2002
- FDA: Red Cross mishandled blood: Hepatitis cases prompt revelations of poor safety procedures
- Associated Press - December 31, 2002
- WASHINGTON, Dec. 31 - The American Red Cross received reports that 134 people, including one who died, got hepatitis B after blood transfusions, but the organization did not investigate them because of internal policies that violate government safety rules, federal regulators say. IN ONE CASE, an Ohio Red Cross chapter
- Vermont woman opens both her heart and home
- Associated Press - Sunday, December 29, 2002
- Anne Wallace Allen
- POWNAL, Vt. - Revolutionary, innkeeper, caregiver. Sunshine Wohl is taking on all these roles as she fearlessly opens her spruced-up farmhouse to AIDS patients facing the end of life. Wohl bought the 1860 house last year and has been fixing it up to become what she calls a pre-heaven -- a luxurious and peaceful stop on
- World Scout Jamboree kicks off in Thailand amid talk of AIDS, war
- Associated Press - Sunday, December 29, 2002
- Daniel Lovering, Associated Press Writer
- SATTAHIP, Thailand - Wearing a crisp green uniform and a tightly drawn neckerchief, Dragana Savich never expected to represent her native Yugoslavia at an international event. But the 17-year-old from Belgrade, with badges and pins from five years of knot-tying and campfire-starting with her hometown scout troop, becam
- China Plans to Mass-Produce AIDS Drugs
- Associated Press - Friday, December 27, 2002
- BEIJING -- China plans to start mass producing low-cost AIDS drugs next month, the official Xinhua News Agency says. Xinhua did not say which drugs will be made, but said the price would be about a tenth that of imported drugs, which currently cost 30,000 yuan ($3,600) per person each year. The average annual income pe
- Syphilis outbreak in Los Angeles County leads to calls for more testing
- Associated Press - Friday, December 27, 2002
- LOS ANGELES - The number of syphilis cases reported by gay men in Los Angeles County has increased 62 percent, representing 360 new cases so far this year, officials said. The implications are that gay men are having more unprotected sex, said Karen Mall, director of prevention for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los
- U.S. Joins International Child Law Effort
- Associated Press - Monday, December 23, 2002
- Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS -- The United States officially became a party Monday to international laws banning the use of children as soldiers and making the sexual exploitation of children a crime. Child victims of armed conflict and commercial sexual exploitation desperately need the world s attention, said U.S. State Departmen
- Success of vaccine raises hopes of treating HIV infection
- Associated Press - Monday, December 23, 2002
- WASHINGTON - (AP) -- An experimental vaccine against the monkey form of AIDS sharply reduced but did not eliminate the amount of the virus in the animals blood. Evidence of the virus in the blood cells of macaques dropped 50-fold and its evidence in plasma fell 1,000-fold in the test, which lasted 10 months, said resea
- Therapeutic AIDS Vaccine Said Promising
- Associated Press - Monday, December 23, 2002
- Randolph E. Schmid, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- An experimental vaccine against the monkey form of AIDS sharply reduced but did not eliminate the amount of the virus in the animals blood. Evidence of the virus in the blood cells of macaques dropped 50-fold and its evidence in plasma fell 1,000-fold in the test that lasted 10 months, said researcher Wei
- Winfrey Publicizes AIDS Crisis in Africa
- Associated Press - Saturday, December 21, 2002
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- American television host Oprah Winfrey cuddled South African children whose parents died from AIDS and promised to use her name to help humanize the pandemic that has ravaged sub-Saharan Africa. Winfrey, who has been traveling in South Africa for the last three weeks, said in an interview
- Red Cross May Have Released Unsafe Blood
- Associated Press - Friday, December 20, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- The American Red Cross may have released tainted blood to hospitals, the government said Friday, reporting more than 200 violations of federal blood safety rules in its battle to get the Red Cross to improve the quality of its blood operation. The Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating fur
- WTO Talks on Cheap Drugs Collapse
- Associated Press - Friday, December 20, 2002
- Naomi Koppel, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA - A deal to ensure better access to cheap medicines for poor countries collapsed late Friday, with developing country diplomats blaming the United States for holding out at the World Trade Organization. The United States has announced it cannot join the consensus, said Brazilian negotiator Antonio de Aguiar Patr
- World Bank approves US$60 million loan to help Ukraine fight tuberculosis, AIDS
- Associated Press - Friday, December 20, 2002
- KIEV, Ukraine - The World Bank will provide a US$60 million loan to Ukraine to help the former Soviet republic combat the rapid spread of tuberculosis and AIDS, officials said Friday. The money will help the cash-strapped Ukrainian government apply a comprehensive prevention, diagnosis and epidemic control program to c
- Talks on cheap drugs for poor countries go down to the wire
- Associated Press - December 20, 2002
- Naomi Koppel, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA - All eyes were on the hard-line position of the United States Friday as negotiators went down to the wire in talks to ensure better access to cheap medicines for poor countries. With this week as the final chance to conclude months of emotional wrangling, Washington is the only country that has openly refused t
- Gere Organizes AIDS Fund Raiser in India
- Associated Press - December 20, 2002
- BOMBAY, India (AP) - Richard Gere said Friday that India should focus on children suffering from HIV in its fight against the disease. We need a way to touch the heart of the subject. We need to change the face of the disease, the actor said. Gere hosted a carnival filled with actors from India s popular film indus
- Bono, other rock stars write song for Nelson Mandela
- Associated Press - Thursday, December 19, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - U2 star Bono and two other rock veterans have written a song in tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela and hope to use it to raise money to fight the AIDS pandemic ravaging Africa. Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics, Joe Strummer of The Clash, and Bono named their song 48864
- Media Project Teaches TV
- Associated Press - Thursday, December 19, 2002
- Lynn Elber, Ap Television Writer
- LOS ANGELES - When Felicity discussed safe sex, when an ER worker coped with HIV, when Judging Amy debated sex education and abstinence, the Media Project was there. Without a direct hand in creating or writing any TV series, the nonprofit advisory group has helped shape the medium s handling of sexual topics, particul
- Agency's fact sheet not promoting condom use any more
- Associated Press - Wednesday, December 18, 2002
- WASHINGTON - A government fact sheet that long promoted condoms as highly effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases now offers a more neutral summary of the pros and cons of condom use. Congressional Democrats charge that politics are trumping science. They also point to a fact sheet produced
- World Bank gives US$12.6 million to Sri Lanka to stop spread of AIDS
- Associated Press - Tuesday December 17, 2002
- COLOMBO, Sri Lanka - The World Bank will provide US$12.6 million to Sri Lanka to fight the spread of the HIV virus and reduce the stigma attached with the disease, a bank statement said Wednesday. The island nation of 18.6 million people has a narrow window of opportunity to prevent a nationwide AIDS epidemic, the st
- Diplomats Prod U.S. on Affordable Drugs
- Associated Press - Tuesday, December 17, 2002
- Naomi Koppel, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA -- The success or failure of talks on trade rules to ensure better access to cheap medicines for poor countries is now entirely in the hands of the Bush Administration, diplomats said Tuesday. It s up to the United States now, European Union Ambassador Carlo Trojan told reporters at the end of a renewed negotiat
- U.S. Loses Vote at Population Conference
- Associated Press - Tuesday, December 17, 2002
- Vijay Joshi, Associated Press Writer
- BANGKOK, Thailand -- The United States lost a vote at an international conference Tuesday as Asia-Pacific countries rejected the Bush administration s stand against abortion and condom use among adolescents. The vote was held at the end of the U.N.-sponsored Asian and Pacific Population Conference, which adopted a plan
- Part of AIDS Virus Can Hide Itself
- Associated Press - Monday December 16, 2002
- Mark Evans, Associated Press Writer
- A part of the AIDS virus that was considered vulnerable to attack can camouflage itself by changing shapes, says a study that helps show why HIV is so hard to target and kill. HIV cripples the immune system by infecting and killing T-cells. It uses a protein structure on its surface called gp120 to gain entry to the ce
- U.N. Population Summit Set Get Under Way
- Associated Press - Sunday, December 15, 2002
- Vijay Joshi, Associated Press Writer
- BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Bush administration s opposition to funding abortion was expected to dominate a United Nations population conference set to begin Monday. The United States has threatened to withdraw its support for a 1994 family planning agreement because the Bush administration believes some of the language i
- Mandela champions South Africa's fight against AIDS
- Associated Press - December 12, 2002
- Mike Cohen, Associated Press Writer
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words HIV -positive, former South African President Nelson Mandela declared war on AIDS Thursday and ordered people to practice safe sex or abstain completely. Over recent months the 84-year-old Mandela, who led the fight against apartheid and remains Sout
- Bono Leads Airlift for HIV Children
- Associated Press - Wednesday December 11, 2002
- NEW YORK (AP) - Irish rock star Bono and Sen. Bill Frist joined the Rev. Franklin Graham in airlifting Christmas gifts to HIV -positive children in Africa. The group, which also included Richard Holbrooke, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and chairman of the Global Business Coalition on HIV-AIDS, held a
- Mississippi HIV Doctor Commits Suicide
- Associated Press - December 10, 2002
- GREENWOOD, Miss. (AP) - A doctor credited with dramatically improving health care for HIV patients in the Mississippi Delta has killed himself, Leflore County authorities said Tuesday. Dr. Hamza Brimah, a Nigerian who moved to the Delta in 1996, was found dead at his home Monday of a gunshot wound to the head, Sheriff
- Bono, senator speak on fighting HIV virus in Africa
- Associated Press - Monday December 9, 2002
- Jim Patterson, Associated Press Writer
- NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Rock singer Bono joined U.S. Sen. Bill Frist on Monday to plead for more U.S. money to fight AIDS in Africa. The questions that were asked in Germany (about the Holocaust) a generation later - How could you let that happen - will be asked of us, the lead singer of the group U2 said in an address
- U.N.: West's Response to AIDS Inadequate
- Associated Press - Sunday, December 8, 2002
- LILONGWE, Malawi -- The Western world s response to the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Africa caused by AIDS and hunger is woefully inadequate, a top U.N. official said Sunday. While people in developed countries who contracted HIV can live for years, Africans contracting HIV were condemned to death, said Stephen Lew
- Court Announces Needle Exchange Ruling
- Associated Press - Saturday, December 7, 2002
- Robert O'neill, Associated Press Writer
- BOSTON -- A person enrolled in a needle exchange program in one city may legally possess needles obtained through the program anywhere in the state, the state s highest court ruled. Arguing that the programs important public health goals could otherwise be imperiled, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday an interpret
- Mandela to Host Concert for AIDS Victims
- Associated Press - Saturday, December 7, 2002
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela announced that he ll host a concert featuring some of the world s leading entertainers to raise funds for Africa s millions of AIDS victims. U2 star Bono, Macy Gray and Shaggy had already agreed to perform at the Feb. 2 show, to be held on Robben
- Man Can Sue Doctor Over Revealing HIV
- Associated Press - Friday, December 6, 2002
- FRANKFORT, Ky. -- An appeals court reinstated a lawsuit Friday against a doctor who revealed a patient s HIV-positive status to his employer. The Kentucky Court of Appeals said it was a mistake for the trial court to summarily dismiss Steven G. Barnett s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit against Dr. Julio Melo, an infectious
- Canada's High Crt Upholds Glaxo Wellcome AIDS Drug Patent
- Associated Press - December 5, 2002
- OTTAWA (AP)--Canada s Supreme Court has upheld the Canadian patent held by Glaxo Wellcome Inc. on AZT , one of the most important drugs for combatting the effects of AIDS. Two generic Toronto drug manufacturers - Novopharm Ltd. (X.NVO) and Apotex Inc. (X.AOX) - challenged the patent by claiming the r
- Study: AIDS Rampant Among S. Africa Kids
- Associated Press - Thursday, December 05, 2002
- Sahm Venter, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - South Africa s AIDS epidemic is exacting a deadly toll on South Africa s children, with greater numbers infected with HIV than was previously thought, according to a survey released Thursday. The survey found that 5.6 percent of children ages 2 to 14 were HIV-positive and that 13 perce
- Man charged with causing death of a boy in Vietnam with HIV-infected needle
- Associated Press - Wednesday, December 4, 2002
- HANOI, Vietnam - Police in northern Vietnam charged a man on Wednesday with causing the death of a 6-year-old boy by stabbing him with an HIV -infected hypodermic needle. Pham Van Thang, of northern Haiphong, died of AIDS on Nov. 25 after Nguyen Xuan Truong allegedly injected him with the needle in June last year durin
- World Bank gives Tanzania US$136 million grant
- Associated Press - Tuesday December 3, 2002
- DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - For the first time in Tanzania s history, the World Bank has given the East African nation a grant - US$136 million for AIDS and poverty reduction projects, a bank spokeswoman said Tuesday. About half of the money, $70 million, will be used in the fight against AIDS and the balance will be spe
- FDA Approves Drug to Treat Infections Spread Via Water
- Associated Press - December 2, 2002
- WASHINGTON -- The government on Monday approved a drug called Alinia, the first treatment intended for children to fight an infection that spreads through contaminated drinking water and dirty swimming pools. The drug treats diarrhea caused by cryptosporidium, a parasite spread by human and animal waste most common in
- Nigeria's president: At least 4.2 million HIV-infected in Africa's most populous nation
- Associated Press - Monday December 2, 2002
- Haruna Bahago, Associated Press Writer
- ABUJA, Nigeria - President Olusegun Obasanjo promised legislation Monday on behalf of what he said were the at least 4.2 million HIV -infected people in Nigeria, saying the disease threatened the stability and social fabric of West Africa s giant. In a strongly worded speech the day after World AIDS Day, Obasanjo decla
- Pakistan coming to grips with AIDS threat, but disease spreading
- Associated Press - Monday December 2, 2002
- Sadaqat Jan, Associated Press Writer
- ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Nauvoy Papa died of AIDS after spending his last agonizing days chained to a bed in an overcrowded Pakistani hospital. The Nigerian prisoner was one of a small but growing number of people in Pakistan diagnosed with HIV. Just 1,700 people have tested positive for HIV in Pakistan, a country of more
- Amnesty: Rights Crucial in AIDS Fight
- Associated Press - Sunday December 1, 2002
- Jane Wardell, Associated Press Writer
- LONDON (AP) - The promotion of human rights is an integral part of the battle against the spread of HIV/AIDS, Amnesty International said Sunday. In a statement on World AIDS day, the London-based human rights group called for more efforts worldwide to dispel myths and prejudices surrounding the disease. Those who are o
- Asia marks World AIDS Day amid growing warnings over India and China
- Associated Press - Sunday December 1, 2002
- Tini Tran, Associated Press Writer
- HANOI, Vietnam - Countries across Asia commemorated World AIDS Day with events to raise awareness of the disease amid warnings that the number of people with HIV/AIDS in China and India - the world s two most populous nations - will reach epidemic levels.
