2005

China to double spending on AIDS/HIV prevention: Reuters NewMedia - December 28, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China will double its spending on AIDS/HIV prevention to some $370 million over the next two years as the country tries to keep the number of HIV-positive people below 1.5 million by 2010, state media said on Wednesday. The government will spend 800 million yuan ($99.10 million) on prevention work t
Bulgaria, Libya delay talks on HIV children fund: Reuters NewMedia - December 27, 2005; TRIPOLI - Bulgaria and Libya have delayed talks on a fund for Libyan children with HIV to help families overcome anger over a decision to scrap death sentences against six medics accused of infecting the youngsters, Libyan officials said on Tuesday. A Bulgarian official in Sofia, however, said the meeting in Tripol
Libyan court scraps nurses' HIV death sentences: Reuters NewMedia - December 25, 2005; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI - Libya s Supreme Court on Sunday scrapped death sentences against five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor and ordered a retrial of the cases which have harmed Tripoli s efforts to build ties with the West. The five nurses and the doctor, jailed since 1999 and convicted of infecting children with the HIV
Libyan Supreme Court sends HIV trial to lower court: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday, December 25, 2005; SOFIA (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court sent back the case of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for infecting children with HIV to a lower court due to procedural lapses, Bulgarian state radio said on Sunday. The six, in jail since 1999, were condemned to death by firing squad in May 200
Nigeria says to provide free AIDS drugs from 2006: Reuters NewMedia - December 24, 2005; Estelle Shirbon; LAGOS - Nigeria will start providing AIDS drugs for free next year, the government agency in charge of fighting AIDS said on Saturday, scrapping fees aid workers say deny access to treatment for poor patients. Nigeria has 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, the third-highest number in the world after
Official: Libya may rule on HIV nurses by year-end: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday, December 24, 2005; Tsvetelia Ilieva; SOFIA (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court could rule by the end of the year on the fate of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for deliberately infecting children with the HIV virus, a Bulgarian Foreign Ministry official said. The case has stalled Libya s attempts to improve ties with the West. The nurses, and a Pal
Bulgaria, Libya agree fund for Libyan HIV children: Reuters NewMedia - December 23, 2005; SOFIA - Bulgaria , Libya , the United States , Great Britain and the European Commission have agreed to set up a fund to support the families of Libyan children infected with the HIV virus, officials said on Friday. Libya has sentenced to death by firing squad five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor f
India's Aurobindo Pharma Gets FDA Nod for AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - December 23, 2005; NEW DELHI - India s Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. has got tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the oral form of Stavudine , an anti-AIDS drug meant for children, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement on Friday.
Condom - Covered Madonna Embarrasses Catholic Weekly: Reuters NewMedia - December 22, 2005; WASHINGTON - An advertisement for a statue of the Virgin Mary veiled in a condom has embarrassed the publishers of the U.S. Catholic magazine America, and prompted some heated comment on Catholic Web sites. America, a weekly run by the Jesuit order of priests, said in a statement it was embarrassed and offended by the
Make Poverty History campaign closes amid warnings: Reuters NewMedia - December 22, 2005; Jeremy Lovell; LONDON - Make Poverty History, the campaign that galvanized the political agenda in 2005, comes to an end next week hailing its own success, despite warnings that world leaders are backsliding on their pledges. When Nelson Mandela challenged the Group of Eight rich nations in London s Trafalgar Square in February to er
China police pick up AIDS needle rumour-mongers: Reuters NewMedia - December 21, 2005; BEIJING - Chinese police have arrested two Shanghai men on suspicion of spreading rumours that muggers were threatening people with syringes full of HIV-infected blood, Xinhua news agency said on Wednesday. Stories of needle attacks in Shanghai, which the two suspects spread through an Internet chatroom and cell phone
OraSure says to study problems with HIV test: Reuters NewMedia - December 20, 2005; CHICAGO - OraSure Technologies Inc. said on Tuesday it is working with government agencies and has started a scientific review of its rapid oral HIV test because of concerns about its reliability, lifting OraSure s shares. OraSure, whose share rose 7 percent, said it has begun working with affected customers, health of
Libya court to rule on Bulgaria nurses Jan 31-lawyer: Reuters NewMedia - December 19, 2005; TRIPOLI, Dec 19 (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court has brought forward to Dec. 25 its hearing on the appeal of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting Libyan children with HIV and will issue its ruling on Jan. 31, their defence lawyer said on Monday. The appeal hearing for the five nurses and a Palestinia
Glaxo HIV Protease Drug to Enter Final Trials: Reuters NewMedia - December 19, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc expects to start final-stage Phase III trials on a new HIV/AIDS drug next year, following encouraging results presented at a U.S. medical conference on Friday. The world s biggest supplier of AIDS medicines said brecanavir, formerly known as GW640385, had shown potent antiviral ac
Clinic halts use of OraSure HIV test, stock falls: Reuters NewMedia - December 16, 2005; CHICAGO - A California clinic halted use of OraSure Technologies Inc. s oral HIV test because of growing concerns about its reliability, sending the company s shares down more than 22 percent on Friday. The Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles, in a statement on its Web site, said that 13 people who took the OraQuick
Merck Cites New Cholesterol Drugs, Boosts Cost Cuts: Reuters NewMedia - December 15, 2005; NEW YORK/WHITEHOUSE STATION, New Jersey - Merck & Co. , facing falling sales and thousands of Vioxx lawsuits, on Thursday unveiled two new cholesterol drugs and an austerity program that will increase cost savings by another $1 billion through 2010, sending shares higher. The company provided the details at its ann
Serono pleads guilty to settle AIDS drug investigation: Reuters NewMedia - December 15, 2005; LOS ANGELES - Serono SA said on Thursday that it has entered a guilty plea and formally concluded the previously announced settlement of a U.S. investigation into the marketing of its AIDS drug Serostim. Under the settlement, first announced in October, the Swiss company agreed to pay $704 million to resolve charges th
Remote African island receives first AIDS tests: Reuters NewMedia - December 15, 2005; Zoe Eisenstein; SANTO ANTONIO, Sao Tome and Principe - The 5,000 inhabitants of the remote West African island of Principe were given their first opportunity to take HIV tests on Thursday. A team from the international medical group Medicos do Mundo offered tests for the virus which causes AIDS at a hospital on the tiny isle, which li
Hu handshakes mean mockery for China AIDS victims: Reuters NewMedia - December 14, 2005; BEIJING - Images of China s top leader shaking hands with two AIDS patients, meant to dispel widespread discrimination, have brought mockery instead for their now-shunned families, a state newspaper said on Wednesday. Chinese President Hu Jintao made an unprecedented visit to AIDS patients in a Beijing hospital in Nove
WHO adds more Aurobindo, Aspen drugs to AIDS list: Reuters NewMedia - December 14, 2005; ZURICH - The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday added seven more antiretroviral drugs made by India s Aurobindo and South Africa s Aspen Pharmacare to its list of approved anti-AIDS drugs. The additions follow an agreement signed earlier this year between the two organisations to facilitate the exchange of qu
Millions of Children "Invisible": UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - December 14, 2005; LONDON - Millions of the world s neediest children are not even a blip on the radar of their own governments because there is no record of their birth, the United Nation s Children s Fund UNICEF said on Wednesday. In its annual State of the World s Children report Excluded and Invisible, UNICEF said one-third of the es
Anger, Misery Greet World Trade Leaders in Hong Kong: Reuters NewMedia - December 14, 2005; HONG KONG - The World Trade Organizationmeeting in Hong Kong may hold promises of more free trade and better livelihoods for millions, but for some the outcome is a matter of life and death. Cambodian sex worker Chuon Neth, 28, was diagnosed with HIV two years ago but has been unable to get access to life-prolonging an
Indian Muslims say no to condom machines: Reuters NewMedia - December 12, 2005; R. Bhagwan Singh; Plans to install 500 condom vending machines in the capital of one of India s worst HIV/AIDS-affected states have angered Muslim groups so much they have taken to the streets to protest a condom culture. Critics of the plan by the Tamil Nadu government and India s National Aids Control Organization to put 500 machines
Former Kolkata prostitute vows to fight HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - December 9, 2005; Krittivas Mukherjee; KOLKATA (Reuters) - A former prostitute has taken over as head of a global HIV/AIDS project in eastern India , promising to completely wipe out new infections in one of Asia s biggest red light districts. Bharati Dey, 40, took over as director of the World Health Organisation-funded HIV/AIDS project for some 6,000 pros
Singapore jails five HIV blood donors for lying: Reuters NewMedia - December 8, 2005; SINGAPORE, Dec 8 (Reuters) - A Singapore court sentenced five HIV-positive blood donors to prison for lying about their sexual history, a court official said on Thursday. The men, aged between 21 and 37, admitted to making false declarations when they donated blood in 2004, an offence under Singapore law, the court off
U.N. Envoy Says Zimbabwe's Crisis Is Deepening: Reuters NewMedia - December 7, 2005; HARARE - U.N. humanitarian envoy Jan Egeland left Zimbabwe on Wednesday after a four-day tour and said its humanitarian crisis was deepening, with millions in need of aid. The humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe is very serious. The need for international aid is big and growing, Egeland, the U.N. humanitarian affairs a
