitor quality and transfer technology to t
Thai "Condom King" Wins Gates Health Award: Reuters NewMedia - May 29, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A non-profit family-planning group founded by Thailand s Condom King has won the $1 million Gates Award for Global Health, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said on Tuesday. The Population and Community Development Association of Thailand (PDA) won the 2007 award in recognition of its work
Zimbabwe to Put 40, 000 More on AIDS Drugs by Year - End: Reuters NewMedia - May 29, 2007; HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will put 40,000 more people on life saving anti-retroviral drugs by the end of the year despite an economic crisis that has hobbled the country s health care, state media reported on Tuesday. The southern African country is among the worst hit by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, killing more than 3,00
Thailand to override more patented drugs: minister: Reuters NewMedia -- Monday, May 28, 2007; Chalathip Thirasoonthrakul; BANGKOK -- Thailand , which has overridden international patents on three drugs in the past year, plans to issue two more local licenses this year for copycat versions of medicines, Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said on Monday. The new licenses would be for the country s top killing diseases, especially cancer, M
World's first lung transplant on HIV patient performed: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2007; MILAN, May 25 (Reuters) - Doctors in Italy have performed the world s first lung transplant on an HIV patient, a medical institute in the southern city of Palermo said on Friday. The man, whose age was not disclosed, had terminal respiratory problems and the transplant was his only chance of survival, doctors said. The
Women's rights key to Africa AIDS crisis - study: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2007; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG, May 25 (Reuters) - Improving women s rights could boost the battle against AIDS in southern African countries, where women are often forced into risky sex by male partners or economic desperation, a new report said on Friday. Physicians for Human Rights said its study of 2,000 women in
U.S. health experts help TV docs get facts straight: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2007; Lisa Richwine; LOS ANGELES, May 25 (Reuters) - That young mother with breast cancer on Grey s Anatomy may do more than just drive the storyline: She may also be teaching you something. Recognizing the reach of popular television shows, real-life doctors and public health experts are at work behind the scenes to add a dose of educatio
INTERVIEW-Alliance speeds up new vaccine use in poor countries: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2007; Anna Mudeva; AMSTERDAM, May 25 (Reuters) - A major global programme that encourages the use of new vaccines against diseases that kill millions of children hopes to stimulate development of more new-generation vaccines. Rosamund Lewis, senior programme officer at the World Health Organisation-backed GAVI alliance, said on Friday th
Africa AIDS war undercut by health worker crisis - MSF: Reuters NewMedia - May 24, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) - A critical shortage of healthcare workers and restrictions on prescribing life-saving drugs are crippling the war on HIV/AIDS in southern Africa, medical charity Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Thursday. In a gloomy report on frontline AIDS treatment in South Africa
Ethiopian church urges drugs as well as holy water for AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - May 24, 2007; Tsegaye Tadesse; ADDIS ABABA, May 24 (Reuters) - HIV and AIDS patients seeking a spiritual cure should take anti-retroviral drugs as well as holy water, the head of the Ethiopian Orthodox church said on Wednesday. Church patriarch Abune Paulos told about 5,000 faithful who came to the Entoto St. Mary church -- the bulk of whom are infe
Zambia court delivers toughest-ever rape sentences: Reuters NewMedia - May 24, 2007; LUSAKA (Reuters) - A judge has handed two men Zambia s toughest ever jail terms for raping underage girls in what a women s group described as a milestone for justice in a country where sexual attacks on minors are on the increase. Judge Gregory Phiri sentenced Kebby Mukela and David Mbale to 35 years in prison with ha
FDA approves Gen-Probe blood-screening system: Reuters NewMedia - May 24, 2007; NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - Gen-Probe Inc. (GPRO.O: Quote, Profile, Research said on Thursday that U.S. regulators had approved its fully automated Procleix Tigris system to scrutinize blood donations, organs and tissues for presence of the HIV-1 and hepatitis C viruses. The fully automated, high-throughput Procleix T
India finance minister says AIDS cases underreported: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2007; NEW DELHI, May 23 (Reuters) - The number of people suffering from HIV/AIDS in India , the country with the world s highest caseload, could be more than the official count as many cases are not reported or detected, the finance minister said on Wednesday. India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, according to t
South Africa health minister backs wider HIV treatment: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2007; Wendell Roelf; CAPE TOWN, May 23 (Reuters) - South Africa s health minister said on Wednesday she favoured expanding access to HIV/AIDS treatments in her first public appearance since having a liver transplant. At an AIDS candle-lighting memorial in Cape Town, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said making HIV treatment and sup
Nigeria gets $50 mln World Bank loan to fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2007; LAGOS, May 23 (Reuters) - The World Bank has approved $50 million in additional funding for Nigeria to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, the bank said on Wednesday. The new fund, which is part of an original $90 million credit approved in 2001, will help expand access to treatment, care prevention and support in Africa s
China tackling tainted blood products industry: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2007; BEIJING (Reuters) - China s drug watchdog said quality supervisors would be dispatched to all of the country s blood manufacturers to ensure products were free of diseases like HIV and hepatitis, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. The move comes amid nationwide concern about the safety of China s blood products
Thai AIDS patients suffer as drug squabble drags on: Reuters NewMedia - May 22, 2007; Darren Schuettler; BANGKOK (Reuters) - Each morning, Somying waits on the canal near her Bangkok slum for the iceboat that has become her lifeline. It s expensive but I need ice every day, the 33-year-old said of the 12 baht ($0.37) purchase that keeps her lifesaving AIDS drug, Kaletra , from perishing in hot season temperatures n
One million people get AIDS drugs via Global Fund: Reuters NewMedia - May 22, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - A 5-year-old organization that leads international efforts against three leading diseases said on Tuesday more than a million HIV-infected people have received life-extending drugs thanks to its efforts. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, launched by the Group of 8 i
South Africa passes new legislation to combat rape: Reuters NewMedia - May 22, 2007; CAPE TOWN, May 22 (Reuters) - South Africa s lower house of parliament passed a new law on Tuesday widening the legal definition of rape to help the government in its struggle against widespread violent crime. The national assembly voted unanimously in favour of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Amendment Bill, w
World falling far short of AIDS drugs target - NGO: Reuters NewMedia - May 21, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI, May 21 (Reuters) - The world will fall far short of its 2010 target of providing universal access to HIV treatment, with India and Nigeria high in an AIDS league of shame , a global voluntary group said on Monday. In 2006, the U.N. General Assembly agreed to work towards universal access to treatment, care,
AIDS cripples Mozambique police: Reuters NewMedia - May 21, 2007; Charles Mangwiro; MAPUTO, May 21 (Reuters) - AIDS is killing about 1,000 Mozambique police officers each year, crippling the southern African nation s efforts to combat organized crime, a police spokesman said on Monday. The numbers are increasing daily, and it s one of the major problems we are facing right now, Mozambique police spok
Get real and save Indian youth from AIDS-official: Reuters NewMedia - May 17, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI, May 17 (Reuters) - Banning sex education on the grounds that it offends Indian sensibilities puts young lives at risk and jeopardises the fight against AIDS, a top official said. Six Indian states have banned sex education for adolescents or refused to implement the curriculum, saying the course material was
Peregrine Pharma to initiate new bavituximab HCV clinical trial in patients co-infected with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - May 17, 2007; Co announces it has filed a new clinical trial protocol with the FDA to study bavituximab in patients co-infected with H.C.V and the human immunodeficiency virus. The multi-center trial will initially be conducted at Saint Michael s Medical Center in Newark, NJ under the direction of Dr. Stephen Smith, director of the
India's top court suspends Gere-Shetty kiss cases: Reuters NewMedia - May 15, 2007; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended all legal proceedings against Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, who is facing obscenity charges for not resisting a public kiss by Hollywood star Richard Gere. Shetty, winner of the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother , made headlines last m
Bono Says Rich Nations Badly Off Track on Aid: Reuters NewMedia - May 15, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Anti-poverty activist and rocker Bono on Tuesday said the world s industrial nations are badly off track on their promises of aid to Africa s poor, and he would remind the Group of Eight financial ministers of their commitments at a meeting in Germany this weekend. In an interview with Reuter
India's top court suspends Gere-Shetty kiss cases: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, May 15, 2007; NEW DELHI - India s Supreme Court on Tuesday suspended all legal proceedings against Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, who is facing obscenity charges for not resisting a public kiss by Hollywood star Richard Gere. Shetty, winner of the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother , made headlines last month when
Thai drug patent overrides depend on price cuts: Reuters NewMedia - 15 May 2007; BANGKOK, May 15 (Reuters) - Thailand will not override international drug patents if big pharmaceutical companies offer prices below those charged by generic drug producers, Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said on Tuesday. If companies agree to reduce the price of their drugs below generic ones, we will not enforce
Russia warns of AIDS epidemic, 1.3 mln with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - 15 May 2007; Guy Faulconbridge; MOSCOW - Russia s AIDS epidemic is worsening with as many as 1.3 million people infected with HIV as the virus spreads further into the heterosexual population, Russia s top AIDS specialist said on Tuesday. Russia has registered 402,000 people with HIV, of whom 17,000 have died, but the real figure is much higher, said
China's anti-discrimination laws good, need enforcing: Reuters NewMedia - 14 May 2007; Phyllis Xu and Ben Blanchard; BEIJING - China has taken big steps to eradicate discrimination in the workplace, but must be more stringent in enforcing laws to protect workers such as migrants, a senior U.N. official said on Monday. Laws banning discrimination against those infected with HIV/AIDS and offering more protection to women are a positive
Asian drug users need more HIV prevention help: Reuters NewMedia - May 14, 2007; Ben Blanchard; BEIJING (Reuters) - Asian countries need to wake up to the threat of HIV transmission via intravenous drug use and spend more money on needle exchanges and other programs or risk a rapid rise in new cases, a U.N. health official said on Monday. Around one-third of new infections worldwide, excluding sub-Saharan Africa,
Sex education creates storm in AIDS-stricken India: Reuters NewMedia - May 14, 2007; Krittivas Mukherjee; MUMBAI, May 14 (Reuters) - Moves to bring sex out of the closet in largely conservative India have kicked up a morality debate between educators who say sex education will reduce HIV rates, and critics who fear it will corrupt young minds. It s an emotive issue pitting modernists against conservatives in a country with
Bulgarians pray for condemned HIV nurses: Reuters NewMedia - May 12, 2007; SOFIA, May 12 (Reuters) - Thousands of Bulgarians took part in an open mass in Sofia on Saturday in support of five Bulgarian nurses who have been sentenced to death in Libya for deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. Sofia, backed by its allies in Brussels and Washington, has stepped up pressure
Abbott wins U.S. approval for HIV viral load test: Reuters NewMedia - May 11, 2007; NEW YORK - Abbott Laboratories Inc. (ABT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday that U.S. regulators approved its test to detect and measure levels of HIV in a patient s blood. The Abbott RealTime HIV-1 test is intended in part to help assess viral response to treatment, the company said. The RealTime HIV-1 test h
Gilead pushes for patent for HIV drug in India: Reuters NewMedia - May 11, 2007; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc. will cancel its deal with Indian drug makers to produce cheaper copies of its HIV drug, Viread , if it does not get a patent from Indian authorities, a company official said on Friday. The deal lets companies produce and distribute Viread to 95 developing countries.