- Americans observe World AIDS day with songs, stars and prayers
- Associated Press - Sunday, December 1, 2002
- Leon Drouin Keith, Associated Press Writer
- With songs, stars and prayers, Americans recognized World AIDS Day as a time to focus on a cure, on making treatment more available around the world and on remembering the millions who have already died. In New York City on Sunday, the HIV + Sinikithemba Choir, composed of HIV-positive South Africans, raised their voic
- Disease-Ravaged Africa Marks AIDS Day
- Associated Press - Sunday, December 1, 2002
- Mike Cohen, Associated Press Writer
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Southern African countries marked World AIDS Day on Sunday with hopes that the region, which has the highest rate of HIV positive people, can slow the spread of the disease. South Africa has more HIV positive people than any other country in the world. Figures released by the government more
- Number of new HIV diagnoses in Britain continues to rise: health chiefs
- Associated Press - Saturday November 30, 2002
- LONDON - The number of people diagnosed with HIV in Britain this year has risen by a quarter over 2001, health figures released Saturday suggest. The Public Health Laboratory Service said 2,945 new diagnoses of the human immunodeficiency virus, which leads to AIDS, were reported in the nine months to Sept. 30 - a 25 pe
- Chinese AIDS Estimate Gains Credibility
- Associated Press - Saturday November 30, 2002
- Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press Writer
- BEIJING (AP) - Authorities scoffed when the United Nations warned in June that 10 million Chinese would be infected with AIDS by 2010. They called the findings unreliable and the authors biased. But in the five months since, the figure has gained credibility among officials and in state media, giving the impression tha
- Indian state to display world's longest banner to mark AIDS Day
- Associated Press - Saturday November 30, 2002
- BHUBANESHWAR, India - To mark World AIDS Day on Sunday, an eastern Indian state plans to unfurl what local officials say is the longest banner ever. The banner measures 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) long and is printed with slogans seeking to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention, said Anjana Chopra, the top AIDS offici
- India AIDS Activist Crusades for Change
- Associated Press - Friday, November 29, 2002
- Wasbir Hussain, Associated Press Writer
- GAUHATI, India -- In the winter of 1994, Jahnabi Goswami was a shy 17-year-old bride, her husband chosen by her family in the traditional Indian way. Today she is the first person in the northeastern state of Assam to publicly declare herself HIV-positive, having contracted the virus from her late husband.
- Dominican Child Prostitutes Draw Alarm
- Associated Press - Friday, November 29, 2002
- Andres Cala, Associated Press Writer
- PUERTO PLATA, Dominican Republic -- On this Caribbean country s white beaches, teenage and child prostitutes wearing next to nothing troll the resort areas, frolicking near groups of foreign tourists to lure their attention away from the emerald seas. Poorly educated and immersed in poverty, they offer themselves f
- Red Cross, Red Crescent to push HIV/AIDS program, rights of displaced people and disaster response legislation
- Associated Press - Thursday, November 28, 2002
- Oliver Teves, Associated Press Writer
- MANILA, Philippines - Red Cross and Red Crescent groups agreed Thursday to push a plan to increase AIDS awareness, disaster response legislation and the rights of migrants and displaced people in the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East. In an action plan approved at the end of their four-day regional conference in
- African students bear scars as AIDS takes away teachers
- Associated Press - November 28, 2002
- Dina Kroft
- LUSAKA, Zambia - Almost every hand in the sun-washed classroom at Kaplunga Girls High School shoots up in stark answer to a simple question: How many of you have lost a teacher to AIDS? One lost a religion teacher. Another recalls a geography teacher who was especially nice. Others sigh about the civics teacher who die
- Powell Plans AIDS Message for Envoys
- Associated Press - Thursday, November 28, 2002
- George Gedda, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin Powell is inviting the entire diplomatic corps to the State Department next Tuesday to deliver a message he hopes they will relay to their governments: Political leadership is an essential component in the struggle against HIV/AIDs. It is believed to be the first time all ambassad
- AIDS-related deaths decline in Cuba
- Associated Press - November 27, 2002
- HAVANA - (AP) -- The number of AIDS-related deaths in Cuba has dropped significantly over the past 1 ½ years following the development of several local treatments, a leading expert said in an interview published this week. It was a political decision by Cuba to start the generic production of these medicines to save th
- Official: Russia's AIDS problem exploding despite dip in official data
- Associated Press - Wednesday November 27, 2002
- Eric Engleman, Associated Press Writer
- MOSCOW - Russia s AIDS problem is exploding in spite of official statistics showing that the HIV growth rate was down by more than half this year, the country s top AIDS expert said Wednesday. Some 43,000 new HIV cases were registered in Russia in the first 11 months of 2002, down more than 50 percent from the 87,000 r
- Report: Women Make Up Half of HIV Cases
- Associated Press - November 26, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- LONDON (AP) - For the first time in the 20-year history of the AIDS epidemic, as many women as men are infected with HIV, a United Nations report says. The report, presented Tuesday in London, paints a dismal picture of a disease invading regions of the globe where it had for many years tricked experts into believing s
- Minister Takes HIV Test at Church
- Associated Press - Monday, November 25, 2002
- BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A Baptist minister took an HIV test in front of his congregation then implored parishioners to do the same after church as part of an effort to raise awareness about AIDS. Of the 700 members of the True Bethel Baptist Church who watched the Rev. Darius G. Pridgen endure the needle prick, 105 stopped by
- WTO Drug Access Negotiations Begin
- Associated Press - Monday, November 25, 2002
- Clare Nullis, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA -- Negotiators opened talks Monday at the World Trade Organization on the issue of access to medicines in hopes of reaching a compromise by an end-of-year deadline between the United States , which wants to protect its pharmaceutical industry, and developing countries stricken by epidemics. Diplomats enterin
- China Marriage to Mark AIDS Day
- Associated Press - Monday, November 25, 2002
- SHANGHAI, China -- In a first, China will allow a person infected with the virus that causes AIDS to marry someone healthy, a matchup aimed at raising awareness of the disease, state media said Monday. The unidentified couple, a woman with HIV and her fiance, will hold their wedding in Beijing next Sunday to mark World
- Madeleine Albright receives honor from Romanian president; visits HIV children
- Associated Press - Monday, November 25, 2002
- BUCHAREST, Romania - Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Monday was honored with an award to thank her for helping toward expanding NATO , which Romania was invited to join last week. President Ion Iliescu conferred on Albright the National Order for Faithful Service, also as a sign of Romania s grati
- Sean Combs Decries World AIDS Effort
- Associated Press - Saturday, November 23, 2002
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Rapper Sean P. Diddy Combs accused the media of ignoring the severity of the AIDS epidemic before performing at an AIDS-awareness concert Saturday. I don t think you see enough of this story in your face, an indignant Combs told reporters. There are millions and millions of people that are dy
- AIDS Main Killer of S. Africa Women
- Associated Press - Thursday, November 21, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- AIDS is the leading killer of women in South Africa and is claiming increasing numbers of lives every year, according to a government study released Thursday. AIDS-related illnesses were responsible for 9.8 percent of female deaths in South Africa in 2001, up from 5.6 percent in 1997, the
- Actor Danny Glover filming television program on HIV/AIDS and children in Trinidad
- Associated Press - Wednesday, November 20, 2002
- Michael Smith, Associated Press Writer
- PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - Actor Danny Glover began a three-day visit to Trinidad on Wednesday to film a television program on HIV /AIDS and children, a U.N. spokeswoman said. The 55-year-old American, who starred in the Lethal Weapon movies and the film The Color Purple, arrived early Wednesday at the Caribbean count
- Police file criminal charges decades after Canadian tainted-blood scandal
- Associated Press - November 20, 2002
- TORONTO - Police completed a five-year investigation of a tainted blood scandal that infected thousands of Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C by filing charges Wednesday against four doctors, the Red Cross and a U.S. pharmaceutical company. The charges include criminal negligence causing bodily harm, which carries a ma
- AIDS and malaria costs Uganda a billion dollars, says president
- Associated Press - Monday, November 18, 2002
- ENTEBBE, Uganda - AIDS and malaria are costing Uganda over a billion dollars a year in lost wealth and ruining the health ministry, the country s president said Monday. The AIDS epidemic costs Uganda US$702 million a year while malaria costs the East African nation US$348 million a year, President Yoweri Museveni told
- Hollywood actor Richard Gere wants western nations to do more to prevent AIDS in Asia
- Associated Press - Saturday, November 16, 2002
- NEW DELHI, India - Hollywood actor Richard Gere wants Western nations to do more to prevent HIV/AIDS in Asia, where many fear the disease is spreading fast. I think we in the West can do much more to help and we re talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, Gere said in an interview to the BBC world service Friday
- WTO Members Reach Consensus On Cheaper Drugs to Poor Nations
- Associated Press - November 15, 2002
- SYDNEY, Australia -- Nations rich and poor agreed Friday they must work hard to strike a deal by next month that will provide cheaper drugs to poorer countries -- a crucial step in efforts to negotiate a new global trade pact, two officials said. As 25 members of the World Trade Organization met in a hotel at Sydney s
- Zambian minister criticized for suggesting quarantining AIDS patients
- Associated Press - Thursday, November 14, 2002
- LUSAKA, Zambia - AIDS activists criticized a Zambian official Thursday for his proposal to round up everyone infected with HIV and force them into isolation camps. Alex Chama, deputy minister for Luapula province, made his comments during a parliamentary debate Wednesday over a bill to form a National AIDS Council secr
- U.S. Official Evans Visits S. Africa
- Associated Press - Thursday, November 14, 2002
- Misean Curtis, Associated Press Writer
- SOWETO, South Africa -- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Don Evans rocked a toddler on his lap Thursday as he told South African parents that big business can help solve many of the problems plaguing developing nations. The road to prosperity and peace is through commerce, Evans said during a visit to the Shezi Children s Cl
- Microsoft to Invest $400M in India
- Associated Press - Tuesday, November 12, 2002
- Rajesh Mahapatra, Associated Press Writer
- NEW DELHI, India -- Hoping to stave off a rise in the popularity of free, open-source software, Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates on Tuesday announced a $400 million investment in India to expand the company s operations and boost computer literacy. The three-year initiative - part philanthropy, part business boo
- Gates Vows $100M in India AIDS Fight
- Associated Press - Monday, November 11, 2002
- Beth Duff-Brown, Associated Press Writer
- NEW DELHI, India -- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates pledged $100 million Monday to fight AIDS in India, a dramatic initiative he said would focus on helping women protect themselves from careless partners. The $100 million contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest grant the organization has
- Gates Visits AIDS Patients in India
- Associated Press - Monday November 11, 2002
- Beth Duff-Brown, Associated Press Writer
- NEW DELHI, India (AP) - Bill Gates chatted with an HIV -positive patient Monday as he opened his controversy-laced visit to India, where he plans to talk business and give money to help fight AIDS. Coming to India is valuable to me for both business and personal reasons ... it s a place where I believe we can make subs