MSF appeals for free AIDS treatment in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - December 6, 2005; ABUJA - Life-saving AIDS drugs do not work as well for patients who have previously taken them but not in the right doses, as often happens when patients cannot afford the full treatment, Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Tuesday. The relief organisation said its research at an HIV/AIDS clinic it runs in Lagos showed th
China bans blood sales in bid to halt HIV spread: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, December 6, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China will make collection centres responsible for the safety of blood and ban sales of donated blood to contain the spread of HIV and other diseases amid a series of reported HIV infections from sold plasma. The new Health Ministry rules vow to severely punish those responsible in the blood stands
Singapore Informs Spouses of HIV-Positive Partners: Reuters NewMedia - December 6, 2005; SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore s Health Ministry has started informing spouses of HIV-positive patients directly about their partners disease in order to curb the spread of AIDS, the ministry said. Letters had been hand-delivered to 41 women since July informing them that their husbands were HIV-positive, the ministry
Africans meet in Nigeria to share news on HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - December 4, 2005; ABUJA - African scientists and others involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the worst-hit continent opened a conference on Sunday in the Nigerian capital to pool the latest information and ideas. Organizers said that, while previous big international HIV/AIDS conferences aimed at raising awareness of the epidemic,
Chinese blood donor with HIV infects 23 people: Reuters NewMedia - December 3, 2005; SHANGHAI - A blood donor with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, infected at least 23 people in northeast China s Jilin province before being diagnosed with the disease, state media reported on Saturday. The infected donor, identified only by the surname Song and living in the city of Dehui, was confirmed to have HIV on
Giant condom overlooks city on AIDS Day: Reuters NewMedia - December 2, 2005; BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Sightseers in Buenos Aires got a shock on Thursday when the city s most famous landmark, the obelisk, was covered with a giant pink condom on World AIDS Day. City officials used cranes to unfurl shiny pink cloth over the monolith in a campaign promoting condom use to prevent infection with the
Vatican defends banning singer who supports condoms: Reuters NewMedia - December 2, 2005; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican on Friday defended its decision to exclude Brazilian singer Daniela Mercury from its Christmas concert, saying she had threatened to promote the use of condoms to fight AIDS during the show. The Vatican decided to exclude Daniela Mercury from the cast not because of her convictions
'We must do far, far more' against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - December 2, 2005; Ellen Wulfhorst; NEW YORK - Around the globe, leaders, activists and victims used World AIDS Day on Thursday to send the message that far stronger action is needed in the battle against the disease that kills millions of people every year. The United Nation s special envoy for AIDS in Africa proposed big business dedicate a portion of
Haiti says cuts HIV cases by half in 10 years: Reuters NewMedia - December 2, 2005; Joseph Guyler Delva; PORT-AU-PRINCE - Haiti has cut the prevalence of HIV infection by half in the past decade, largely through education programs, a leading health official in the western hemisphere s poorest nation said on Thursday. Haiti General Hospital Director Dr. Albert Camille Archange said 3.1 percent of the population carried the
UN urges "exceptional response" to AIDS crisis: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - The United Nations used World AIDS Day on Thursday to call for an exceptional response to the global crisis as African patients criticized politicians for failing to tackle a disease that kills millions each year. The United Nations said that while adult infection rates had dropped in some countries due
Bush claims progress against AIDS in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush claimed progress on Thursday in the battle against AIDS in Africa, saying U.S. efforts were helping 400,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa get treatment. Bush said the U.S.-backed Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief was helping provide medical treatment in Uganda ,
MTV makes AIDS film and offers it for free: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; LONDON - The MTV music channel, whose inception in 1981 coincided with the first reported case of AIDS, has made a film and released it to broadcasters for free on Thursday to educate young people about the epidemic. The feature-length Transit tells the story of eight young people whose lives are intertwined, and throu
Condoms and rallies promote World AIDS Day: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; Rahul Sharma; SINGAPORE - Asia marked World AIDS Day on Thursday with free condoms, mobile phone games and flag-festooned rallies aimed at promoting awareness of a disease that kills millions in rich and poor countries each year. The United Nations launched the annual event on Thursday by calling for an exceptional response to the t
Rage, remorse, but some hope in Africa on AIDS Day: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - Rage and remorse marked World AIDS Day in Africa on Thursday as the continent worst hit by the global crisis remembered millions of deaths in a pandemic that even new drug treatments are doing little to slow. In Nigeria , Africa s most populous country, President Olusegun Obasanjo went for a morning jog
Rockeby Launches 20-Minute HIV Test in Singapore: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; SINGAPORE - Singapore Biotech company Rockeby released a test kit that can detect HIV in saliva on Thursday, making Singapore the first country outside the United States and Mexico to have the commercial kit. While HIV blood tests can take hours, the test kit that Rockeby will distribute can detect the
South African plays online cupid for HIV patients: Reuters NewMedia - December 1, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; CAPE TOWN - Curvy, HIV-positive female, 33, seeks muscular male with good sense of humour for friendship and maybe more. www.thepositiveconnection.co.za is an online dating service like any other, with one exception: all its members are infected with HIV. Started by a South African and one of the first of its kind worl
Brazil bucks AIDS trend, but blacks are hard-hit: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Andrew Hay; BRASILIA, Brazil - Bucking a global rise in HIV infection, Brazil reported a slight fall on Wednesday in the spread of the virus last year but blamed racism for a marked increase in the proportion of AIDS cases among blacks. The federal government s AIDS program, which distributes condoms and anti-retroviral drugs, hel
Cameroon truckers to get free condoms for 5 years: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Tansa Musa; YAOUNDE - Some 28,000 long-distance truck drivers in Cameroon will receive free condoms during the next five years in a bid to curb high AIDS rates in the West African country, a minister said on Wednesday. Public Health Minister Urbain Olanguena Awono said the Canadian-funded project aimed to reduce drastically the HI
Russia's Miss Positive wants HIV honesty not shame: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Meg Clothier; MOSCOW - When Svetlana Izambayeva started to speak candidly about being HIV positive, people froze and backed away if she went to shake hands. Some were scared to drink from the same glass as her, others worried what would happen if she scratched them. Everyone wanted to know why she wasn t keeping something so dreadfu
Indian minister says concerned about AIDS awareness: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI - India s health minister expressed concern on Wednesday about AIDS awareness, monitoring and treatment, saying the latest official count in India could have fallen short of the real number of infections. Officially, there are 5.1 million people with HIV/AIDS in India -- second only to South Af
HIV takes toll on profits at S.African mines-report: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Lucia Mutikani; JOHANNESBURG - More than half of South Africa s labour-intensive mining sector is suffering a drop in profitability due to the impact of HIV-AIDS on its workforce, a business group warned on Wednesday on the eve of World AIDS Day. The South African Business Coalition on HIV and AIDS (Sabcoha) said a survey conducted on
Cuba fights AIDS with free drugs: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Anthony Boadle; HAVANA - When Cuba discovered its first AIDS case in 1986 among soldiers returning from Angola and Mozambique , alarm bells went off in the island s Communist leadership. The virus was largely unknown and 300,000 Cuban soldiers who fought in Africa over a decade could have been exposed.
"AIDS tax" mooted for S.Africa as epidemic bites: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa should consider imposing an AIDS tax as new data shows the epidemic hitting a grim plateau in the world s worst affected country, researchers said on Wednesday. South Africa s second national HIV/AIDS study confirmed that roughly 11 percent of South Africa s 45 million people are infected wi
Pope avoids condom issue in AIDS message: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict said on Wednesday he felt close to victims of AIDS and encouraged efforts to find a cure for the killer disease but avoided the thorny issue of the Roman Catholic Church s ban on condoms. I feel close to those sick with AIDS and their families and I invoke for them the help and comfort of t
China demands stepped-up AIDS prevention drive: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Benjamin Kang Lim; BEIJING - The spread of AIDS could damage China s economic development and affect the nation s rise or decline, the health minister said on Wednesday, stressing the need to take strong preventive measures. On the eve of World AIDS Day, Minister Gao Qiang said China aimed to keep the total of people infected by the HIV
AIDS expert reports progress toward HIV vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; Allyn Fisher-Ilan; JERUSALEM - A scientist who helped to discover the HIV virus said he has made progress toward producing an AIDS vaccine and hopes to launch a clinical trial in about a year. Dr. Robert Gallo, the director of the University of Maryland s Institute for Human Virology, said results from animal studies were encouraging.
