WASHINGTON, (AP) -- First mammograms. Now - in an apparent coincidence - Pap smears. New guidelines by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists say most women in their 20s can have a Pap smear every two years instead of annually to catch slow-growing cervical cancer. The change comes amid a separate deba
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) -- Diarrhea doesn t make headlines. Nor does pneumonia. AIDS and malaria tend to get most of the attention. Yet even though cheap tools could prevent and cure both diseases, they kill an estimated 3.5 million kids under 5 each a year globally - more than HIV and malaria combined. They have been
Bethlehem, Pa. (AP) -- OraSure Technologies Inc., which makes diagnostic kits to detect HIV and drug use, said Thursday it will pay Inverness Medical $3 million to settle a patent dispute over HIV tests. Under the deal, OraSure settles the lawsuit filed against the company by Inverness and Church & Dwight Co., with
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) -- The global recession is not dampening America s international drive to stop AIDS, the head of the campaign said Wednesday. Eric Goosby also described a new era of cooperation with South Africa, the nation that bears the greatest AIDS burden and where officials are turning around policies
WASHINGTON -- The failure of an experimental AIDS vaccine trial two years ago may have been caused by the common cold virus. The vaccine was intended to block the spread of HIV, which causes AIDS. But the test was canceled after volunteers who got the shots were more likely to become infected than those who got a dummy
NEW YORK (AP) -- Elton John says he s back on his feet after being sidelined for the flu and an E. coli bacterial infection. The entertainer spoke about his recovery before Monday s annual benefit for the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which honored former President Bill Clinton and Sharon Stone among others. The worst th
Atlanta -- Sexually spread diseases continue to rise, with reported chlamydia cases setting yet another record in 2008, government health officials said Monday. Last year, there were 1.2 million new cases of chlamydia, a sometimes symptomless infection that can lead to infertility in women. It was the most ever reporte
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Two men were granted a marriage license in Argentina s capital on Monday, breaking ground in a country and region where laws ban gay marriage. Jose Maria Di Bello and his partner Alex Freyre won the right to get married when a judge ruled last week that a ban on gay marriage violates Arg
Jackson, Miss. (AP) -- When Robin Webb lived in New York City, he was treated by HIV specialists and had access to counseling and nutritional programs. Now he lives in Mississippi, where few of those services exist. Mississippi is just one of several mostly rural states across the South with a dearth of resources for H
GENEVA - In its first study of women s health around the globe, the World Health Organization said Monday that the AIDS virus is the leading cause of death and disease among women between the ages of 15 and 44. Unsafe sex is the leading risk factor in developing countries for these women of childbearing age, with other
-- Australian pop star Dannii Minogue was once forced to have an AIDS test after a journalist threatened to publish a story suggesting she had contracted the deadly HIV virus. The X-factor judge says on Dannii Minogue Uncut: Piers Morgan s Life Stories - an additional show to the ITV1 programme broadcast at the weekend
Indianapolis - State officials are urging black residents and other minorities to learn more about HIV and AIDS and get tested for the virus. The state Department of Health, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration and the Indiana Minority Health Coalition are holding a Statewide HIV Awareness Program Thur
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The global recession and pressure to divert funds to other health crises are hurting the fight against AIDS, a medical group warned Thursday, with one health worker saying he feared a return to the days when the AIDS virus was a death sentence in Africa. Medecins Sans Frontieres campaigners said at
GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- China has seen a tenfold increase in syphilis cases over the past decade, as migrant workers made enough money in the country s economic boom to hire more prostitutes, a senior Chinese health official was quoted as saying Tuesday. The sexually transmitted disease re-emerged in China duri
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. - A Detroit-area man who prosecutors say tried to use HIV as a weapon when he bit through his neighbor s lip will stand trial. Forty-four-year-old Daniel Allen of Clinton Township faces charges of assault with intent to maim, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm and possession or use
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama said Friday the U.S. will overturn a 22-year-old travel and immigration ban against people with HIV early next year. The order will be finalized on Monday, Obama said, completing a process begun during the Bush administration. The U.S. has been among a dozen countries that bar
MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- AIDS experts urged Russian officials on Wednesday to scrap their abstinence-based strategy for curbing the spread of HIV, saying the country s fast-growing epidemic could be entering a dangerous new phase. AIDS specialists meeting here urged Russia to adopt successful strategies like needle-excha
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration has allowed drugs for cancer and other diseases to stay on the market even when follow-up studies showed they didn t extend patients lives, say congressional investigators. A report due out Monday from the Government Accountability Office also shows that the
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Bishops attending a Vatican meeting on Africa issued a blunt ultimatum Friday to corrupt Catholic political leaders in Africa: repent or leave public office. In a strong final message, the bishops said Africa needs saints in government who will clean the continent of corruption, work for the good o
VIENNA (AP) -- The smuggling of Afghan opiates is fueling addiction and drug use along trafficking routes from Iran to Central Asia as well as spreading diseases and funding insurgents, the U.N. warned Wednesday. Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian nations are among the most affected states but the negative impact of the
Fresh results from the world s first successful test of an experimental AIDS vaccine confirm that it is only marginally effective and suggest that its protection against HIV infection may wane over time. Yet the findings are exciting to scientists, who think that blood samples from the trial may show how to make a vacc
Fresh results from the world s first successful test of an experimental AIDS vaccine confirm that it is only marginally effective. Yet, the findings are exciting to scientists, who think they may show how to make a better vaccine. The results also hint that the vaccine may work better in the general population than in
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- African cardinals denounced the cultural imperialism of wealthy countries in their aid, trade and health care policies for Africa, saying Wednesday that the West s promotion of abortion rights and condoms is destroying the continent s moral fabric. African prelates attending the three-week meeting
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- A needle exchange program in Puerto Rico is testing a vending machine that provides drug users with clean syringes after-hours to fight the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. Dr. Jose Vargas Vidot is the founder of Community Initiative, the U.S. island territory s only needle-exchange group. H
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A South Florida hospital, where officials say a nurse may have exposed more than 1,800 patients to HIV and hepatitis by reusing medical supplies, says patients are being tested. Officials at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale said Tuesday that 410 of the 1,851 potentially ex
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- A 19th-century priest whose courageous work with leprosy patients in Hawaii has been likened to the efforts of those battling the stigma of AIDS was elevated to sainthood Sunday by Pope Benedict XVI, along with four other Catholics he hailed as heroes of holiness. Among the 10,000 pilgrims packing
ADELPHI, Md. (AP) -- Federal health advisers said Thursday that Pfizer s HIV drug Selzentry should be approved for use by patients who have not already taken other drugs to combat the virus. The Food and Drug Administration s panel of virus experts voted 10-4 in favor of the new use, despite some inconsistency in compa
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- The police were looking into possible criminal charges against a nurse at a South Florida hospital where officials say she may have exposed some 1,800 patients to H.I.V. and hepatitis by reusing medical supplies. Officials at Broward General Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale said this week
NORFOLK, Va. - An HIV-positive sailor who had consensual unprotected sex with two women has been sentenced to three months confinement. A military judge also demoted Petty Officer 1st Class Steven R. Franklin in rank to seaman recruit Tuesday. Franklin had pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault and disobeyi
More than 1,800 patients treated by one nurse at a South Florida hospital may have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis. Broward General Medical Center said Monday the nurse reused saline bags and tubing during cardiac stress tests involving the injection of fluids. The hospital has sent letters to all 1,851 people who ma
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday an HIV drug from Pfizer appears safe for expanded use in patients who have not already taken other drugs to combat the virus. However, the FDA said Pfizer studies paint a mixed picture of its drug s effectiveness. A 48-week study comparing Selzentry to Bristol-Myers Squibb
More than 2 million babies and mothers die worldwide each year from childbirth complications, outnumbering child deaths from malaria and HIV/AIDS, according to a study released Tuesday. The study, launched at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics world congress being held in Cape Town, also showed t
VATICAN CITY, (AP) -- A prominent African cardinal said Monday there was no reason why the next pope couldn t be black, particularly following the election of President Barack Obama. Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Ghana is playing an important role in guiding a three-week meeting at the Vatican on the challenge
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- AIDS Alabama is getting $1 million in federal stimulus funds to provide housing to HIV-positive people in the state. The organization says housing services will be offered statewide to low-income individuals who are HIV-positive and need financial assistance to prevent homelessness or to move from h
LANETT, Ala. -- The house on First Avenue is like all the others along this quiet, narrow street. With its white paneling, green roof and yard choked by tall grass and weeds, there s a sense of bored isolation that permeates not only this house, but most of those along a block that overlooks the hulking remains of an a
DETROIT - The Archdiocese of Detroit will display a relic of the unofficial patron saint of HIV and AIDS patients. The heel of Rev. Damien de Veuster, who in 1873 began working in Hawaii with quarantined leprosy patients until dying of the disease 16 years later, will be displayed Oct. 13-14 at the Cathedral of the Mos
LONDON (AP) -- About 4 million people are now getting AIDS drugs worldwide -- a 10-fold jump in five years -- but 5 million others are still in dire need of the medicine, U.N. health officials estimated in a report issued Wednesday. The figures represented a major increase in rolling out drugs to patients across Africa
Crystal-studded boots that Michael Jackson intended to wear on his planned comeback tour fetched euro10,000 ($14,650) at a celebrity fundraiser chaired by his sister, Janet. The charity event, held on the sidelines of Milan Fashion Week, attracted such fashion luminaries as Donatella Versace and model Linda Evangelista
NONGTAPAN, Thailand (AP) -- Nearly 16,000 Thais ignored the false rumors that they were being infected by the AIDS virus, and overcame their fears of becoming social outcasts to participate in the first HIV vaccine trials to show positive results. Many of the volunteers -- an eclectic mix of housewives, fishermen, fact
Key dates in the AIDS epidemic: --June 5, 1981: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports five gay men in Los Angeles are suffering from a rare pneumonia found in patients with failing immune systems. --May 1983: The virus that causes AIDS is identified. --May 26, 1988: The U.S. government mails Und
THE STUDY: The world s largest test of a potential AIDS vaccine, sponsored by the U.S. Army and conducted by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health. PARTICIPANTS: 16,402 HIV-negative Thai men and women ages 18 to 30 at average risk of infection. Half got vaccine and the rest received dummy shots. WHAT WAS TESTED: A
BANGKOK (AP) -- For the first time, an experimental vaccine has prevented infection with the AIDS virus, a watershed event in the deadly epidemic and a surprising result. Recent failures led many scientists to think such a vaccine might never be possible. The World Health Organization and the U.N. agency
SEATTLE (AP) -- In one corner of Washington state, a 62-year-old rheumatoid arthritis patient could face more than eight years in prison for growing marijuana for himself and three others. In Seattle, meanwhile, a collection of grow operations serves 2,000 people with little interference from police. The discrepancy is
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Writer-producer Neal Baer is accustomed to 12 million or so Americans flipping on their TV sets for an episode of his drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. But for a film Baer deems his passion project, the distribution is far different. Mozambique , by teenage African AIDS orphan Alcides S
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new test from Abbott Laboratories that detects both types of the virus that causes AIDS. The FDA says the company s Abbott Prism HIV O Plus test can detect HIV types 1 and 2. HIV type 2 is mostly found in West Africa, while HIV type 1 consists of various subg
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Elizabeth Taylor is lending her timeless style to a fashion show that raises money and awareness for HIV and AIDS. The 77-year-old actress says she plans to attend the Macy s Passport fundraiser Thursday in Santa Monica to show support for the event she helped establish 27 years ago. Though she make