- India rejects U.S. government warning on spread of HIV/AIDS
- Associated Press - Friday, November 8, 2002
- Rajesh Mahapatra, Associated Press Writer
- NEW DELHI, India - India on Friday rejected a U.S. government report warning that the South Asian nation could soon have the highest number of people with HIV/AIDS in the world, and demanded that its authors explain the basis of the forecast. It is completely inaccurate to claim India will have over 25 million people l
- Report: Malaysian court orders government to pay damages to boy infected with HIV
- Associated Press - Friday November 8, 2002
- KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - A Malaysian court on Friday ordered the government to pay 500,000 ringgit (US$131,578) to an 8-year-old boy who contracted HIV from his mother after she became infected during a blood transfusion. The mother received the transfusion at a public hospital in Raub, about 120 kilometers (70 miles)
- FDA Approves 20-Minute HIV Test
- Associated Press - November 7, 2002
- Lauran Neergaard
- WASHINGTON (AP) - The government approved a new 20-minute HIV test on Thursday that promises to let more Americans than ever before learn on-the-spot if they re infected with the AIDS virus. It s not the first rapid HIV test: a 10-minute version has been sold since the mid-1990s, but was so difficult to use accurately
- India could soon have the highest number of people with HIV/AIDS, says US ambassador
- Associated Press - Wednesday November 6, 2002
- MADRAS, India - India could soon have the highest number of people with HIV/AIDS in the world if the spread of the disease is not checked, the U.S. Ambassador said Wednesday. If the disease is unchecked here, India could soon surpass South Africa with the highest number of HIV/AIDS sufferer
- Vatican Prefers Chastity to Condoms
- Associated Press - Wednesday November 6, 2002
- Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer
- VATICAN CITY (AP) - The Vatican repeated its opposition to using condoms as a way to fight AIDS, saying Wednesday that chastity was the best way to prevent the spread of the deadly virus. Monsignor Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Workers, acknowledged that to some, the Vatican pos
- China Health Minister Calls For Trained AIDS Workers
- Associated Press - November 4, 2002
- BEIJING -- With one million Chinese infected with the AIDS virus, China s health minister says prevention work is lagging and has issued an urgent call for more trained health workers, state media reported Monday. AIDS in China has entered a critical epidemic level and is spreading from people considered most at risk,
- Mandela Pays Tribute to Princess Di
- Associated Press - Saturday, November 2, 2002
- LONDON -- Former South African President Nelson Mandela, an admirer of Princess Diana s humanitarian work, paid respect to the late royal by laying a wreath at her family s country home, Althorp House. Mandela had lunch Friday with Diana s brother, Earl Spencer, and local dignitaries before laying a wreath of white lil
- American nurse detained in Indonesia's Aceh says her health deteriorating due to HIV-related condition
- Associated Press - Saturday, November 2, 2002
- Lely T. Djuhari, Associated Press Writer
- JAKARTA, Indonesia - An American nurse detained in Indonesia s Aceh province since she and a British woman were charged Sept. 10 with contacting a rebel movement said Saturday her health was deteriorating due to her HIV-related condition. Joy Lee Sadler, 57, of Waterloo, Iowa, contacted The Associated Press from provin
- CDC: Syphilis Rate in U.S. Rises
- Associated Press - Thursday, October 31, 2002
- Daniel Yee, Associated Press Writer
- ATLANTA -- Syphilis is on the rise in the United States for the first time in more than a decade, largely because of outbreaks among gay and bisexual men in several big cities, the government reported Thursday. The trend suggests a potential resurgence in transmission of the AIDS virus, the Centers for Disease Control
- EU Commission proposes plan to facilitate sale of cheaper drugs to poor nations
- Associated Press - Wednesday, October 30, 2002
- BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union s head office announced plans Wednesday to facilitate the sale of cheaper drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in poor nations. Under the proposed system, manufacturers will be able to register medicines with the EU for sale at cheap prices in developing nations.
- WHO ranks top health hazards, call for bold strategies
- Associated Press - October 30, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- LONDON - Governments may have to consider legislation to reduce the proportion of salt, fat, sugar and other unhealthy components in manufactured foods, according to a new report by the World Health Organization . The recommendation is part of a package of suggestions contained in this year s annual World Health Report
- South Africa to cut taxes, spend more on AIDS
- Associated Press - Tuesday, October 29, 2002
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa - South Africa plans to cut taxes and increase its spending on AIDS and health care in its next budget, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel told Parliament Tuesday. The government also plans to increase spending on social programs, he said. Poverty reduction is the overarching goal of South African e
- Exhibit Features African Images
- Associated Press - Monday, October 28, 2002
- Johanna Kiamzon, Associated Press Writer
- NEW YORK -- A snakelike train carrying iron ore through the Sahara, the snows of Mount Kilimanjaro, a mother grieving by the open casket of her AIDS-stricken child, a family having breakfast in their Western-style kitchen in Johannesburg. These are some of the varied images of Africa on view in a traveling exhibit at G
- Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs to perform at MTV's AIDS Awareness Concert
- Associated Press - Thursday October 24, 2002
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Rapper Sean P. Diddy Combs and Microsoft mogul Bill Gates have more than just lots of cash in common - the unlikely duo are pairing up in the fight against AIDS. Combs and singer Alicia Keys, along with several South African artists, are scheduled to perform at MTV s HIV/AIDS Awareness Conc
- Nearly one million Ugandans have died of AIDS-related illnesses since 1983
- Associated Press - Thursday October 24, 2002
- KAMPALA, Uganda - Nearly one million Ugandans have died as a result of AIDS since the deadly disease was first identified in the East African nation in 1983, the Health Ministry said. In a report released Wednesday, the ministry said 947,552 people have fallen victim to AIDS-related diseases during the last 19 years, i
- Two Dems Accuse HHS of Removing Info
- Associated Press - Monday, October 21, 2002
- WASHINGTON -- Two Democratic congressmen contended Monday that the Bush administration is putting ideology over science, citing appointments to advisory committees and the removal of information from Web sites. Reps. Henry Waxman of California and Sherrod Brown of Ohio demanded explanations in a letter to Health and Hu
- Bush Moves on Generic Drug Access
- Associated Press - Monday, October 21, 2002
- Scott Lindlaw, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Monday proposed an election-year solution to rising prescription drug costs, ordering the government to block pharmaceutical companies from filing multiple patent-protection lawsuits that can stall cheaper products for years. This is another important advancement in the cause of bringing
- AIDS Kills More in S. Africa Prisons
- Associated Press - Monday, October 21, 2002
- Jeremiah Marquez, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Prisoners cram into cells soaked in grime and sweat. They share mattresses, tattoo needles and dirty razors. Rape is common. South Africa s prisons have become a breeding ground for the AIDS virus, and prisoners now represent one of the hardest-hit segments of a country plagued by the dead
- Thousands walk to raise AIDS awareness
- Associated Press - Sunday, October 20, 2002
- Sandra Marquez, Associated Press Writer
- WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) -- Eleven-year-old Isabella Robbins has a message to share with the world. She has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and it s OK. Isabella, together with her classmates and parents, were among some 20,000 people who participated Sunday in the AIDS Walk Los Angeles. The fifth-grader and her fr
- Amid specter of AIDS, South African mines look to end separation of workers from families
- Associated Press - Sunday, October 20, 2002
- Nicole Itano, Associated Press Writer
- RUSTENBURG, South Africa (AP) -- When Zydwell Sitofe s daughter spoke her first words, he was more than 600 miles away. Like most of South Africa s 300,000 gold and platinum miners, he works far from home and sees his family only once a year. The miners live crowded together in squalid buildings -- without the joys of
- Clinton to Enter Black Hall of Fame
- Associated Press - Thursday, October 17, 2002
- LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Bill Clinton, once famously described by author Toni Morrison as our first black president, is being inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame as an honorary member. The former president will be the first non-black recognized in the hall s 10-year history. He is expected to attend the Saturday
- Official: Russia could soon have 3 million to 4 million people infected with HIV
- Associated Press - Tuesday October 15, 2002
- MOSCOW - Russia s HIV-positive population could soon reach 3 million to 4 million given the country s skyrocketing infection rate, a top AIDS official said Tuesday, according to news reports. There are 215,000 officially registered infected people, said Oleg Yurin, deputy director of the Center for AIDS Prevention and
- Leader of Senegal Aid Group Is Fired Over Drug Charges
- Associated Press - October 15, 2002
- DAKAR, Senegal -- Senegal s president said he has dismissed the head of a humanitarian organization for his alleged role in trafficking cheap AIDS drugs that were meant to go to Africa but were sold off in Europe. Latif Gueye committed extremely serious errors, President Abdoulaye Wade said on national television, anno
- China Must Curb AIDS Spread
- Associated Press - Monday, October 14, 2002
- Martin Fackler, Associated Press Writer
- HANGZHOU, China -- China has no time to lose in preventing a massive outbreak of AIDS and the crippling social and economic costs it would bring to the world s most populous country, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday. Annan s plea for action, in remarks to students at Zhejiang University, was the highest-pr
- FDA to Review New AIDS Drug
- Associated Press - Friday October 11, 2002
- New York (AP) - Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche and its U.S. partner Trimeris Inc. said Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted a priority review to their AIDS drug, Fuzeon. The priority review means the drug will go through the approval process within six months instead of up to 12 months. Priority
- U.S. Finalizes Smallpox Policy
- Associated Press - Thursday, October 10, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Making smallpox vaccine available is the first step. Getting people to take it may be much harder. The vaccine protects recipients against smallpox, but it can also kill. So the Bush administration is preparing an extensive education plan to help people understand the risks and the benefits as it finalize
- S. Africa May Provide AIDS Medicine
- Associated Press - Thursday, October 10, 2002
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- The South African government, long criticized for its slow response to the AIDS crisis, has announced it was investigating the possibility of providing AIDS medicine through the public health system. The announcement Wednesday night, following a Cabinet meeting, highlighted the serious cha
- United Nations: cost of AIDS prevention and treatment will surpass US 10 billion per year by 2005
- Associated Press - Thursday October 10, 2002
- Ranjan Roy, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations warned on Thursday that the global cost of treating HIV and AIDS cases and containing the epidemic could reach US 10.5 billion a year by 2005. The estimate was drawn up by U.N. officials for a meeting in Geneva of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, a U.N. statem
- Clinton: More U.S. Africa Aid Needed
- Associated Press - Wednesday, October 9, 2002
- WASHINGTON -- Relief for the health problems, economic woes and violence plaguing Africa is being hindered by widespread ignorance in many industrial nations, including the United States , former President Clinton said Wednesday. Many Americans view Africa as a single country rather than a continent, Clinton said.