Zimbabwe govt seeks to increase HIV/AIDS treatment: Reuters NewMedia - November 30, 2005; HARARE - Zimbabwe is hopeful that international donors will provide cash to increase the number of HIV/AIDS patients on life prolonging anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said on Wednesday. Health officials, speaking on the eve of World AIDS Day, said an estimated 21,000 people were on ARVs
Activists, doctors sue S.Africa govt on AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2005; CAPE TOWN - South African activists and doctors have sued the government for not taking action against a prominent AIDS dissident doctor who promotes untested vitamins to fight the epidemic, officials said on Tuesday. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the South African Medical Association (SAMA) said Health Minis
Unspent Tsunami Donations May Go to Africa: Clinton: Reuters NewMedia - November 29, 2005; KINNIYA, Sri Lanka - Unspent donations given to help victims of the Asian tsunami could be redirected to crises in Africa after rebuilding is complete, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, now a U.N. enoy, said on Tuesday. But visiting communities living amid the ruins of Sri Lanka s east coast ahead of tsunami s one ye
WHO says AIDS may infect 10 million in China by 2010: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, November 29, 2005; Manny Mogato; MANILA (Reuters) - Some 10 million people in China may be infected with the AIDS virus by 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, as it called for stronger political will by Asian governments to stop the spread of the disease. About 5 million people worldwide were infected last year, bringing to 4
Activists say bureaucracy blocks AIDS drug goal: Reuters NewsMedia - November 28, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Bureaucracy, poor management and inadequate funding have scuppered a global drive to put 3 million poor people on life-saving AIDS drugs by the end of 2005, activists said on Monday. At least 4 million people still desperately need anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, the International Treatmen
WHO apologizes for missing AIDS treatment target: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - The World Health Organization apologized on Monday for missing its target to get 3 million people in poor countries on life-saving AIDS drugs by the end of 2005. Dr. Jim Yong Kim, the director of the WHO s HIV/AIDS department, admitted that the WHO had not moved quickly enough to meet its ambitious
AIDS pandemic could escalate in Africa: UN: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2005; Arthur Asiimwe; KIGALI - The HIV/AIDS scourge on the African continent could worsen in 2006 if developed nations do not deliver on their financial pledges, the U.N. s top AIDS official in Africa said on Monday. Stephen Lewis, U.N. special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said treatment, prevention and care programs on the continent will
South African clinic hailed in AIDS battle: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2005; Gershwin Wanneburg; LUSIKISIKI, South Africa - A young woman leans on a cane, breathing heavily as she struggles to walk across the tiny, packed waiting room at a clinic in one of South Africa s poorest provinces. Another man -- frail, his hearing destroyed by tuberculosis and AIDS -- is carried in on a wheelbarrow lined with a blanket by
China official HIV count rises 50 pct in past year: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2005; BEIJING - The number of confirmed HIV cases in China rose by more than half in the past year but poor monitoring and official obstruction still obscure the real scale of the AIDS epidemic, China s top AIDS official said on Monday. The number of Chinese medically diagnosed with the HIV virus, which leads to AIDS, had gr
Glaxo hopes to adapt measles shot for HIV: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2005; Ben Hirschler, European Pharmaceuticals Correspondent; LONDON - GlaxoSmithKline plans to develop an experimental AIDS vaccine by piggy-backing on a shot against measles. Europe s biggest drug maker and France s Institut Pasteur intend to make the vaccine by fusing genes from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) onto an existing vaccine for the childhood disease, the two
HIV children benefit from zinc: study: Reuters NewMedia - November 25, 2005; LONDON - Zinc supplements could be a simple and safe way to reduce illnesses such as diarrhoea in children infected with HIV, researchers said on Friday. Zinc is an essential mineral for development and a healthy immune system but there has been concern about the safety of supplements for HIV patients because the virus
Galapagos, Idenix in Hepatitis, HIV Deal: Reuters NewMedia - November 25, 2005; BRUSSELS - Belgian-Dutch biotechnology firm Galapagos said on Thursday it was collaborating with U.S.-based Idenix Pharmaceuticals on drug development programs to fight hepatitis and HIV. The entire discovery contract collaboration is worth up to $2.5 million over two years, Galapagos said in a statement.
FDA Asks for More Data on Needle-Free AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - November 24, 2005; LOS ANGELES - Roche Holding AG and Trimeris said on Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked for additional trial data before allowing them to market a needle-free injection device for use with their AIDS drug Fuzeon. The companies said the FDA issued an approvable letter, requesting additional i
S.Africa labor movement adds muscle to AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - November 23, 2005; JOHANNESBURG - South Africa s powerful labor movement vowed to add its muscle to the fight against AIDS on Wednesday, heaping pressure on the government amid an epidemic killing some 900 South Africans each day. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), which claims a million members and has organized huge p
Personal computers enlisted in AIDS research: Reuters NewMedia - November 23, 2005; LOS ANGELES - A new project in the fight against AIDS will tap into the unused power of individual and business computers to help research and identify drugs used to combat the HIV virus. An Internet-based initiative, called FightAIDSatHome, aims to enlist about 100,000 computer users to donate the use of their machine
Record new HIV cases in '05: UN: Reuters NewMedia - November 21, 2005; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Almost 5 million people were infected by HIV globally in 2005, the highest jump since the first reported case in 1981 and taking the number living with the virus to a record 40.3 million, the United Nations said on Monday. The 4.9 million new infections were fueled by the epidemic s continuing ram
India's HIV cases far higher than official numbers: Reuters NewMedia - November 20, 2005; Kamil Zaheer; GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - The number of new HIV cases in India, home to the second highest infections in the world, is far more than what official data shows and epidemics in some pockets were alarming, the U.N. AIDS chief said. India, which has 5.1 million people living with HIV/AIDS -- second only to
India seeks novel ways to tackle AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - November 18, 2005; Kamil Zaheer; BIJAN, India - Lounging in a food shack next to a dusty highway, truck driver Manoj grins as he talks about having sex with prostitutes. It depends on my mood whether I put on a condom or not, says Manoj, as a monkey scampers around the tin-roofed building, some 60 km (35 miles) from New Delhi. Sometimes I am not
Gilead Says Truvada Better Than Combivir for HIV: Reuters NewMedia - November 18, 2005; LOS ANGELES - Gilead Sciences Inc. said on Thursday that early trial results show Truvada , its once-daily HIV pill, is better at suppressing the virus that causes AIDS than a twice-daily regimen of Combivir , a drug sold by GlaxoS
Malaria may boost mother-child HIV infection -study: Reuters NewMedia - November 18, 2005; Tansa Musa; YAOUNDE - Women who are HIV positive may be more likely to pass the virus to their children during pregnancy if they are also infected with malaria, scientists in Cameroon said on Friday. Tests carried out in Yaounde showed that malaria, which kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds, boosts production of a substance t
Transgene Wins AIDS Vaccine Development Contract: Reuters NewMedia - November 17, 2005; PARIS - Transgene has won a contract to develop and make an AIDS vaccine candidate to be used in clinical trials, contributing to its revenues in the next two years, the French biotechnology company said on Thursday. Transgene won the 18-month contract, of which financial details would remain confidential, from the New
British HIV patients show increasing drug resistance: Reuters NewMedia - November 17, 2005; LONDON - People infected with the HIV virus in Britain have one of the highest levels of drug resistance in the world, and the rate is increasing, researchers said on Friday. The trend suggests a wave of infections from a drug resistant strain of the virus may be on the way, they said in a study published in the Britis
HIV diagnoses fall among blacks: CDC: Reuters NewMedia - November 17, 2005; Paul Simao; ATLANTA - The rate of HIV diagnoses in the United States was stable between 2001 and 2004 but fell 5 percent per year among blacks, one of the groups hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, federal health officials said on Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which released the data, said the drop in new
China denies plans to build AIDS-only prisons: Reuters NewMedia - November 17, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Thursday denied planning to build special prisons for HIV/AIDS-infected convicts to try to halt the disease s spread. The official China Daily said on Monday the booming southern province of Guangdong was to build at least two prisons exclusively for HIV/AIDS prisoners. China has no plans
Prostitutes, Vendors Scrounge on Zimbabwe Roads: Reuters NewMedia - November 17, 2005; CHIVHU, Zimbabwe - The highway girls wave at truckers while teenage boys in tattered clothes hold up fuel cans to passing motorists. Zimbabwe s major roads these days are littered with people trying to eke out a living any way they can. Rising poverty in the southern African state has forced thousands of young people i
Nigerian AIDS funds at risk over poor accounting: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, November 16, 2005; Estelle Shirbon; ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria risks losing millions of dollars in funding to help fight HIV/AIDS, which has infected more than 3.5 million Nigerians, because of authorities failure to meet targets and lack of transparency, a major donor said. A panel at the Global Fund to fight AIDS said in a letter obtained by Reuters on
Can Technology Ease Africa's Woes?: Reuters NewMedia - November 15, 2005; DIPICHI, South Africa (Reuters) - It is hard to believe that 19 shiny flat screen computers can cure the ills of this tiny community in South Africa s arid north where people battle every day against poverty, AIDS, illiteracy and hunger. Yet U.S. computer giant Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ.N) and South African President Th
S.Africa to host phase 2 AIDS vaccine trials: Reuters NewMedia - November 14, 2005; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s first Phase II HIV vaccine trials intended to help battle an AIDS epidemic were launched by charitable group the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and U.S.-based Targeted Genetics Corporation. The trials will test the safety of tgAAC09, a vaccine candidate that is based o
Briton Claims to Have Beaten HIV Virus: Reuters NewMedia - November 14, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - A British man claimed on Sunday to be the first person to become clear of the HIV virus, which can lead to AIDS, after earlier testing positive for it. If true, the case of 25-year-old Andrew Stimpson -- reported in two British newspapers -- could reveal more about the virus and possibly even provide