Inspections show that Veterans Department medical facilities have made significant progress on fixing endoscopic procedure problems that potentially exposed thousands to HIV and other infections. The VA s inspector general said in a new report released Friday that it did surprise visits to 128 medical facilities and th
MINNEAPOLIS - A Milwaukee-based charity that hosts camp for children with HIV or AIDS says it will hold sessions this fall for the 88 campers who had a summer session in Minnesota canceled due to the swine flu. One Heartland had to cancel its July session of Camp Heartland in eastern Minnesota s Willow River because tw
South Africa s governing party is looking to phase in government-administered universal health care within the next five years, and unlike the raging battle in the United States most here believe the plan will pass. Even an insurance executive on Thursday acknowledged at a public forum that the gulf between South Afric
WASHINGTON - In what may be the scariest shower news since Alfred Hitchcock s Psycho, a study says showerheads can harbor tiny bacteria that come spraying into your face when you wash. People with normal immune systems have little to fear, but these microbes could be a concern for those with cystic fibrosis or AIDS, pe
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) -- Elton John will not be able to adopt a 14-month-old Ukrainian child because the pop star is too old and isn t traditionally married, Ukraine s minister for family affairs said Monday. The pop signer toured a hospital for HIV-infected children in eastern Ukraine on Saturday as part of a charity pro
LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) -- Look out, Madonna and Angelina Jolie - pop star Elton John has decided he wants to join the ranks of A-list celebrities with adopted children. But it s not clear if John, 62, will be able to adopt, and the Rocket Man star has not yet started formal proceedings, which are often long and co
It is unacceptable that 8.8 million children die every year before their fifth birthday - 40 percent of them in India , Nigeria and Congo, the U.N. children s agency said Thursday. New data released by UNICEF and published online in The Lancet, a British medical journal, shows a continuing decline in the death rate for
WASHINGTON - The government proposed Wednesday to have Medicare cover tests for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This proposal to cover HIV screening for our Medicare population has great potential in terms of saving lives and improving the quality of life for many seniors, as well as beneficiaries under age 65, said C
Los Angeles - Army Archerd, whose breezy column for the entertainment trade publication Daily Variety kept tabs on various Hollywood doings for more than a half-century, has died. He was 87. Archerd s wife, Selma, said he died Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs strongly tied to asbest
Des Moines, Iowa - The annual report on the diseases that plague state residents has been released by the Iowa Department of Public Health. Iowa saw an increase in the number hepatitis A cases, to 109 cases in 2008. The report says that is a 294 percent increase over the three year average from 2005-2007. The report in
Chicago - A group of scientists at three Chicago institutions has received a nearly $4 million federal grant to start a Developmental Center for AIDS Research -- one of just two in the Midwest. The other is in Cleveland, Ohio. Researchers from Rush University Medical Center, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Co
BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- A German AIDS awareness group has come under fire for posting an online video that starts off with a young couple having sex in an apartment before revealing the male to be a grinning Adolf Hitler. Its closing message: AIDS is a mass murderer. On Tuesday, a prominent German Jewish group and AIDS
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- The doctor praised for re-energizing South Africa s Health Ministry launched a major campaign Monday to get vaccinations and immunity-boosting vitamins to 3 million children across the country over the next two weeks. Temporary clinics were set up and health workers were going door-to-door for two
BERLIN (AP) -- An AIDS awareness video is using an Adolf Hitler lookalike to illustrate its point that AIDS is a mass murderer. The Saarbruecken-based Regenbogen, or Rainbow, an AIDS awareness group, launched the video online last week. We re trying to tell people, that while interest in AIDS declined over the last few
BERLIN (AP) -- Securing sufficient funding is the greatest obstacle to improving women s well-being and rights in the developing world, officials attending a conference on sexual and reproductive health said Friday. The Berlin meeting, which brought together representatives from some 300 non-governmental organizations
URUMQI, China -- China s security chief blamed Muslim separatists Friday for a string of bizarre needle attacks that drew thousands of angry protesters into the streets as officials disclosed five people were killed and 14 injured during demonstrations in this restive city. Police fired tear gas to break up continuing
BEIJING (AP) -- Hundreds of Chinese protested deteriorating public safety Thursday after a series of mysterious syringe attacks further unnerved residents in the western Chinese city of Urumqi where ethnic rioting in July killed nearly 200 people. People living near the city center reached by telephone said hundreds, p
NEW YORK (AP) -- Jay-Z has designed a T-shirt with an image of Arthur Ashe that will be sold during the U.S. Open to benefit charity. The shirt is part of the rap mogul s Rocawear clothing line and commemorates the USTA National Junior Tennis and Learning network s 40th anniversary. Ashe co-founded the NJTL network in
WASHINGTON -- D.C. officials on Friday launched a new campaign to urge residents to get tested for HIV, a disease that touches every corner of the city. The $225,000 multimedia marketing campaign is the first phase of a 5-year effort. Its advertisements feature D.C. residents holding signs that read, Ask for the Test,
Phil Saviano spent years fighting for the victims of clergy abuse, an effort spurred by his own bitter experience at the hands of a priest. Later, with Saviano s health slipping after a long battle with AIDS, he turned for support -- and a new kidney -- to the very network he helped nurture. No fewer than seven clergy
Momentum is building for Congress to pass the first major civil rights act protecting gays and transsexuals, supporters say, and one of the stars in the debate is a barrier-breaking transgender staffer on Capitol Hill. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, would prohibit workplace discrimination -- including
An HIV-positive homeless man convicted of biting a Miami police officer has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. A judge sentenced 35-year-old Johnson Jamerson at a Wednesday hearing. He was convicted in June of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. Authorities say Jamerson attacked Officer Matthew Hall whi
BOSTON - For decades, Edward Kennedy was considered the most powerful voice in the Senate for gay rights as a strong supporter of HIV/AIDS funding, hate crimes legislation and same-sex marriage. His death struck a blow to gay rights advocates, who say they ve lost a key ally. Having somebody in the Senate who was never
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Johnson & Johnson has warned doctors about reports of potentially deadly allergic reactions in patients taking its HIV drug Intelence. J&J s Tibotec unit issued a letter to physicians about severe skin reactions and liver damage among patients taking the drug. The Food and Drug Administratio
CHICAGO - Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have won a $600,000 federal grant to study how to better educate AIDS patients about the risks of eating certain foods. A UIC statement says nearly half a million people in the U.S. are living with AIDS. And it says AIDS patients whose immune systems have b
Circumcision, which has helped prevent AIDS among heterosexual men in Africa, doesn t help protect gay men from the virus, according to the largest U.S. study to look at the question. The research, presented at a conference Tuesday, is expected to influence the government s first guidance on circumcision. Circumcision
LOS ANGELES, (AP) -- In an Aug. 20 story about safe-sex practices in the adult film industry, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Vivid Entertainment employed at least five performers who were infected in an HIV outbreak that briefly shut down the industry in 2004. Vivid spokeswoman Jackie Martin said all of
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The White House will hold a series of community discussions on HIV and AIDS throughout the country beginning next week. In a statement, President Barack Obama said HIV remains a serious challenge in the U.S. He said he wants the public s input in the discussions as he works to create a national strat
An AIDS advocacy group filed complaints Thursday with state officials against 16 production companies that show unprotected sex in porn movies. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed the action with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, alleging the practice amounts to unsafe behavior in a California
U.S. life expectancy has risen to a new high, now standing at nearly 78 years, the government reported Wednesday. The increase is due mainly to falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death. The average life expectancy for babies born in 2007 is nearly three months greater than for children born in 2006
WASHINGTON -- The Veterans Affairs Department on Monday began offering routine HIV tests to veterans who receive medical care. Under the new policy, veterans must verbally consent to the test, and they can opt to decline it. Previously, veterans had to sign a consent form and were read scripted, standard counseling inf
LONDON (AP) -- Polio, the dreaded paralyzing disease stamped out in the industrialized world, is spreading in Nigeria . And health officials say in some cases, it s caused by the vaccine used to fight it. In July, the World Health Organization issued a warning that this vaccine-spread virus might extend beyond Africa
Alabama has shed the distinction of being the only state to bar inmates with HIV from work release programs. The American Civil Liberties Union has fought to end the practice for decades and on Thursday praised the Alabama Department of Corrections for doing so this week. Corrections officials say all eligible prisoner
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - A South Dakota urology clinic being sued by five Iowans said Thursday that 16 of its patients have tested positive for hepatitis, but the exposures did not come from other patients. State health officials warned patients in April that there was a risk of infection because some medical equipment at S
BOULDER, Colo. -- Gilead Sciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical firm known for its HIV therapies, is closing its offices in Boulder and Westminster and laying off at least 66 people by year s end. Gilead spokesman Nathan Kaiser said Wednesday the decision to close the offices was prompted by the company s $1.4 billion acqu
An HIV-positive Lakeland man allegedly had unprotected sex with a 13-year-old boy he met volunteering at a gay youth ministry. Fifty-eight-year-old Jere Michael Temple faces six counts of custodial sexual battery. He s also charged with having intercourse without disclosing HIV. Police said the boy spent weekends at Te
UNITED NATIONS -- An estimated 50 million women in Asia are at risk of becoming infected with the HIV virus from their husbands or long-term partners, according to a U.N. report published Tuesday. The report produced by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, known as UNAIDS , and its partner organizations said
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton heads to Congo on Monday to target an epidemic of sexual assault in the violence-torn nation after wrapping up a trip to Angola where she pushed democratic reform and announced the country would get more money to fight AIDS. Clinton, the first secretary of state to visit A
MIAMI -- A doctor and physician s assistant in Miami have been sentenced to eight years in prison in an $11 million Medicare fraud scheme. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro on Friday also ordered 65-year-old Dr. Keith Russell to pay back the government $3.1 million, and 50-year-old Jorge Luis Pacheco to repay $2.6 mill
One of California s top lawmakers said Friday he will file a lawsuit next week against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over what he considers illegal vetoes of funding for social service programs. SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- One of California s top lawmakers said Friday he will file a lawsuit next week against Gov. Arnold Schwarz
Trenton, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey oncologist whom health officials suspect was responsible for a hepatitis B outbreak earlier this year has been sued by one of his patients. Roland Jacobsen, of Manchester, claims he contracted the disease after being treated for prostate cancer at the offices of Dr. Parvez Dara, most
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday urged South Africa to take a leading role in driving economies across the world s poorest continent and called on the country to do more to press for reform in neighboring Zimbabwe . Clinton also praised a warming in ties between th
NEW YORK (AP) -- Agreements between former President Bill Clinton s foundation and two drug companies will lower prices on medications for patients with drug-resistant HIV in the developing world. One agreement, with Mylan Inc., lowers the annual price of four antiretroviral drugs that are used as a second line of trea
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Scientists say they may have tracked down the origins of the deadly disease malaria - chimpanzees. In recent years diseases like HIV-AIDS and Ebola have been traced to chimpanzees, and a study being released Tuesday shows that this is nothing new, according to Dr. Nathan D. Wolfe, an author of the r
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton embarks Monday on a seven-nation tour of Africa to affirm the Obama administration s commitment to tackling trouble spots across the continent from Somalia and Zimbabwe to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
MADISON, Wis. - Gay couples trickled into county clerks offices in Wisconsin on Monday for their first chance to sign up for the state s new domestic partnership registry. First in line at the Dane County Clerk s office in Madison were 56-year-old Janice Czyscon and her partner of 29 years, 57-year-old Crystal Hyslop.