- Viacom, Kaiser Plan AIDS Project
- Associated Press - Wednesday, October 9, 2002
- LOS ANGELES -- Viacom Inc. will use its vast media holdings, including the Paramount studio, CBS and MTV, in a global anti-AIDS campaign, the company said Wednesday. Working with the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation, Viacom plans to distribute AIDS and HIV awareness messages through its TV and radio programming, onli
- Health activists, AIDS suffers in Thailand file suit to dislodge Bristol-Myers patent on HIV drug
- Associated Press - Wednesday October 9, 2002
- Uamdao Noikorn, Associated Press Writer
- BANGKOK, Thailand - Wanting cheaper HIV/AIDS treatment for Thailand s estimated 1 million sufferers, victims of the disease and consumer activists on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to invalidate a drug patent held here by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb . In legal action presented to the Central Intell
- Abortion Rate Drops Significantly
- Associated Press - Tuesday, October 8, 2002
- Sara Kugler, Associated Press Writer
- NEW YORK -- The U.S. abortion rate dropped significantly during the second half of the 1990s, particularly among teen-agers, and experts attribute the decline to AIDS fears and better awareness of contraception. The rate fell 11 percent between 1994 and 2000, from about 24 abortions for every 1,000 women of childbearin
- Gene Experts Win Nobel for Medicine
- Associated Press - Monday, October 7, 2002
- Kim Gamel, Associated Press Writer
- STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- An American and two Britons won this year s Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for discoveries about how genes regulate organ growth and a process of programmed cell suicide. Their findings shed light on the development of many illnesses, including AIDS and strokes. Britons Sydney Brenner, 75, and
- Lean times thinning charities' coffers as service needs grow
- Associated Press - October 6, 2002
- Alan Clendenning
- In Little Rock, Ark., a 75,000-square-foot warehouse that distributes food to 450 food banks is nearly half empty. Corporate food gift cutbacks are to blame, and the donations that do come in are mostly junk food rather than eggs, cheese, canned vegetables and produce. In Miami, a non-profit support and education group
- Sex Museum to Open in NYC
- Associated Press - Friday, October 4, 2002
- Erin McClam, Associated Press Writer
- NEW YORK -- The director of the newest museum in this culture-packed city is surveying the prizes of his permanent collection - leather straps, condom boxes, video porn playing on large screens. He stops and points at a 1940s Wonder Woman comic book cover. Just look at her, Daniel Gluck says. The cinched waist, the hig
- U.S. intelligence: Russia, China, India facing skyrocketing HIV cases
- Associated Press - Tuesday October 1, 2002
- John J. Lumpkin
- McLEAN, Virginia - The spread of HIV is expected to accelerate in Asia and Africa over the next decade with 75 million cases likely in five of the world s most populous countries by 2010, a U.S. intelligence report predicts. The rapid growth of HIV as well as AIDS cases will heavily tax the economies and public health
- HIV prevention groups says Bush administration is targeting their work
- Associated Press - Tuesday October 1, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has pulled information about the effectiveness of condoms from a government Web site and is engaged in a witch hunt against those who promote condoms in the fight against AIDS, several groups charge. They argue that the administration is hostile to HIV prevention and sex education t
- Scientists Test Blood Sterilization
- Associated Press - Monday, September 30, 2002
- Lauran Neergaard, AP Medical Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Several hundred transfusion recipients around the country - adults undergoing heart surgery and children with certain inherited anemias - are being enrolled in a bold experiment: They ll receive donated blood that has essentially been sterilized. Today s blood supply is very safe because it undergoes nume
- Financial Leaders Promise Action
- Associated Press - Monday, September 30, 2002
- Harry Dunphy, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Top financial leaders ended their weekend meetings by promising action to prevent plunging stock markets from derailing the global economy s fragile recovery and vowed to draw up a plan to help bankrupt nations by April. The leaders completed their meetings without major protests in the streets or disagre
- Mandela, Clinton Discuss AIDS
- Associated Press - Sunday, September 29, 2002
- Dina Kraft, Associated Press Writer
- ORANGE FARM, South Africa -- Nelson Mandela and former President Clinton spoke with South African youth Saturday to boost AIDS awareness and prevention. Clinton and Mandela, the former president of South Africa, greeted a roaring crowd in the township of Orange Farm, south of Johannesburg. The former leaders listen
- Protests Challenge IMF, World Bank
- Associated Press - Saturday, September 28, 2002
- David Ho, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Chanting protesters used puppets, homemade signs and music Saturday to drive home their message against trade and economic policies they say hurt the poor and put unmanageable burdens on the Third World. Their goal for the day: surround the financial institutions where officials from around the globe were
- Herpes Drug Reduces Transmission
- Associated Press - Saturday, September 28, 2002
- Daniel Q. Haney, AP Medical Editor
- SAN DIEGO -- People with genital herpes who worry about passing the virus to others should be offered a prescription drug that has been shown for the first time to reduce transmission, a researcher says. The drug, called Valtrex, is already widely used to treat and prevent flare-ups of genital herpes. A study released
- Proteins May Block HIV Progression
- Associated Press - Friday September 27, 2002
- Paul Recer, AP Science Writer
- WASHINGTON (AP) - In research that solves a 16-year medical mystery, scientists have identified a group of proteins that inhibit the progression of HIV in people who are resistant to the virus that causes AIDS. The study, using a new protein-identification tool, identified the proteins in a disease-blocking substance,
- Agency Links HIV, Syphilis Outbreak
- Associated Press - Thursday September 26, 2002
- Mark Niesse, Associated Press Writer
- ATLANTA (AP) - An increase in syphilis infections among gay and bisexual men in New York and elsewhere indicates they may be letting their guard down against sexually transmitted diseases, the government said Thursday. Syphilis infections more than doubled in New York City last year, mostly among gay and bisexual men,
- Magic Lit Up Games on Way to Hall
- Associated Press - Thursday, September 26, 2002
- Steve Wilstein, AP Sports Writer
- Great athletes inspire awe, surprise, fascination. Magic Johnson did all that and more. He made people smile. These days, when sports sometimes seem oh-so-serious and too many stars appear angry with the world or aloof from it, a glimpse at Magic s own wide-eyed, 1,000-watt smile would be mighty welcome. His induction
- Southern Africa food crisis exacerbated by HIV/AIDS pandemic, U.N. officials say
- Associated Press - Thursday September 26, 2002
- Ranjan Roy, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS - The food crisis in six southern African countries is being exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has left millions of starving children orphaned and some heading households where all earning adults have died, a top U.N. official warned Thursday. About 14.4 million people in Zimbabwe
- Clinton offers to help Rwanda combat AIDS after genocide including rape and deliberate HIV infection
- Associated Press - Wednesday September 25, 2002
- Rodrique Ngowi, Associated Press Writer
- KIGALI, Rwanda - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton on Wednesday said the world has a stake in helping Africans survive AIDS and in using the knowledge gained to help other regions of the globe where the disease is growing at alarming rates. I believe reversing the AIDS (pandemic) is the most important issue that is fa
- Fake Medicine Problems Highlighted
- Associated Press - Tuesday, September 24, 2002
- Clare Nullis, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA -- Warning that fake medicines are killing many hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, a conference of health experts, enforcement agencies and pharmaceutical companies Tuesday called for tougher international measures to stop the deadly trade. There is no single country which can be called a safe hav
- AIDS activist free; admitted 'mistake'
- Associated Press - Saturday, September 21, 2002
- BEIJING - (AP) -- Chinese AIDS activist Wan Yanhai was released Friday after being held for nearly a month by state security agents who said he leaked official secrets. Wan, last seen Aug. 25 in Beijing, said he was released after he admitted that distributing a government report on the spread of AIDS had been a mistak
- U.N. debate on AIDS, Africa overshadowed again by Middle East news
- Associated Press - Saturday, September 21, 2002
- Barbara Borst, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- As world leaders wrapped up their annual session at the United Nations, it was clear that the U.S.- Iraq standoff had stolen the show despite much-lauded plans to focus on African development, the AIDS epidemic and education. The General Assembly heard from 188 speakers during the nine-day me
- Charitable Giving Hurt by Market
- Associated Press - Friday, September 20, 2002
- Alan Clendenning, AP Business Writer
- In Little Rock, Ark., a 75,000-square-foot warehouse that distributes food to 450 food banks is nearly half empty. Corporate food gift cutbacks are to blame, and the donations that do come in are mostly junk food rather than eggs, cheese, canned vegetables and produce. In Miami, a nonprofit support and education group
- AIDS Group Files Drug Price Complaint
- Associated Press - Thursday, September 19, 2002
- Dina Kraft, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- AIDS activists and the nation s largest labor federation filed a complaint Thursday in an attempt to force two pharmaceutical companies to drop the price of their anti-AIDS drugs. The companies, GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim , alr
- Doctor Accused of Molesting 2 People
- Associated Press - Thursday September 19, 2002
- LOS ANGELES (AP) - A doctor who once headed the Presidential Advisory Council on AIDS and HIV has been accused by state regulators of sexually molesting two patients at his office. Dr. R. Scott Hitt, an AIDS specialist and gay activist, said he touched one patient inappropriately in August 2000 and crossed a boundary w
- Still healthy Magic Johnson prepares for Hall induction
- Associated Press - Wednesday September 18, 2002
- SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Magic Johnson s latest checkup confirmed he is free of AIDS symptoms, 11 years after he first tested positive for HIV. The former NBA star, who will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame next week, said his doctor told him last week he is still healthy. He said, Man, whatever you re
- HIV Infection Rate Is Skyrocketing
- Associated Press - Wednesday September 18, 2002
- Barbara Borst, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS (AP) - HIV and AIDS infection rates are skyrocketing in much of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, with young people comprising the majority of new cases, the U.N. Children s Fund warned in a report released Wednesday. Nearly 80 percent of newly registered infections from 1997-2000 in the Common
- WHO: Bad Health Linked to Poverty
- Associated Press - Tuesday, September 17, 2002
- Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press Writer
- COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Poverty remains the single largest cause of bad health in Europe, the World Health Organization said Tuesday as it presented a snapshot of the health situation in its vast European region. The report covering 51 countries in the agency s European sphere and 870 million people concluded
- HIV-Positive Muppet on S. Africa TV
- Associated Press - Tuesday, September 17, 2002
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Kami, a mustard-colored furry Muppet, likes nature, telling stories and collecting stuff. She also happens to be HIV-positive. To plaudits from education officials and AIDS activists, the producers of South Africa s version of Sesame Street on Tuesday unveiled the first Muppet infected with t
- A Look at AIDS Statistics in Africa
- Associated Press - Monday, September 16, 2002
- The United Nations Aids agency, UNAIDS , reported that in 2001 sub-Saharan Africa was the most afflicted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic of any region in the world. UNAIDS statistics include: -A total of 28.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa infected with HIV/AIDS. -In 2001, 3.5 million new cases of infection in the regio
- Annan Pushes AIDS Fight for Africa
- Associated Press - Monday, September 16, 2002
- Ranjan Roy, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for a war on AIDS and the promotion of girls education as the world body focused Monday on what one African leader called extricating Africa out of her long night of misery. Launching the debate, Annan proposed stronger work on a new partnership to help Africa
- African Leaders Seek U.N. Support
- Associated Press - Monday, September 16, 2002
- Priscilla Cheung, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS -- African leaders want the world s richer nations to help the continent emerge from decades of conflict and poverty to become a major player in the world economy - and they have plenty of ideas. The U.N. General Assembly is interrupting its annual ministerial meeting for a daylong discussion Monday on h
- Bush Smallpox Plan in Final Stages
- Associated Press - September 14, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Smallpox vaccine would be offered first to hospital emergency workers and slowly extended to other doctors, nurses, police and, eventually, the general public, under a Bush administration plan in the final stages of development. The plan would begin vaccinations for those at the greatest risk of contactin
- U.S. Life Expectancy Hits New High
- Associated Press - Friday, September 13, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Life expectancy is at an all-time high, and the gaps between blacks and whites, men and women are continuing to narrow, the government reported in its annual look at American health. Overall, the death rate is on the decline for babies, adults and older people alike, with AIDS, homicide, cancer and heart
- Text of U.N. Chief's Speech
- Associated Press - Thursday, September 12, 2002
- The text of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan s speech to the United Nations on Thursday, as released by the United Nations: Mr. President, distinguished heads of state and government, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. We cannot begin today without reflecting on yesterday s anniversary and on the criminal challenge s