US FDA, Biogen say skin drug not for HIV patients: Reuters NewMedia - November 10, 2005; WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Biogen Idec Inc. s (BIIB.O: Quote, Profile, Research) skin drug Amevive should not be used in patients who have HIV because it may speed up progression of the virus or cause more complications, the biotechnology company and U.S. health regulators said on Thursday. Amevive, which is approv
Bulgarian Nurses Face Last Appeal in Libya: Reuters NewMedia - November 10, 2005; SOFIA - Zorka Anachkova still recoils with horror when she recalls the indictment. Issued by a Libyan court in 2000, it charged her daughter Kristiana and four other Bulgarian nurses with intentionally infecting 426 children with the HIV virus. It said they were murderers, said Anachkova, a retired cook. I cried all ni
Fund lifts suspension of Uganda AIDS cash: Reuters NewMedia - November 10, 2005; NAIROBI - A global agency that suspended millions of dollars in AIDS assistance to Uganda said on Thursday it would resume funding after agreeing with Kampala on ways to overhaul the management of the money. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria suspended five grants worth $367 million in August sayin
Gaddafi's son doesn't believe Bulgaria medics guilty: Reuters NewMedia - November 10, 2005; Mark Trevelyan; BERLIN (Reuters) - The influential son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said on Thursday he did not personally believe in the guilt of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus. Asked if he thought the five were guilty, Saif al-Islam told Reuters: Personally I
Sorcery, shame hinder PNG fight against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - November 10, 2005; PORT MORESBY (Reuters) - Sorcery and fear of AIDS in the jungle villages of Papua New Guinea has seen infected people thrown into rivers to drown, dumped in graves to die or abandoned to starve to death, according to those fighting the disease. To have HIV-AIDS in Papua New Guinea, a jungle-clad, mountainous South
Syphilis rises in US but gonorrhea at new low - study: Reuters NewMedia - November 9, 2005; ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of U.S. syphilis cases rose for the fourth straight year in 2004, fueled by increases among men, while the gonorrhea disease rate reached a historic low, federal health researchers said on Tuesday. The annual report on sexually transmitted diseases (STD) by the U.S. Centers for Disease Co
Nigerian children risk AIDS surge, drugs needed-UN: Reuters NewMedia - November 8, 2005; ABUJA - Nigerian children are increasingly at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, U.N. agencies warned on Tuesday as they called for anti-retroviral drugs to be given to more pregnant women to avoid a catastrophic rise in infections. With more than 3.5 million people living with HIV/AIDS, Nigeria ranks third in the world aft
Cellegy to stop HIV transmission study in Ghana: Reuters NewMedia - November 8, 2005; NEW YORK - Cellegy Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Tuesday said it will stop a late-stage study of its vaginal gel on preventing HIV infection in Ghana because of a lower-than-expected rate of transmission of the virus. Cellegy said the lower rate was possibly due in part to counseling on HIV prevention and the distribution of
US OKs generic AIDS drug for children's use abroad: Reuters NewMedia - November 4, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health regulators approved a generic liquid version of GlaxoSmithKline s AIDS drug Epivir for use under the nation s program to help fight the disease in other countries, officials said on Friday. The Food and Drug Administration said the generic drug called lamivudine, made by India s Aurob
Home HIV test could spur early treatment: panel: Reuters NewMedia - November 4, 2005; Susan Heavey; GAITHERSBURG, Maryland - An HIV test that can be used at home and promises results in 20 minutes could help more people get treated sooner, but raises concerns about how well patients could cope with the test findings on their own, a U.S. advisory panel heard on Thursday. Testing kits that allow consumers to mail a blo
Libya denies legal deal over Bulgarian nurses: Reuters NewMedia - November 2, 2005; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI - Libya denied a report it would scrap capital punishment to pave the way for the release of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting children with HIV. There is no legislation or draft legislation to scrap the death penalty and there is no plan to do that any time soon, a senior government offic
Lawmakers agree to $20.9 bln in foreign aid: Reuters NewMedia - November 1, 2005; Vicki Allen; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate and House of Representatives negotiators on Tuesday agreed to a $20.9 billion foreign aid bill, with less than President George W. Bush wanted for reform-minded nations, and nearly $3 billion to fight AIDS. The bill, which still faces final votes in both chambers, is about $2 billion
Abbott receives new FDA approval for Kaletra: Reuters NewMedia - October 31, 2005; Abbott Laboratories Inc. said on Monday that U.S. regulators approved a new formulation of its HIV drug Kaletra that will allow patients to take fewer pills and will not need to be refrigerated. Kaletra is the biggest-selling of a class of HIV drugs known as protea
Companies to develop AIDS defense for women: Reuters NewMedia - October 31, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two big American drug companies have signed agreements to develop a treatment called a microbicide -- a gel or a cream that a woman could use to protect herself from AIDS, advocates said on Monday. Merck & Co. , Inc. and Bristol-Myers Squibb have signed separate license agreements with th
Sex, Ultraviolence Shake Up S. African Theater: Reuters NewMedia - October 28, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Rape, murder, pedophilia and rare male nudity on the conservative African stage -- no wonder South Africa s hottest playwright is credited with revolutionizing theater in his homeland. Mpumelelo Paul Grootboom is part of a growing cadre of young black South African artists smashing through Afri
S African firms expand HIV tests, treatment: Reuters NewMedia - October 28, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An initiative to expand testing and treatment of HIV-infected workers in mid-sized companies in South Africa was launched on Friday, to help fight a disease affecting one in nine people in the country. Big companies, which run successful in-house HIV/AIDS testing and treatment facilities and pa
Boerhinger gets EU nod for AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - October 26, 2005; FRANKFURT - Boehringer Ingelheim , Germany s top drugmaker by sales, has won European approval for its Aptivus anti-AIDS drug, the unlisted firm said on Wednesday. Aptivus, also called tipranavir, has been approved in combination with a low dose of Abbott Laboratories
GSK cancels Phase III testing of AIDS drug - Ono: Reuters NewMedia - October 25, 2005; TOKYO - Japan s Ono Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd. said GlaxoSmithKline Plc had ended all Phase III studies of experimental AIDS drug aplaviroc, which was licensed from Ono, after a patient developed side-effects. GSK, the world s largest maker of HIV/AIDS drugs, terminated its Phase IIb tests of the product on treatment-na
Children are "invisible face" of AIDS: UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - October 25, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Every minute of every day a child dies of AIDS but only 5 percent of those infected have access to life-preserving drugs, UNICEF, the U.N. Children s Fund, said on Tuesday in launching a new campaign. Appealing for more funds for children with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Ann Veneman, exe
Children ask society to help ease AIDS burden: Reuters NewMedia - October 24, 2005; Jeremy Lovell; LONDON (Reuters) - Every Tuesday on her way to school in Lesotho , Reitumetse Phooko passes a boy pushing his father to the AIDS clinic in a wheelbarrow because he is too ill to walk. The boy is just 7 years old and he has already lost his mother to the disease that has deprived 15 million children of one or both paren
High fertility hampers African anti-poverty drive: Reuters NewMedia - October 24, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Africa s growing population could pose more of a threat to reducing poverty on the continent than HIV/AIDS, researchers said on Tuesday. In some African countries such as Botswana , Lesotho , South Africa , Swaziland and
Staff crunch hurts Mozambique's AIDS battle: Reuters NewMedia - October 24, 2005; Mateus Chale; MAPUTO (Reuters) - Only a tiny fraction of children in Mozambique eligible for AIDS drugs have access to the medicines due to a severe shortage of staff who themselves are dying of the disease, the country s health minister said. AIDS is a major development challenge for Mozambique, hailed by international lenders as a
Stigma, ignorance risks spread of AIDS in Sudan: Reuters NewMedia - October 24, 2005; Opheera McDoom; KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Almost three-quarters of Sudanese youth are sexually active, but fewer than a tenth know how to use condoms, posing a serious threat that HIV and AIDS will spread in the country, a U.N. official said on Monday. Sudan has a relatively low incidence of HIV/AIDS -- 1.6 percent of adults are infected w
China warns HIV cases could exceed 10 mln by 2010: Reuters NewMedia - October 24, 2005; BEIJING, Oct 24 (Reuters) - China , once accused of being slow to acknowledge the threat of AIDS, could have as many as 10 million HIV carriers in five years if no effective preventive measures are taken, state media said on Monday, echoing a grim UN warning. China says it has 840,000 HIV-AIDS cases among its 1.3 billi
AIDS activists call for generic Tamiflu in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - October 21, 2005; ZURICH - Activists who put pressure on drugs companies to make AIDS treatments accessible in Africa called on Friday on the maker of antiviral Tamiflu to renounce its rights on the drug in the developing world. As concerns mount over how countries would deal with a potential flu pandemic stemming from bird flu virus H5
Young Botswana blood donors spread hope, not AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - October 21, 2005; Tizoh Mosenyi; GABORONE (Reuters) - Neo Modibedi says she owes her life to an emergency blood transfusion after childbirth. I nearly died. I felt dizzy, was disorientated and when I got to the hospital they told me my life was in danger and I had lost a lot of blood. I only felt better after I was given a blood transfusion, said Modi
Zambia starts clinical trials of herbal AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - October 19, 2005; Shapi Shacinda; LUSAKA - Zambia has launched clinical trials of herbal medicines for AIDS, and early signs are hopeful they could help boost the body s defences, a government health official said on Wednesday. Dr Patrick Chikusu, principal investigator of clinical trials of traditional herbal remedies, said three herbal drugs had been
HIV drug sales lift Gilead quarterly profit 58 pct: Reuters NewMedia - October 18, 2005; Deena Beasley; LOS ANGELES - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Tuesday said its third-quarter profit rose 58 percent, driven by strong demand for its two-drug combination pill to treat HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS. The world s third-largest biotechnology company reported a net profit of $179.2 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with
Serono to Admit Guilt in AIDS Drug Case: The company will pay $704 million to settle charges it improperly marketed Serostim.: Reuters NewMedia - October 18, 2005; WASHINGTON - Swiss biotech company Serono has agreed to plead guilty and pay $704 million to resolve criminal and civil charges that it illegally promoted its AIDS drug, the Justice Department said Monday. Serono will plead guilty to two criminal charges and pay a $137-million fine, resolving an investigation into how
Uganda faces HIV treatment challenge-Pfizer chief: Reuters NewMedia - October 14,2005; Daniel Wallis; MBARARA, Uganda - Successful testing for HIV in Uganda has created a new problem -- there are more patients than the country can handle, the head of Pfizer , the world s biggest drug company, said on Friday. Uganda was once seen as the epicentre of the AIDS pandemic in Africa in the 1980s.