Stay off sex and drugs, Pope tells Brazil's youth: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, May 10, 2007; Todd Benson; SAO PAULO - Pope Benedict told young Brazilians to avoid sex before marriage and say no to drugs at a huge rally on Thursday in this country renowned for its lusty attitude toward sex. Young men and women should build their lives around their families and stay faithful to their spouses once married, the Pope told more
Merck still hopes for Brazil drug deal: Reuters NewMedia - May 8, 2007; Markus Wacket; BERLIN (Reuters) - Drugmaker Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research said it remained willing to work with Brazil on access to its AIDS drug Stocrin, or efavirenz , despite the government s move to break the patent on the medicine.
Bill Clinton brokers generic AIDS drug deal: Reuters NewMedia - May 8, 2007; NEW YORK, May 8 (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton announced deals with two Indian generic drug companies on Tuesday to cut prices of AIDS treatment for second line anti-retroviral drugs for 66 developing countries. The new prices for the second line drugs, which are used when a previous drug regimen fails, will
African gays speak out on 'state-backed' homophobia: Reuters NewMedia - May 8, 2007; Gershwin Wanneburg; JOHANNESBURG, May 8 (Reuters) - African gay activists protested against state-sponsored homophobia, saying authorities tacitly condoned their persecution across the continent. The International Gay and Lesbian Association s (ILGA) first pan-African conference in Johannesburg, which ends on Tuesday, drew about 60 activi
Syphilis rise in US gay, bisexual men causes worry: Reuters NewMedia - May 4 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - Syphilis has risen sharply among gay and bisexual men in the United States this decade, driving up the country s rate for the disease and placing these men at higher risk for AIDS, federal health officials say. Since dropping to the lowest level on record in 2000, the U.S. rate of syphilis
Ex-Serono executives acquitted in Massachusetts: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, May 3, 2007; BOSTON, May 3 (Reuters) - A federal grand jury acquitted four former executives of Swiss biotech company Serono SA on Thursday of charges they bribed doctors to write prescriptions for an AIDS drug marketed by the company. The U.S. District Court jury in Boston took less than three hours to set aside all charges brough
Brazil rejects Merck price offer for AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - May 3, 2007; Natuza Nery; BRASILIA, May 3 (Reuters) - Brazil s president is to decide whether his country will honor Merck & Co s AIDS drug patent, after the health ministry rejected the company s price-cut. We consider the offer insufficient and we told the manufacturer, Brazil s health minister, Jose Temporao, told Reuters on Thursday. T
Visiting Pope steps into abortion battle in Brazil: Reuters NewMedia - May 3, 2007; Terry Wade; SAO PAULO (Reuters) - At a dilapidated clinic in a gritty section of Sao Paulo, doctors know that many of the pregnant Bolivian immigrants, shantytown dwellers and prostitutes they treat will go on to seek abortions elsewhere. Abortion is illegal in Brazil , the world s biggest Catholic country, and back street abortio
U.N. Agency Launches Effort Against Medical Errors: Reuters NewMedia - May 2, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medical mistakes as basic as hospital workers spreading infections by not washing their hands hurt millions of people worldwide each day, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday in launching an effort to curb such errors. Dr. Liam Donaldson, a Briton heading the U.N. agency s campaign, un
Knowing HIV status for prevention seen on rise: Reuters NewMedia - May 1, 2007; Michael Kahn; SAN FRANCISCO, May 1 (Reuters) - Knowing a partner s HIV status before sex is a growing prevention method among young gay men, although risky behavior likely to transmit the virus is on the rise, according to two new U.S. studies. The studies, which used virtually the same method to look at the prevalence and risk of H
Progenics Pharm says single dose of CCR5 monoclonal antibody PRO 140 significantly reduced viral load for prolonged period in HIV-infected individuals: Reuters NewMedia - May 1, 2007; Co announces positive results from the first clinical trial of its investigational drug, PRO 140, in individuals infected with the human immunodeficiency virus. Patients receiving a single 5.0 mg/kg dose of PRO 140 achieved an average maximum decrease of viral concentrations in the blood of 98.5%, with individual reduc
OraSure Tech Rapid HIV test chosen for Madagascar National AIDS control program: Reuters NewMedia - April 30, 2007; Co announces that it has been selected by the Malagasy government and its National AIDS Control Program to be the exclusive first-line provider of rapid HIV screening tests for the country s outreach program over the next five years. Under this program, the government intends to test more than 400,000 individuals in 20
AIDS virus hides quickly inside babies' blood: Reuters NewMedia - April 30, 2007; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug-resistant versions of the AIDS virus passed from mother to child can quickly hide in the infant s immune system cells and lurk for years, researchers reported on Monday. This will limit what drugs the children can take to control their infection, Dr. Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Universi
US chides Thailand for overriding Drug patents: Reuters NewMedia - April 30, 2007; Doug Palmer; WASHINGTON, April 30 (Reuters) - The United States criticized Thailand on Monday for steps it took to override patents of two HIV/AIDS drugs, but stopped short of threatening action at the World Trade Organization. The U.S. Trade Representative s office, in an annual report on how well countries protect U.
Thailand to hire U.S. firm to burnish image: Reuters NewMedia - April 30, 2007; BANGKOK, April 30 (Reuters) - Thailand s interim government, increasingly unpopular at home after high hopes following a coup and under attack abroad for overriding drug patents, plans to hire an American public relations firm. Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont, a former army chief, said on Monday he had agreed to a For
Global Fund seeks to triple AIDS/TB/malaria outlays: Reuters NewMedia - April 27, 2007; GENEVA, April 27 (Reuters) - An international fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria must at least triple its annual spending by 2010 to meet huge needs from developing countries, its governing board said on Friday. Michel Kazatchkine, who took over this week as executive director of the five-year-old Global Fund
China claims progress in medical fraud battle: Reuters NewMedia - April 27, 2007; BEIJING, April 27 (Reuters) - The number of complaints about illegal backstreet clinics, quacks and medical fraud in China fell 80 percent last year compared to 2005, the health ministry said on Friday, as it tries to clean up the scandal-hit industry. The problem of engaging in medicine without documentation has been
Kiss could land Gere in prison: Judge in India finds the Hollywood star guilty of violating public obscenity laws.: Reuters NewMedia - April 27, 2007; JAIPUR, INDIA - An Indian court ordered the arrest of Hollywood star Richard Gere on Thursday for repeatedly kissing Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty at an AIDS campaign event, saying it was an obscene act committed in public. Gere s kisses on Shetty s cheeks at an event to promote AIDS awareness in New Delhi last week
Bulgarian nurses may return home by July-diplomat: Reuters NewMedia - April 26, 2007; SOFIA - Five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV may be released by the end of June, a European Union diplomat said on Thursday. German ambassador to Bulgaria, Michael Geier, told Bulgarian daily Sega that talks between the European Commission and Tripoli were likely to ensure the
French candidates pledge help for Libya HIV nurses: Reuters NewMedia - April 26, 2007; PARIS - French presidential candidates Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal pledged on Thursday to push hard for the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death over a Libyan HIV epidemic. Socialist Royal and right-winger Sarkozy have said they will broadly follow outgoing President Jacqu
Brazil closer to breaking Merck AIDS drug patent: Reuters NewMedia - April 25, 2007; RIO DE JANEIRO, April 25 (Reuters) - Brazil took the first step toward breaking an AIDS drug patent held by Merck & Co. (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday when the Health Ministry decreed the drug was in the public interest and too expensive to buy. Merck had declined Brazil s request for a sharp pr
AIDS activists call for boycott of Abbott products: Reuters NewMedia - April 25, 2007; HONG KONG, April 25 (Reuters) - HIV/AIDS activists in nearly 20 countries have called for a global boycott of Abbott products over what they say are the pharmaceutical firm s intimidating business tactics in Thailand . Abbott Laboratories Inc. offered this week to sell a heat-stable form of AIDS drug Aluvia in
Gambian herbal AIDS cure no such thing -scientists: Reuters NewMedia - April 24, 2007; WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh s assertion that a herbal treatment had cured patients of the AIDS virus was not only wrong, but some of his supporting data was false, AIDS experts said on Tuesday. A researcher in Senegal said Jammeh s office had misused his lab in testing the blood of t
World Bank members at odds over health strategy: Reuters NewMedia - April 24, 2007; WASHINGTON, April 24 (Reuters) - European nations on Tuesday objected to a U.S. effort to alter language on reproductive health services, including abortions, in a proposed World Bank health strategy for poor countries. World Bank sources told Reuters that representatives from France ,
Bono to take part in "American Idol" fund-raiser: Reuters NewMedia - April 24, 2007; LOS ANGELES, April 24 (Reuters) - Irish rock star and anti-poverty campaigner Bono is taking part in this week s American Idol charity fund-raiser, organizers said on Tuesday. The U2 lead singer will appear in a prerecorded segment on Wednesday night urging viewers of the show to call in donations to charities that wor
Zambian health minister fired in cabinet reshuffle: Reuters NewMedia - April 24, 2007; LUSAKA - Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa sacked Health Minister Angela Cifire in a cabinet reshuffle after she had served only seven months in the post, state media reported on Tuesday. President Mwanawasa has dropped minister of health Angela Cifire and promoted two deputy ministers to full cabinet portfolios in a ca
Abbott makes AIDS drug offer to Thailand: Reuters NewMedia - April 23, 2007; BANGKOK - Abbott Laboratories Inc. offered to sell a new heat-stable form of an AIDS drug in Thailand , reversing a controversial boycott to protest the country s use of patent laws to import cheaper medicines. Abbott, criticized for aggressive pricing of its AIDS medicines in developing countries, has proposed selling
Global Fund eyes business help for HIV, TB, malaria: Reuters NewMedia - April 23, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA - The new head of the Global Fund, a $10 billion group that finances AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria projects worldwide, wants businesses to contribute more to fight the diseases that kill six million people each year. Michel Kazatchkine, a French physician and diplomat, said on his first day as Global Fund Execu
Abbott to offer new AIDS drug in Thailand: Reuters NewMedia - April 23, 2007; Darren Schuettler, darren.schuettler.reuters.com; BANGKOK - Thailand is weighing an offer from Abbott Laboratories Inc. (ABT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to sell a newer form of its AIDS drug Kaletra at a discounted price, Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said on Monday. He gave no details of the offer for Aluvia weeks a
Fourth plaintiff joins Libya nurses defamation trial: Reuters NewMedia - April 22, 2007; TRIPOLI - A fourth Libyan plaintiff joined a defamation trial on Sunday against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who have been condemned to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. The criminal defamation trial follows a Libyan court s December death penalty ruling for the six, which was
US FDA reviewers say Pfizer AIDS drug effective: Reuters NewMedia - April 20, 2007; Lisa Richwine, lisa.richwine.reuters.com; WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - An experimental Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) AIDS pill called maraviroc produced greater suppression of the HIV virus than a placebo when added to the best available drug regimens, U.S. drug reviewers said in an analysis released on Friday. The Food and Drug Adminis
UK urges more action to cut drug prices for poor: Reuters NewMedia - April 19, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON - Western drugmakers should do more to cut prices and must recognize that developing countries have a right to break patents to guarantee access to vital medicines, a top British official said on Thursday. International development minister Gareth Thomas said poor countries must be allowed to make the most of ex
Gilead first quarter profit rises 55 pct: Reuters NewMedia - April 18, 2007; LOS ANGELES - Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday its first-quarter profit rose 55 percent amid higher sales of its drugs for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, sending the company s shares up nearly 3 percent. The biotechnology company reported net income of $407.4 million, or 85 ce
Yao Ming lends name to China AIDS campaign: Reuters NewMedia - April 18, 2007; BEIJING - Chinese basketball star Yao Ming and actor Pu Cunxin have given their names to a campaign to combat stigma against HIV/AIDS in China , the United Nations, which launched the program, said on Wednesday. Yao, the 7ft-6in (2.29m) centre for the Houston Rockets, and Pu, who starred in the movies Shower and Spi
Trimeris says Q1 sales of HIV drug Fuzeon up 16 pct: Reuters NewMedia - April 17, 2007; Deepti Chaudhary in Bangalore; Biopharmaceutical company Trimeris Inc. (TRMS.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said first-quarter net sales of its HIV drug Fuzeon rose 16 percent. In a statement, the company said worldwide net sales of Fuzeon were $64.3 million in the latest quarter, compared with $55.4 million in the year-ago quarter.
