Merck gets approval for wider use of HIV drug

2011-12-21T11:00:25Z

(Reuters) - U.S. health regulators have approved an expanded label for Merck & Co's treatment for HIV for use with other antiretroviral drugs in children and adolescents.

The safety and effectiveness of the drug was evaluated in a clinical trial of 96 children and adolescents of ages 2-18 years with HIV-1 infection, the Reuters) - U.S. government agencies fund thousands of studies on human subjects, but do not have a very good handle on the basic information about that research -- possibly putting participants in harm's way, a presidential panel of reviewers has found.

The presidential bioethics commission looked into the current protections for human subjects in a review triggered by evidence o...

US panel urges protection of humans in research

2011-12-15T12:30:21Z

A bioethics panel that investigated a Guatemalan sex disease scandal urged the US government Thursday to consider compensating victims who are harmed by participating in future research.

The President's Bioethics Commission was tasked by Barack Obama after revelations last year that 1,300 people were exposed to venereal disease as part of macabre research led by an American in Barack Obama after revelations last year that 1,300 people were exposed to venereal disease as part of macabre research led by an American in

You might not need that pelvic exam, says study

2011-12-14T13:00:17Z

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many doctors give women pelvic exams when they're not called for by guidelines, for example to screen for ovarian cancer or before prescribing birth control pills, according to a new study.

That's worrisome, researchers said, not only because the exams are invasive, but because they come with a risk of false positives that can lead to more unnecessary tests and pr...

US denies bid to expand morning-after pill sales

2011-12-08T06:31:53Z

US regulators on Wednesday rejected a drug company's request to make emergency contraception available over the counter to consumers of all ages instead of by prescription to those under 17.

The rare move, which saw one government secretary overrule another at the 11th hour, was blasted by pro-choice advocates but hailed by conservatives who said girls 12-17 need to see a doctor before getting the morning-after pill.

At issue was a drug called

"Secretive' Arab world faces HIV epidemic: experts

2011-12-07T07:30:29Z

In an Arab world rife with social stigma, government inaction and often limited access to education and medical care, experts warn that an HIV epidemic is on the rise.

"In the Middle East and North Africa, the HIV epidemic has been on the rise for the past decade," said Aleksandar Sasha Bodiroza, HIV/AIDS adviser at the ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The fight against AIDS risks being set back years by a global financial crisis, the head of the United Nations campaign against the disease warned Wednesday.

About 34 million people worldwide are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus ...

Human rights key in combating AIDS among gay men: WHO

2011-12-05T18:30:36Z

Vast improvements in human rights and access to treatment are needed to protect gay men against HIV/AIDS, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Monday.

"If you want to achieve zero new infections, you have to address the human rights issues," WHO official Ying-Ru Lo said after a meeting about infection rates among gay men at the International Conference for AIDS and sexual...

African leaders must boost AIDS programmes: Bush

2011-12-04T16:30:24Z

African leaders must ensure that programmes to fight HIV/AIDS on the ravaged continent are successfully carried out, former US president George W. Bush said Sunday.

Bush said at the opening ceremony of the International Conference on AIDS and STIs (ICASA) in Africa that funding from foreign donors...

Philippines struggles with AIDS

2011-12-03T18:30:17Z

The Philippines is struggling to deal with a worsening HIV-AIDS problem, with far too little money being spent on reversing a steady rise in infection rates, health experts warn.

The government will have to prioritise its funding to concentrate on helping the most at-risk communities as it faces a budget shortfall of up to $370 million over the next five years, health department assistant secretary Eric Tayag said.<...

Funding cuts threaten HIV gains in Mozambique: activists

2011-12-02T15:30:28Z

Mozambican activists warned Friday that funding cuts by donors could cause a shortage of drugs for AIDS patients next year, undermining gains in curbing the disease's spread.