A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon . It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers reported in Monday s editi
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- A new strain of the virus that causes AIDS has been discovered in a woman from the African nation of Cameroon . It differs from the three known strains of human immunodeficiency virus and appears to be closely related to a form of simian virus recently discovered in wild gorillas, researchers report
WASHINGTON (AP) - D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is trying to prevent Congress from withholding money from the District s needle exchange program. Until 2007, the District was the only city in the nation barred from using both local and federal tax dollars to hand out clean needles to drug addicts. Norton says tha
JOHANNESBURG, (AP) -- In the book store Boekehuis, people squeeze among the shelves as an Ivorian and an Angolan novelist discuss a troubling characteristic of their new homeland South Africa : a hatred of foreigners that has flared into violence. Another day, another novelist is speaking about love and survival in a t
LOS ANGELES -- California health officials are looking into the latest HIV case reported in California s multibillion-dollar porn industry, fearing that reckless practices on the film set might be raising the risk of new infections. It was revealed this week that a woman tested positive for HIV immediately after making
LONDON (AP) -- South African President Jacob Zuma won damages Thursday from Britain s The Guardian newspaper over an article that mistakenly claimed he was a rapist. Zuma sued the paper for libel after it published an article in March claiming Zuma was guilty of rape, corruption and bribery. The South African leader s
New York (AP) -- Summer on Coney Island was sweetness by the sea for generations who reveled in the tacky splendor of the Brooklyn beachfront. Visitors from around the world still crowd the boardwalk, scarfing down hot dogs at what was dubbed the People s Playground. But life for some Coney Island residents has become
SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made additional cuts to child welfare programs, medical care for the poor and AIDS prevention efforts Tuesday as he signed an $85 billion compromise spending plan that he called the good, the bad and the ugly. Schwarzenegger used his line-item veto authority to
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- South Africa launched a new HIV/AIDS research initiative Tuesday aimed at stimulating scientific studies into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease. South Africa had about 5.2 million people living with HIV last year -- the highest number of any country in the world. The government
BEIJING (AP) -- Lesbians in China have organized an online petition calling for gay people to be allowed to donate blood, state media reported Tuesday. The petition, asking the government to remove a law enacted in 1998 banning the gay community from donating blood, has drawn 540 signatures from lesbians and aims to re
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- An attorney is preparing to ask the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to pay disability benefits and damages for hospital mistakes that may have exposed veterans to infectious body fluids -- a complaint that he said could ultimately multiply into many more such demands. The attorney, Mike S
YANGON, Myanmar (AP) -- Shrunken to 30 pounds of skin and bones, Ma Moe could barely walk when she arrived on the doorstep of the clinic nearly two years ago. AIDS had killed her husband three years earlier, and it was slowly killing her. If not for the free medicine she receives, she would be dead, the 35-year-old wid
NEW DELHI (AP) -- Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Saturday received the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development from India s president, a government statement said. The prize recognizes his work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It is awarded annually to individuals or organizations fo
CHICAGO - The Chicago Public Health Department estimates 17 percent of gay men in Chicago are HIV-positive, with half of them unaware they are infected. Health officials also say although black men who have sex with other men have double the HIV infection rates of white and Hispanic men. Public Health Department assist
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- The House voted Friday to lift a ban on using taxpayer dollars for needle exchange programs for intravenous drug users intended to prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases. The vote to lift a longstanding ban on federal aid for such programs - in place since 1988 - came after a brief but passion
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- Fewer Zimbabweans are getting infected with AIDS, and researchers speculate it s due in part to a battered economy that s leaving men short of money to be sugar daddies and keep mistresses. Presenting a study of the infection rate among pregnant women at a major international AIDS confer
CHICAGO - Chicago Cubs Charities has announced a $50,000 grant to the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. The grant was given in connection with this month s concerts at Wrigley Field. Cubs Charities Vice President Mike Lufrano says neighborhood support for the concerts and concertgoers made the gift possible. The Wrigley Fiel
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Dr. Joel Weisman, who co-wrote the first report on AIDS in 1981, has died. He was 66. Weisman died Saturday at his Los Angeles home. His domestic partner, Bill Hutton, said Weisman had heart disease and was ill for several months. Weisman was a private physician in 1980 when he saw three gay patient
CHICAGO - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced more than $5 million in grants to help low-income Illinois families living with AIDS or HIV. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said Wednesday the money would serve as a lifeline for families struggling to find affordable housing while also trying to
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Alabama inmates with HIV and AIDS have grown accustomed to receiving services later rather than sooner: it was just two years ago they were allowed to eat, worship and visit family members alongside general population inmates, and they still aren t allowed to participate in work release. Services for
WASHINGTON - Scientists believe they have found a missing link in the evolution of the virus that causes AIDS. It bridges the gap between the infection that does no harm to most monkeys and the one that kills millions of people. That link is a virus that is killing chimpanzees in the wild at a disturbingly high rate, a
Colorado s state health board has rejected a move to limit medical marijuana suppliers to helping only five patients at a time, allowing dispensaries to continue to thrive in Colorado. The board voted 6-3 Monday night to defeat the proposal by the state health department. The roughly 100 people still left in the hearin
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- South Africa has stopped funding research on an AIDS vaccine, a leading scientist said Monday, even as a major vaccine trial on humans began in the country ravaged by the world s worst AIDS epidemic. Anna-Lise Williamson, an AIDS researcher at the University of Cape Town, told The Associ
CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- South Africa is launching clinical trials of the first AIDS vaccines created by a developing country, a feat by scientists who forged ahead even when some of their political leaders shocked the world with unscientific pronouncements about the disease. Trials to test the safety in humans of t
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- The president of the International AIDS Society says new research indicates the incidence of HIV is decreasing in African countries helped by George W. Bush s AIDS initiative. Thousands of AIDS experts at an international AIDS conference cheered Sunday when Dr. Julio Montaner announced t
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- Nelson Mandela s fans celebrated the anti-apartheid icon s 91st birthday Saturday by emulating him with good deeds, reading to the blind, distributing blankets to the homeless or refurbishing homes for AIDS orphans. Mandela had called on people to spend time doing good Saturday, the f
Doctors Without Borders warned on Saturday that a chronic shortage of drugs to treat AIDS in six African countries could cost thousands of lives and reverse progress made on the continent most afflicted by the disease. In recent weeks, some clinics have stopped accepting new patients, Eric Goemaere, medical coordinator
Milwaukee - A camp session in Minnesota for children with HIV or AIDS has been canceled after two volunteers tested positive for swine flu. One Heartland, a Milwaukee-based charity, had planned to start the weeklong camp session in Willow River in eastern Minnesota on Friday. One Heartland founder and CEO Neil Willenso
LOS ANGELES--An AIDS advocacy group is taking legal steps to make Los Angeles health officials enforce health and safety rules on pornography film sets to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted disease. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a petition in Superior Court Thursday. In it, the group claims that in the m
WASHINGTON - The District of Columbia government could fund abortions for the poor and take steps toward legalizing marijuana for medical purposes under a spending bill passed by the House on Thursday. The measure also would force General Motors Co. and Chrysler LLC to restore franchise agreements with the approximatel
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Federal officials are telling states they cannot deny licenses to aspiring barbers, masseuses and home health care aids because they have AIDS or HIV. The Justice Department says it is advising state authorities that stopping people with the virus from getting such licenses or not admitting them to
A South Florida man says he was denied a hair transplant because he is HIV positive. Diego Del Rio said in a lawsuit that he was refused a transplant by Dr. Brett Bolton of the Age Defying Surgical Center. The 28-year-old Del Rio said he told Bolton he is HIV positive. After a series of follow-up phone calls, a staffi
LONDON (AP) -- Britain s National Health Service has a message for teens: Sex can be fun. Health officials are trying to change the tone of sex education by urging teachers to emphasize that sexual relations can be healthy and pleasurable instead of simply explaining the mechanics of sex and warning about diseases.
Charlize Theron is giving underprivileged South African children a place to play soccer. The Academy Award winner s Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Project is teaming up with LAFC Chelsea Soccer Club in Los Angeles to build community soccer programs. In addition to soccer fields, uniforms and equipment, kids involved i
ATLANTA (AP) -- The U.S. Surgeon General has been described as the nation s doctor, a national nanny and the person who puts warning labels on cigarette packs. But lately, the position has been mostly called something else: invisible. Once the government s leading voice on health issues, the surgeon general faded into
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama turned to the Deep South for the next surgeon general, choosing a rural Alabama family physician who made headlines with fierce determination to rebuild her nonprofit medical clinic in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Dr. Regina Benjamin is known along Alabama s impoverished Gulf
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) -- Cleve Jones is happy. As happy as he has ever been, thank you. He has a labor union job he loves, powerful allies in Hollywood and Washington, guys to date. Best of all, a new generation of gay activists has embraced him as the mentor he once had, the man whose story he helped deliver to th
Barack Obama is in Ghana on his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since becoming US president. Ghana was chosen because of its democratic track record and Mr Obama is expected to use the trip to promote good governance across the continent. He will hold talks with President John Atta Mills and address the country s par
ACCRA, Ghana (AP) -- President Barack Obama says the United States will help African allies combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Obama on Saturday told Ghana s Parliament that the United States would continue the work started under his predecessor, President George W. Bush. Obama says he has committed $63 bil
A U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs letter pledges free medical care and treatment for former patients who have tested positive for HIV or hepatitis since being exposed to endoscopic cleaning mistakes at three VA hospitals, including one in Miami. But advocates for veterans contend the VA should also pledge disabilit
WASHINGTON - Veterans health care programs would receive another big boost under a $132.4 billion measure passed by the House on Friday. The 12 percent increase for the veterans medical services account is but the latest in a recent string of generous increases. Funding for veterans has long had strong bipartisan suppo
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has approved expanded use of a Merck & Co. HIV drug, Isentress. Known chemically as raltegravir, it is now approved for treating new and existing patients with the virus that causes AIDS, in combination with other types of HIV drugs. The drug got an
MULDERSDRIFT, South Africa (AP) - Dumisani Rebombo wasn t circumcised, did chores considered girls work and was sick of being taunted for not being a man. So at age 15, he took the only course considered manly in his rural South African village: He raped a girl. Twenty years later he searched for the woman to beg her f
WASHINGTON -- A group of AIDS activists was arrested Thursday for unlawfully demonstrating in the Capitol rotunda, a Capitol Police spokeswoman said. Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said 11 men and 15 women were charged with unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct. Their names and ages were not immediately released. Schneider
San Francisco (AP) -- A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit accusing Abbott Laboratories of antitrust violations over a sudden 400-percent price hike of a popular AIDS drug. Advocacy groups and drug benefit providers sued Abbott in 2004. They alleged the North Chicago, Ill., drugmaker raised the price of the H
GENEVA (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged governments on Monday to increase development aid for the poorest countries and to improve health services, saying nations have moved too slowly to meet their goals of eradicating poverty and hunger. Those goals have become even more difficult to achieve with the
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) -- A Mid-Missouri group says the region has seen an 18 percent rise in people seeking treatment for AIDS and HIV. RAIN-Central Missouri handles case management for patients. It has added 58 clients in the 12-month period that ended in May. Those clients have either tested positive or have begun seeki
BLANCHARD, Haiti - When Micheline Leon was diagnosed with HIV, her parents told her they would fit her for a coffin. Fifteen years later, she walks around her two-room concrete house on Haiti s central plateau, watching her four children play under the plantain trees. She looks healthy, her belly amply filling a gray,
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP) -- An attorney for veterans potentially exposed to HIV and other infections by colonoscopies at three Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals said his clients are waiting to hear if they will be compensated for mistakes that led to congressional hearings and new VA spending on patient safety.