Gates Foundation billions change pharma landscape: Reuters NewMedia - April 17, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON - The billions of dollars thrown at global health problems by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are changing the game in drug discovery, posing big challenges to the world s top drugmakers, according to a report on Tuesday. Pharmaceutical information group IMS Health Inc. said the emergence of megabuck phi
AIDS ravages poor children needlessly: UN: Reuters NewMedia - April 17, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA - Hundreds of thousands of children are dying of AIDS in developing countries because they do not have access to treatment readily available elsewhere, U.N. health agencies said on Tuesday. While pediatric HIV disease has been almost eliminated in high-income countries, where mother-to-child transmission rates h
Only 19 pct of Asians in need get AIDS drugs: WHO: Reuters NewMedia - April 17, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI - Only 19 percent of Asians who need AIDS drugs receive them, a World Health Organization (WHO) report said on Tuesday, calling for a surge in treatment to meet a 2010 goal for universal access. South, southeast and east Asia, including India with the world s highest caseload of HIV-positive people, all l
Poor legal services fuel Kenya AIDS epidemic-report: Reuters NewMedia - April 16, 2007; NAIROBI - Kenya has failed to provide adequate legal services to its 2.5 million HIV/AIDS patients, undermining ground made in prevention and treatment in the east African nation, a leading advocacy group said on Monday. Costly legal services leave Kenyans vulnerable to human rights abuses -- including sexual violence,
Protesters burn effigies of Gere after Shilpa kiss: Reuters NewMedia - April 16, 2007; Prithwish Ganguly; NEW DELHI - Richard Gere s repeated kisses on the cheeks of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty in an event to promote AIDS awareness sparked protests in India on Monday with demonstrators burning effigies of the actor. Hollywood star Gere had joined Shetty, the winner of the Celebrity Big Brother reality TV show in Brita
Australia PM says no to HIV-positive immigrants: Reuters NewMedia - April 14, 2007; SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said people who are HIV-positive should not be allowed to migrate to Australia, a remark condemned by health groups as racist. My initial reaction is no (they should not be allowed in), Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting on Friday, adding that he would like more a
Abstinence education doesn't work: report: Reuters NewMedia - April 14, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON - Abstinence-only education programs meant to teach children to avoid sex until marriage failed to control their sexual behavior, according to a U.S. government report. Teenagers who took part in the programs as elementary and middle school students were just as likely to have sex as those who did not take p
Honduras Blacks, Hit by AIDS, Mark Historic Landing: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2007; EL TRIUNFO DE LA CRUZ, Honduras (Reuters) - Black Hondurans danced and drummed on Thursday to mark the occasion of their arrival in Central America more than 200 years ago, even as an AIDS epidemic threatens the nation s Garifuna ethnic group. Wearing rags and shielding themselves from the sun with coconut palm lea
U.S. CDC alarmed at rise of drug-resistant gonorrhea: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gonorrhea in the United States is now resistant to all but one class of antibiotic drugs, threatening doctors ability to treat the common sexually transmitted disease, officials said on Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it will no longer recommend antibiotics call
AIDS drugs sales seen topping $10 billion by 2015: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON (Reuters) - The launch of new drugs and an increase in the number of people diagnosed with HIV is set to make AIDS medicine a $10.6 billion market by 2015, according to a report on Thursday. Drugmakers may be under pressure to cut prices in the developing world but selling HIV drugs in the West remains a lucrati
Monkey genes help us see what makes us human: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, April 12 (Reuters) - Many of the genes that cause diseases in humans can be found in macaque monkeys but not in our nearest relative, the chimpanzee, researchers reported on Thursday in a study that sheds more light on what makes humans different. A team of more than 170 scientists from around the world has
Thailand to push for more AIDS drug price cuts: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2007; Nopporn Wong-Anan; BANGKOK, April 12 (Reuters) - Thailand is encouraged by initial successes in its campaign to force big drug firms to cut the costs of medicines but is far from satisfied, Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla said on Thursday. Thailand s issue of compulsory licences to override patents and allow the production or purchas
Wolfowitz scolds rich countries on aid: Reuters NewMedia - April 11, 2007; Lesley Wroughton; WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) - World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz criticised rich countries, including the United States , for failing to increase aid to needy developing nations at a time when some African economies were about to turn the corner . Some key economies were improving, he said, but the countries still
India Matrix Labs gets tentative FDA OK for HIV drug: Reuters NewMedia - April 10, 2007; MUMBAI, April 10 (Reuters) - India s Matrix Laboratories Ltd. has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for abacavir sulfate tablets, the regulator s Web site showed on Tuesday. Abacavir sulfate, a generic equivalent of GlaxoSmithKline Plc s
India asks Novartis to withdraw patent challenge: Reuters NewMedia - April 10, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - India is very concerned that a challenge by Swiss drug giant Novartis to local patent law could restrict the global supply of cheap anti-AIDS drugs, its health minister said on Tuesday. We urge Novartis to desist from this and withdraw from this, Anbumani Ramadoss told reporters in the
Abbott to cut AIDS drug price in 40 poor countries: Reuters NewMedia - April 10, 2007; Kim Dixon; CHICAGO, April 10 (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc. , widely criticized for aggressive pricing of its AIDS medicines in developing countries, said on Tuesday it would slash the price of a key AIDS drug by more than half in more than 40 poor countries. Abbott said it would offer its drug
China busts blood-selling gang after media expose: Reuters NewMedia - April 7, 2007; BEIJING, April 7 (Reuters) - Police in southern China busted a gang that organised sales of blood by jobless and homeless people, a state daily said on Saturday, after a similar practice caused a huge AIDS crisis in the central province of Henan. Gangs in a rural area of wealthy Guangdong province had arranged for hund
Mozambique struggles to curb TB, seeks U.N. help: Reuters NewMedia - April 7, 2007; Charles Mangwiro; MAPUTO, April 7 (Reuters) - Mozambique will seek United Nations funding to fight a sharp rise in the lung disease tuberculosis, which has been overshadowed by HIV/AIDS, its health minister said on Saturday. Health Minister Ivo Paulo Garrido told Reuters almost half of Mozambique s 18 million people were infected with t
China not investing enough to fight AIDS: experts: Reuters NewMedia - April 5, 2007; Ben Blanchard; BEIJING - China is not investing enough to fight HIV/AIDS and the government, while now finally taking the issue seriously, still needs to do more to stop an epidemic, a panel of experts and health workers said on Thursday. Among other problems faced in the world s most populous nation, discrimination is widespread and
Vitamin pills prevent low-weight babies: study: Reuters NewMedia - April 5, 2007; Gene Emery; BOSTON - Extra vitamin supplements can reduce the risk of having an underweight or undersized baby, and all pregnant women in developing countries should get them, researchers said on Wednesday. But the team, reporting in the New England Journal of Medicine, said the supplements did not lower the likelihood of prematur
AIDS drug Prezista performs well in new study: Reuters NewMedia - April 4, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - The new AIDS drug Prezista performed very well in halting the onslaught of the human immunodeficiency virus in people with advanced infection, a study published on Wednesday showed. The success of the drug, made by the Johnson & Johnson unit Tibotec Pharmaceuticals Ltd., comes at a time of acute need f
India court reserves order in Novartis patent case: Reuters NewMedia - April 4, 2007; CHENNAI, India - A court in southern India on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a challenge by Novartis AG (NOVN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) against an Indian law that blocks patenting of minor improvements in known molecules. India is a vital source of cheap generic medicines and campaign groups are worried that the
Central African Republic faces mounting disaster-UN: Reuters NewMedia - April 4, 2007; GENEVA - The Central African Republic faces a mounting humanitarian disaster, with the lives of a quarter of its people disrupted by civil and regional warfare, the United Nations children agency said on Wednesday. UNICEF said the north of the country, along the border with Sudan and
Aspen to market Tibotec AIDS drug in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - April 4, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - Africa s biggest generic drug maker Aspen (APNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) will market Tibotec Pharmaceutical s anti-AIDS drug prezista in sub-Saharan Africa, and may manufacture it if demand increases, Aspen said on Wednesday. Under the deal with Ireland s Tibotec, a unit of U.S.