- Condoms to be distributed free as part of Pacific nation's campaign to tackle HIV/AIDS
- Associated Press - Thursday, September 12, 2002
- PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea - Papua New Guinea has launched its own brand of condoms and will hand them out free at health clinics in an attempt to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS across the impoverished Pacific nation. The nation s AIDS Council said Friday the new Karamap condoms would form part of a n
- Missing Chinese Activist Wins Award
- Associated Press - Thursday, September 12, 2002
- Joe McDonald, Associated Press Writer
- BEIJING -- A missing Chinese AIDS activist who reportedly has been detained by China s secret police was named the recipient Thursday of a health award given by U.S. and Canadian groups. Wan Yanhai, who was last seen Aug. 25 in Beijing, is being recognized for publicizing an unsanitary Chinese blood-buying industry tha
- Experts Discuss Better Germ Control
- Associated Press - Monday, September 9, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- WARWICK, England -- People come into contact with others up to 1,000 times more frequently than they did a century ago and infectious disease experts say scientists need to better understand human behavior and movement in the global battle against germs. Scientists gathering Monday at the annual meeting of Britain s in
- Researchers document rare case of second HIV infection with different strain
- Associated Press - Wednesday September 4, 2002
- Stephanie Nano, Associated Press Writer
- NEW YORK - Swiss researchers have documented a rare case of a patient contracting a second HIV infection years later with a different strain of the virus. Doctors once assumed that patients natural immunity would keep them from getting the virus more than once. However, in Thursday s New England Journal of Medicine, re
- Activists Mar Powell's Summit Talk
- Associated Press - Wednesday, September 4, 2002
- Alexandra Zavis, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Unfurling banners and shouting Shame on Bush, dozens of activists at the World Summit heckled Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday as he defended America s record on the environment and helping the developing world. Thirteen activists were dragged from the room. Boos from the r
- Powell: U.S. Has Addressed Problems
- Associated Press - Wednesday, September 4, 2002
- Sonya Ross, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- In a direct rebuke to America s critics, Secretary of State Colin Powell says the United States has not shirked its responsibility to take a leading role in solving global problems. Arriving in Johannesburg, where he addressed the World Summit on Sustainable Development on Wednesday, Powel
- Prison Programs Treat Women Rapists
- Associated Press - Tuesday, September 3, 2002
- Amber McDowell, Associated Press Writer
- NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tonya Payne got four years in jail for luring a 15-year-old boy into her trailer and raping him, exposing him to the AIDS virus. When she gets out this week, she says, she will be a changed woman - thanks to a sex offender treatment program Tennessee recently began offering to female inmates. If
- Thai charity says it was fooled into distributing fake AIDS cure
- Associated Press - Friday August 30, 2002
- Sutin Wannabovorn
- BANGKOK, Thailand - A private charity said Friday it was fooled into distributing a purported AIDS cure to thousands of patients that its own research later showed to be useless. We found that we were fooled by the company producing the pill. We have stopped distributing it, said Dr. Sek Aksaranukroh, a doctor working
- U.N. launches program to spread AIDS awareness among seamen
- Associated Press - Friday August 30, 2002
- Alisa Tang, Associated Press Writer
- BANGKOK, Thailand - Warning that sailors are highly vulnerable to HIV and AIDS , the United Nations launched Friday a new educational program for maritime industry workers about the dangers of unprotected sex. U.N. officials, who met with maritime officials from seven countries, said sailors save a lot of money during
- Study: Transplants Help HIV Patients
- Associated Press - Friday August 30, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON (AP) - Larry Kramer was given six months to live. His liver was failing, but because he was HIV positive, he was told he wouldn t qualify for a liver transplant. Then the longtime AIDS activist found one of the few hospitals willing to transplant people with HIV. After surgery in December at the University o
- Early data find HIV patients do well with organ transplants
- Associated Press - Thursday August 29, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON - Patients with HIV are successfully receiving liver and kidney transplants, researchers reported Thursday, challenging widespread reluctance by transplant centers to give scarce organs to people with the incurable disease. The research, presented at a transplant conference in Miami, offers the latest medica
- U.N. Chief: Bring AIDS Under Control
- Associated Press - Thursday, August 29, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Efforts to uplift the world s poor will be meaningless without a massive international campaign to fight the AIDS pandemic ravaging Africa and other developing nations, a top U.N. official said Thursday. If AIDS is not brought under control, if people are not alive, if people are not healt
- Study: Chimps May Have Survived AIDS
- Associated Press - Thursday, August 29, 2002
- Toby Sterling, Associated Press Writer
- AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP)- Dutch researchers theorize that an AIDS-like epidemic wiped out huge numbers of chimpanzees 2 million years ago, leaving modern chimps with resistance to the AIDS virus and its variants. If true, the hypothesis would explain why chimps, which share more than 98 percent of their DNA with hum
- U.S. medical students spend first week in Cuba learning Spanish and visiting tourist sites
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 28, 2002
- Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
- HAVANA, Cuba - A group of 23 American students began intensive Spanish courses this week before starting their six-year medical program on the communist-ruled island. The group arrived Aug. 20 at the Latin American School of Medicine, with more than 6,000 students from 24 countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Afri
- Student given 120 days jail time for knowingly exposing woman to HIV
- Associated Press - Thursday August 29, 2002
- Joe Kafka, Associated Press Writer
- HURON, South Dakota - A college student was ordered Thursday to spend 120 days in jail for having sex with his girlfriend without revealing that he had the AIDS virus. Nikko Briteramos, 19, a basketball player at SiTanka-Huron University, was the first person convicted in South Dakota of intentionally exposing another
- Groups: China AIDS Activist Missing
- Associated Press - Wednesday, August 28, 2002
- Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press Writer
- BEIJING -- A leading Chinese AIDS activist is missing and the group he founded has been banned by the government, human rights groups reported. Secret police had been tailing Wan Yanhai since the organization he founded, Aizhi Action Project, was banned July 1, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said
- Bill Gates foundation gives grants to low-tech efforts at HIV prevention
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 28, 2002
- Mark Bryant, Associated Press Writer
- SEATTLE - Low-tech efforts to slow the spread of HIV and give women some control over contraception got a dlrs 46 million boost Wednesday from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grants will support research at three U.S. universities to help efforts at stemming the estimated 29 million new HIV infections expe
- Issues Cloud Smallpox Vaccine Plan
- Associated Press - Wednesday, August 28, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- White House officials are considering how many Americans to vaccinate against smallpox, but that s just one of many issues complicating planning for what officials see as the scariest bioterror scenario. Smallpox, a highly contagious and fatal disease, was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. The
- More than 3,500 new HIV cases registered every month in Russia
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 28, 2002
- MOSCOW - More than 3,500 new HIV cases are registered every month in Russia , the State Statistics Committee reported Wednesday. In June, 3,573 HIV cases, including 30 children, were registered, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the newly released government statistics. In May, the government registered 3,569 H
- Experts Warn of Hunger Crisis
- Associated Press - Tuesday, August 27, 2002
- Angus Shaw, Associated Press Writer
- HARARE, Zimbabwe -- As many as 300,000 people in southern Africa could die from preventable diseases in the next six months if hunger and malnutrition are not addressed, health officials warned Tuesday. Disease and declining health services have made the lack of food faced by 14 million people across southern Africa th
- Annan: Leaders Aren't Meeting Goals
- Associated Press - Tuesday, August 27, 2002
- Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS -- Two years ago, Secretary-General Kofi Annan challenged world leaders to use their power to give billions of people a better life by 2015. In his first report card on Monday, he said they re not moving fast enough to cut poverty, improve education, reduce child mortality and fight AIDS. World leaders a
- Libyan prosecutors refer case against Bulgarians to criminal court
- Associated Press - Monday, August 26, 2002
- SOFIA, Bulgaria - Six months after a Libyan People s Court dropped conspiracy charges against six Bulgarian medics accused of infecting Libyan children with the HIV virus, the case has been sent to a criminal court, officials announced Monday. Conviction by the People s Court likely would have meant the death sentence
- Mandela Tells of Family AIDS Deaths
- Associated Press - Sunday, August 25, 2002
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South Africa s revered former president, Nelson Mandela, revealed that he lost three young relatives to AIDS in comments published Sunday. Mandela, who has actively promoted AIDS awareness since stepping down as president in 1999, told the Sunday Times newspaper his niece and his nephew s
- WHO Head won't Seek Second Term
- Associated Press - Friday August 23, 2002
- Naomi Koppel, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA (AP) - The head of the World Health Organization said Friday she will not seek re-election when her current term expires in July 2003. My decision to complete my work as director-general at the end of my current term reflects the fact that I have had leading positions in political and public office for nearly 30
- Vietnam Co Begins Production Of Lower-Priced AIDS Drug
- Associated Press - August 22, 2002
- HANOI (AP)--A Vietnamese company has started producing a lower-priced AIDS drug under a government program aimed at making it more affordable for the growing number of poor AIDS patients, an official said Thursday. The drug will cost patients about $1,850 ($1=VND15,294) a year, about one-fourth to one-sixth the previou
- New AIDS Drug Raises Hopes, Fears
- Associated Press - Thursday August 22, 2002
- Theresa Agovino, AP Business Writer
- NEW YORK (AP) - The federal government has approved tests of an experimental and potentially expensive AIDS drug that could prolong the lives of patients with drug-resistant strains of HIV. Dubbed Fuzeon by its developers, Roche Group and Trimeris Inc., the drug won a priority, six-month review from the Food and Drug A
- African AIDS activists unite in fight for access to treatment
- Associated Press - Thursday August 22, 2002
- Mike Cohen, Associated Press Writer
- CAPE TOWN, South Africa - AIDS activists from 22 countries banded together Thursday to create a new pan-African drive to battle the deadly epidemic and secure access to treatment for millions of sufferers. All of us are trying to prevent a holocaust against poor people, said Zackie Achmat, chairman of South Africa s Tr
- Groups Angry With Preventable Deaths
- Associated Press - Wednesday, August 21, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- AIDS killed 3 million people last year. The year before, tuberculosis killed 1.7 million and malaria more than a million others. Millions more died from diarrhea and other easily preventable diseases. A decade ago, world leaders at the Earth Summit in Rio promised to tackle diseases of the
- Finding of high number of HIV cases among prison inmates unsettles Lithuania
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 21, 2002
- Liudas Dapkus, Associated Press Writer
- ALYTUS, Lithuania - Aleksandras Kreslinas landed a 10-year sentence for armed robbery but fears it may amount to a death penalty since he became infected with HIV while in Lithuania s Alytus prison. I don t know if I ll walk through these gates alive, said the pale and unshaven 51-year-old, speaking inside the dilapid
- U.S. Proposes $4.5B for Africa
- Associated Press - Wednesday, August 21, 2002
- John Heilprin, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Looking ahead to the Earth Summit next week, the Bush administration is proposing a nearly $4.5 billion spending plan to help African nations improve their health and environment. The plan will be presented at the U.N.-sponsored summit in Johannesburg, South Africa , and revolves around the administratio
- Libya Foreign Min Vows Fairness In Bulgarians' AIDS Trial
- Associated Press - August 21, 2002
- SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP)--The first Libyan foreign minister to visit Bulgaria in 17 years said Wednesday that justice would prevail in a trial against six Bulgarian medical workers accused of infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS. A Libyan court recently dropped conspiracy charges against fi
- Laos pulls goldfish-in-a-condom ad as too explicit
- Associated Press - Monday, August 19, 2002
- BANGKOK, Thailand - An advertisement that depicts a woman carrying a goldfish in a water-filled condom has been pulled from television in communist Laos after authorities deemed it too explicit, a U.S.-based voluntary group that sells the condoms said Monday. Population Services International produced
- Britain writes off Cameroon debt
- Associated Press - Monday August 19, 2002
- LONDON - The government said Monday it was writing off 28 million pounds (dlrs 43 million) in debt owed by Cameroon to allow the African country to spend the money on health and education initiatives. Richard Wildash, Britain s ambassador to Cameroon, said the debt relief would help provide HIV/AIDS health programs, ur
- No HIV-positive Muppet planned for U.S.