NEW DELHI (AP) -- New Delhi s gay community celebrated a landmark court ruling Thursday that decriminalizes homosexuality -- a decision that could end widespread police harassment and be a harbinger for gradual acceptance for homosexuals across this deeply conservative country. The Delhi High Court ruled that treating
GENEVA, Switzerland (AP) -- The World Health Organization says a study has shown that babies with HIV could die if given a standard tuberculosis vaccine. WHO says a three-year study in South Africa found babies born with HIV had a higher risk of contracting a deadly form of TB if given the widely
ATLANTA (AP) -- In a perverse twist of medical fate, Farrah Fawcett has become the poster girl for anal cancer, a rare disease often linked to a sexually transmitted virus. Before her death last week, at age 62, the actress had come to terms with the illness and agreed to have her suffering and treatment chronicled for
-- A sizable number of teens may take chances because they feel hopeless and figure that not much is at stake, a researcher says Chicago - Nearly 15% of teenagers think they are going to die young, leading many to drug use, suicide attempts and other unsafe behavior, new research suggests. The study, based on a survey
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Countering criticism that he s done little on gay rights, President Barack Obama commemorated the 40th anniversary of the birth of the modern movement by welcoming its leaders to the White House and reaffirming his commitment to their top priorities. I want you to know: You have our support, Obama to
NEW DELHI (AP) -- Hundreds of gay rights supporters waved flags and danced past traffic during marches through three Indian cities Sunday to celebrate gay pride and call for the decriminalization of homosexuality in this deeply conservative country. The New Delhi parade passed near the Delhi High Court, which is review
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Treatment for HIV/AIDS has evolved since the 1980s, and apparently so has attention paid to it. Health officials say that s likely because the disease is more manageable today. But Nebraska s chief medical officer says while a diagnosis isn t as scary as it once was, it s a heck of a way to life if y
HELENA, Mont. (AP) A state health agency reports an increase in new HIV cases and is encouraging people to be tested. Montana s Department of Public Health and Human Services reports that, since January 1, there have been 19 new HIV cases diagnosed in the state. For the last several years, the department says there s b
AURORA, Ill. - Officials in Kane County are warning the state s budget woes could pose a threat to the health of area families. Unless the governor and legislators can agree on a revised 2010 budget, Kane County may face cuts in some health services. These could include nurses home visits to premature babies, children
The chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Wednesday called for more centralized control of the VA medical system after recent breakdowns in cleaning colonoscopy equipment exposed thousands of veterans to the risk of contracting HIV and other infections. Disparities in quality control procedures at VA med
A member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs says despite numerous and repeated directives, some VA hospitals have not corrected mistakes with endoscopic equipment. Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina said a Wednesday hearing will hopefully reveal more about problems that have members of Congres
Federal officials say they have busted a Miami-based Medicare fraud ring that spanned five states and billed the nation s healthcare system for about $100 million. Acting Miami U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman said Tuesday eight suspects billed Medicare and Medicare Advantage for bogus HIV infusion drugs that patients didn
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Lawyers for a South Dakota urology clinic have asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by five Iowans who might have been exposed to blood-borne infections such as hepatitis and HIV. State health officials warned patients in April that there was a risk of infection because some medical equipment at
ATLANTA (AP) -- A new Internet data map offers a first-of-its-kind, county-level look at HIV cases in the U.S. and finds the infection rates tend to be highest in the South. The highest numbers of HIV cases are in population centers like New York and California. However, many of the areas with the highest rates of HIV
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- A leading South African research group said one in four male South Africans it surveyed admitted to committing rape -- a finding that cast a harsh light on a culture of sexual violence that victims groups say is deeply embedded in society. According to police statistics, some 36,000 wome
Studies: Results hard to track from UN health programs LONDON -- In the last two decades, the world has spent more than $196 billion trying to save people from death and disease in poor countries. Millions are now protected against diseases such as yellow fever, sleeping under anti-malaria bed nets and taking AIDS drug
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A text message can show you where to go in Illinois to be tested for HIV/AIDS. The Illinois Department of Public Health is unveiling Text 2 Survive to help stop the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus. On a mobile phone, anyone can send a text with the message I-L and their five-digit ZIP code to the numbe
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Cambodian authorities on Thursday evicted 20 families afflicted with HIV from their homes in the capital, forcing them to move to a tiny settlement on its outskirts in an action critics called discriminatory. The evictions from the Borei Keila community came after several months of strong p
Los Angeles, CA (AP) -- A health clinic where an adult film actress recently tested positive for HIV got a surprise visit by state health inspectors Wednesday. California Division of Occupational Safety and Health inspectors said the staff at the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation in the San Fernando Valley w
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles County public health officials are backtracking on the number of HIV cases in adult film performers. The county released data to the Los Angeles Times last week disclosing at least 16 previously unpublicized cases since 2004. The cases had been reported to the county by the Adult Industr
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned governments Tuesday against using the economic crisis as an excuse to cut funding for fighting AIDS at a time when there are nearly five new HIV infections for every two people put on treatment. He called for bold action not only to increase funding but also t
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Lawmakers sharply criticized the Veterans Affairs Department on Tuesday about why a national scare over botched colonoscopies earlier this year didn t prompt stronger safeguards at the agency s medical centers. Agency officials apologized for the continued weaknesses and told a House subcommittee the
Kimberly Hefling And Ben Evans, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fewer than half of Veterans Affairs centers given a surprise inspection last month had proper training and guidelines in place for common endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopies - even after the agency learned that mistakes may have exposed thousands of veterans to HIV and other diseases. The fin
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A congressional panel is pressing the Department of Veterans Affairs to disclose on Tuesday whether non-sterile equipment that may have exposed 10,000 veterans to HIV and other infections was isolated to three Southeast hospitals or is part of a wider problem. Somebody is going to have to take resp
Los Angeles, CA (AP) -- California health officials are looking into the latest HIV case reported in California s multibillion-dollar porn industry, fearing that reckless practices on the film set might be raising the risk of new infections. It was revealed this week that a woman tested positive for HIV immediately aft
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- South African health activist Thembi Ngubane, whose radio diaries of her struggle against the AIDS virus won her audiences and admiration around the world, has died of tuberculosis at 24. Joe Richman, who produced the diaries and became her friend, said Ngubane had drug-resistant TB that
Los Angeles, CA (AP) -- A San Fernando Valley health clinic that serves the adult film industry says an actress has tested positive for HIV. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation said Wednesday that initial HIV tests of the woman s partners have come up negative, but they are not being allowed to perform and
WINDHOEK, Namibia (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says the Obama administration will put women and girls first in the fight against AIDS. Rodham Clinton addressed an international AIDS conference in Namibia by video hookup Wednesday. She says her government will prioritize preventing mother-to-ch
Black, Latino and Asian lawmakers warned Democratic leaders that any health care overhaul that ignores health gaps between whites and minorities will face stiff opposition. The lawmakers said they would be hard-pressed to support a bill without a new program providing access to health care for all Americans. The public
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- The number of new HIV infections among South African teens has dropped significantly, prompting hope that national efforts to tackle the epidemic have finally turned a corner after years of denial and delay. A report by the Human Sciences Research Council released Tuesday said that altho
CA (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed eliminating or severely cutting spending for non-federally mandated social programs for the poor, elderly and disabled. These are among the proposals that would have the most profound effects: -- Eliminating California s version of the welfare-to-work program known as
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Brryan Jackson has been left out of birthday party invitations and asked not to use water fountains. His daily routine at one point included 23 pills, three IV medications and two injections. But the toughest part of growing up with AIDS for him may be knowing how he got it. When he was a baby, his
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- Helen Zille has a sharp tongue and a short fuse, and she doesn t dodge a fight. In apartheid times she enraged South Africa s white rulers, and lately she has ruffled South Africa s black political establishment. Having won plaudits as mayor of Cape Town, she is now leader of the main op
Today is Friday, June 5, the 156th day of 2009. There are 209 days left in the year. Today s Highlight in History: On June 5, 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel after claiming victory in California s Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was immediately
LANSING, Mich. - Money designed to create high-tech jobs and promote tourism would instead be used to help balance the state budget under legislation approved Wednesday by lawmakers. The House Appropriations Committee voted 27-4 to send the spending bill to the full House, which likely will vote in the next couple week
CA (AP) -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a mix of spending cuts, borrowing from local governments and ways to generate revenue to close a deficit projected at $24.3 billion for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Almost two-thirds of the deficit would be addressed through spending cuts under his latest plan,
A U.S. Senate committee will ask Department of Veterans Affairs officials how mistakes at three hospitals in the Southeast possibly infected patients with HIV and hepatitis. The Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs has set a June 24 hearing for VA officials to talk about mistakes with endoscopic equipment that possibly
JOHANNESBURG -- Zimbabwe s collapse has spilled over the border with devastating effect, an international medical aid group said Tuesday, calling on the South African government and the international community to do more to ensure desperate migrants were safe and had shelter and health care. It s a major humanitarian c
MADISON, Wis. - Women are the fastest growing segment of Wisconsin s population that are becoming infected with the HIV virus. Although the number of new cases of HIV infection has stabilized over the past 10 years in Wisconsin, the number of infected women keeps growing. Last year, 391 people contracted the virus. Tha
LONDON (AP) -- GlaxoSmithKline PLC signed a potential $1 billion deal with U.S. biotech company Concert Pharmaceuticals on Tuesday to access deuterium-containing medicines, a deal that will beef up its pipeline of early stage drugs. Glaxo will gain the rights to three research programs by privately held Concert -- a pr
A jury sentenced a suburban Dallas man to 45 years in prison for knowingly infecting six women with H.I.V. The jury convicted the man, Philippe Padieu, 53, on Wednesday on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Since H.I.V. is the virus that causes AIDS, prosecutors contended his bodily fluids were a de
NEW YORK, (AP) -- Prince Harry reminded New Yorkers on Saturday how much his mother had loved their city, then climbed onto a pony for a rousing game of polo to raise money for impoverished children in Africa. On a brilliantly sunny day on Governors Island in New York Harbor, the 24-year-old prince drew a crowd that in
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A congressional panel will question Department of Veterans Affairs officials about mistakes that put patients at risk of possible exposure to HIV and other infectious body fluids at three VA hospitals. The VA recommended more than 10,000 former VA patients in Miami, Murfreesboro, Tenn., and August
McKINNEY, Texas -- A North Texas jury has convicted a martial arts instructor on trial over accusations he infected several women with the virus that causes AIDS. Philippe Padieu of Frisco was convicted Wednesday in a Collin County court on six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors say Padieu r
DETROIT - In six months, a clinic collected more than $500,000 from the government s Medicare program for taking care of just 14 people. Here s why: The clinic was recruiting and paying patients, mostly people with HIV, and then getting reimbursement for phony or unnecessary treatments, according to federal investigato
South African authorities have started building a new Football for Hope center - the first of 20 planned around the continent as part of a 2010 World Cup campaign to combat AIDS, poverty and crime and to uplift local communities that live far away from flashy stadiums. The center in the problem-plagued township of Khay
The Associated Press has appointed veteran correspondent Andrew Selsky to the new position of Africa Editor, overseeing coverage of sub-Saharan Africa. John Daniszewski, the AP s senior managing editor-international, made the announcement Friday. Selsky, 53, will be based in Johannesburg, South Africa .