Developing world has acute shortage of health workers: WHO: Reuters - April 3, 2007; Koh Gui Qing; SINGAPORE - Developing countries are suffering from an acute shortage of doctors and nurses, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, appealing for more health services for the poor. WHO s Margaret Chan said the shortage of health workers has jeopardized essential services such as immunization f
New Mexico approves medical use of marijuana: Reuters - April 2, 2007; ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - New Mexico doctors are allowed to prescribe marijuana to help some seriously ill patients manage symptoms including pain and nausea under a bill signed into law by Gov. Bill Richardson on Monday. This law will provide much-needed relief for New Mexicans suffering from debilitating diseases, R
Urgent need to reach HIV-infected children: doctors: Reuters - April 2, 2007; CHICAGO - There is an urgent need to treat millions of HIV-infected children in poor areas of the world by developing drugs that are easier to administer and improving medical training, the American Academy of Pediatrics said on Monday. A combination of three of more drugs can cut death rates from AIDS by fivefold or m
U.S. global AIDS effort urged to stress prevention: Reuters - April 2, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - The U.S. program fighting AIDS globally needs to put more emphasis on prevention and helping hard-hit nations in their long-term battle against the disease, an expert panel said on Friday while also faulting congressional mandates on program spending. The congressionally mandated report by an Institute of
Glaxo picks Hong to head infectious disease unit: Reuters NewMedia - March 29, 2007; NEW YORK - London-based drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday that it had appointed Zhi Hong to head its newly organized infectious-diseases research unit. Hong, currently chief scientific officer of San Diego-based biopharmaceutical company Ardea Biosciences, will assume his new
Breast-feeding benefits seen in HIV-infected women: Reuters NewMedia - March 29, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - African women infected with the AIDS virus cut the risk of transmitting it to their babies when they fed them exclusively breast milk and not also formula, animal milk or solid food, a study found on Thursday. Researchers in South Africa , writing in the Lancet medical journal, tracked 1,372 HIV-infected w
U.N. recommends male circumcision to prevent HIV: Reuters NewMedia - March 28, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA, March 28 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday endorsed male circumcision as a way to prevent HIV infections in heterosexual men and said it should be made more easily available in African countries. Two U.N. agencies, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS , backed recent research showing that re
S. Africa insurers to pay out HIV/AIDS claims: Reuters NewMedia - March 27, 2007; Marius Bosch; JOHANNESBURG, March 27 (Reuters) - South African life insurers will now pay out death and disability claims to those infected with HIV/AIDS, the industry body Life Offices Association (LOA) said on Tuesday. Beginning April 1, life insurers, among them Sanlam (SLMJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) and Old Mutual (OML.L: Quo
French firm says makes offer in Thai drug talks: Reuters NewMedia - March 27, 2007; Darren Schuettler; BANGKOK, March 27 (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi-Aventis (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) has offered wider access to its heart disease medicine Plavix in Thailand , where the army-backed government plans to make a generic version of the drug, the company said on Tuesday. It gave few details of the offer mad
Libya adjourns defamation trial against HIV nurses: Reuters NewMedia - March 25, 2007; TRIPOLI - A Libyan court postponed a criminal defamation trial on Sunday against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor who have been sentenced to death for infecting more than 400 children with HIV. The medical workers, convicted in December for intentionally starting an HIV epidemic in a children s hospital,
Kenya loses 13 people to TB every hour: Reuters NewMedia - March 24, 2007; Jeremy Clarke; NAIROBI - About 13 Kenyans die of tuberculosis every hour and there is little immediate prospect of improvement, the head of a leading national health organisation said on Saturday which is World Tuberculosis Day. Allan Ragi, executive director of KANCO -- a consortium of more than 850 civil society organisations -- to
HIV-infected Canada woman charged with sex assault: Reuters NewMedia - March 23, 2007; Scott Valentine; TORONTO - A Canadian woman who had sex with men she met in bars, without using a condom and without telling them she was HIV-positive, has been charged with sexual assault, police said on Friday. Toronto police Detective Joe de Lottinville said three men had come forward by Friday, but the total could be far higher.
Deadly TB strain seen in Africa now in rich nations: Reuters NewMedia - March 23, 2007; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS - A new deadly form of tuberculosis spreading through South Africa has now been found in rich nations in Europe as well as Canada and the United States , the World Health Organization said on Thursday. Africa s large AIDS population is at special risk fro
L.A. gay retirees get first low-cost housing units: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2007; Jill Serjeant; LOS ANGELES - The nation s first low-cost housing development aimed specifically at gay, lesbian and transgender retirees opened its doors in Hollywood on Thursday with a promise to provide a dignified haven for elderly homosexuals to live out their days. Calling it a historic day for the gay and lesbian community in b
Slowdown in TB decline worries experts: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON - The rate of tuberculosis among the U.S. population fell more than 3 percent last year, but that is not as fast a decline as before and is worrying, federal health officials said on Thursday. And more cases of extensive drug-resistant TB are showing up -- a hugely expensive and difficult-to-treat strain, th
TB fight could take centuries without new tools: UN: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA - Eradicating tuberculosis could take centuries without better drugs and diagnostics for the contagious disease and its deadly new strains, United Nations health officials said on Thursday. Nearly 9 million people caught tuberculosis in 2005 and 1.6 million died of it, about the same as the year before, which sh
Thailand talking with drug firms - U.S. chamber: Reuters NewMedia - March 20, 2007; Vithoon Amorn; BANGKOK - Thailand will continue talks with global pharmaceutical firms on a drug pricing dispute after its decisions to issue compulsory licences for some medicines, an executive of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said on Tuesday. A meeting with cabinet ministers produced hope the government and pharmaceutical companies
Life span gap between U.S. blacks, whites shrinks: Reuters NewMedia - March 16, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - White Americans continue to live longer than blacks but declines in black death rates from AIDS, homicide and injuries and, among black women, heart disease helped shrink the gap, researchers said on Friday. Tracking the period from 1983 to 2003, they found the life expectancy racial gap widened in the 198
South Africa health minister recovering with new liver: Reuters NewMedia - March 16, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, on the mend in hospital after undergoing a liver transplant, could be ready to return to work within six months, her doctors said on Friday. But an aide to Tshabalala-Msimang, the controversial minister who drew international condemnation for advoca
U.N. to halve food handouts in northern Uganda: Reuters NewMedia - March 16, 2007; NAIROBI - The United Nations said on Friday it would halve food handouts for more than 1 million people uprooted by war in northern Uganda due to lack of funds, and warned of more cuts for children and HIV/AIDS victims. In a statement, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) said 90 percent of 1.28 million people currently
Zimbabwe c.banker likens inflation to HIV - report: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2007; HARARE - Zimbabwe s central bank chief has compared the country s surging inflation, which is the highest in the world, to the deadly HIV pandemic, as the high cost of living ravages consumers. Inflation has ceased to be just the number one enemy, it is actually the economic HIV of this country, Reserve Bank governor G
US health agency says hepatitis cases down sharply: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - New cases of the liver disease hepatitis fell sharply in the United States from 1995 to 2005, federal health officials said on Thursday, and credited vaccination, particularly among children. More than 100,000 Americans became infected with hepatitis viruses in 2005, compared to about 500,000 in 1995, the
Bayer Says Abbott-Thai Dispute Dangerous: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2007; LEVERKUSEN, Germany - Germany s Bayer supported Abbott Laboratories decision to stop launching new drugs in Thailand in protest at the army-backed government s move to override international drug patents. I fully support Abbott and I fully support the very strong stance the industry is taking.
Ivory Coast must punish war-time rapists: Amnesty: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2007; Loucoumane Coulibaly; ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast s government must punish those responsible for widespread sexual abuse during the country s civil war as it seeks a peaceful solution to the crisis, Amnesty International said on Thursday. President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro signed the latest in a series of peace deals just ov
South Africa health minister has liver transplant: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2007; Paul Simao; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa s Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has had a liver transplant as a result of a long-running battle with hepatitis, her doctor said on Thursday. Tshabalala-Msimang, often criticised by AIDS activists for what they say is South Africa s slow response to one of the world s worst HIV/AID
Tainted blood and poverty fuel AIDS in rural China: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2007; An AIDS epidemic in rural China has gained fresh attention after a documentary about it won an Oscar this year, and after a doctor who helped expose the epidemic was put under house arrest to stop her receiving an award in the United States . The doctor, Gao Yaojie, is due to receive a human rights award in Washington
With 1,500 infected each day, South Africa gets AIDS plan: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2007; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa launched a revamped national AIDS plan on Wednesday as new research showed the high cost of government inaction on the epidemic -- 1,500 South Africans infected with HIV every day. South Africa s National Strategic Plan, submitted for approval at a conference, aims to cut new HIV infections
Angered U.S. firm excludes Thailand from new drugs: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2007; Darren Schuettler; BANGKOK - U.S. drugs giant Abbott Laboratories said it would stop launching new medicines in Thailand in protest at the army-backed government s move to override international drug patents. The decision will not affect Abbott drugs already on sale in Thailand, which declared a compulsory licence in January allowing i
WHO seeks smart technology to stop fake medicines: Reuters NewMedia - March 13, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON - The World Health Organization aims to harness smart technology to stop counterfeit medicines flooding developing world markets with sometimes fatal results. The U.N. body sat down with more than 20 technology companies at a conference in Prague on Tuesday to investigate ways to detect bogus drugs, which accoun
Survival Is Cold Comfort in AIDS - Stricken Rural China: Reuters NewMedia - March 13, 2007; LENG VILLAGE, China - With the familiarity of a long-married couple, Leng Zhijin lifts his wife Wang Xiangying s ragged blouse to show raw rashes and she grasps his shoulder, gaunt after 20 days of diarrhea. Like an estimated 300,000 farmers across central China s rural Henan province, including some 100 in their brick
HIV medics risk 3 more years in Libyan jail -lawyer: Reuters NewMedia - March 13, 2007; SOFIA - Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor could have to spend three more years in a Libyan prison even if they overturn their death sentences for infecting children with HIV, their lawyer said on Tuesday. The six medics are being sued for defamation by three Libyans who claim the Bulgarians and Palestinian fals
Tanzania plans 650 pct rise in AIDS drugs access: Reuters NewMedia - March 13, 2007; DAR ES SALAAM - Tanzania plans a six-fold increase in the number of AIDS patients receiving life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs by 2008, a government minister said. The east African nation of 39 million people has about 2 million people infected with the virus that causes AIDS. We are targeting to cover 450,000
China AIDS activist feels failure despite award: Reuters NewMedia - March 13, 2007; Arshad Mohammed and Paul Eckert; WASHINGTON - Poised to receive an award for fighting HIV/AIDS in rural China , Chinese activist Gao Yaojie said she feels like a failure. Eighty years old, her face creased with wrinkles, Gao has spent the last decade of her life working to treat the sick, to slow the disease s spread and to expose official complicity