- Associated Press - August 18, 2002
- PBS President Pat Mitchell won t rule out the appearance of an HIV-positive Muppet on Sesame Street, but she and the show s producers have said no HIV-positive character currently is planned for the U.S. An HIV-positive character will join South Africa s version of the show in September. Some U.S. lawmakers had express
- Generic AIDS Drug to Be Available This Year in China
- Associated Press - August 17, 2002
- BEIJING -- A generic version of the anti-AIDS drug AZT will be available in China before the end of the year as a low-cost alternative to imported medicines, the drug s manufacturer said Friday. Northeast General Pharmaceutical Factory, a state-owned drug manufacturer in the northern city of Shenyang, has beg
- Religion in the News
- Associated Press - Friday, August 16, 2002
- Chris Brummitt, Associated Press Writer
- CIBEUREUM, Indonesia -- Shivering in the early morning mist, recovering heroin addict Slamet prepares to start another day of Islamic prayer and meditation. The 28-year-old man used to spend most of his time stealing and shooting up. Now, after eight months in an Islamic drug rehabilitation center high in the hills of
- Bill allowing sale of clean needles passes Assembly
- Associated Press - Thursday, August 15, 2002
- SACRAMENTO (AP) -- A bill that would allow pharmacists to sell needles to adults without a prescription passed the state Assembly on Thursday. The bill, authored by Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, is intended to cut down on the transmission of HIV and other diseases caused by sharing needles among drug addicts.
- Birth Rates Rise in Poor Countries
- Associated Press - Thursday, August 15, 2002
- Harry Dunphy, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON -- The global economic slowdown is making it more difficult for poor countries to maintain family planning programs aimed at reducing their high birth rates, said a study being released Thursday. The finding was included in the annual report on global population trends by the Washington-based Population Refe
- Nigerian Leader Defends Trips
- Associated Press - Tuesday, August 13, 2002
- D'arcy Doran, Associated Press Writer
- LAGOS, Nigeria -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, under increasing fire for spending a third of his time abroad since he was elected three years ago, responded on Tuesday, saying his frequent trips were a national necessity. Obasanjo s globe-trotting sparked heated debate in the West African country after the new
- Ndegeocello to Play at AIDS Benefit
- Associated Press - Tuesdasy, August 13, 2002
- NEW YORK - Meshell Ndegeocello is teaming up with the Gay Men s Health Crisis to help fight AIDS. The singer will be the musical director of You Rock My Soul, a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall on Nov. 11. Ndegeocello will also be among the evening s performers. We all have the power to make a difference in the fight a
- Cheaper HIV-AIDS drugs to improve treatment for patients in Bahamas, official says
- Associated Press - Monday August 12, 2002
- NASSAU, Bahamas - An agreement with drug makers to sell cheaper HIV /AIDS drugs to Caribbean countries will greatly improve patients access to treatment in the Bahamas, a health official said Monday. Six leading pharmaceutical companies agreed to slash prices of anti-retroviral drugs during a July AIDS conference in Ba
- De Beers becomes latest company to make AIDS drugs available to its employees
- Associated Press - Monday August 12, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - With a swipe at South Africa s often criticized AIDS policy, diamond giant De Beers announced Monday it would heavily subsidize the cost of AIDS medicine for its employees. The announcement made De Beers the latest major business in southern Africa to offer its employees medicine to fight t
- Cheaper HIV-AIDS drugs to improve treatment for patients in Bahamas, official says
- Associated Press - Monday August 12, 2002
- NASSAU, Bahamas - An agreement with drug makers to sell cheaper HIV /AIDS drugs to Caribbean countries will greatly improve patients access to treatment in the Bahamas, a health official said Monday. Six leading pharmaceutical companies agreed to slash prices of anti-retroviral drugs during a July AIDS conference in Ba
- EU pledges more money to fight AIDS in poor countries
- Associated Press - Friday August 9, 2002
- BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Union s head office said Friday it would spend an additional 22 million euro (dlrs 21 million) to fight the spread of AIDS in poor countries. In a statement the European Commission said it would spend the money on funding prevention programs for younger people who are especially vulner
- Smallpox vaccine faces test in Orlando
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 7, 2002
- ORLANDO - (AP) -- Government scientists plan to test a new smallpox vaccine in Orlando and two other cities. The tests will determine what dosage protects people against the virus as a biological weapon. Orlando s study will include 120 people, ages 18 through 29, who have never been vaccinated for smallpox. Other test
- Lesotho proposes death penalty for HIV-positive rapists
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 7, 2002
- MASERU, Lesotho - HIV-infected rapists who know they carry the deadly virus could face the death penalty under a bill introduced Wednesday in Lesotho s parliament. The bill, introduced by Justice Minister Refiloe Masemene, would provide for the compulsory testing of all sexual offenders. Those who knew they were infect
- AIDS activists threaten legal action if government rejects critical AIDS drug
- Associated Press - Wednesday August 7, 2002
- Jeremiah Marquez, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - AIDS activists threatened Wednesday to sue the South African body that regulates medicines if it withdraws its approval of an AIDS drug for use in stopping HIV s spread from women to their babies. South Africa s Medicines Control Council said this week it was still reconsidering its approva
- FDA Advisers Plug Hepatitis B Drug
- Associated Press - Tuesday August 6, 2002
- WASHINGTON (AP) - A failed HIV therapy should be sold instead to treat the liver-destroying hepatitis B virus, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration ruled Tuesday. If the FDA agrees, Gilead Sciences adefovir would become the first new treatment in years for the estimated 1.2 million Americans struggling with the
- Young people account for 40 percent of HIV-infected in Japan
- Associated Press - Tuesday August 6, 2002
- Kozo Mizoguchi, Associated Press Writer
- TOKYO - People in their teens and 20s account for nearly 40 percent of all Japanese newly infected with the AIDS virus, according to new Health Ministry figures that officials say underline a disturbing new trend. While the overall number of Japanese infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, remains low compared t
- Medical center recalls body parts out of fear they carried infectious diseases
- Associated Press - Tuesday August 6, 2002
- HOUSTON - A medical center in Texas has issued a recall of body parts shipped to research facilities across the United States , warning that some may have carried infectious diseases, including HIV. The University of Texas Medical Branch said Monday that the diseased body parts may have been shipped accidentally becaus
- Mining giant to supply free anti-AIDS drugs to workers
- Associated Press - Tuesday August 6, 2002
- Jeremiah Marquez, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Mining giant Anglo American said Tuesday it would soon begin supplying free anti-AIDS drugs to workers infected with the deadly disease. The plan would benefit the estimated 86 percent of Anglo s 90,000 employees who lacked enough medical coverage to afford the lifesaving drugs, said compan
- U.S. economist criticizes rich nations for lack of aid
- Associated Press - Monday August 5, 2002
- PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A prominent U.S. economist on Monday blasted the world s wealthiest countries, particularly the United States , for not providing enough assistance to poor nations such as Cambodia. Jeffrey Sachs, a professor at Harvard University and the director of Columbia University s Earth Institute, said du
- Jet Causes Controversy in Swaziland
- Associated Press - Friday, August 2, 2002
- Thulani Mphetwa, Associated Press Writer
- MBABANE, Swaziland -- A government plan to buy Swaziland s king a $250 million luxury jet drew protests Friday in this South African nation, which has been plagued by severe food shortages. Parliament called for the resignation of Swaziland s prime minister, who arranged to buy the plane for King Mswati III at a price
- Teacher in Sex Case HIV Positive
- Associated Press - Friday August 2, 2002
- NEW YORK (AP) - A former public school second-grade teacher accused of sexually abusing six boys was HIV positive at the time of at least one of the alleged attacks, prosecutors said. Milton McFarlane, 39, was arraigned Thursday on reckless endangerment and other charges, accused of molesting six boys between the ages
- Vietnam reports 9,000 new people detected as HIV-positive
- Associated Press - Thursday August 1, 2002
- HANOI, Vietnam - Just over 9,000 new cases of HIV infection were logged in Vietnam during the first seven months of this year, bringing the total number of HIV carriers in the country to more than 50,000, official media reported Thursday. The 9,024 people testing positive for the virus that causes AIDS through July rep
- Thai hospital claims reduced mother-baby transmission
- Associated Press - Monday July 29, 2002
- BANGKOK, Thailand - A Bangkok hospital says it has cut the rate of HIV transmission from pregnant mothers to their unborn children using a drug cocktail rather than a single anti-retroviral dosage. The government-run Siriraj Hospital said in a statement Tuesday that it gave 106 pregnant women infected with HIV, the vir
- South African students call for better nationwide strategy in battle against HIV
- Associated Press - Monday July 29, 2002
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Thousands of college students and teachers marched Monday to call for better programs to combat HIV and an end to the stigma attached to the virus that infects 11 percent of the country. Bearing AIDS-awareness posters, the activists marched through various South African cities, asking young
- New Children's Book Explains AIDS
- Associated Press - Sunday July 28, 2002
- Dina Kraft, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - A green pock-faced monster with red eyes and fangs is depicted as the HIV virus in a new children s book that seeks to explain the science of AIDS to South African children. In the book, Staying Alive, Fighting HIV/AIDS, colorful pictures and simple text describe how the deadly HIV vir
- Public TV executive won't rule out appearance of HIV-positive Muppet on US 'Sesame Street'
- Associated Press - Saturday July 27, 2002
- Lynn Elber, AP Television Writer
- PASADENA, California - A public television executive said he won t rule out the appearance of an HIV-positive Muppet on Sesame Street, saying the show s approach will reflect the virus impact on U.S. children. An HIV-positive character will join South Africa s version of the show in September, and some federal American
- World Bank approves loan to Grenada to combat HIV/AIDS
- Associated Press - Friday July 26, 2002
- ST. GEORGE S, Grenada - The World Bank will loan Grenada dlrs 6 million to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS, a bank official said Friday. Caribbean governments have been emphatic about developing a strategy to curb this epidemic, said Lee Morrison, World Bank spokesman for Latin America and the Caribbean.