FEATURE - Elusive trail of AIDS funds to NGOs in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - October 14, 2005; James Macharia; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Where have the billions of dollars poured into Africa to fight AIDS gone? A lot of this money is channelled through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) mainly to pay for life-prolonging drugs and education campaigns on a continent where many national healthcare systems are broke and in tatter
Discrimination hinders development aims: UN: Reuters NewMedia - October 12, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Discrimination against women and young people is hampering international efforts to eliminate poverty, a U.N. report said on Wednesday. Each year more than 500,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes that are largely preventable while the poorest, least developed countries have the largest share of
Brazil and Abbott Reach Price Deal On AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - October 12, 2005; SAO PAULO, Brazil -- Brazil reached a deal with Abbott Laboratories that almost halves the price it pays for an important AIDS drug, meaning it won t follow through on its threat to break the U.S. company s patent. Brazil s Health Ministry said Abbott agreed to lower the price of a widely used antiretroviral called
Vical Says HIV Vaccine Advances to Midstage Trial: Reuters NewMedia - October 11, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Vical Inc. said on Tuesday the National Institutes of Health has started a midstage trial of an experimental vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, sending shares up 21 percent. The vaccine was developed by government scientists and made by Vical, using the company s DNA
Rights group-Africa governments fuel school drop-outs: Reuters NewMedia - October 10, 2005; JOHANNESBURG - Government neglect leads to millions of children affected by AIDS dropping out of school in in southern and East Africa, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The New York-based group said in a report released in Johannesburg that research in Kenya , Uganda and
Crucell Leaps After Merck Deal on Hepatitis Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - October 10, 2005; Karl Emerick Hanuska and Lucas van Grinsven; AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Shares in Crucell hit a high for the year on Monday after news that pharmaceuticals giant Merck & Co. will use the Dutch biotech firm s technology to develop a vaccine against hepatitis C. Traders and analysts said the announcement by Crucell -- whose PER.C6 gene technology aims at using human
Jailed Uzbek imam killed by authorities -family: Reuters NewMedia - October 7, 2005; Shamil Baigin; TOYTEPA, Uzbekistan - A jailed Muslim cleric has died in custody in Uzbekistan and his father said he believed a series of mysterious injections given to him by prison officials were to blame. Uzbek police and prison authorities could not be reached for comment on the allegations. Officials in the authoritarian Central
S.African university slams "AIDS vitamins" doctor: Reuters NewMedia - October 7, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - A leading South African university has joined opposition to a German doctor s use of vitamins to fight HIV/AIDS, accusing him of endangering lives by promoting an untested alternative to life-prolonging drugs. Johannesburg s University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) has demanded Dr Matthias Rath stop
Singapore says will not allow gay parades: Reuters NewMedia - October 6, 2005; SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore will not allow gay parades to be held in the city-state because it clashes with the views of many conservative Singaporeans, the prime minister said on Thursday. Homosexuality is illegal in Singapore and the government has outlawed some gay events in the past, prompting activists to accu
UN puts AIDS in spotlight in conservative Saudi: Reuters NewMedia - October 5, 2005; Dominic Evans; RIYADH - The United Nations has launched an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign in strict Muslim Saudi Arabia , where homosexuality and adultery are criminal offences and discussions about sex are taboo, a U.N. official said on Wednesday. Mayssam Tamim, programme coordinator for the United Nations Development Programme, said
Germany reports sharp rise in HIV infections: Reuters NewMedia - October 5, 2005; Louis Charbonneau; BERLIN - The number of confirmed HIV infections in Germany rose sharply in the first half of this year, which the government said was a worrying trend that indicated the deadly virus was not being taken seriously enough. The number of HIV infections jumped to 1,164 in the first half of 2005, a 20 percent rise over the
Ghana cocoa harvest customs cause AIDS worries: Reuters NewMedia - October 4, 2005; Orla Ryan; KUMASI, Ghana (Reuters) - When Ghana s cocoa farmers find themselves flush with cash from the new harvest, many celebrate by taking new wives or spending their wealth on prostitutes. It s a chance to show off rare riches or enjoy life for a while in one of the world s poorest countries. But some health officials an
UnumProvident to pay $8 mln fine to settle probe: Reuters NewMedia - October 3, 2005; NEW YORK - Disability insurer UnumProvident Corp. on Monday said it would pay a fine of $8 million to settle an investigation by the state of California into practice by three of its subsidiaries. As part of the settlement, which ends two years of negotiations, UnumProvident agreed to change certain practices and polic
Thailand rolls out national AIDS drug plan: Reuters NewMedia - October 1, 2005; Darren Schuettler; BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand rolled out a national plan on Saturday to give life-saving drugs to people living with HIV-AIDS, one of the few Asian nations to offer universal treatment in a region where the virus threatens to run rampant. Thailand, long a model for prevention against a virus that infects some 540,000 Th
Parties for HIV-positive men may pose health risks: Reuters NewMedia - September 29, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Parties for HIV positive gay men to meet others infected with the virus may help to prevent its spread but scientists said on Thursday the events may also raise the risk of exposure to superinfections. So-called POZ Parties began in New York in the 1990s as informal gatherings for HIV positive gay me
Australia's Citrofresh quashes HIV orange cure talk: Reuters NewMedia - September 28, 2005; MELBOURNE (Reuters) - A tiny Australian disinfectant maker that caused a stock frenzy with news of a cure-all ingredient found in oranges dashed investors hopes it had a vaccine against HIV, SARS, flu and the common cold. Shares in Citrofresh International Ltd. had more than tripled to A$0.70 on Tuesday after it releas
U.S. Won't OK Late-Stage Trials of Incyte HIV Drug: Reuters NewMedia - September 28, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have said they will not approve Incyte Corp. s plans for late-stage trials of its experimental HIV drug, sending its shares down 45 percent. Instead, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has asked Incyte to conduct another mid-stage, or Phase II, trial to provide additional data sup
US experts weigh guidelines for impotence drug use: Reuters NewMedia - September 27, 2005; Susan Heavey; POTOMAC, Md., Sept 27 (Reuters) - Doctors, drugmakers and health officials should take steps to curb abuse of erectile dysfunction drugs while research continues on whether use of the medicines increase the rate of HIV infections, especially among gay men, experts said in draft guidelines on Tuesday. Research may sugge
Orange chemical hailed as a treatment for AIDS, flu: Reuters NewMedia - September 27, 2005; SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian pharmaceutical company said on Tuesday a naturally occurring chemical extracted from oranges can be used to treat HIV/AIDS, influenza, SARS and the common cold. Citrofresh International Ltd. said Europe s Retroscreen Virology Laboratory had found its Citrofresh bioflavanoid compound to
King chooses 13th bride in AIDS-stricken Swaziland: Reuters NewMedia - September 26, 2005; MBABANE (Reuters) - The king of Swaziland has picked a teenage student to be his 13th bride less than a month after more than 50,000 bare-breasted virgins vied to catch his eye at the annual Reed Dance ceremony. King Mswati III, who is 37, presented 17-year-old Phindile Nkambule as his new wife-to-be at a traditional c
South Africa labour boss slams Mbeki on AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - September 26, 2005; Ed Stoddard; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s top trade unionist has attacked President Thabo Mbeki in the latest sign of discord between the ruling party and its labour allies, accusing him of failing to stem a raging AIDS pandemic. This lack of government leadership on HIV is a betrayal of our people and our struggle, Zwe
India to start HIV testing military recruits: Reuters NewMedia - September 24, 2005; SHILLONG, India (Reuters) - India s president said all new recruits to the country s armed forces would be tested for the HIV virus after the deaths of some 200 soldiers due to AIDS in the past two years. India has an estimated 5.134 million people infected with the HIV virus in 2004, second to
India's Matrix, S Africa's Aspen plan JVs for AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - September 23, 2005; MUMBAI - India s Matrix Laboratories Ltd. and South Africa s Aspen Pharmacare said on Friday they had finalised terms for two joint ventures to cater to the large demand for AIDS medicines. Hyderabad-based Matrix said it would transfer one of its U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved facility that makes active pha
Asian nations face deadly TB-HIV threat-WHO: Reuters NewMedia - September 23, 2005; Michael Perry; Drug resistance combined with a deadly double infection of tuberculosis and HIV is posing a serious threat in Cambodia , Vietnam , China and the Philippines , said the World Health Organization .