Condom debate flares in Brazil before pope visit: Reuters NewMedia - March 12, 2007; BRASILIA - Brazilian officials and the country s Roman Catholic hierarchy are exchanging angry words over condom use and sex education just two months before the pope visits the world s largest Catholic nation. Brazilian Cardinal Eugenio Sales, in an opinion piece in O Globo newspaper over the weekend, criticized gover
Third accuser joins Libya nurses defamation trial: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2007; TRIPOLI - A third Libyan has joined two others in complaining of defamation by five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV, a court heard on Sunday. Police officer Osama Awedan has joined police colleague Juma Mishri and doctor Abdulmajid Alshoul in alleging
EU needs to coordinate AIDS research better-Germany: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2007; BERLIN - European Union member states should improve coordination in their efforts to develop a vaccine against HIV/AIDS, German Health Minister Ulla Schmidt told Reuters. Schmidt, who will preside over an international HIV/AIDS conference in the northern German city of Bremen on Monday, said she was in discussions wit
S. Africa plan sees one mln on AIDS drugs by 2011: Reuters NewMedia - March 9, 2007; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG, March 9 (Reuters) - South Africa sees up to one million people being on anti-retroviral drugs by 2011 under a national plan to fight AIDS, a disease that is estimated to kill 1,000 South Africans a day, officials said on Friday. South Africa launched a five-year HIV/AIDS strategy last year, vowing to cut
AIDS hits US blacks harder than other groups-CDC: Reuters NewMedia - March 8, 2007; Matthew Bigg; ATLANTA - Black men in the United States are nearly seven times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than their white counterparts, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report released on Thursday. Blacks represent 13 percent of the U.S. population but account for nearly half of Americans livin
Lula Tells Brazil to Respect Women: Reuters NewMedia - March 7, 2007; RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilians must show women more respect by using condoms during sex, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Wednesday at an event to help women avoid sexually transmitted diseases. AIDS is growing among heterosexual women. We are going to fight hypocrisy. We need to give out condoms and teach peop
Director Adds Real Life to Queen Latifah Film: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; LOS ANGELES - He is a watchdog of black American culture who might have directed any movie he wanted, but when it came to his first film, Nelson George tapped into subjects that hit close to home -- drugs, AIDS and his sister. Life Support, which premiered at January s Sundance Film Festival and airs on U.S. cable tele
Mexico military to reinstate HIV-positive troops: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; MEXICO CITY - Mexico s armed forces will obey a Supreme Court ruling to re-enlist a group of HIV-infected soldiers discharged because of their condition, military officials said on Tuesday. In a case brought by 11 former service members, the court last week prohibited the armed forces from discharging soldiers and nava
BLAMING WOMEN: Groups tie fight against AIDS to rape prevention: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; Michelle Nichols; UNITED NATIONS - The world s top AIDS donors, including the U.S. president s fund, need to tie the fight against the deadly virus to preventing the rape and abuse of women and girls, rights groups said on Tuesday. The Women Won t Wait coalition said violence against women and girls was a cause -- through rape -- and a
Study raises questions about circumcision in AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - Circumcision helps protect men from getting the AIDS virus but may make an already-infected man more likely to infect a woman if he does not let his penis heal completely, researchers said on Tuesday. Researchers working in Uganda released early findings from a study of 997 HIV-infected men. It indicated t
Novartis CEO wants no popularity awards on patents: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; Sam Cage; BASEL, Switzerland - Novartis AG s chief executive said on Tuesday the Swiss drugmaker did not want popularity awards and would continue with legal action over India s patent system. Daniel Vasella said the company would stand up for what it thinks is right, despite criticism from campaigners and shareholders. We
TB strain threatens 'uncontrollable' epidemic: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; Laura MacInnis; GENEVA - Extremely drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis could spark a practically uncontrollable epidemic among HIV/AIDS sufferers in areas like Africa, a World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Tuesday. Mario Raviglione, director of the United Nations agency s Stop TB Department, said health experts needed
Bush's daughter writes book on teen mom with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; NEW YORK - After years of steering clear of the spotlight, one of President George W. Bush s twin daughters is writing a book about a teen mother in Central America who has the AIDS virus. Jenna Bush, 25, will release in the fall Ana s Story: A Journey of Hope, based on her work as an unpaid intern with United Nation s
Anglican Leader Extolls Unity on Poverty, AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; BENONI, South Africa - The spiritual leader of the world s 77 million Anglicans said on Tuesday a split over gay clergy would not distract the church from battling AIDS, poverty and other problems in the developing world. The tensions are perfectly real, but one of the remarkable things is the willingness to work toget
Business fears complacency in global AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - March 6, 2007; Ben Hirschler; LONDON - The world risks becoming complacent in the fight against AIDS, the head of a global business organisation set up to fight the disease said on Tuesday. John Tedstrom, executive director of the Global Business Coalition (GBC) on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, fears recent progress in rolling out life-saving
HIV transmission risk highest early in infection-study: Reuters NewMedia - March 5, 2007; WASHINGTON - People may be most likely to transmit the AIDS virus when they are first infected -- before they start showing symptoms and even before many screening tests detect the virus, Canadian researchers reported on Monday. This may help explain why the HIV epidemic moves so quickly, they report in the Journal of
Global AIDS fund wants more private donor money: Reuters NewMedia - March 5, 2007; John Acher; OSLO - A global fund that combats AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria hopes to attract more money from private donors, fund officials said on Monday. Launched in 2002 with the backing of then U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has raised $10 billion but is looking to r
African AIDS victims fret over India patent case: Reuters NewMedia - March 5, 2007; Jeremy Clarke; NAIROBI - AIDS patients line up at dawn outside a small medical centre in one of Kenya s teeming slums. Dr Ivy Mwangi has 1,800 HIV sufferers on her books, but as the winding queue outside steadily grows, her thoughts are on a court case more than 5,000 km (3,000 miles) away in India . The proceedings pit Swiss
Hotels with no condoms get fined: Reuters NewMedia - March 2, 2007; BEIJING - A Chinese province has taken the unusual step of fining hotels and bars more than $600 if they do not provide condoms, part of efforts to fight the spread of AIDS, a newspaper said on Friday. The booming eastern province of Zhejiang, with 1,859 recorded infections by the end of last year, started enforcing th
Economic Growth Masks Social Woes in Estonia Election: Reuters NewMedia - March 2, 2007; TALLINN - Strong economic growth in Estonia , a new European Union member, hides big social problems -- the bloc s highest rate of registered HIV infections, highest proportion of people in jails and lowest male life expectancy. As Estonians prepare to vote in parliamentary elections on March 4, political parties are t
Workplace HIV discrimination must end - World Bank: Reuters NewMedia - March 2, 2007; Jeremy Clarke; NAIROBI - The World Bank said on Friday it would push to end HIV discrimination in the workplace, where multi-national companies have traditionally applied lower standards to their African employees. World Bank delegates from 27 countries spent five days in the Kenyan capital discussing discrimination against people li
Germany to push G8 for more Africa aid - minister: Reuters NewMedia - March 1, 2007; Tom Armitage; BERLIN - Group of Eight president Germany aims to secure funding for a campaign to fight HIV/AIDS in African women and children at a meeting of industrialised nations in June, Germany s development minister told Reuters. Germany, which also holds the rotating European Union presidency, will press G8 nations to honour t
J&J HIV drug matches Bristol-Myers drug in trial: Reuters NewMedia - February 28, 2007; LOS ANGELES - A mid-stage trial of Johnson & Johnson s (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile , Research) experimental AIDS drug TMC278 shows that it works as well as Bristol-Myers Squibb s (BMY.N: Quote, Profile , Research) Sustiva in previously untreated patients, researchers said on Wednesday. TMC278 is designed to block an
Bogus Medicines Flood Developing World: Reuters NewMedia - February 28, 2007; VIENNA - Counterfeit medicines, some of them sold over the Internet, are swamping unregulated markets in developing nations with sometimes fatal results, the U.N. drug control watchdog said on Thursday. Some 25 to 50 percent of the medicines used in developing countries were now believed to be fake, the International N
HIV mental problem high in Uganda: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; Researchers have found AIDS-related dementia (mental disorder) in 31% of HIV patients in Uganda and described it as an alarmingly high rate. If the rate we saw in our study translates across sub-Saharan Africa, we are looking at more than eight million people in this region with HIV dementia, said Dr Ned Sacktor, a ne
Merck integrase inhibitor suppresses HIV--studies: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; Deena Beasley; LOS ANGELES, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Merck & Co. Inc. s experimental HIV drug in a new class called integrase inhibitors can control the virus in nearly 80 percent of previously treated patients, when combined with other commonly used AIDS drugs, researchers said on Tuesday. This is a major step in HIV therapeutics, sa
Mexico orders forces to reinstate soldiers with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; Miguel Angel Gutierrez; MEXICO CITY, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Mexico s Supreme Court ordered the armed forces on Tuesday to readmit HIV-infected soldiers to the ranks, in a groundbreaking ruling that will set a precedent for similar cases filed by military personnel. In a case brought by 11 members of the military, the court declared unconstitution
U.N. food agency plans big cuts in Zambia aid: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; LUSAKA, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The United Nations World Food Programme will cut vital food aid rations to around 500,000 vulnerable people in Zambia in the coming weeks because of a funding crunch, the organisation said on Tuesday. The WFP will also halt food assistance in April to 6,000 HIV/AIDS patients on antiretroviral
UN drug watchdog ignores HIV, rights groups say: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; Michelle Nichols; UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The U.N. drug control watchdog is hindering efforts to fight the global AIDS pandemic and the agency should be independently reviewed, human rights groups and a former U.N. AIDS envoy said on Tuesday. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the Open Society Institute and Stephen Lewis, a
Pfizer Says Maraviroc Suppresses AIDS Virus: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N) said on Tuesday pivotal-stage trials found that adding its experimental HIV drug maraviroc to a regimen of the best-available drugs resulted in twice as many patients achieving suppression of the virus. If approved by regulators, maraviroc would be the first in a new class of
Ailing South Africa health minister put on sick leave: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa s ailing Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has been temporarily replaced by the transport minister while she receives treatment for a lung condition, an official statement said. Tshabalala-Msimang, often criticised by AIDS activists for what they say is South Africa s slow response to
Breastfeeding safer for some HIV-infected mothers: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2007; Deena Beasley; LOS ANGELES - Breast-feeding, which helps build a baby s immune system, may be the best option for HIV-infected mothers in developing countries, despite the risk of transmitting the virus that causes AIDS to their babies, according to new studies presented on Monday. HIV-positive mothers generally are counseled to feed
China AIDS activists laud documentary Oscar: Reuters NewMedia - February 26, 2007; BEIJING - A film about Chinese orphans of AIDS victims won an Oscar for best documentary short film, which a prominent AIDS activist in China said showed people still cared. Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon won the Oscar for The Blood of Yingzhou District which tells the story of traditional Chinese obligations of family co
Indian woman killed by in-laws over AIDS suspicion: Reuters NewMedia - February 26, 2007; NEW DELHI - A sick woman in eastern India was beaten to death by her in-laws because they suspected she had AIDS and feared she would infect the rest of the family, a newspaper said on Monday. Sabita Behera, a 30-year-old widow from a village in Puri district in Orissa state, was suffering from a fever for several days