- South African Pres Mbeki Criticizes UN AIDS Fund Grant
- Associated Press - July 25, 2002
- PRETORIA, South Africa (AP)--South Africa s President Thabo Mbeki accused the U.N. s Global Fund for AIDS Thursday of flouting its own rules by funding anti-AIDS programs without proper government approval. The $60 million grant from the U.N. s Global Fund to Fight Aids was originally earmarked for AIDS victims in the
- Man who got HIV through transfusion suing
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 25, 2002
- TAMPA - (AP) -- An attorney for a man infected by HIV after receiving a tainted transfusion said Wednesday he will sue Florida Blood Services and the Tarpon Springs hospital where the man got the blood. Tampa lawyer Hendrik Uiterwyk said he planned to file the suit today on behalf of the 24-year-old man and his 6-month
- San Francisco May Grow Its Own Pot
- Associated Press - Tuesday, July 23, 2002
- Kim Curtis, Associated Press Writer
- SAN FRANCISCO -- Frustrated by the government s determination to shut down medical marijuana clubs, San Francisco is thinking about growing its own. The Board of Supervisors voted late Monday to put a measure on the November ballot that would have city officials explore the possibility of growing marijuana on publicly
- Education Helps Patient Health
- Associated Press - Tuesday, July 23, 2002
- Paul Recer, AP Science Writer
- WASHINGTON -- Well-educated patients are better able to follow the complex medical treatments needed to treat some diseases than are patients with less schooling, according to a RAND study. Researchers at RAND, a nonprofit research institution in Santa Monica, Calif., examined the health of patients with HIV and with d
- Walkers raise $3.5 million for AIDS Foundation
- Associated Press - Monday, July 22, 2002
- SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- More than 25,000 walkers raised $3.5 million for AIDS-related services. Sunday s 10-kilometer walk through Golden Gate Park benefited the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and 35 other organizations in five Bay Area communities. For this year s AIDS Walk to raise such an extraordinary amount of money,
- CONDOMS & COMPASSION IN THE CAPITAL
- Associated Press - Sunday, July 21, 2002
- Laura Meckler
- WASHINGTON - The van stocked with condoms, candy and compassion rolls past the White House and into Girls Town, where the city s female prostitutes spend their nights. With the emergency hot-line number on the outside, humor and advice on the inside, the van is a popular spot on the track. Hey, want some free condoms?
- FDA, state to look into blood bank
- Associated Press - July 21, 2002
- ST. PETERSBURG -- (AP) -- Federal and state authorities are investigating how two people became infected with HIV after receiving tainted transfusions from the Tampa Bay area s primary blood bank. The Food and Drug Administration will look into Florida Blood Services procedures, including the handling and testing of bl
- Bush names gay physician chief of AIDS policy office
- Associated Press - Friday, July 19, 2002
- Sandra Sobieraj, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House made it official Friday: Joseph O Neill is taking over the helm of President Bush s office on AIDS policy, replacing an openly gay director whose activism rankled some conservatives. White House press secretary Ari Fleischer issued a statement naming O Neill, an openly gay physician w
- AIDS office director to switch jobs
- Associated Press - July 19, 2002
- Jennifer Loven
- WASHINGTON - The White House is shaking up its AIDS office, shifting its director elsewhere in the Bush administration and replacing him with another federal AIDS official, officials said Thursday. Scott Evertz has been head of the Office of National AIDS Policy since April 2001. He is the first openly gay person nomin
- Two Contract HIV From Transfusions
- Associated Press - Friday July 19, 2002
- ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Two people contracted HIV from blood transfusions after tests failed to find the virus because the donor s infection was in its early stages, officials said. The incident marks the second time since the nation s blood banks implemented new screening technology in 1999 that HIV has been trans
- Thai government to provide free anti-retroviral drugs to more HIV patients
- Associated Press - Friday July 19, 2002
- BANGKOK, Thailand - The Thai government plans to give free HIV drugs to 10,000 patients, expanding a program that covers 3,000 people, thanks to a cheap new anti-retroviral cocktail it started producing this year, officials said Friday. The expanded program, called Access to Care, is expected to start by September, Dr.
- U.N. Seeks $611M to Prevent Famine
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 18, 2002
- Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations launched an appeal Thursday for $611 million to prevent famine in southern Africa, with nearly half the money earmarked for Zimbabwe which once exported food to hungry neighbors. There is still an opportunity to avert famine and to save lives, but the window is closing rapidly, U.N
- Faith Questioned at AIDS Conference
- Associated Press - Sunday, July 14, 2002
- Jerome Socolovsky, Associated Press Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- Death has become so much a part of life in southern Africa that church history professor Paul Gundani s face barely bespoke loss as he rattled off the people in his family recently struck down by AIDS. My sister last week, and my brother last year, the 42-year-old Roman Catholic theologian said, as
- Clinton, Mandela Speak in One Voice About AIDS
- Associated Press - July 13, 2002
- BARCELONA, Spain -- Former President Clinton embraced former South African President Nelson Mandela to wild cheers at the world AIDS conference Friday and declared that the battle against AIDS must be won. One hundred million AIDS cases means more terror, more mercenaries, more war, destruction, and the failure of frag
- HIV-Positive Muppet on Sesame Street
- Associated Press - Saturday July 13, 2002
- David Bauder, AP Television Writer
- NEW YORK (AP) - The South African version of Sesame Street is introducing a character with a problem far more serious than scraped knees or missing cookies. She s HIV positive. The Muppet character will join the cast of the children s show in September to help educate children about AIDS at the urging of the South Afri
- Caribbean officials say new deal for cheaper HIV/AIDS drugs will help region-wide effort
- Associated Press - Friday July 12, 2002
- Tony Fraser, Associated Press Writer
- PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - A deal with drug makers to provide cheaper HIV/AIDS drugs in Caribbean countries promises a significant boost for treatment of patients with the virus, health officials said Friday. Caribbean leaders sealed the accord with six pharmaceutical companies at an AIDS conference in Barcelona,
- Experts Call for More AIDS Money
- Associated Press - Friday, July 12, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- More determination and more money must be devoted to the worldwide war against AIDS if the heartless march of HIV across the globe is to be thwarted, experts said Friday. Doctors, international public health officials and activists delivered their report cards on the achievements of the world s figh
- Clinton, Mandela Seek AIDS Action
- Associated Press - Friday, July 12, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- Former President Clinton and South African leader Nelson Mandela called on world leaders Friday to recognize that the AIDS epidemic is a threat to international peace and economic stability. We cannot lose our war against AIDS and win our battle against poverty, promote stability, advance democracy
- HIV-Positive Muppet Added in S.Africa
- Associated Press - Friday July 12, 2002
- Jeremiah Marquez, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) - The first HIV-positive Muppet will soon join the cast of Sesame Street in South Africa to educate children about the deadly virus that infects more than 10 percent of the country. The female character, whose color, name and personality traits are still on the drawing board, will be int
- Needle exchange key to AIDS effort in Spain, where HIV population is Europe's largest
- Associated Press - Friday July 12, 2002
- Sarah Andrews, Associated Press Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain - In the early 1980s, former heroin addict Carlos Ortega lived a careless life, shooting up constantly with dirty needles picked up off the street and shared among a half-dozen junkies. Like thousands of other Spaniards at that time, he had never heard of AIDS until a doctor told him he had it. Be
- France Reviews 'Tainted Blood' Case
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 11, 2002
- Elaine Ganley, Associated Press Writer
- PARIS -- Stephane Gaudin, a 15-year-old hemophiliac who received a transfusion with AIDS-tainted blood, died in 1993 - a year after his 11-year-old brother, Laurent. His death came during the trial of doctors and officials who allegedly knew that Stephane, his brother and others were getting transfusions with bad blood
- Student Pleads Guilty in HIV Case
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 11, 2002
- Joe Kafka, Associated Press Writer
- HURON, S.D. -- An HIV-infected college student whose arrest on charges of having unprotected sex with a woman spread fear on campus and prompted the testing of hundreds of people for AIDS pleaded guilty Thursday and could get up to 15 years in prison. Nikko Briteramos, a 19-year-old SiTanka-Huron University basketball
- Clinton Offers Help on AIDS Fight
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 11, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- An important step in the fight against AIDS in the developing world is for poor nations to immediately make a deal with drug companies or other countries to provide affordable HIV drugs, former President Clinton said Thursday. Clinton joined a panel of former heads of state at the 14th International
- Health Gap in Rich, Poor Countries
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 11, 2002
- Jerome Socolovsky, Associated Press Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- For the United States and other wealthy countries, the worst of the AIDS pandemic may be over, thanks to new powerful drugs. For vast swaths of sub-Saharan Africa, however, a massive plague is bringing death and misery and pushing entire nations toward the brink of economic collapse.
- WHO Gives the Green Light To Ranbaxy's AIDS Drugs
- Associated Press, Wednesday, July 10, 2002
- NEW DELHI, India -- The World Health Organization has approved three generic drugs made by India s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. for use in AIDS prevention programs, the pharmaceutical company said Wednesday. The United Nations agency approved zidovudine,
- AIDS Infections Up Among Young Women
- Associated Press - Wednesday, July 10, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- The AIDS pandemic is increasingly becoming one of young women, experts say. About half of all new infections are in women and among people in their late teens and early 20s, females account for nearly two-thirds of new cases. Sex between men and women continues to be the main way HIV is spread in th
- UN: AIDS to Make More Kids Orphans
- Associated Press - Wednesday, July 10, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- The number of children in the developing world who have lost at least one parent to AIDS will increase from 13.4 million today to 25 million in the next eight years, experts said Wednesday. Dr. Peter Piot, executive director of the U.N. AIDS agency, said the orphans report was one of the most shock
- H.S. Class Allegedly Shared Needles
- Associated Press - Wednesday, July 10, 2002
- NEW BEDFORD, Mass. -- Two dozen junior high school students apparently shared a needle provided by their diabetic teacher to draw blood samples during a science class last year, school officials said. In a May 2001 class at Keith Junior High School, teacher Kevin D. Cadieux loaded a new needle into his lancet and asked
- Health Officials Discuss AIDS Plans
- Associated Press - Wednesday, July 10, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- The head of a global AIDS fund promised that a detailed spending plan to battle the pandemic would be set up by October. Speaking Tuesday at the 14th International AIDS Conference, Dr. Richard Feachem said the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria will be able to announce exactly how m
- Study: HIV Among U.S. Newborns Drops
- Associated Press - Tuesday, July 9, 2002
- Jerome Socolovsky, Associated Press Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- The number of infants born in the United States with HIV infection has declined by 80 percent during the last decade, new research shows. Experts say the finding, presented Tuesday at the high-profile 14th International AIDS Conference, represents a great success story in the battle to reduce the ra
- Thailand to Host HIV Vaccine Trial
- Associated Press - Tuesday, July 9, 2002
- BARCELONA, Spain -- Thailand plans to host the world s largest HIV vaccine trial this year, using two separate vaccines in an approach designed to deliver a double punch to the AIDS virus. The experiment, which is not the first of its kind but the largest, is expected to take five years and would be conducted by the U.