The southern African country has 60 percent of the drugs needed for next year for the 250,000 people currently on treatment, said Julio Mujojo of Rensida, the National Network to Support People Living with HIV/AIDS.

"The consequences would ...

Janet Jackson, Adam Lambert, Dr. Oz, Pauley Perrette Tweet Support For World AIDS Day

2011-12-02T07:30:15Z

Janet Jackson, Adam Lambert, Dr. Oz and Pauley Perrette were among the celebrities tweeting support for World AIDS Day on Thursday

Janet Jackson, Adam Lambert, Dr. Oz and Pauley Perrette were among the celebrities tweeting suppor...

George W. Bush On World AIDS Day Calls For HIV/AIDS Funding Increases

2011-12-02T07:00:45Z

President George W. Bush on Thursday, World AIDS Day, called for funding increases for HIV/AIDS programs

President George W. Bush on Thursday, World AIDS Day, called for funding increases for HIV/AIDS programs.

Bush signed the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in 2003. The program focuses on 15 countries hit hard by th...

Elton John in tirade against AIDS stigma

2011-12-01T20:30:46Z

Elton John has lashed out at those who continue to stigmatise AIDS as "fascists and idiots", and called on governments to keep funding the fight against the disease.

John, in Sydney to mark World AIDS Day, said the battle was being won but warned it would be a mistake for governments to let their guard down, wit...

Brazilian city lights up in red for World AIDS Day

2011-12-01T18:30:25Z

Brazil's second city Rio de Janeiro has marked World AIDS Day by lighting 10 of its monuments in red, including its iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer.

"It's a way to remind the population that AIDS has yet to be cured and that condoms are the only way, technically speaking, to fight the AIDS virus and other sexually t...

'Let's finish the fight' against AIDS, says Obama

2011-12-01T16:31:08Z

US President Barack Obama on Thursday added $50 million to fight AIDS in the United States and launched efforts to treat two million more people abroad.

"We can beat this disease," Obama said at an event to mark World AIDS Day which included speeches by satellite ...

HIV positive boy denied admission sues Hershey school

2011-12-01T16:30:42Z

(Reuters) - The family of an HIV-positive boy sued a boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania after it denied admission to the 13-year-old citing safety concerns, a school official said on Thursday.

The Milton Hershey School, a cos...

Life insurance comes at a price for South Africans with HIV

2011-12-01T14:30:43Z

As people with HIV live longer, South African life insurance providers are offering more policies to tap into a growing market, but for many people the premiums remain prohibitively expensive.

HIV life insurance policies have existed for more than a decade in South Africa, where 5.6 million of the nation's 50 million people have the virus, more than any other country in the world.

About 1.3 million South Africans are rec...

South Africa unveils plan to halve HIV infections

2011-12-01T14:30:33Z

President Jacob Zuma on Thursday unveiled a plan to halve the number of HIV infections over the next five years, cementing South Africa's turnaround from years of deadly denialism.

The five-year plan is the first drafted since the 2008 ouster of president Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed to boost U.S. efforts to fight AIDS with a new target of providing treatment to 6 million people worldwide by 2013, up from an earlier goal of 4 million.

At a celebrity-studded

South Africa launches new drive to cut HIV infection

2011-12-01T12:30:11Z

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa wants to cut new HIV infection rates by at least 50 percent within five years as it seeks to build on recent successes following years of failing to tackle AIDS and increased mortality, President Jacob Zum...

Children with HIV in Asia resistant to AIDS drugs

2011-12-01T10:30:16Z

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Teenagers in Asia receiving treatment for HIV are showing early signs of osteoporosis and children as young as five are becoming resistant to AIDS drugs, an anti-AIDS group said on Thursday, urging more attention be given to young HIV patients.

The finding, made available on Reuters) - President Barack Obama vowed on Thursday to bolster U.S. efforts to fight AIDS, setting a new goal of providing treatment to 6 million people worldwide, up from the earlier goal of 4 million.

Obama, at a W...