Libya HIV case nurses say not guilty of defamation: Reuters NewMedia - February 25, 2007; TRIPOLI - Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV, on Sunday pleaded not guilty to charges they defamed two Libyans by accusing them of torture, lawyers said. A Libyan court sentenced the six, in jail since 1999, to death in December for starting an HIV
China praised by researchers for its AIDS efforts: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON - China should be praised for its efforts to fight AIDS, and some of its actions can set an example for other countries, an international team of researchers said on Thursday. They said China had learned from its mistakes with SARS and was working to control the AIDS virus, which has infected an estimated 65
New AIDS drugs aim to combat resistant HIV strains: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2007; Deena Beasley and Ransdell Pierson; LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK - More than 25 years into the AIDS epidemic, many drugs are used to treat HIV, but an alarming number of patients are becoming resistant to therapy, driving research into new ways to combat the virus. Data from clinical trials of several promising new products will be unveiled at a conference of le
Gambia expels UN official for AIDS "cure" criticism: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2007; BANJUL - Gambia has ordered the expulsion of the top U.N. official in the country after she criticised assertions by President Yahya Jammeh that he was curing AIDS patients with herbs, government sources said on Friday. Fadzai Gwaradzimba, a Zimbabwean national who is the resident coordinator of U.N. operations in the
Nearly half of Indian women have not heard of AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI - More than 40 percent of women in India have not heard of AIDS, according to a government survey that has alarmed activists. India has 5.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS, according to the United Nations, which is the world s highest caseload. But the prevalence rate, in the country of 1.1 billion people
Ailing South Africa health minister stable-doctor: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa s ailing health minister, who angered AIDS activists by promoting garlic and beetroot remedies for HIV, has stabilised in hospital but requires further treatment, her doctor said on Friday. Jeff Wing of Johannesburg General Hospital said Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was being treated for anaemia
Infection levels booming among migrants in Russia: Reuters NewMedia - February 22, 2007; MOSCOW - One in 10 migrant workers in Russia suffer from either tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS or hepatitis, the health minister said on Thursday, blaming a lack of health checks. Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov said a Soviet-era system of health checks for migrant workers, many of them from Central Asia and other parts of the
South Africa's controversial health minister in hospital: Reuters NewMedia - February 22, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa s controversial health minister, blamed by AIDS activists for the country s sluggish response to the epidemic, is in intensive care suffering from a lung problem, officials said. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, dubbed Dr. No by activists for her long reluctance to approve anti-retroviral (ARV) dru
Herpes treatment may help HIV patients: study: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2007; Gene Emery; BOSTON - Treating genital herpes may slow the progression of the AIDS virus in those infected with both viruses, researchers reported on Wednesday. The test involving 140 women in the West African country of Burkina Faso found that when herpes was being treated with 500 milligrams of the drug valacyclovir twice daily f
Aurobindo registers 9 anti-AIDS products in Botswana: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2007; MUMBAI - Drug firm Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. said on Wednesday the drugs regulatory unit of Botswana had registered nine of its anti-AIDS products. The products are Lamivudine and Zidovudine tablet, Zidovudine oral solution 50 mg/5 ml, Nevirapine Oral Suspension 50 mg/ ml Lamivudine oral solution 10 mg/ml, Nevirapin
Italian doctors transplant HIV-infected organs: Reuters NewMedia - February 20, 2007; FLORENCE - Italian doctors mistakenly transplanted organs from an HIV-positive donor into three recipients, the head of a Florence hospital said on Tuesday. Doctors at Careggi hospital told reporters that an infected woman s liver and kidneys were transplanted after a laboratory biologist incorrectly wrote on her medic
Ottawa, Gates join in Canadian HIV vaccine search: Reuters NewMedia - February 20, 2007; OTTAWA - The Canadian government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced C$139 million ($118 million) in funding on Tuesday for a Canadian initiative in the search for an HIV/AIDS vaccine. Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates told a news conference that the money would go t
Bulgarian nurses appeal in Libya HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2007; TRIPOLI - Five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS appealed on Saturday against their conviction, their lawyer said. Othman Bizanti said he had lodged appeal papers on their behalf at the criminal court in Tripoli where they were found guilty, al
Indonesia faces growing AIDS woes, Papua big worry-WHO: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2007; JAKARTA - Indonesia faces a growing AIDS problem -- particularly among drug users and prostitutes -- while a recent survey shows two percent of the Papua population infected with HIV, the World Health Organisation said on Saturday. The sprawling, developing nation of 220 million people also faces constraints and lack o
China lets AIDS doctor collect U.S. rights prize: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2007; Chris Buckley; BEIJING - China will allow an aged AIDS activist to travel to the United States to collect a human rights prize, relenting after her detention at home for two weeks raised an international outcry. Gao Yaojie has been invited to receive a prize from Vital Voices, a U.S. group, that recognises her pioneering role in expo
HIV drug Prezista gets conditional OK in Europe: Reuters NewMedia - February 16, 2007; NEW YORK - A new HIV drug from Johnson & Johnson received conditional marketing approval in the European Union for all 27 member states, a unit of the company said on Friday. Prezista is used with related therapies to treat resistant strains of HIV in patients who do not first improve with other treatment. Addi
Novartis defends patents stance in Indian court: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2007; Sam Cage; ZURICH (Reuters) - Novartis AG defended its stance on drug patents in an Indian court on Thursday, saying a tightening of intellectual property laws would spur investment in developing more medicines. India is a crucial source of cheap generic medicines, but Novartis is challenging an Indian law that blocks the patenti
South Africa alters AIDS plan after extreme TB threat: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2007; CAPE TOWN - South Africa is overhauling its AIDS strategy in a bid to counter the rise of extreme drug resistant tuberculosis which is proving a serious threat to those suffering HIV/AIDS, a senior official said on Thursday. Extreme drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, has killed at least 183 people in South Africa
Merck cuts price on AIDS drug Efavirenz: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2007; Nopporn Wong-Anan; BANGKOK - Merck & Co. announced on Thursday price cuts for its HIV-AIDS drug, Efavirenz , in poor countries and those hard hit by the disease, including Thailand which plans to make copycat versions of the medicine. Thailand, which shocked Merck in November when it announced pl
Donors give $70 mln for Zimbabwe AIDS orphans: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2007; HARARE - Foreign donors gave $70 million on Thursday to help Zimbabwe cope with growing numbers of AIDS orphans in what officials said was a rare show of unity among the government, donors and non-governmental organisations. The United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) says one in four children in the southern African n
Image of HIV Could Lead to Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2007; WASHINGTON - Scientists have captured an image of the AIDS virus in a biological handshake with the immune cells it attacks. They said they hope this can help lead to a better vaccine against the incurable disease. They pinpointed a place on the outside of the human immunodeficiency virus that could be vulnerable to an
Senate sends Bush government funding bill: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2007; Richard Cowan; WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a $463.5 billion bill to keep the federal government operating through September 30, leaving most decisions on Democratic spending priorities for next year s round of bills that will be written in coming weeks. By a vote of 81-15, the Senate passed the money bill that wa
AIDS virus weakness detected: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - Scientists have captured an image of the AIDS virus in a biological handshake with the immune cells it attacks, and said on Wednesday they hope this can help lead to a better vaccine against the incurable disease. They pinpointed a place on the outside of the human immunodeficiency virus that could be vuln
True love is a Valentine AIDS test in South Africa: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - South Africans tired of flowers and chocolates might want to give their loved-ones a more practical gift this Valentine s Day -- an AIDS test. A Johannesburg clinic is offering a his-and-hers HIV test at a special Valentine price of 20 rand ($2.77) per couple, which it bills as an ideal gift in a country
Thailand plans to break patents on 14 drugs -firms: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2007; Nopporn Wong-Anan; BANGKOK - Thailand is planning to break the foreign patents of 14 HIV/AIDS, cancer and heart drugs, a move that may prompt companies to withhold new drugs from the Thai market, pharmaceutical firms said on Wednesday. This action is completely unprecedented anywhere in the world, said Teera Chakajnarodom, president of
Pfizer's AIDS drug to get faster review: Reuters NewMedia - February 13, 2007; NEW YORK - Pfizer Inc. said on Tuesday its HIV treatment maraviroc will receive an accelerated review from regulators in the United States and Europe. If approved by the regulatory agencies, maraviroc would be the first in a new class of HIV/AIDS treatments called CCR5 antagonists that work by blocking viral entry, the
Negotiate with drug companies, WHO chief says: Reuters NewMedia - February 13, 2007; BANGKOK - Developing nations should try to negotiate with drug companies before overriding patents to make copycat medicines, the head of the World Health Organisation said. Margaret Chan said The Thai government was fully within its rights under world trade rules to issue compulsory licences allowing it to buy or make
Insurgency infects Indian state's AIDS battle: Reuters NewMedia - February 13, 2007; Y.P. Rajesh; IMPHAL, India - Rebels in an Indian state badly hit by AIDS are hampering efforts to control the deadly infection by extorting money meant to tackle it, healthcare officials and voluntary groups said. Militants in the remote, northeastern state of Manipur, considered a global hotspot for the disease, have regularly thr
Cell phones mobilized to fight AIDS in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - February 13, 2007; BARCELONA - Mobile phones are being harnessed to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa under a new $10-million scheme announced on Tuesday with the backing of leading companies and the U.S. government. The Phones-for-Health project will use software loaded on to a standard Motorola handset to allow care workers in the field to ente
Marijuana eases pain in HIV-infected people: study: Reuters NewMedia - February 12, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - Smoking marijuana eases a type of chronic foot pain in people with the AIDS virus, according to a study published on Monday that the researchers touted as demonstrating marijuana s medicinal benefits. But the White House drug policy office said the research was flawed and offered only false hope. The stud
Director Techine Remembers AIDS Past He "Escaped": Reuters NewMedia - February 12, 2007; BERLIN - French film director Andre Techine has marked his return to cinema after a three-year hiatus with an emotional journey back to the 1980s and the start of the AIDS epidemic he said could easily have ended his life. Techine s Les Temoins (The Witnesses) explores a complex web of relationships between people whos
Bulgarian nurses defamation hearing set for Feb 25: Reuters NewMedia - February 11, 2007; TRIPOLI - Five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV appeared in court on Sunday on charges that they defamed two Libyans by accusing them of torture, the nurses lawyer said. The lawyer, Othman Bizanti, said the five were due to have been examined about the charges at the start of t
Bulgarians demonstrate for condemned HIV medics: Reuters NewMedia - February 9, 2007; SOFIA - Thousands of people demonstrated across Bulgaria on Friday to call for the release of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor condemned to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. On the eighth anniversary of the medics imprisonment, the demonstrations are Bulgaria s latest attempt to ra