CAP D ANTIBES, France (AP) -- Bill Clinton s saxophone and Robert Pattinson s lips have helped a star-studded charity event raise money to fight AIDS. An alto sax signed and donated by the former U.S. president was one of the star lots at the Cinema Against AIDS benefit on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, sel
The federal government is multiplying by 10 the number of agents and prosecutors targeting Medicare fraud in Miami, Los Angeles and other strategic cities where officials say tens of billions of dollars are lost each year. We know these strike forces work, Attorney General Eric Holder said at a news conference in Washi
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- Health activists said Tuesday that a shortfall in promised U.S. funding for HIV/AIDS projects would affect over 30 million people and means President Barack Obama risks reversing the gains made by his predecessor. Such projects are like planes ... they must have a forward momentum or they will st
A U.S. priest who put an international spotlight on human rights abuses in Brazil in the 1970s has been killed by robbers in northern Guatemala . The Rev. Lawrence Rosebaugh of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was shot several times Monday by masked gunmen who stopped a car carrying him and four other missionaries to a meeting in
ATLANTA - The world s governments and industries are ignoring reality when it comes to the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS, singer Elton John told an international biotechnology conference Tuesday. Organizations fighting the AIDS epidemic-like the 17-year-old Elton John AIDS Foundation-are battling the stigma
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate on Monday confirmed President Barack Obama s pick to oversee food and drug safety, two areas that are vital to consumers and widely seen as in critical need of improvement. Dr. Margaret Hamburg, a bioterrorism expert, will be sworn in as the 21st commissioner of the Food and Drug Administr
DENVER (AP) -- Rodger McFarlane, a Denver-based advocate for gay rights and HIV-AIDS treatment and education, has died while traveling in New Mexico. He was 54. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator confirmed Monday that McFarlane died Friday in Truth or Consequences but didn t immediately release the cause
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Like a general whose direct attacks aren t working, scientists are now trying to outflank the HIV/AIDS virus. Unsuccessful at developing vaccines that the cause the body s natural immune system to battle the virus, researchers are testing inserting a gene into the muscle that can cause it to produce
Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and singer Katy Perry attended a flamboyant Austrian charity gala Saturday dedicated to raising money for people with HIV and AIDS. Other celebrities spotted at the Life Ball were actress Fran Drescher, former Baywatch babe Pamela Anders
NEW YORK (AP) -- For seven years, Dr. Thomas Frieden has been the nagging conscience of the nation s biggest city, the man who made sure New Yorkers couldn t smoke in bars or eat french fries cooked in artery-clogging trans fats. Now, the city s health commissioner will be taking his crusade against unhealthy living na
VIENNA (AP) -- Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria Parker, former U.S. President Bill Clinton and singer Katy Perry attended a flamboyant Austrian charity gala Saturday dedicated to raising money for people with HIV and AIDS. Other celebrities spotted at the Life Ball were actress Fran Drescher, former Baywatch babe
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- Federal officials have been warning thousands of former patients they might have been exposed to infection at three Veterans Affairs facilities, yet other VA patients are not being warned about less serious mistakes with the same equipment at more than a dozen other VA centers. The U.S. Depar
LOS ANGELES, (AP) -- Alicia Keys wants $5 from every American Idol fan. The Grammy-winning singer appeared on the hit Fox show Wednesday to urge viewers to support the Text ALIVE Challenge, which aims to bring medicine and medical care to children and families with HIV/AIDS in Africa and India . Keys aske
MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin Assembly passed two bills Wednesday that would increase health insurance access and coverage for high-risk individuals. The bills deal with people who participate in the state s Health Insurance Risk-Sharing Plan. The plan provides insurance for the disabled or people with HIV who can t ge
The top Veterans Affairs official in Miami said Tuesday she has taken steps locally to prevent the kind of problems that exposed patients to contaminated medical equipment at VA hospitals in three states. Mary D. Berrocal, director of the Miami VA Healthcare System, told The Associated Press she has hired someone in Mi
Murfreesboro, Tenn. (AP) -- Former patients who tested positive for HIV or hepatitis will not be able to show they were infected by tainted equipment at U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, a top doctor for the agency said Friday. Dr. Jim Bagian, the VA s chief patient safety officer, said the patients won t
JOHANNESBURG, (AP) -- When Jacob Zuma takes the presidential oath Saturday, he will become the leader of a country where at least a quarter of the work force is unemployed and 1,000 people die of AIDS every day. No wonder South Africans grasped at Zuma s promises of new hope. It is a measure of his political skill that
New York - Several people have been arrested outside Mayor Michael Bloomberg s office in City Hall. They were protesting budget cuts to services for people with HIV and AIDS. The group, organized by the advocacy group Housing Works, tried to block a security gate outside Bloomberg s second floor office area. Protesters
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- African nations are scrambling to prevent swine flu from reaching a continent already struggling with the burden of AIDS and malaria, fearing an outbreak could wreak much more devastation than in North America or Europe. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Africa, and medi
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration wants the United States to spend $63 billion over the next six years to fight global diseases and provide more aid for prenatal and postnatal care, children s health and fighting tropical diseases. We cannot fix every problem, President Barack Obama said in a statement Tuesda
WASHINGTON (AP) - If more doctors started asking, would more drug and alcohol abusers fess up so they could get help? It s a huge irony of health care: Go to the emergency room and you ll be asked about a tetanus shot, even though most of us have never seen a case of tetanus, says Dr. Gail D Onofrio, emergency medicine
Philadelphia - Hundreds of gay rights demonstrators marched through the streets of the city s historic center Sunday carrying rainbow-colored flags and signs calling for equal rights in marriage, in the workplace and in health care. The National Equality Rally was billed as the first national demonstration since 2000 f
HARTFORD, Conn. - Hundreds of people with HIV and AIDS are expected to gather at the Connecticut state capitol for a rally aimed at raising awareness about the epidemic in this state. The eighth annual AIDS Awareness Day on Wednesday is being sponsored by the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition. The group is fighting a
WATERLOO, Iowa - A Plainfield man who was charged with knowingly transmitting HIV was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday. Nick Rhoades had pleaded guilty to failing to disclose his HIV status before having sex with a Cedar Falls man last June. The two men exchanged messages in an Internet chat room before meeting a
MIAMI (AP) - The Department of Veterans Affairs says a fifth patient has tested positive for HIV and another seven have tested positive for hepatitis after being exposed to contaminated medical equipment at three VA hospitals. The department says 33 people have now tested positive for hepatitis. They are among thousand
McLEAN, Va. - A Virginia man who is HIV-positive is suing Catholic Charities USA and its local affiliate, claiming he and his wife were denied the opportunity to adopt a baby with Down syndrome because he has the virus. A church official said Catholic Charities does not discriminate against people with HIV--the virus t
EL PASO, Texas (AP) - Cases of people testing positive for the human immunodeficiency virus, which can lead to AIDS, are up overall and among young people in El Paso. The city s Department of Public Health shows that 22 cases of HIV have been reported in the first three months of this year. There were 64 cases of HIV r
ST. GEORGE S, Grenada (AP) - Grenada has barred a Jamaican rapper from performing because of his raunchy lyrics, a government official said Sunday. Vybz Kartel, whose real name is Adija Palmer, was forced to cancel a May 2 concert planned to coincide with the local launch of his line of condoms, brand-named Daggering,
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP) - Thousands of veterans were at first shocked to learn they should get blood tests for HIV and hepatitis because three hospitals might have treated them with unsterile equipment. Now, just a couple of months after the Department of Veterans Affairs issued the dire warnings, veterans are growing
BULAWAYO, Swaziland (AP) - Phetsile Ndwandwe, short, skinny and 23 years old, accepts an apple from a development worker and nibbles at it, stripping the peel with her teeth before handing the fruit to Siphokazi, her baby daughter. Siphokazi manages a bite of the apple, the first fruit she has had in months, then thank
Carson City, Nev. (AP) - The Nevada Assembly advanced a plan Friday to create a database that would make it easier to find low-income housing. AB139, now moving to the Senate, would require the state Housing Division to compile listings of low-income and handicapped-accessible housing in a database that could be search
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs says a fourth person exposed to dirty equipment at its hospitals has tested positive for HIV. The test result revealed Friday is the second positive HIV test from a patient who was treated at a VA hospital in Miami. The VA is investigating problems with clea
WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Women s groups cheered the government s decision to allow 17-year-olds to buy the morning-after emergency contraceptive without a doctor s prescription, but conservatives denounced it as a blow to parental supervision of teens. The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday it would accept, not app
(AP) -- A look at how Jacob Zuma, the man poised to become South Africa s next president, might tackle key issues: ZIMBABWE Zuma has come out strongly against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the violent crackdown that followed last year s disputed elections. Zuma also criticized former President Thabo Mbeki s ap
LOS ANGELES - They have seen each other socially, with their husbands in Washington or at the United Nations, but the 15 African first ladies met this time to speak candidly about problems facing women and children on their home continent. Some called for improved nutrition for children and pregnant mothers, clean wate
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP) - Three patients exposed to contaminated medical equipment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have tested positive for HIV, the agency said Friday. Initial tests show one patient each from VA medical facilities in Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Augusta, Ga.; and Miami has the virus that causes AIDS, according
A summary of federal government figures on syphilis and HIV: --The rate of primary and secondary syphilis -- the most infectious stages of the disease -- reached an all-time low in 2000 then started a climb over the next seven years, the most recent time period available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent
CINCINNATI (AP) - As life moves to the Internet, a growing number of public health agencies are signing on to social networking sites -- not to find friends but to fight syphilis, AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. Public agencies in Ohio are among the latest to open accounts on online meeting sites in an ef
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Five Iowa residents filed a class-action lawsuit late Friday against a South Dakota urology clinic that might have exposed patients to blood-borne infections such as hepatitis and HIV. The federal complaint was filed in Sioux Falls against Siouxland Urology Center in Dakota Dunes and its six owners:
VATICAN CITY, (AP) - Critics of the Catholic Church s social teachings are trying to intimidate Pope Benedict XVI into silence, the Vatican charged Friday in responding to attacks on the pontiff s remarks about AIDS and condom use. In a strongly worded statement, the Vatican defended the pope s view that condoms aren t
NEW YORK, (AP) -- Advocates of the female condom are promoting a less costly, more user-friendly version that they hope will vastly expand its role in the global fight against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. An early version of the female condom was introduced in 1993, and it remains the only available wo
Trenton, N.J. (AP) -- Pharmaceutical giants GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Pfizer Inc. will pool resources to create a new company to develop and sell HIV medicines, leveraging a small investment into the No. 2 market position. The deal, announced Thursday, reflects two trends sweeping the industry.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada lawmakers are considering creating a database that would make it easier for the state s residents to find low-income housing. AB139 would require the state Housing Division to compile listings of low-income apartments and homes and handicapped-accessible housing in a database that could
Trenton, N.J. (AP) -- A New Jersey doctor whom health officials suspect was the source of a hepatitis B outbreak had his medical license suspended indefinitely on Wednesday by state regulators. Nearly 3,000 of Dr. Parvez Dara s patients have been warned to get tested after five cancer patients tested positive for the d
Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP) -- The Veterans Affairs Department is investigating whether there s a link between a patient s positive HIV test and unsterilized equipment that may have exposed thousands of veterans to infectious diseases. The positive test was the first reported since the department warned veterans treated at
New York (AP) - Scratch an itch and you get ... aaaaaah. Now scientists have watched spinal nerves transmit that relief signal to the brain in monkeys, a possible step toward finding new treatments for persistent itching in people. More than 50 conditions can cause serious itching, including AIDS, Hodgkin s disease and
JAMESTOWN, N.Y. - Nushawn Williams, convicted of knowingly infecting at least 13 women with the AIDS virus, has been denied parole. The state parole board on Monday changed his earliest release date from April 2009 to April 2010. Williams, who now goes by the name Shyteek Johnson, infected at least 13 women in western
Newark, N.J. (AP) -- State regulators on Friday temporarily suspended the medical license of a doctor who health officials suspect is linked to a hepatitis B outbreak. Nearly 3,000 of Dr. Parvez Dara s patients have been warned to get tested after five cancer patients tested positive for the disease, which is transmitt
BEIJING (AP) - Police have detained the director of a Chinese hospital where at least 64 people were infected with the potentially deadly liver disease hepatitis C after receiving transfusions from blood collected illegally, state media reported. The infections were discovered in September after a patient who had recei
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey officials have advised nearly 3,000 people who share a doctor to get tested after five cancer patients who visited the physician were found to have hepatitis B. Two cases of hepatitis B were confirmed in late February as connected with the office of Dr. Parvez Dara, an oncologist with of
BEIJING, China (AP) -- The Gates Foundation is funding tests of new treatments for tuberculosis patients in China, part of a critical worldwide effort to stanch emerging, hard-to-cure strains of the disease that the World Health Organization says are like a time bomb. One of the world s oldest and deadliest infecti
DETROIT -- The state will begin issuing identification cards to people who want to use marijuana legally. The Michigan Department of Community Health will issue the cards, which require users to provide a doctor s note recommending the drug for medicinal purposes. Applications can be mailed to the department starting S
LILONGWE, Malawi (AP) - Madonna s efforts to adopt two youngsters from Malawi have put her in the media spotlight. But she isn t alone: a growing number of Americans are bringing home children from Africa as countries like China and Russia cut back on adoptions by foreigners.