Obama to set new goal on fighting global AIDS

2011-12-01T10:00:20Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will set a new goal in the worldwide fight against AIDS with an announcement on Thursday of a target to provide treatment for an additional 2 million people by the end of 2013.

Obama's new global target for AIDS treatment would increase to 6 million from the current goal of 4 mi...

Sacha Harding On 'Gay Times' Cover To Support Elton John's AIDS Foundation

2011-12-01T10:00:09Z

Rugby star Sacha Harding appears naked on the cover of UK glossy Gay Times' The Naked Issue to support Elton John's AIDS Foundation

Rugby star Sacha Harding appears naked on the cover of UK glossy Gay Times' The Naked Issue to support Elton John's AIDS Foundation.

This year the annual issue, which features 5...

World AIDS Day: Obama Looking Forward To An AIDS-Free Generation

2011-12-01T08:30:27Z

President Barack Obama on Thursday observed World AIDS Day by announcing new steps designed to promote an AIDS-free generation

President Barack Obama on Thursday observed World AIDS Day by announcing new steps designed to promote an AIDS-free generation.

Obama and two former presidents, Reuters) - President Barack Obama will set a new goal in the worldwide fight against AIDS with an announcement on Thursday of a target to provide treatment for an additional 2 million people by the end of 2013.

Obama's new global target for AIDS treatment would increase to 6 million from the current goal of 4 mi...

HIV drives families into 'irreversible poverty': UN

2011-12-01T05:31:14Z

Tens of thousands of HIV-affected households in Asia are facing "irreversible poverty" because of the cost of living with the disease, with women and children hardest hit, a UN report said Thursday.

Catastrophic healthcare costs and the loss of employment opportunities due to widespread discrimination mean that many HIV-positive households across the region are in "rapid socio-econom...

Children with HIV in Asia suffer resistance to AIDS drugs

2011-12-01T00:30:14Z

The finding, made available on China is due to hold its first AIDS Walk -- a fundraising walkathon already popular in the US -- on the Great Wall, organisers said Wednesday, as the nation steps up its fight against the disease.

The AIDS Walk first took place in Los Angeles in 1985 to raise awareness of the epidemic and has since been held all around the journal Nature

China says HIV/AIDS cases are soaring

2011-11-30T14:30:36Z

BEIJING (Reuters) - The number of new HIV/AIDS cases in China is soaring, state media said on Wednesday, citing health officials, with rates of infections among college students and older men rising.

The UN said on Wednesday, while sounding the alarm over declining funds.

New infections dropped by more than a quarter between 2001 and 2009 across 33 countries, a report published ahead of World AIDS Day<...

People Nancy O Dell

2010-12-30T16:01:27Z

FILE - This Monday, Oct. 18, 2010 file picture shows Nancy O'Dell at the Ninth Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation benefit 'An Enduring Vision' in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

<...

AIDS Drug Funding

2010-12-16T03:01:28Z

In this Dec. 9, 2010 photo, Stephen Farrar shows some of the medications he must take on a daily basis, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Across the country, thousands of HIV-positive people who once would have qualified for state-administered programs that provide free AIDS drugs to low-income people, have been placed on waiting lists or ...

Kenya AIDS

2010-12-10T03:31:22Z

AIDS activists and people living with HIV march to the European Union's office in Nairobi, Kenya Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. They are protesting a potential free trade area agreement between the EU and India that could see cheap generic anti-AIDS drugs phased out. India is a key source of generic anti-retroviral...

People Alan Cumming

2010-12-01T15:03:15Z

Actor Alan Cumming shows off his Converse sneakers as he poses for a portrait, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010, in New York. The sneakers are limited edition Chuck Taylors, designed by British artist Damien Hirst and released in the Johannesburg, South Africa. Catholic AIDS workers interviewed by the AP insisted that only abstinence and fidelity provide a long-term solution to ending the AIDS pandemic, and t...

Facts About STD's