Rich nations launch vaccine pact, appeal to others: Reuters NewMedia - February 9, 2007; Gavin Jones; ROME - Five rich countries led by Italy launched a $1.5 billion project on Friday to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them. Italy, Britain, Canada , Norway and Russia announced their funding co
Excerpts from South Africa Mbeki State of Nation speech: Reuters NewMedia - February 9, 2007; President Thabo Mbeki promised to step up South Africa s fight against crime, improve AIDS programmes and ease poverty in his annual State of the Nation speech on Friday. Excerpts follow: CRIME, VIOLENCE While we have reduced the incidence of most contact crimes, the annual reduction rate with regard to such categories
South Africa's Mbeki vows to tackle crime, AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - February 9, 2007; CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South African President Thabo Mbeki promised to step up the fight against crime, improve AIDS programmes and ease poverty in his annual state of the nation speech on Friday. Mbeki, who has come under mounting pressure to tackle rampant crime, said he would boost the police force to over 180,00
French AIDS envoy named global disease fund chief: Reuters NewMedia - February 8, 2007; GENEVA - France s ambassador for HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases, Michel Kazatchkine, was selected on Thursday to lead a multi-billion-dollar fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The Global Fund board, which has committed $7 billion in grants to 136 countries since its launch five years ago, said it had cho
Brazil vows to install condom machines in schools: Reuters NewMedia - February 7, 2007; BRASILIA - Brazil s health ministry vowed on Tuesday to proceed with plans to put condom vending machines in schools and sought to defuse criticism with a new study showing that parents in the world s largest Roman Catholic nation approve of the idea. The study, conducted by the United Nations body UNESCO, concluded th
AIDS group urges restart for South Africa gel trials: Reuters NewMedia - February 7, 2007; John Chiahemen; JOHANNESBURG - South African AIDS activists said on Wednesday they hoped clinical trials of a microbicide gel designed to help women protect themselves against HIV could restart after they were halted last month by a U.S. group. Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), Africa s most influential AIDS lobby, praised U.S. reprodu
Britain pledges $550 mln in aid for Malawi: Reuters NewMedia - February 7, 2007; Mabvuto Banda; LILONGWE - Britain has pledged 280 million pounds ($547.8 million) in aid to Malawi over four years and praised the impoverished southern African country for tackling corruption. Hilary Benn, Britain s international development minister, pledged the funds at a news conference in Malawi late on Tuesday, applauding the c
Rich nations to sign $1.5 bln vaccine pact in Italy: Reuters NewMedia - February 6, 2007; Giselda Vagnoni; ROME - The Group of Seven rich countries will sign an agreement on Friday to provide $1.5 billion to develop vaccines for poor countries, the government of Italy , which is among those heading the initiative, said on Tuesday. The new Advanced Market Commitments for Vaccines programme, under the auspices of the G7, is
China ministry says didn't know AIDS doctor banned: Reuters NewMedia - February 6, 2007; BEIJING - China s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it knew nothing of claims that an aging advocate for AIDS sufferers has been blocked from visiting the United States , saying local officials may know about the case. Friends of Gao Yaojie, an octogenarian doctor instrumental in exposing China s long-concealed rural AI
South Africa orders probe into botched HIV gel trials: Reuters NewMedia - February 6, 2007; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa said on Tuesday it had ordered an inquiry following reports that participants in the clinical trial of a microbicide gel to help prevent HIV infection among women had instead contracted the virus. The U.S. reproductive health group CONRAD said last month it was halting trials of Canada-based
Scientists explore possible new way to fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - February 6, 2007; Will Dunham; WASHINGTON - A naturally occurring molecule saves vital immune system cells from cellular suicide during the onslaught of the AIDS virus and might help keep the body s natural defenses working in HIV-infected people, a study found. The findings represent a potential new avenue to fight the effects of the human immunode
China bars AIDS doctor from US for award -activist: Reuters NewMedia - February 5, 2007; BEIJING - China has blocked an octogenarian doctor instrumental in exposing China s HIV/AIDS crisis from collecting an award from a U.S.-based advocacy group, a fellow AIDS activist said on Monday. Police barred Gao Yaojie from leaving her home in the central province of Henan, forcing her to miss her Sunday flight to
Qaeda figure slams Libya for softening line on nurses case: Reuters NewMedia - February 2, 2007; DUBAI - A top al Qaeda militant labelled Libya s leadership hateful infidels over signs it may review the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death, according to a Web video posted on Thursday. (Libya wants) to cajole the West and please its masters ... by dropping the case of this heino
U.N.'s Nabarro tipped to head global AIDS fund: Reuters NewMedia - February 1, 2007; GENEVA - David Nabarro, a Briton who heads the United Nations fight against bird flu, is the front-runner to lead a body dedicated to combating diseases including AIDS. Nabarro was considered the strongest of three shortlisted candidates to head the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Fund sources said
Quick action urged on Afghan drugs to head off AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - February 1, 2007; KABUL - Quick action is needed to fight Afghanistan s growing drug addiction problem to head off an HIV/AIDS crisis in the shattered country, leading health agencies said on Thursday. If not, we will be facing a widespread epidemic, Afghan Red Crescent president Fatima Gailani said in a statement for the opening of a n
India to create HIV "safe zones" for migrants: Reuters NewMedia - February 1, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI - India will map out high-risk migration corridors and create safe spaces in cities where migrant workers congregate to protect them from the HIV virus, the head of its anti-AIDS agency said on Thursday. India has the world s highest caseload with around 5.7 million people living with the virus, according to
House approves bill to fund domestic programs: Reuters NewMedia - January 31, 2007; Richard Cowan; WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday approved a $463.5 billion funding bill to keep the government running this year, while adding money to care for veterans wounded in Iraq and stepping up the global struggle against HIV/AIDS. By a vote of 286-140, the new Democratic-controlled House passed
Bulgaria to try Libyan officers on torture charges: Reuters NewMedia - January 31, 2007; SOFIA - Bulgaria will try 11 Libyan police officers on charges of torturing Bulgarian nurses to obtain confessions to deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, a senior prosecutor said on Wednesday. Sofia is preparing to press charges against the police officers in absentia within four months. In
Trials of new women's HIV drug stopped: Reuters NewMedia - January 31, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Trials of a new product designed to help women protect themselves from the AIDS virus were halted on Wednesday after women using it became infected at a higher rate than women not using it, researchers said. Toronto, Canada-based Polydex Pharmaceuticals said the gel, known as a microbicid
Vatican enraged by magazine's confessional expose: Reuters NewMedia - January 31, 2007; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - An Italian magazine report which sought to prove that what some priests tell Catholics in the confessional is not always what the Church preaches in public has enraged the Vatican. To write the cover story in this week s L Espresso, reporter Riccardo Bocca visited 24 churches in five large Ital
Libyan Says 6 Won't Be Executed: Reuters NewMedia - January 30, 2007; SOFIA, Bulgaria - Libya will not execute five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death last month, a son of the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, said in a newspaper interview, calling the verdicts unfair. A Libyan court sentenced the six for intentionally infecting hundreds of children with H
Gaddafi agrees to review case of medics condemned to death: Reuters NewMedia - January 30, 2007; ADDIS ABABA - Italy s prime minister said on Tuesday he had appealed to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to spare the lives of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with HIV. I did this in a very heartfelt way because this is a problem that has been going on f
Alerting humanitarians to emergencies: Reuters NewMedia - January 30, 2007; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa s AIDS epidemic, often regarded by health workers as a disease of the poor, is in fact spreading quickly among the country s richest and best educated people, researchers said on Tuesday. The study by the Markinor polling firm and the University of South Africa (UNISA) showed a rapid increas
Thailand allows copycat AIDS, heart disease drugs: Reuters NewMedia - January 29, 2007; Pongpiphat Banchanont; BANGKOK - Thailand s army-appointed government confirmed on Monday it approved a cheap, copycat version of a blockbuster heart disease drug, the first time a developing country has torn up the international patent for such a treatment. In addition to the compulsory license of Plavix, made by U.S. and European pharmaceu
HIV-related dementia common in Africa, study finds: Reuters NewMedia - January 29, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON - Dementia caused by the AIDS virus may be far more common in Africa than previously believed, making it one of the leading causes of dementia in the world, researchers reported on Monday. Alzheimer s disease and strokes are currently the most common causes of dementia. But researchers found AIDS-related
Army doctors struggle amid Zim hospital strike: Reuters NewMedia - January 29, 2007; MacDonald Dzirutwe; Harare, Zimbabwe - A handful of army doctors struggled to cope with emergencies at Zimbabwe s largest public hospital on Monday as regular doctors pressed on with a five-week strike that has all but paralysed public medical care. Officials said there are about seven army medical personnel at Harare s Parirenyatwa Hospi
Gaddafi son says medics will not be executed: Reuters NewMedia - January 29, 2007; Tsvetelia Ilieva; SOFIA - Libya will not execute five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death last month, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said in a newspaper interview, calling their trial unfair . Speaking to Bulgarian daily 24 Chasa, Saif al-Islam said a solution would be found soon to save the medics and
Swiss drug case threatens developing world - MSF: Reuters NewMedia - January 29, 2007; Jeremy Clarke; NAIROBI - Tens of thousands of people being treated for AIDS will suffer if Swiss drugmaker Novartis succeeds in changing India s patent law, humanitarian agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Monday. If Novartis gets through with its case our lives are at risk, Monique Wanjala, a woman who has been living with
Thailand issues more compulsory drugs licences: Reuters NewMedia - January 25, 2007; Nopporn Wong-Anan; BANGKOK - Thailand s army-installed government has issued compulsory licences for cheap versions of a heart disease and an AIDS drug, the health minister said on Thursday, a move likely to enrage global pharmaceutical giants. The laws have been signed and they are now effective, Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla told
Time for long view on AIDS, says Global Fund: Reuters NewMedia - January 25, 2007; Ben Hirschler; DAVOS, Switzerland - After years of fire-fighting HIV/AIDS, the time has come to develop a long-term strategy for tackling the pandemic, the head of the global fund set up to fight the disease said on Wednesday. As we get the fire engine to the scene and begin to put out the blaze, which I think is what is happening, o
Crunch time for AIDS vaccine trials nears in 2008: Reuters NewMedia - January 23, 2007; Ben Hirschler; DAVOS, Switzerland - The hunt for a vaccine against AIDS is about to enter a critical stage, with results in 2008 from large-scale clinical trials of two candidates set to determine the future direction of research. Although there is a good chance that neither experimental vaccine will provide comprehensive protection,
Indonesia drug woes fuel HIV, terrorism worries: Reuters NewMedia - January 23, 2007; Ed Davies; JAKARTA - Indonesia faces a growing drugs problem that is fuelling concerns ranging from the spread of AIDS to links with militant groups and organised crime, the head of the country s anti-narcotics bureau said on Tuesday. The human cost is huge, with an estimated 572,000 intravenous drug users in the country in 2004
South Africa urged to isolate "killer" TB patients: Reuters NewMedia - January 23, 2007; Sarah McGregor; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa should forcibly isolate patients infected with a highly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis to stop the disease from spreading on the AIDS-hit continent, researchers said on Monday. South Africa s outbreak of extreme drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), which has killed at least 74 people
Shire licenses HIV drug to Australia's Avexa: Reuters NewMedia - January 23, 2007; LONDON - Britain s Shire Plc said on Tuesday it had licensed the North American rights to experimental HIV drug SPD754 to Australian biotechnology firm Avexa Ltd. Shire said it would receive an upfront payment of $10 million, as well as an unspecified level of development and sales-related milestones and royalties.