Serono Nears U.S. Legal Settlement Over AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - September 22, 2005; ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss biotech company Serono is close to settling charges of fraud with U.S. legal authorities over the sale of its AIDs drug Serostim, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The newspaper, citing people familiar with the agreement, said the Geneva-based company would pay fines of $700 million
Personalized medicines over-hyped, report says: Reuters NewMedia - September 21, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Personalized medicines targeted according to a patient s genetic profile have been over-hyped and their widespread use is still 15 to 20 years away, leading scientists said on Wednesday. The field, known as pharmacogenetics, has made strides in the battle against certain cancers and shows great promi
Lesotho will miss AIDS drug treatment target -- UN: Reuters NewMedia - September 21, 2005; MASERU (Reuters) - Lesotho will likely fail to meet its target of providing 28,000 HIV patients with life-prolonging drugs by the end of the year as part of a global attempt to boost AIDS treatment, the United Nations said on Wednesday. Lesotho s target was part of a global programme to provide three million people wit
Swedish Tripep surges on HIV drug trial approval: Reuters NewMedia - September 21, 2005; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Shares in small Swedish biotech group Tripep surged 25 percent on Wednesday after it said it had won permission to start testing a planned new drug against HIV. The company said in a statement that it would start placebo-controlled phase I/II studies of its alfaHGA compound in HIV-positive patient
Glaxo stumbles in race for new kind of AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - September 19, 2005; Ben Hirschler; GlaxoSmithKline Plc has suffered a setback in the race to develop a new kind of AIDS pill, following two cases of serious liver problems in patients taking its experimental drug aplaviroc. As a result, the world s largest maker of HIV/AIDS drugs has terminated Phase IIb tests of the product on so-called treatment-na
$200 million pledged to Clinton's initiative: Reuters NewMedia - September 16, 2005; Larry Fine; NEW YORK - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton received pledges of more than $200 million for economic development in Africa and to fight HIV/AIDS on Thursday at a private summit on some of the world s most pressing woes. Bringing together world leaders, business figures, academics and political activists, the Clinton G
World risks duplication in AIDS vaccine push -expert: Reuters NewMedia - September 13, 2005; MUMBAI - Attempts to develop an AIDS vaccine need greater coordination to avoid duplication and increase the chances of success, a senior official of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) said on Tuesday. There is that danger we see right now in AIDS vaccines, a lot of so-called me-too or similar vaccines be
Main divisive issues before world U.N. summit: Reuters NewMedia - September 13, 2005; Evelyn Leopold, United Nations; The largest gathering of world leaders in history begins on Wednesday with last-ditch negotiations on the following key issues. The United Nations summit is to map out new approaches to poverty, global security and human rights in the 21st century. -- DEVELOPMENT - The draft document sets timetables to halve poverty fo
Half Angola's children are malnourished - UN: Reuters NewMedia - September 13, 2005; Peter Apps; HUAMBO, Angola - Three years after the end of one of Africa s longest wars, the United Nations says half of Angola s children are malnourished and in some areas the growth of over 50 percent is seriously stunted. In the hospital in Huambo, one of the areas most affected by two and a half decades of fighting, children l
AIDS creeps up on unsuspecting Philippines: Reuters NewMedia - September 12, 2005; Ambika Bhushan; MANILA (Reuters) - For Carlos, working in a Saudi Arabian hypermarket was his chance to escape a life of poverty in the Philippines . But while working there, one simple act ruined his life. Several years after having unprotected sex with a female co-worker, Carlos began to suffer chronic fever and a cough. He wait
Vical grants Merck vaccine options, stock up: Reuters NewMedia - September 12, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Vical Inc. said on Monday it agreed to grant renewable options to Merck & Co. for rights to use Vical s gene delivery technology for more cancer vaccines, sending Vical s stock sharply higher. Vical said it received, in exchange, nonexclusive rights to use the technology fo
Zimbabwe eviction drive seen worsening AIDS crisis: Reuters NewMedia - September 11, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s urban evictions violated the rights of hundreds of thousands of people and disrupted AIDS treatment across the country, threatening a new stage in the epidemic, a rights group said on Sunday. Human Rights Watch called on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to investigate the campaign a
Asia firms must gird now for spread of AIDS -study: Reuters NewMedia - September 9, 2005; BEIJING - Companies in Asia need to prepare now while AIDS infection rates are low for the spread of the disease or risk growing disruption to their businesses, a survey released on Friday showed. Thirty-seven percent of 1,300 firms in 15 countries polled by the World Economic Forum said they expected AIDS to have some
Progenics says HIV drug 1st-stage trial positive: Reuters NewMedia - September 9, 2005; Ajaya Kumar in Bangalor; Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Friday announced positive findings from the Phase 1 trial of its investigational drug, PRO 140, which aims to block the entry of the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus. Coating of CCR5 cells with PRO 140 has been shown in prior laboratory studies to block HIV infection, and the
South Africa says AIDS drugs on track despite critics: Reuters NewMedia - September 8, 2005; South Africa s anti-AIDS drugs program is on track but the government does not have the resources to adequately monitor and evaluate the campaign, a top official said on Thursday. South Africa is the country hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic with more than 5 million of its 45 million population believed to be infected w
US clears oral AIDS drug for use overseas: Reuters NewMedia - September 8, 2005; WASHINGTON - U.S. health officials on Thursday granted tentative approval for a generic liquid version of the AIDS drug AZT , allowing it to be used overseas under a U.S. program to fight the deadly virus. The generic oral version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc s drug zidovudine, made by India-based drugmaker Aurob
Cultivated land disappears in AIDS-ravaged Africa: Reuters NewMedia - September 8, 2005; Patricia Reaney; DUBLIN - HIV/AIDS has decimated Africa s farming communities so badly that the amount of cultivated land in some countries has declined by nearly 70 percent, researchers said on Thursday. About 80 percent of Africans derive their living from agriculture but the illness, which has infected more than 25 million people in
Donors pledge $3.7 bln to AIDS/TB/malaria fund: Reuters NewMedia - September 6, 2005; Madeline Chambers; LONDON - International donors pledged $3.7 billion on Tuesday to a fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, only half the amount the body says it needs to meet its goals for the next two years. The pledges, made just a week before a U.N. summit which will try to reduce world poverty, disappointed aid groups. W
S.Africa denies stretched military falling apart: Reuters NewMedia - September 5, 2005; Andrew Quinn; PRETORIA - South Africa s military is able to defend the country and carry out African peacekeeping, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said on Monday, denying news reports that said the military was falling apart. There is no possible threat to this country that we cannot respond to, Lekota told a news briefing, blasting
INTERVIEW-Thailand seeks protection for rice, silk in U.S. talks: Reuters NewMedia - September 5, 2005; Apornrath Phoonphongphiphat; BANGKOK - Thailand will ask the United States for tighter intellectual property (IP) protection for Thai products in the fifth round of bilateral free trade talks due to start in late September, a Thai negotiator said on Monday. The measures are meant to stop rice growers or silk makers outside Thailand from claiming t
South Sudan in HIV/AIDS epidemic - UNDP says: Reuters NewMedia - September 4, 2005; Amil KhanSun; Southern Sudan is in the midst of an HIV/AIDS epidemic and most of its people are without clean water, sanitation or education services, a United Nations body said in a report released on Sunday. The report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said health and education in north Sudan improved sl
Malawi mother hacks HIV+ son to death with axe: Reuters NewMedia - September 2, 2005; BLANTYRE - A Malawian woman hacked her 9-year-old son to death with an axe on Friday after discovering they both had HIV, police said. Mother and son both tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, at a hospital in the northern district of Karonga after suffering prolonged bouts of malaria, police spokesman E
PNG police beat, rape children, says rights report: Reuters NewMedia - September 1, 2005; Michael Perry; SYDNEY - Papua New Guinea police are engaging in brutal beatings, rape and torture of children and risk spreading HIV/AIDS in the South Pacific island nation, New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report on Thursday. The 124-page report details an epidemic of police brutality against children who are arrested o
South Africa anti-rape condom aims to stop attacks: Reuters NewMedia - August 31, 2005; A South African inventor unveiled a new anti-rape female condom on Wednesday that hooks onto an attacker s penis and aims to cut one of the highest rates of sexual assault in the world. Nothing has ever been done to help a woman so that she does not get raped and I thought it was high time, Sonette Ehlers, 57, said of
Fund looks to lift suspension of Uganda AIDS cash: Reuters NewMedia - August 31, 2005; Frank Nyakairu; KAMPALA - A global agency that suspended millions of dollars in AIDS assistance for Uganda said on Wednesday it would resume funding in October if the government recovers money that may have been misappropriated. We have asked the ministry of finance to recover any funds that could have been misappropriated and we hope
Outside auditor to manage Uganda HIV/AIDS funds: Reuters NewMedia - August 30, 2005; Frank Nyakairu; KAMPALA - An international firm of auditors will temporarily take over management of AIDS funding in Uganda from a local firm accused of mismanaging aid money, a senior Ugandan official said on Tuesday. The decision was reached after a two-hour meeting between Health Minister Jim Muhwezi and three officials from the Gl
Volkswagen uses game to fight AIDS in South Africa: Reuters NewMedia - August 30, 2005; Lucia Mutikani; The game the school children are playing in this South African town looks like Trivial Pursuit. But the subject is anything but trivial. The boardgame was created by Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) -- a subsidiary of German car maker Volkswagen -- to teach children about HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and pregnancy. With the ro