The Beijing Chest Hospital was packed with people on a recent weekday morning. In the waiting area, Wang Chong, a migrant worker who has been fighting tuberculosis for several months, was facing a dilemma: Does he continue treatment that has already cost him more than $5,000 or stop before his savings are wiped out?
CLIO, Mich. - Officials in Clio are working to keep medical marijuana businesses out of the city. The Flint Journal reports an ordinance would bar a business license for a store that violates local, state or federal law. The city about 65 miles northwest of Detroit says it would block medical marijuana businesses becau
Chattanooga, Tenn. -- Viral infections, including hepatitis, have been found in 16 patients exposed to contaminated equipment at Veterans Affairs medical facilities, a department spokeswoman said Friday. So far, 10 colonoscopy patients from the VA medical center in Murfreesboro, Tenn., have tested positive for hepatiti
Las Vegas, NV (AP) -- The federal Department of Health and Human Services should conduct periodic national surveys of outpatient surgical centers to determine how many patients are put at risk of infection, according to a government report. That data collection effort, according to the report released Friday by the Gov
LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) -- The Lancet medical journal on Friday accused Pope Benedict XVI of distorting scientific evidence in his statement that condoms worsen the AIDS crisis. It said he should retract the comments. On a trip to Africa last week, the pope told reporters, You can t resolve it with the distribution
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ndiyo Tunaweza! That s Swahili for Yes We Can, President Barack Obama s signature campaign line that became just as ubiquitous in his father s native Kenya as it did in the United States . Those words can be found on textiles and posters featured in a new Library of Congress exhibit, Obamabilia From
VATICAN CITY - From the Gospel to Google, the church has been seeking ways to announce the word of Christ for 2,000 years. Pope Benedict XVI has gone on YouTube and his speeches appear in Chinese on the Vatican Web site, but judging from the uproar over a Holocaust-denying bishop and his pronouncement that condoms deep
RIO DE JANEIRO: The number of people infected with both tuberculosis and H.I.V. is twice what researchers previously had thought, top health officials said. The World Health Organization annual report on T.B., presented in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday, indicates that there were 1.37 million cases of people with both tuber
Worried military men and women flooded Miami Veterans Hospital telephone hot lines Tuesday after Monday s announcement that improperly cleaned colonoscopy equipment might have exposed them to hepatitis and HIV. The hospital received 2,662 telephone calls, and 351 veterans visited VA clinics in Miami and Fort Lauderdale
Circumcision not only protects against HIV in heterosexual men, but it also helps prevent two other sexually transmitted infections, a large new study found. Circumcised males reduced their risk of infection with HPV, or human papillomavirus, by 35 percent and herpes by 28 percent. However, researchers found circumcisi
The last U.S.-based supplier of condoms for global HIV/AIDS prevention programs could be forced to shut its doors because the federal government sent the work to cheaper suppliers in Asia. The change came earlier this month as Congress dropped a requirement that the government buy American-made condoms when possible, w
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) -- The number of people infected with both tuberculosis and HIV is twice what researchers previously thought, top health officials said Tuesday. The World Health Organization s annual report on TB, presented in Rio, indicates that there were 1.37 million cases of people with both TB and HIV
MIAMI: Officials say more than 3,000 patients at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Miami had colonoscopies with equipment that wasn t properly sterilized They ve been told they should be tested for HIV and other diseases. The VA insists the risk of infection is minimal and only involved tubing on equipment, not any device
GENEVA: African footballer of the year Emmanuel Adebayor was named by the United Nations on Monday as a goodwill ambassador for its global awareness project to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS. The 25-year-old Togo and Arsenal striker will promote the UNAIDS program alongside G
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- South Africa is trying a new approach to controlling drug-resistant tuberculosis - treating people at home rather than in isolation hospitals surrounded by barbed wire and baton-wielding guards, health officials said Monday . South Africa has one of the world s highest rates of TB becaus
PARIS: Police say they arrested 11 people after a clash between youths and leftist activists giving away condoms in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Police say the skirmish broke out after environmentalists and Communist Party activists staged a morning protest on the square in front of the cathedral against rec
Los Angeles, CA -- Medical marijuana users and dispensary owners in California have held their breath for years - fearful they would be targeted for prosecution by the federal government. They finally exhaled this past week when U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said federal agents will now target marijuana distributor
LUANDA, Angola (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI, welcomed to this sweltering capital Friday by the biggest crowds of his African pilgrimage, condemned sexual violence against women in Africa and chided those countries on the continent that have approved abortion. Benedict arrived in Luanda on the second leg of his African tou
LUANDA, Angola (AP) -- In Africa, some Roman Catholic priests have children and nuns counsel patients to use condoms against the scourge of AIDS. Faithful consult medicine men even though the church condemns that as witchcraft. As Pope Benedict XVI makes his first pilgrimage this week to the continent that has the worl
PARIS: France , Germany and the U.N. agency charged with fighting AIDS disagreed with the pope s comment about condoms, saying Wednesday that they are a fundamental tool in preventing the spread of the HIV virus. France expresses its very strong concern about the consequences of the statements by Benedict XVI, French
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- The Vatican defended Pope Benedict XVI s rejection of condoms as a way to stop HIV after international criticism Wednesday that he was weakening the fight against the disease. France and Germany sharply critiqued Benedict s declaration that distributing condoms increases
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) -- Condoms are not the answer to Africa s fight against HIV, Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday as he began a weeklong trip to the continent. It was the pope s first explicit statement on an issue that has divided even clergy working with AIDS patients. Benedict arrived in Yaounde, Cameroon s capital
ST. PAUL, Minn. - A Native American youth theater group performs Friday in Minneapolis to mark a national day focused on HIV and AIDS among Native Americans. The performance by the Ogitchi-dag (oh-git-CHEE -dah) Players from the Indigenous Peoples Task Force takes place at the Minneapolis American Indian Center. Amer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A new report by D.C. health officials says that at least 3 percent of residents in the nation s capital are living with HIV or AIDS and every mode of transmission is on the rise. The findings in the 2008 epidemiology report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration point to a severe epidemic that s impactin
WASHINGTON - At least 3 percent of residents in the nation s capital are living with HIV or AIDS, and every mode of transmission is on the rise, according to a report to be released Monday by D.C. health officials. The findings in the 2008 epidemiology report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration point to a severe epidem
KISII, Kenya (AP) - Every day before she leaves home to fetch food and water, Esther Nyaboke forces her two daughters into a baking, windowless shed and slams the door. For Nyaboke, whose children display the symptoms of serious autism, the only way to keep the girls safe while she is away is to lock them up. If n
DOSHU, Congo (AP) -- Zamuda Sikujuwa shuffles to a bench in the sunshine, pushes apart her thighs with a grimace of pain and pumps her fist up and down in a lewd-looking gesture to show how the militiamen shoved an automatic rifle inside her. The brutish act tore apart her insides after seven of the men had taken turns
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -- Guyana says a U.S.-funded AIDS prevention program has helped slash the HIV infection rate in the South American country from nearly 3 percent to about 1 percent. Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy says the program led by the U.S. Agency for International Development is a huge success story.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Drugmaker Mylan Inc. said Thursday it received tentative U.S. approval for a generic, heat-resistant version of an Abbott Laboratories HIV drug. The Food and Drug Administration decision means Mylan s version of lopinavair and ritonavir meet safety, effectiveness and man
The Female Health Co. announced Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the company s FC2 Female Condom to help protect against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The company said the lower-cost second generation female condom will now be available for purchase in
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The U.N. agency leading the global war on drugs says it s losing ground because the world is awash with narcotics. The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime warns in a new report that there are many illicit drugs in the world, too many people suffering from addiction, and too much crime and violence ass
MANILA, Philippines : Asian women working in Arab states are highly vulnerable to HIV infection and the problem may worsen amid the global financial crisis, according to a U.N. report released Tuesday. Female migrants from Asia often travel and work under unsafe conditions and are targets of sexual exploitation and vio
BEIJING: China plans to strengthen security along its borders with Central Asia to combat a rise in drug smuggling through its restive western region of Xinjiang, a newspaper reported Tuesday. Xinjiang Governor Nur Bekri also said drug offenses were on the rise, and the increasing use of shared needles has given the re
El Paso, Texas (AP) -- Sixteen patients exposed to a mismanaged insulin needle program have tested positive for hepatitis C, Army officials said Tuesday. The William Beaumont Army Medical Center patients were among more than 2,000 diabetics who may have been exposed to blood-borne illnesses between August 2007 and Janu
STOCKHOLM: Sweden s aid minister says she will reconsider donations of around 800 million kronor ($87 million) to several U.N. agencies unless the organizations improve their efficiency. In an opinion piece published Monday, Gunilla Carlsson called for reforms within the U.N. s agency for drugs and crime UNODC, the set
NEW YORK (AP) - A New York City AIDS service organization is planning to gather on the steps of City Hall to call attention to what the group is calling alarming infection rates among women and girls. Gay Men s Health Crisis will join leaders of other AIDS service organizations, elected officials, teachers and clergy T
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) -- With her golden dress shimmering in the sun and ornate henna tattoos covering her hands, Hauwa Idris is the picture of a radiant Nigerian bride. But her betrothal has hardly been typical: Both bride and groom are infected with the deadly AIDS virus and have been encouraged to wed by an unusual g
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The widower of an AIDS activist has settled a lawsuit claiming the Los Angeles County coroner s office erred when it determined the couple s 3-year-old daughter died of AIDS-related pneumonia. Attorneys for Robin Scovill and the county told a judge Feb. 26 that they had reached a settlement. The ter
Santa Barbara, Calif. (AP) - Elizabeth Taylor has expanded her philanthropy with a $100,000 donation to the Alliance for Christian Education. The 77-year-old Oscar-winning actress says she was inspired by President Barack Obama s call for Americans to reach across the aisle of political and ideological divide. For de
AUSTIN - Legislation to protect needle-exchange programs operated by local health departments won approval in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday after brief testimony in favor of the bill. The proposal would prevent district attorneys from prosecuting state-sanctioned health programs that allow i
Concord, N.H. (AP) - A doctor and humanitarian known as a leader in the global fight against HIV/AIDS will become the next president of Dartmouth College. The Ivy League school is to announce Dr. Jim Yong Kim s selection Monday in Hanover, N.H. The 49-year-old Kim will take over in July from James Wright, who said prev