- Thompson Drowned Out at Conference
- Associated Press - Tuesday, July 9, 2002
- Emma Ross, Associated Press Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- Shrieking protesters at the AIDS conference in Spain drowned out U.S. health secretary Tommy Thompson as he attempted to speak about American global AIDS programs on Tuesday. About 40 people who demanded more U.S. funding clambered onto the lecture platform as Thompson tried to address the 14th Inte
- Drug Gives Hope for Tough AIDS Cases
- Associated Press - Monday, July 8, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- A new drug that attacks the AIDS virus in an entirely different way could dramatically restore the health of HIV patients whose infections have outfoxed all existing medicines, research indicates. Studies presented Monday at the 14th International AIDS Conference found that patients for whom current
- Young HIV Carriers Unaware of Virus
- Associated Press - Monday, July 8, 2002
- Jerome Socolovsky, Associated Press Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- A study of young gay and bisexual men in major U.S. cities found that more than three-quarters of those infected with HIV were unaware they had the AIDS virus. The finding, presented Monday during the first day of scientific sessions at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Spain, is a worrying
- Renowned expert to set up new HIV/AIDS center in Hong Kong
- Associated Press - Sunday, July 7, 2002
- HONG KONG - A leading HIV/AIDS expert plans to set up an institute in Hong Kong to develop a vaccine and try to prevent the deadly disease from spreading in Asia. Dr. David Ho, the scientific director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in New York City, has agreed to establish and head an HIV/AIDS center at the
- Expert: United States needs reinvigorated approach to HIV as epidemic changes
- Associated Press - Sunday, July 7, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain - The United States must revive the passion with which it once tackled the AIDS epidemic, otherwise infection rates could start climbing again, the U.S. AIDS prevention chief said Sunday. U.S. AIDS cases and HIV infections have remained fairly stable since 1998 at about 10,000 new infections every thre
- Official: AIDS Not Leveling Off
- Associated Press - Sunday, July 7, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- BARCELONA, Spain -- In the last two years, the world has awakened to the AIDS tragedy and what it takes to bring it under control, but there is no indication that the epidemic is leveling off worldwide and strategies known to prevent the spread are still grossly underused, the U.N. s AIDS chief said Sunday. More than 1
- Condoms, candy and compassion offered to the capital's prostitutes
- Associated Press - Saturday, July 6, 2002
- Laura Meckler, Associated Press Writer
- WASHINGTON (AP) -- The van stocked with condoms, candy and compassion rolls past the White House and into Girls Town, where the city s female prostitutes spend their nights. With the emergency hot line number on the outside, humor and advice on the inside, the van is a popular spot on the track. Hey, want some free con
- Caribbean countries announce deal for cheaper AIDS drugs
- Associated Press - Saturday, July 6, 2002
- Bert Wilkinson, Associated Press Writer
- GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -- Fifteen Caribbean nations have reached a deal with major pharmaceutical companies to buy drugs for AIDS patients at discounts of up to 90 percent, officials said Saturday. Six companies -- including the U.S.-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Merck & Co.
- New HIV Treatment Guidelines
- Associated Press - Saturday, July 6, 2002
- Lindsey Tanner, AP Medical Writer
- CHICAGO -- New treatment guidelines suggest symptom-free HIV patients can wait longer than previously recommended to begin taking AIDS drugs. The threshold for initiation of therapy has shifted to a later time in the course of HIV disease because of increased awareness of the effectiveness of AIDS drugs and their toxic
- Australia gives dlrs 4.5 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Asian countries
- Associated Press - Friday July 5, 2002
- YANGON, Myanmar - Australia will donate dlrs 4.5 million to fight HIV /AIDS among intravenous drug users in Myanmar, Vietnam and China under an agreement signed Friday. Drug users who share needles account for two-thirds of all reported HIV cases in the three As
- Thai study finds cocktail drug may reduce HIV risk for unborn child
- Associated Press - Friday July 5, 2002
- Uamdao Noikorn, Associated Press Writer
- BANGKOK, Thailand - Preliminary results of a study by Thai doctors suggests that the risk of mother-to-child HIV transmission may be reduced by the use of a two-drug cocktail, a government official said Friday. The results raise hope that hundreds of thousands of newborn babies, who become infected in the womb, could b
- Court Rules in S. Africa AIDS Case
- Associated Press - Friday, July 5, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- South Africa s Constitutional Court ordered the government Friday to give HIV-infected pregnant women access to a key AIDS drug that could prevent the transmission of the virus to their babies. AIDS activists celebrated the ruling as an important victory in their fight to change the govern
- AIDS Rate Can Be Slowed At High Cost
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 4, 2002
- Emma Ross, AP Medical Writer
- LONDON -- About 45 million more people worldwide will be infected with the AIDS virus in the next eight years, a huge increase that can be averted only with drastic action, experts say. In research released Friday ahead of next week s International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, scientists estimate 29 million of the cas
- Court Dismisses Tainted Blood Case
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 4, 2002
- Pierre-Antoine Souchard, Associated Press Writer
- PARIS -- An appeals court on Thursday threw out a long-standing case against 30 people who could have faced trial for their alleged roles in an AIDS-tainted blood scandal more than a decade ago. The decision shocked families of victims, who were infected or died because they received transfusions tainted with the HIV v
- Pa. Man With HIV Jailed for Assault
- Associated Press - Thursday, July 4, 2002
- CORRY, Pa. -- An HIV-positive man was sentenced to eight to 16 years in prison for having unprotected sex with two teen-age girls and soliciting sex from a third. James Willison, 37, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of aggravated assault for having sex with the minors and for failing to tell them he was HIV positiv
- Ghana signs contract with drug firm for cheaper HIV drugs
- Associated Press - Wednesday July 3, 2002
- ACCRA, Ghana - Ghana said Wednesday it had signed a deal for low-cost HIV drugs with a Western drug company. The deal with Merck Sharp & Dohme was signed by Health Minister Kwaku Afriyie and Marc Devaux, managing director of the company s Africa division. The company agreed to supply anti-retroviral drugs to the We
- U.N. Says HIV/AIDS Spreading Rapidly
- Associated Press - Wednesday, July 3, 2002
- Dilshika Jayamaha, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS -- The world is only at the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is spreading rapidly in southern Africa, Eastern Europe and the world s most populous nations: China , India and Indonesia , a new U.N. report said Tuesday.
- CDC Taps Infection Expert As New Chief of the Agency
- Associated Press - July 2, 2002
- WASHINGTON -- A scientist on the front lines of the anthrax investigation has been tapped to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials said Tuesday. Dr. Julie Gerberding will become the first female director of the CDC, the nation s top public-health agency. Dr. Gerberding, 46 years
- Zimbabwe Plagued by AIDS Crisis
- Associated Press - July 2, 2002
- Ravi Nessman, Associated Press Writer
- BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (AP) - Thabani Ndlovu, 24, lies emaciated and barely moving on a ratty mattress in a patch of winter sunlight in his father s backyard, dying of a disease that is ravaging his country. According to statistics released Tuesday by UNAIDS , Zimbabwe has the second-highest HIV rate in the world, w
- U.N. Warns of HIV/AIDS Spread
- Associated Press - Tuesday July 2, 2002
- Harmonie Toros, Associated Press Writer
- UNITED NATIONS (AP) - New evidence shows that the HIV /AIDS epidemic has not peaked and the HIV virus is now spreading rapidly in the world s most populous countries, including China , India and Indonesia , according to a U.N. report.
- Russia's top AIDS official warns that HIV infections in Russia are on the rise
- Associated Press - Monday July 1, 2002
- Eric Engleman, Associated Press Writer
- MOSCOW - Russia s top AIDS official warned Monday that the country s rate of HIV infection is growing and that Russia could soon face an AIDS epidemic on the scale of that in some African countries, where the rates of infection reach up to 30 percent. The epidemic of HIV infection in Russia is continuing, and now inter
- Drug makers considering lowering prices for HIV/AIDS drugs in Caribbean, officials say
- Associated Press - Friday June 28, 2002
- Christopher Saunders, Associated Press Writer
- NASSAU, Bahamas - Several drug companies are considering cutting the cost of HIV/AIDS treatments in the Caribbean, officials in the region said. During talks with Caribbean officials this week in the Bahamas, U.S. drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., GlaxoSmithKline of Britain and the
- Bush Admin Considering Two Candidates To Head CDC
- Associated Press - June 28, 2002
- WASHINGTON (AP)--A scientist on the front lines of the anthrax investigation and a longtime seeker of an AIDS vaccine are the leading candidates to become the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, administration officials say. Public health experts are urging the Bush administration to appoin
- US Grants China $14 Mln For AIDS Research
- Associated Press - June 28, 2002
- WASHINGTON (AP)--The U.S. National Institutes of Health is awarding Chinese scientists a $14.8 million grant to expand AIDS research. The grant announcement came a day after a United Nations report said China is on the brink of an explosive AIDS epidemic that could leave 10 million people infected by the end of the dec
- China Officials Reject AIDS Report
- Associated Press - Friday, June 28, 2002
- Audra Ang, Associated Press Writer
- BEIJING -- Health officials on Friday rejected a United Nations report criticizing the government for not doing enough to steer China away from an AIDS epidemic. The study, HIV/AIDS: China s Titanic Peril, said China is on the brink of an explosive AIDS epidemic and could have 10 million infected people by the end of t
- WHO urges urgent work for HIV-killing chemical for women
- Associated Press - Friday June 28, 2002
- Alexander G. Higgins, Associated Press Writer
- GENEVA - Researchers should work urgently on developing a microbe-killing chemical that women can use to protect themselves from the AIDS virus, the World Health Organization said Friday. A thorough review of studies of nonoxynol-9 has confirmed doubts about the AIDS-fighting potential of the widely used spermicide, a
- HIV Case Raises Constitutional Issues
- Associated Press - Friday June 28, 2002
- Joe Kafka, Associated Press Writer
- HURON, S.D. (AP) - A lawyer for a man accused of knowingly exposing a woman to HIV argued Thursday that the state law under which his client is charged is unconstitutional. In court papers, attorney Gary Blue, who is seeking dismissal of the case, said the law threatened to inhibit the fundamental right to reproduce an
- AIDS May Be On The Rise Again In Australia - Health Body
- Associated Press - June 27, 2002
- SYDNEY (AP)--A rise in the number of gay men having unprotected sex and a growing resistance to treatment drugs is fueling a second wave of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Australia , health officials warned Thursday. The Australia