Uganda says no condom crisis but abstinence is best: Reuters - August 30, 2005; Frank Nyakairu; KAMPALA - Uganda on Tuesday dismissed U.N. claims that an emphasis on U.S.-promoted abstinence-only programs to fight HIV/AIDS had created a condom crisis . Stephen Lewis, the U.N. secretary-general s special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said on Monday that Christian ideology was driving Washington s AIDS assistance p
Gilead Cuts HIV Drug Prices in Developing World: Reuters - August 30, 2005; LOS ANGELES - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Monday announced price cuts for its HIV drugs, Viread and Truvada , made available through the company s access program in the developing world. Gilead said both once-a-day antiretroviral medications for HIV are avail
South Africans beef up at gym to battle AIDS, crime: Reuters NewMedia - August 29, 2005; Rebecca Harrison and Gordon Bell; ALEXANDRA/KAYAMANDI, South Africa - With bulging biceps and abs like steel, South Africa s jobless youngsters are turning to bodybuilding to help them fight AIDS and resist a life of crime. Makeshift gyms are springing up across the country s poorest and toughest townships, aimed at helping members develop discipline o
Topless virgins vie for king in AIDS-hit Swaziland: Reuters NewMedia - August 29, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; LUDZIDZINI ROYAL VILLAGE, Swaziland - More than 50,000 bare-breasted virgins, many hoping to be the Swazi king s 13th bride, gathered on Monday for an ancient rite critics say ill befits a country with the world s highest HIV/AIDS rate. King Mswati III, sub-Saharan Africa s last absolute monarch, is due to attend the a
US abstinence drive hurts AIDS fight - UN official: Reuters NewMedia - August 29, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The U.S. government s emphasis on abstinence-only programs to prevent AIDS is hobbling Africa s battle against the pandemic by downplaying the role of condoms, a senior U.N. official said on Monday. Stephen Lewis, the U.N. secretary general s special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, said fundament
Eritrea asks USAID to cease operations: Reuters NewMedia - August 25, 2005; Ed Harris; ASMARA - Eritrea has asked the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to stop work in the Horn of Africa state where it donates millions of dollars annually, the U.S. ambassador said on Thursday. Yes, they have asked us to cease operations, U.S. Ambassador Scott DeLisi told about 100 Eritreans at an open mee
Museveni to probe Ugandan AIDS fund suspension: Reuters NewMedia - August 25, 2005; Daniel Wallis; KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda s President Yoweri Museveni vowed on Thursday personally to investigate why the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis suspended grants to the east African country worth millions of dollars. The fund said on Wednesday it was after serious financial mismanagement was uncovered in
Taiwan drops anti-AIDS ad featuring nun holding condom: Reuters NewMedia - August 24, 2005; TAIPEI - Taiwan has withdrawn an anti-AIDS campaign ad featuring a smiling nun holding a condom after it sparked an outcry from Roman Catholics, local media said on Wednesday. The poster, which shows the nun holding the condom with both hands and saying Although I don t need one, even I know , had been removed from al
US urges quick negotiations, changes on UN reform: Reuters NewMedia - August 24, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS - U.S. Ambassador John Bolton urged U.N. member nations on Wednesday in a letter to accelerate negotiations on development, security and human rights proposals less than a month before 175 world leaders are to approve reform proposals at a summit. Bolton s letter, circulated to the other 190 ambassadors,
AIDS Fund to Uganda Halted Over 'Mismanagement': Reuters NewMedia - August 24, 2005; GENEVA - An international agency helping spearhead the war against AIDS said on Wednesday it had halted help to Uganda , often praised for its determined stance on the disease, because of evidence of financial mismanagement. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said its auditors had serious concerns
Africans to declare tuberculosis emergency - WHO: Reuters NewMedia - August 23, 2005; Marta Odallah; MAPUTO - African health ministers will declare tuberculosis an emergency at a meeting this week and call for greater access to life-prolonging drugs to fight AIDS, Mozambican and WHO officials said on Tuesday. Ministers and WHO executives are holding four days of talks in Mozambique on how to halt the spread of Afr
R U OK? South Africans tackle AIDS with texts: Reuters NewMedia - August 22, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; GUGULETU, South Africa (Reuters) - When AIDS counselor Nobafunti Dondolo s mobile phone started beeping one Sunday afternoon, she knew someone was in trouble. It was a message from one of my clients who was very sick, said Dondolo. She was vomiting blood -- the family didn t know what to do. With a flick of her th
Panacos Shares Soar on HIV Drug Results: Reuters NewMedia - August 22, 2005; Martinne Geller; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Monday said its experimental drug to combat HIV reduced the level of the virus in the blood by as much as 90 percent in a small midstage study, sending the company s shares surging 56 percent. The biotechnology company said patients who took the drug, known as PA-457
Brain drain hurts Lesotho AIDS fight-U.N. official: Reuters NewMedia - August 19, 2005; Ntsau Lekhetho; MASERU - The brain drain drawing Africa s nurses to the West has hobbled the fight against HIV/AIDS in Lesotho , a tiny kingdom where up to 30 percent of adults already have the virus, a U.N. official said on Friday. Stephen Lewis, the U.N. special envoy for AIDS in Africa, said Lesotho s battle against AIDS highlighte
WHO Reinstates 7 Anti-AIDS Drugs by Ranbaxy to List: Reuters NewMedia - August 19, 2005; GENEVA - The World Health Organization on Friday reinstated seven anti-AIDS generic drugs made by India s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd to its prequalification list for use in poor countries. In a statement, the United Nations agency said that three anti-AIDS drugs by Aurobindo Pharma, of India, were also being added.
Global AIDS fund quits Myanmar, cites restrictions: Reuters NewMedia - August 19, 2005; Darren Schuettler; BANGKOK - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has pulled its funding for programmes in army-ruled Myanmar , blaming travel and other restrictions imposed by the junta, the Fund said on Friday. The Fund, which agreed in August 2004 to spend nearly $100 million over 5 years fighting all three diseases
R U OK? South Africans tackle AIDS with texts: Reuters NewMedia - August 18, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; GUGULETU, South Africa - When AIDS counsellor Nobafunti Dondolo s mobile phone started beeping one Sunday afternoon, she knew someone was in trouble. It was a message from one of my clients who was very sick, said Dondolo. She was vomiting blood -- the family didn t know what to do. With a flick of her thumb, Dond
Libya seeks Bulgarian "blood money" to save nurses: Reuters NewMedia - August 18, 2005; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI - Tripoli is urging Bulgaria to offer blood money to families of hundreds of Libyan children infected with HIV, to save five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for causing the infections, a senior diplomat said. But Bulgaria again refused a deal, saying the nurses were innocent and should be released. Moha
Nun or prostitute? Tibet's women face few choices: Reuters NewMedia - 17 August 2005; Lindsay Beck; SHIGATSE, China (Reuters) - It s evening in Shigatse and the lights are coming on. In the Chinese district of the Tibetan mountain town, strings of fairy lights flicker around rows of shopfronts where women perch waiting for customers and men stumble out from backroom corridors. There are a lot of prostitutes here
U.N. says Africa aid far short of the need: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2005; JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The United States has given the U.N. World Food Program $52 million for Southern Africa, the United Nations said on Monday, but more is needed to help more than 10 million people facing possible shortages. Many families in the region have exhausted meager food stocks and have almost nothing
Botswana tackles hunger, urges region to do same: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2005; Alistair Thomson; GABORONE - Botswana has set aside 200 million Botswana pula to stave off food shortages due to drought, President Festus Mogae said on Tuesday, warning southern Africa must act fast to prevent malnutrition setting in. Mogae hosts the Southern African Development Community (SADC) annual summit this week, where food inse
Crocodile blood may yield powerful new drugs: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2005; Michael Perry; SYDNEY - Scientists in Australia s tropical north are collecting blood from crocodiles in the hope of developing a powerful antimicrobial drugs for humans, after tests showed that the reptile s immune system kills HIV. The crocodile s immune system is much more powerful than that of humans, preventing life-threatening
Nigeria says 50,000 AIDS patients now on ARV therapy: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2005; Tume Ahemba; LAGOS - The number of Nigerians living with HIV/AIDS who are receiving subsidised life-saving drugs has risen five-fold to about 50,000 in three years, a government anti-AIDS body said on Tuesday. A treatment programme launched by the government in 2002 was nearly crippled by funding problems last year, but it was revi
ANALYSIS-Economic success, human disaster in southern Africa: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2005; Peter Apps; MAPUTO - Mozambique stock and bond exchange chief Jussub Nurmamad has seen the value of his fledgling market increase 50 times since 1999 -- the result, he says, of southern Africa s stability and economic growth. For people to invest their money, you have to have stability, he says. Political stability is here. With
South Africa sees shortages of Nestle baby AIDS formula: Reuters NewMedia - August 15, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Swiss food maker Nestle on Monday warned South Africa of possible shortages of a special infant formula which the government has selected to help fight mother-to-child transmission of the AIDS virus. Nestle is South Africa s sole provider of the Pelargon formula, which it says can help reduce
Ranbaxy says WHO puts 7 AIDS drugs back on list: Reuters NewMedia - August 12, 2005; BOMBAY - India s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had re-included seven of its anti-AIDS generic drugs in its pre-qualification list after the drugs were taken off last year due to discrepancies in tests. The WHO dropped three of Ranbaxy s generics last August, saying they had not been
Poor AIDS treatment fails S Africa rape victims -study: Reuters NewMedia - August 12, 2005; Gershwin Wanneburg; JOHANNESBURG - Poor health services and training are failing many rape victims in South Africa , meaning many do not complete treatment designed to prevent them contracting HIV, a new study says. South Africa has the world s highest HIV/AIDS caseload with one in nine people infected, adding the fear of infection to the
Mozambique raises HIV infection rate: Reuters NewMedia - August 10, 2005; Peter Apps and Mateus Chale; MAPUTO - Mozambique revised up its official HIV infection rate to 16.2 percent of the adult population from about 14 percent, the health minister said on Wednesday. Mozambique has been less affected by the killer disease than many of its southern African neighbours, in part because it was isolated by a 16-year civil wa