CHICAGO - A Chicago man is in custody, accused of mailing what he claimed was his HIV-tainted blood to Barack Obama. The package contained the suspect s photo and return address. A criminal complaint says 27-year-old Saad Hussein faces two counts of sending nonmailable articles. Federal prosecutors in Springfield filed
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP) - A seven-foot painting that may or may not be the work of famed pop artist Keith Haring goes on sale on eBay Friday night. Opening bid: 99 cents. The seller is a Pennsylvania man, Ed Oswald, who believes the painting titled Hope to be an original Haring. But his cousin, Kermit Oswald, one of the wo
MANITOWOC, Wis. - A 93-year-old Manitowoc woman has knit more than 100 teddy bears for children she s never met in a place she s never visited. Every bear knitted by Phyllis Schmidt is sent to children in Africa affected by HIV or AIDS. Schmidt sometimes spends five to six hours a day making teddy bears for the Mother
Kalamazoo, Mich. - The man selected by President Barack Obama to direct his Office of National AIDS Policy is a Michigan native and a 1988 graduate of Kalamazoo College. Obama announced Thursday that Jeffrey S. Crowley will lead the office responsible for coordinating government efforts to reduce HIV infection and AIDS
Los Angeles, CA (AP) - A doctor has pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to administering diluted doses of medicine to patients with HIV, AIDS or hepatitis and improperly billing Medicare at least $350,000. Dr. George Kooshian of La Quinta pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of health care fraud. His assistant, Virgil O
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) - A Catholic priest serving in the Brazilian congress has been temporarily suspended from his priestly duties for supporting the free distribution of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. The Rev. Luiz Couto has been suspended from his work in the northeastern state of Paraiba. Archdiocese sp
SHANGHAI, (AP) - The world risks losing decades of progress in drug control if it fails to counter the emergence of a criminal market of staggering proportions, a U.N. official said Thursday. I confess I feel somewhat frustrated, Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said follow
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - Prosecutors brought new charges Wednesday against a sex offender with AIDS, calling him a walking public health menace who preyed on nine young men and potentially exposed them to the disease. Robert Musmacker, a 36-year-old newspaper deliveryman from Oceanside, was arrested in December after he was
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has selected a senior researcher from Georgetown University to direct his Office of National AIDS Policy, the White House announced Thursday. Jeffrey S. Crowley will lead an office tasked with coordinating government efforts to reduce HIV infection in the U.S. and leading treatm
DENVER - The Senate backed a bill promoting HIV testing for pregnant women Wednesday over the objection of a lone senator who said the state shouldn t protect people from the consequences of their unacceptable behavior. Sen. Dave Schultheis, R-Colorado Springs, said HIV stemmed mainly from sexual promiscuity. He likene
NEW YORK - The World Health Organization approved an HIV drug designed to withstand heat in warm climates, Mylan Inc. said Wednesday Mylan said the WHO s prequalification program approved a generic version of Abbott Laboratories drug Kaletra , which is sold in the developing world as Aluvia.
JOHANNESBURG, (AP) -- Sir Roger Moore is drawing attention to a small, AIDS-devastated southern African country. Moore, known for playing James Bond and a UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 1991, said in an interview Monday he was donating proceeds from a concert to Israelis training Swazis to perform circumcisions. Circ
TRENTON, N.J. - Chronically ill New Jerseyans could alleviate their suffering legally by smoking marijuana under a bill passed Monday by the state Senate. The proposal by Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden, would allow patients with certain chronic and terminal illnesses to grow six marijuana plants or have marijuana grow
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Brazil s president is taking his nation s anti-AIDS campaign into his own hands. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tossed out condoms to Carnival revelers early Monday during Rio s samba parades. A presidential spokesman says Silva wanted to show the importance of Brazil s campaign to prevent t
LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) - A report into the use of contaminated blood that infected roughly 5,000 hemophiliacs in Britain with hepatitis C and HIV called Monday for increased financial help to victims, and partly blamed U.S. companies. House of Lords member Peter Archer, who led a two-year non-governmental review i
Federal stimulus money in South Carolina s proposed budget plan will continue programs that fill prescriptions for HIV patients and seniors, provide free cancer screenings and fund construction of wheelchair ramps, agency officials said Friday. The $5.6 billion budget approved late Thursday by the House Ways and Means
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday named a North Dakota nurse and expert on rural health to run the government s community clinics program. Mary Wakefield, who started in nursing and became a health policy expert, now directs the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota. The White House said
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama will name a nurse from North Dakota to run the government s community clinics program. A nurse by training, Mary Wakefield now directs the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota. She will lead the Health Resources and Services Administration. North Dakota Sen. Kent
MBABANE, Swaziland - About 42 percent of pregnant women in Swaziland are infected with the virus that causes AIDS, a 3 percent jump in a single year, according to a government report released Friday. The small southern African nation has the highest AIDS rate in the world and average life expectancy is just 37 years as
HONG KONG – The AIDS virus is spreading rapidly among gay and bisexual men in Asia as younger people shun condoms and authorities fail to increase awareness of the disease, health officials said Friday. The epidemic will worsen dramatically in coming years unless there is better education and stronger political will to
NEW YORK - A man who failed to row across the ocean from Senegal to New York in a homemade boat plans to try again as he continues his effort to raise awareness about AIDS prevention. Victor Mooney s first attempt at the 8,000-mile Atlantic trek ended just hours after he set out from the Senegal coast when his rowboat
BEIJING, China (AP) -- AIDS was the top killer among infectious diseases in China for the first time last year, with 6,897 people dying in the nine months through September, a state news agency said. Though the report by the Xinhua News Agency, citing the Ministry of Health, did not explain the jump, a possible factor
MIAMI: Authorities have arrested three Miami-Dade doctors who are accused of submitting millions of dollars in false claims for unnecessary HIV therapy. Physicians Carmen Lourdes del Cueto, Roberto Rodriguez and Carlos Garrido are in custody at the Federal Detention Center in Miami on conspiracy charges of submitting $
AUSTIN, Texas -- Legislators from two Texas cities with the highest incidence of HIV in the state took steps Tuesday to make screenings for the virus a part of routine doctor visits. Democratic Sen. Rodney Ellis, of Houston, and Rep. Yvonne Davis, of Dallas, filed legislation requiring doctors to offer the screenings d
JOHANNESBURG, (AP) - Zimbabwe s entire health system has collapsed and the southern African nation now overwhelmed by cholera will soon see other epidemics, a worsening AIDS crisis and the effects of widespread malnutrition, an international doctors group said Tuesday. The Nobel Prize-winning Medecins Sans Frontieres u
Anchorage, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin s favorite consignment shop has been forced to change its name after she brought the trendy, upscale Anchorage boutique unintended legal problems during last year s presidential campaign. Out of the Closet owner Ellen Arvold said she was served a cease-and-desist letter
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) - Carnival is condom season in Brazil, where the government said Friday it will hand out 65 million free prophylactics to partiers this month. It s an increase of 20 million from what the government hands out each month the rest of the year in Brazil, which has aggressive anti-HIV and -AIDS
MILWAUKEE - An advocacy group for people infected with HIV on Thursday accused a Fond du Lac medical clinic of discrimination for refusing to perform surgery on a woman with the virus that causes AIDS. Discrimination in health care remains a major problem for people living with HIV, said Peter Kimball, director of lega
CAPE TOWN, South Africa : South Africa s finance minister vowed Wednesday to boost spending on education, health and infrastructure, declaring that the economic crisis calls for greater investment. Trevor Manuel presented his 738.6 billion rand ($76 billion) budget to parliament weeks national elections likely to be do
LAS VEGAS, CA (AP) -- A national accrediting body and the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services have agreed to share information about infection control breaches such as those blamed for a hepatitis C outbreak last year in southern Nevada, a state official said. Martha Framsted, a spokeswoman for the Nevada he
NEW YORK, (AP) -- An ex-girlfriend of Roberto Alomar filed an explosive lawsuit alleging the former baseball star insisted on unprotected sex for four years despite having AIDS. The lawsuit, filed Jan. 30 and transferred to U.S. District Court on Wednesday, contains accusations that could not be corroborated but portra
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- South Africa s health minister on Tuesday promised a dramatic increase in treatment for AIDS victims to overcome the legacy of a decade of governmental denial of the epidemic. Barbara Hogan said the government wanted to provide AIDS drugs to 1.5 million people over the next three years -
Albuquerque, N.M. (AP) -- Eighteen months after New Mexico enacted a first-of-its-kind medical marijuana law, the state is moving gingerly ahead, mindful that the closely watched program could go up in smoke because it conflicts with federal law. New Mexico s statute, which took effect in July 2007, differs from 12 oth
ATLANTA, (AP) -- An experimental vaginal gel has shown some promise in preventing infection from the AIDS virus -- the first study to offer hope that a microbicide may soon join the medical arsenal in the international battle against HIV, scientists announced Monday. The results were not conclusive in this preliminary
EL PASO - More than 2,100 diabetic patients treated at William Beaumont Army Medical Center could be at risk for hepatitis or HIV because of potentially flawed insulin injections, Army officials said Thursday. Last week s discovery that injection pens might have been used on multiple diabetics led to an Army-wide revie
JOHANNESBURG, (AP) -- On a recent school day morning, Florence Marembo was all dressed up with nowhere to study: The 12-year-old instead played with a dozen other students on the grounds of her school in a suburb of Zimbabwe s capital. Her teachers at Gwinyiro Primary School said they wouldn t work until the government
A Baltimore man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after fatally shooting a woman he had unprotected sex with before he wrongly accused her of having HIV. Prosecutors said 25-year-old Brandon Chambers was sentenced today to life with all but 25 years suspended for killing 26-year-old Shanika Pretlow in October 20
CHICAGO (AP) -- Patients who got hepatitis from contaminated syringes and medicine vials are joining infection control advocates to warn Americans about a problem they say is more common than people think. A recent federal report suggests they are right. It found more than 60,000 people were exposed to hepatitis, and a
WASHINGTON (AP) - A division of Johnson & Johnson has asked federal regulators to grant full approval to an HIV drug designed to treat patients who have stopped responding to other treatments. The Food and Drug Administration gave Intelence preliminary approval in January under its accelerated approval program, whi
New York - The head of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS plans to call on President Barack Obama to develop a strategy to reverse disproportionate infection rates among blacks. C. Virginia Fields says she ll give a speech on the state of HIV/AIDS in black America on Thursday in New York City, which has o
BOSTON (AP) -- A Massachusetts businessman is pledging $100 million to create a new institute that will search for vaccines for AIDS and other diseases. Phillip T. Ragon is scheduled to announce the gift to Massachusetts General Hospital on Wednesday. The hospital will get $10 million a year for the next decade to brin