Taking selenium benefits AIDS patients -US study: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2007; CHICAGO - AIDS patients who took selenium suppressed the deadly virus in their bodies and boosted their fragile immune systems, adding to evidence that the mineral has healing powers, researchers said on Monday. An 18-month study of 262 patients with AIDS found those who took a daily capsule containing 200 micrograms o
EU offers Libya better ties in bid to end HIV row: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2007; David Brunnstrom; BRUSSELS - The European Union on Monday held out the prospect of better ties with Libya if six foreign medical workers, condemned to death in the country for infecting hundreds of children with HIV, were released quickly. Foreign ministers from the 27 EU states expressed grave concern about a verdict by Libya s crimin
Africa's failed health plan seen costing 40 mln lives: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2007; Jeremy Clarke; NAIROBI - African governments failure to deliver on a 2001 vow to spend 15 percent of budgets on health has cost the continent 40 million lives, activists including Nobel winners Desmond Tutu and Wangari Maathai said on Sunday. The governments are to blame of course, but nothing has been done about it because ordinary
Bollywood plots AIDS message despite stars' apathy: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2007; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI - Four top Bollywood directors are to make short films dealing with HIV/AIDS that will be shown before blockbuster releases, hoping to use their stars pulling power to spread awareness of the deadly virus in India . The low-budget, 12-minute movies will be shown at theatres ahead of full-length commercial Bol
Spain says ready to take Libyan children with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2007; David Brunnstrom; BRUSSELS - Spain has told Libya it is ready to treat some of the hundreds of children with HIV whose case has raised tensions between the West and Tripoli over six foreign medics condemned to death for infecting them. We have expressed our willingness, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told reporters in
U.S. AIDS group to sue Pfizer over Viagra ads: Reuters NewMedia - January 21, 2007; Lisa Richwine; WASHINGTON - A major U.S. AIDS treatment group plans to file a lawsuit on Monday that accuses drug giant Pfizer Inc. of illegally promoting recreational use of its blockbuster impotence pill Viagra. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) told Reuters it wants Pfizer to be barred from marketing Viagra as a lifestyle or se
Circumcision not yet right for China AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - January 19, 2007; Ben Blanchard; BEIJING - China is still looking at evidence that male circumcision can play an important role in fighting the spread of AIDS and is not currently considering such a campaign, a senior health official said on Friday. Late last year, researchers in the United States and Africa said that circumcising men cut their r
Libya rebuffs EU demand to free medics in HIV case: Reuters NewMedia - January 19, 2007; TRIPOLI - Calls by the EU Parliament for Libya to free medics sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with HIV will only worsen the prisoners situation, a charity run by Muammar Gaddafi s son said on Friday. The parliament urged EU states on Thursday to review ties with oil-rich Libya and step up pressure
Trial opens in Kazakhstan over child HIV infections: Reuters NewMedia - January 19, 2007; ALMATY - Twenty-one Kazakh doctors and officials went on trial on Friday over their suspected role in the accidental infection of dozens of children with HIV in the south of the Central Asian country. At least eight children died last year in the Kazakh region of Shymkent after receiving transfusions of blood suspected
Sex, meth and Internet spark new AIDS fears: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2007; Matthew Verrinder; NEW YORK - An hour after speaking at a Crystal Meth Anonymous meeting about the benefits of sobriety to dozens of other recovering addicts, Charlie was alone in his Chelsea apartment, logged onto the Web site Adam4Adam.com. He cruised the site s profiles of muscular gay men who want to meet for sex while high on metham
EU assembly urges review of Libya ties over nurses: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2007; Darren Ennis; STRASBOURG, France - The European Parliament urged European Union states to review ties with oil-rich Libya on Thursday unless it frees five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor facing the death penalty. The parliament resolution, which marks a step up in European pressure on Tripoli to release the medics followin
EU ramps up pressure on Libya over HIV verdicts: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2007; Darren Ennis; STRASBOURG, France - The European Union ramped up pressure on Libya on Wednesday to free five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with HIV. The medics were found guilty in December -- the second time in the eight-year case -- for deliberately starting an outbr
Prodi to raise Bulgarian HIV nurses with Gaddafi: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2007; SOFIA - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Wednesday he will urge Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi later this month to free five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. The nurses were condemned with a Palestinian doctor to death in December -- the second time in th
Reconsider Libya ties over medics-EU lawmakers: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2007; Darren Ennis; STRASBOURG, France - The European Union should consider revising its engagement policy with Libya unless it frees five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor facing the death sentence, European parliamentarians said on Wednesday. A draft resolution due to be voted on by the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Thurs
Nigeria to enact law to back malaria, HIV drugs: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2007; Tan Ee Lyn; GUANGZHOU, China - Nigeria is in the final stages of passing a law that will allow local drugmakers to produce more life-saving medicines for its people to fight malaria and HIV/AIDS, a top official said. The country has 14 companies making anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to control HIV/AIDS and eight companies producing
Few pregnant African women get AIDS drugs-UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - January 16, 2007; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS - Despite some progress, most pregnant African women do not have access to drugs that would prevent passing on the HIV virus to their infants, UNICEF reported on Tuesday. In a 44-page report, Children and Aids: A Stocktaking, the U.N. children s agency said one out of 10 pregnant women living in capital
Syphilis back with a vengeance in China - report: Reuters NewMedia - January 12, 2007; HONG KONG - Syphilis, which was largely eliminated in China between 1960 and 1980, has returned with a vengeance and urgent intervention is needed to curb the epidemic, according to researchers in China and the United States . In a study to be published in the January 13 issue of the Lancet, they said the total inciden
Gene mapping finds surprises in itchy genital bug: Reuters NewMedia - January 11, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON - A one-celled parasite called Trichomonas, which causes an itchy and smelly genital infection especially dangerous to women, has nearly as many genes as a human being, researchers reported on Thursday. They mapped the genome of Trichomonas vaginalis, which causes the most common non-viral sexually transmitt
Sofia says nurses face another year in Libya jail: Reuters NewMedia - January 11, 2007; Michael Winfrey and Justyna Pawlak; SOFIA - Bulgaria expects five of its nurses and a Palestinian doctor, sentenced to death in Libya for infecting children with HIV, to remain in jail for at least another year during an appeals process. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin said he hoped the process would finish this year and, if not successful, Sofi
Delay with AIDS drug restores effectiveness, study says: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2007; Gene Emery; BOSTON - Pregnant women who are HIV-positive and take the drug nevirapine during labor to prevent infecting their babies should wait until six months after delivery to resume taking the drug to avoid developing resistance, a new study showed. By following the findings, to be published in The New England Journal of Medi
New U.S. institute aims to bolster world health: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2007; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor; WASHINGTON - Atlanta s Emory University launched a new global health institute on Wednesday in recognition that diseases from AIDS to bird flu cross all political and philosophical barriers. The plan is to train workers at Emory and abroad, develop drugs and build facilities to fight diseases that now cripple economies
Andhra Pradesh minister adopts HIV-positive children: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2007; HYDERABAD, India - A minister in Andhra Pradesh, the state that has the country s largest number of HIV cases, has adopted two boys infected with the virus after their parents died due to AIDS. M. Mareppa, minister for minor irrigation works in Andhra Pradesh, said on Wednesday he took the decision after hearing that V
Gere dances with Indian sex workers in AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2007; Krittivas Mukherjee; MUMBAI - Hollywood star Richard Gere cheered on thousands of Indian prostitutes dancing to raunchy Bollywood songs on Wednesday and urged them to refuse sex without condoms to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. No condom, no sex. No condom, no sex. No condom, no sex, Gere hollered into a microphone as about 10,000 prostit
Black men in focus in U.S. HIV drug trial: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2007; Matthew Bigg; ATLANTA - AIDS research in the United States has often focused on gay white men because the virus was identified early in that group and they developed an effective lobbying voice. But a clinical trial by the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta is focusing on gay black men, who are not as well organized but who have a
EU, Germany to spur Libya to free Bulgarian nurses: Reuters NewMedia - January 9, 2007; BERLIN - European Union presidency holder Germany vowed on Tuesday to try to ensure the release of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya for infecting hundreds of children with the virus that causes AIDS. Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters she welcomed new entrants Rom
Hong Kong finds new HIV clusters, urges tests: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2007; HONG KONG - Hong Kong is urging residents who have had unsafe sex to undergo HIV tests after it found two large clusters of new infections that point to an unparalleled fast and local spread of the virus in the city. This is a fast spread in a place with low HIV prevalence. We have never seen this before, Wong Ka-hing
Bare - Fist Bouts a Knockout: Reuters NewMedia - January 3, 2007; GABA VILLAGE, South Africa - Yanked from the sweaty crush, Victor Makhuvha puffs out his chest, throws a few bare-fisted jabs and minutes later finishes off his opponent with several rapid-fire blows. Makhuvha is unlikely to become a household name beyond a cluster of villages in this lush part of Limpopo, a northern p
Oprah Opens Academy for Poor Girls in South Africa: Reuters NewMedia - January 2, 2007; HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa - American talk show host Oprah Winfrey on Tuesday opened a $40 million school for disadvantaged South African girls which she has paid for out of her own pocket. The sleekly designed campus, sprawling 52 acres in a sleepy community south of Johannesburg, encompasses classrooms and laborato
Fanfare, Fireworks as Romania and Bulgaria Join EU: Reuters - January 1, 2007; BUCHAREST/SOFIA - Millions of Romanians and Bulgarians reveled in their first day as citizens of the European Union on Monday, after a night of fireworks and street parties celebrating their countries entry into the bloc. Deemed too politically and economically backward for membership during the EU s first eastward exp
Silent Kazakhs on new frontier for HIV: Reuters - Monday, January 1, 2007; Maria Golovnina; SHYMKENT, Kazakhstan - Saule, a 27-year-old Kazakh biology graduate, has a job and a young daughter. No one knows she also has HIV. I haven t told anyone. I don t know how people might react, said Saule, her dark eyes watching intently through a slit in a scarf wrapped around her face for anonymity. With HIV most p

This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1980, 2007. AEGiS.