NEW YORK - On paper, New York City s health commissioner looks like the kind of doctor an AIDS activist would love. In his seven years on the job, Dr. Thomas Frieden has championed efforts to boost the number of New Yorkers getting HIV tests, promoted needle exchange programs, distributed millions of free condoms and e
HARTFORD, Conn. - Advocates for HIV and AIDS patients are urging Connecticut officials to reject a proposed $3 million cut to state programs that help people with those diseases. John Merz, executive director of the nonprofit Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition, says the funding cut would leave many people with HIV and
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) - Moammar Gadhafi of Libya was elected Monday as leader of the African Union, a position long sought by the eccentric dictator who wants to push his oil-rich nation into the international mainstream after years of isolation. Gadhafi, once ostracized by the West for sponsoring terrorism, h
NAIROBI, Kenya : Nairobi s sprawling Kibera slum is far from America but not from America s battle over abortion. Aid workers and experts say U.S. President Barack Obama s decision to allow aid money to flow again to international groups that offer abortion counseling will help restart programs desperately needed in Af
MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesotans will again have their own chance to walk the red carpet on Oscar night. The Oscar Night Minnesota celebration will be held on Sunday, Feb. 22, at the Chambers hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Partygoers can start walking the red carpet at 6 p.m. The telecast of the 81st annual Academy Awards beg
DAVOS, Switzerland - Nike s chief executive, the head of UNICEF and Melinda Gates agreed Saturday that there s a simpler way to help rejuvenate many of the world s economies: invest in the education of girls and make sure they don t become victims of the global financial meltdown. For the first time, the World Econ
STANTON, Mich. - A Crystal man who authorities say had unprotected sex with two women and two girls without telling them he carries the virus that causes AIDS has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. Gerald Campbell Jr. was sentenced Thursday in Montcalm County Circuit Court. He earlier pleaded no contest in the
WASHINGTON - They call it stimulus legislation, but the economic measures racing through Congress would devote tens of billions of dollars to causes that have little to do with jolting the country out of recession. There s $345 million for Agriculture Department computers, $650 million for TV converter boxes, $15 billi
DAVOS, Switzerland - Bill and Melinda Gates said Friday that investment to improve health and development in poor countries must be maintained - especially during the global financial crisis. We re living in very difficult times, but we must not lose sight of the fact that those investments are achieving real results a
Highlights of the economic recovery plan drafted by House Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama s economic team. Additional debt costs would add $347 billion over 10 years. Many provisions expire in two years. SPENDING Aid to the poor and unemployed - $43 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through D
NEW YORK - An investigation of a nearly 20-year clinical drug trial for HIV and AIDS has found no evidence that any of the New York City foster children who participated in the study died as a direct result of the medications. That is the conclusion of the Vera Institute of Justice to be released Wednesday. New York Ci
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - It s not always easy being green. Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, but there s nowhere to get it on the Western Slope. That leaves hundreds of people facing four-hour drives to a dispensary if they re too sick to grow their own plants. Of the more than 5,000 medical marijuana users in Col
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - They require others to comply with open-government laws. But Missouri legislators have exempted themselves from having to turn over documents they prefer to keep secret. The Missouri House and Senate have interpreted the Sunshine Law not to apply to individual lawmakers - even though it does apply
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration s ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information - an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century. Obama s move, the latest in an aggressi
SAN FRANCISCO - Martin Delaney, who led the movement to grant AIDS patients access to experimental drugs and headed early education efforts about the disease, has died. He was 63. Delaney died Friday morning of liver cancer at his home in San Rafael, said Dana Van Gorder, executive director of Project Inform, the San F
Liz Sidoti and Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration s ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information - an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century. Obama s executive order, the late
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran has sentenced two internationally renowned Iranian AIDS physicians to six and three years in prison for their alleged participation in a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow Iran s Islamic regime, their lawyer said Thursday. The attorney, Masoud Shafii, said authorities notified him this week of the s
ATLANTA - A battle over state funding for school nurses is brewing as Georgia lawmakers begin wrangling over the budget for next fiscal year. Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue s proposed $20.2 billion spending plan for the fiscal year that starts July 1 would eliminate $30 million for school nurses. That means already cash-
NEW YORK (AP) -- Myriad Pharmaceuticals on Wednesday agreed to buy Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc. s HIV drug candidate bevirimat for $7 million. Myriad will not owe Panacos any milestone or royalty payments on bevirimat, which is currently in mid-stage clinical testing. Myriad said it will handle all clinical and commerc
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey s first needle exchange program is showing mixed results, succeeding in distributing clean needles but not doing as well in terms of getting drug addicts into rehab. Atlantic City s program started in November 2007 as a three-year test to see if giving drug users clean needles coul
ATLANTA (AP) - The inauguration of the nation s first black president is a huge step toward realizing Martin Luther King Jr. s dream of racial equality, but there is still work to be done, King s nephew told a large crowd Monday at the church where the civil rights leader once preached. Isaac Newton Farris, president o
Correction: HIV-Iowa Associated Press - January 20, 2009 MASON CITY, Iowa - In a Jan. 19 story about HIV infection rates, The Associated Press reported erroneously that more Iowans are being diagnosed with HIV. The state actually saw 10 fewer reported cases in the first half of 2008 than in the same period of 2007.
TEHRAN, Iran - Two renowned Iranian AIDS physicians were convicted for allegedly taking part in a U.S.-backed plot to topple Iran s Islamic system, mystifying human rights activists who said the two were apolitical and doing innovative work on stemming the spread of the HIV virus. Rights groups condemned the convictio
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - AIDS patients face eviction from a group home in Bakersfield because a trust that owned the property defaulted on its mortgage. Audrey Chavez, director of Bakersfield AIDS Project, said her nonprofit organization has until Jan. 30 to vacate the house it rented for $800 a month. She said she found
SEATTLE - The co-discoverer of the Ebola virus and a founder of the United Nations AIDS program has been hired for a temporary job as a top health adviser to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Peter Piot, who studied infectious diseases as a graduate student at the University of Washington, will work in Seatt
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Girls who give birth before the age of 15 are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their 20s, the U.N. said Thursday, focusing its annual children s survey on the health of their mothers. Every year, 70,000 women between the ages of 15 and 19 die in childbirth or from p
ABUJA, Nigeria - President-elect Barack Obama, soon to become the United States first African-American leader, will focus greater attention on Africa, outgoing Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said Wednesday. He will see an increased emphasis on Africa, not just because Barack Obama is an African American but beca
WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush is wrapping up his time at the White House, returning final calls from world leaders and preparing for his own farewell address. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush planned few public events for the rest of his tenure. Instead, he planned to meet privately Wednesday
SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- Some sexually transmitted diseases peaked at record levels in 2008 in South Dakota, while other infections dropped, according to the South Dakota Health Department s infectious disease report. Chlamydia cases reached an all-time high of 2,948, up more than 300 from 2007. Reports of gonorrhea rose mo
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - In her AIDS-scarred South African township, Sweetness Mzolisa leads a chorus of praise for George W. Bush that echoes to the deserts of Namibia , the hills of Rwanda and the villages of Ethiopia . Like countless Africans, Mzolisa looks fo
BEIJING - A group of villagers from central China apologized to a Belgian television crew who said they were attacked while trying to report on HIV conditions there last year, a local official said Friday. The alleged Nov. 27 attack occurred in Henan province at a village with a large number of HIV-positive people ahea
EAST LONDON, South Africa - The African National Congress hopes to keep its large majority in South Africa s parliament with promises of more jobs, fewer AIDS deaths and less crime, as it faces its toughest election challenge since toppling apartheid. The ANC plans to release its election manifesto at a rally Saturday
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. - A registered sex offender who has AIDS - arrested during an early-morning traffic stop with a 16-year-old boy in his car - was ordered held on $1 million bond Thursday after a Long Island grand jury charged him with reckless endangerment and other crimes. Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spot
DAKAR, Senegal -- Nine men, including a prominent activist, have been convicted of homosexual acts and sentenced to eight years in prison, their lawyer and a gay rights group said Thursday. Diadji Diouf, who heads an organization that provides HIV prevention services to gay men in Senegal, and the others were arrested
WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama s reported choice for surgeon general, CNN medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, could bring a dose of star power to a job that hasn t had that much clout in decades. Gupta, who grew up in the Detroit area, doesn t just play a doctor on TV, he s a neurosurgeon who still scrubs in
NEW YORK - When Rent debuted on Broadway in 1996, Gwen Stewart was there. When the curtain came down on its final performance last year, she came back to be there, too. So when producers decided to launch a national tour studded with original veterans, it made sense for Stewart to pack her bags and be there again.
MIAMI - Four men are facing federal charges in a $1 billion Miami life insurance fraud first exposed in 2004. A 25-count grand jury indictment Monday charges the four played roles in a scam that affected more than 28,000 Mutual Benefits Corp. investors. The company sold investments based on life insurance policies for
LANSING, Mich. - Michigan officials still are working on the rules to guide the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The Department of Community Health s first crack at drafting official procedures for the program ran into some opposition at a public hearing Monday. Medical marijuana advocates say the draft rules put
CHICAGO - A Chicago youth group has tested more than 1,000 teenagers for HIV. The Metropolitan Area Group for Igniting Civilizations held a teen test day Saturday on Chicago s South Side, providing saliva swab HIV tests with results available in 20 minutes. Participating teens received a T-shirt, candy or a pen. Last y
TRENTON, N.J. - Hey baby, you OK? Mike asks his girlfriend as she sits down next to him. Yeah, I m OK, Toni says, and she puts her head on his shoulder. Mike thinks it s safe to move in for a kiss. Slow down, she says, pushing him back. Just because I ve decided to take you back, it doesn t erase the fact that you chea
ST. LOUIS - About a month ago, Tanya Fredman was sipping coffee at a Clayton coffeehouse, animatedly discussing art, not far from the home of her parents and younger brothers in University City. Now she is more than 8,000 miles away on a jungle hilltop in the African country of Rwanda , helping Tutsi and Hutu orphan
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