Concern as Namibia cuts HIV disability grants: Reuters NewMedia - August 10, 2005; Desiewaar Heita; WINDHOEK - AIDS campaigners in Namibia said on Wednesday a government decision to withdraw disability grants from people with HIV who were still capable of working could accelerate the onset of full-blown AIDS. Until now anybody with HIV has been able to claim a monthly disability grant of 300 Namibian dollars but from
Southern Africa fears famine, U.N. lacks funds: Reuters NewMedia - August 10, 2005; Peter Apps; SONGUENE, Mozambique - For villagers in drought-stricken southern Mozambique, this year s food shortages are the worst many can remember, but aid workers fear the world may not respond until it is too late. Across southern Africa, the United Nations says some 10 million people -- many of them already battling HIV and c
Gilead says combo HIV drug fails to work as hoped: Reuters NewMedia - August 9, 2005; Deena Beasley; LOS ANGELES - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Tuesday said the active ingredients of an experimental pill that combined its popular Truvada treatment for HIV with Bristol-Myers Squibb s drug Sustiva were not absorbed in the same way as the ingredients given separate
After the Bell - AIG climbs after rise in profits: Reuters NewMedia - August 9, 2005; NEW YORK, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Shares of Dow component American International Group Inc. climbed 2.6 percent in after-hours trading on Tuesday after the insurer reported higher second-quarter net income. AIG was up $1.58 to $63 on the Inet electronic brokerage system. Shares of Cisco Systems Inc. fell nearly 4 percent to
Jefferies downgrades OraSure, SciClone: Reuters NewMedia - August 9, 2005; BANGALORE - Jefferies & Co on Tuesday downgraded healthcare companies OraSure Technologies Inc. and SciClone Pharmaceuticals Inc.to hold from buy. The brokerage firm, in a reserach note said, Inverness Medical Innovations Inc. acquisition of Abbott Laboratories Inc. s HIV business raises likelihood of lawsuit again
S African business slowly wakes up to AIDS challenge: Reuters NewMedia - August 9, 2005; James Macharia; JOHANNESBURG - When Martin Vosloo told his work colleagues that he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS, some spat in his face and threatened to kill him. That was about six years ago, soon after Vosloo, 48, joined South Africa s power utility Eskom. They spat in my face. I was called names and on two occasions
Britain closes Lesotho embassy: Reuters NewMedia - August 5, 2005; Ntsau Lekhetho; MASERU (Reuters) - Britain has closed its embassy in Lesotho but will still aid the southern African kingdom as it battles HIV, rising poverty, unemployment and food shortages, the High Commissioner said before leaving the country. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office is closing nine embassies and 10 consulates as it
AIDS, Urbanisation Overcrowd S.African Graveyards: Reuters NewMedia - August 3, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - AIDS and a growing urban population are forcing South African officials to find new cemeteries and encourage families to bury several members in the same grave, Johannesburg city authorities said Wednesday. Johannesburg s Alexandra township has no spare grave spaces while Soweto s Avalon cemete
Criminals make killing from fake drugs: Reuters NewMedia - August 1, 2005; Ben Hirschler; LONDON - First it was fake CDs, jeans and Rolex watches. Now organised criminals are turning to counterfeit medicines as the latest money-spinner, with potentially lethal results. Around the world, health authorities are battling a growing trade in fake medicines, which the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates is
Russian drugs abuse "catastrophic" -- police: Reuters NewMedia - July 29, 2005; MOSCOW - Drug abuse in Russia has reached catastrophic proportions, posing a threat to national security, a top anti-narcotics police officer was quoted as saying on Friday. Viktor Khvorostyan, head of the Moscow section of the Federal Narcotics Service, said some four percent of the population, or about six million pe
Study confirms drug cocktails reduce rates of AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 29, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Cocktails of anti-AIDS drugs cut the rate of progression from infection with HIV to full-blown AIDS by 86 percent compared to patients not receiving any treatment, British researchers said on Friday. They found that the effectiveness of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), a combination of a
UN pins hope on microbe buster in AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - July 27, 2005; Andrei Khalip and Maria Pia Palermo; RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Microbe-killing antiseptics hold some of the best promise for giving women a way to fight AIDS, but a shortage of funds is hindering their development, the world s top authority on the pandemic said. While an AIDS vaccine remains largely a dream, microbicides could be available in a few years,
UN Council hears Zimbabwe slum report amid protests: Reuters NewMedia - July 27, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS - The author of a sharply critical U.N. report on slum demolitions in Zimbabwe that have thrown 700,000 people out of their homes or jobs briefed a divided Security Council on Wednesday after Britain forced the 15-member body to hold the hearing. Britain, backed by the United
INTERVIEW - WHO will fail to meet AIDS drugs goal: Reuters NewMedia - July 27, 2005; RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - The World Health Organization will fail to meet its target of having three million people on free HIV/AIDS treatment by the end of this year but will still push ahead for universal access to drugs, the agency said on Tuesday. Dr. Jim Yong Kim, director of the WHO s HIV/AIDS department, said
Methadone urged for AIDS fight in ex-Soviet states: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2005; Andrei Khalip; Russia and its neighbors should lift their ban on using opiates such as methadone to treat addicts who inject drugs, scientists at an international AIDS conference said on Monday. Methadone is essentially an AIDS prevention tool, said professor Chris Beyrer, founding director of the Center for Public Health and Human
Study Shows Circumcision May Reduce AIDS Risk: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2005; RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Circumcising men can help protect them from the AIDS virus, researchers said on Tuesday after finishing the first study that tried using the procedure specifically to prevent infection. But United Nations health officials cautioned that more trials were necessary before they would recommend thi
Brazil Says Still No Deal with Abbott on AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2005; Andrei Khalip and Maria Pia Palermo; RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil has not abandoned its threat to break AIDS drug patents and has yet to strike a deal with U.S. firm Abbott Laboratories to get hold of its technology or buy it at a discount, a government official said on Monday. Earlier this month, just as one Brazilian health minister ste
Glaxo speeds up testing in race for new AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2005; TOKYO/LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc said on Monday it had begun final Phase III trials in June of a new kind of pill that can block the AIDS virus before it enters human cells. The experimental medicine, known as a CCR5 inhibitor and called aplaviroc or GSK 873140, was licensed from Japan s Ono Pharma
Abbott says FDA clears blood instrument system: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2005; CHICAGO, July 25 (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc. said on Monday it received U.S. regulatory approval for an instrument system used to analyze blood for a number of disorders. Abbott said the CELL-DYN Sapphire is a high-volume blood testing instrument that can screen for diseases such as anemia and infection. The i
Incyte shares fall after HIV drug data presented: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2005; NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Shares of Incyte Corp. fell 15 percent on Monday after the company released long-awaited data from a mid-stage trial of its once-a-day experimental pill for treating HIV. Despite apparent disappointment from investors, the company said it was pleased with the results and planned to move ah
L.A. doctor indicted for 'subdosing' AIDS patients: Reuters NewMedia - July 21, 2005; LOS ANGELES - A well-known California AIDS doctor accused of subdosing his patients -- giving them less than the prescribed amount of medication to boost his profits -- has been indicted on federal charges. Dr. George Kooshian, who has twice been sued over subdosing claims and settled both cases out of court, was indic
Two big Indian states could undermine AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - July 21, 2005; Kamil Zaheer; NEW DELHI - India needs to dramatically scale up the battle against AIDS in its impoverished and densely populated north if it is to avoid a disastrous spike in HIV infections, the country s AIDS control chief said on Thursday. S.Y. Quraishi, head of the state-run National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), said the eco
Lesotho textile workers threaten strike over pay: Reuters NewMedia - July 21, 2005; Ntsau Lekhetho; MASERU - Lesotho s textile unions threatened to strike on Wednesday after wage talks with the industry hit hard by Chinese competition deadlocked. Lesotho s textile industry has been hammered after the elimination of a global quota system at the end of 2004 left it unable to compete with Chinese products. Unions say wo
A good reason to be a virgin...: Reuters NewMedia - July 20, 2005; KAMPALA - A Ugandan member of parliament has pledged to reward girls for their chastity by paying their university fees if they are virgins when they leave school, a local newspaper said Wednesday. Bbaale County MP Sulaiman Madada said any girl in his district who wanted to take part in the scheme aimed at promoting gi
Africa faces shortage of AIDS medics-Clinton: Reuters NewMedia - July 20, 2005; Helen Nyambura; DAR ES SALAAM - Africans infected by HIV/AIDS are receiving cheaper life-prolonging drugs but lack the medical personnel to administer them and manage their treatment, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Wednesday. Clinton spoke in Tanzania during a six-nation tour of Africa to see how the AIDS pandemic is affec
Gilead quarterly profit up 76 pct on HIV drug sales: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2005; Deena Beasley; LOS ANGELES - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Tuesday said its second-quarter profit rose 76 percent, driven by strong demand for its two-drug combination pill for HIV -- the virus that causes AIDS. The Foster City, California-based biotechnology company posted a net profit of $196 million, or 41 cents per share, compared with
African strife, rivals, HIV may hit S Africa Telkom: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; JOHANNESBURG - Tougher competition at home, strife in Africa, a new boss and soaring HIV/AIDS rates could weigh on profits at South African fixed-line phone company Telkom, the company said. Telkom also said in a regulatory filing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made public late on Monday that tougher pr
Rwandan genocide widows find new market for crafts: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2005; Arthur Asiimwe; KIGALI - A leading U.S. department store chain has agreed to sell baskets hand-woven by Rwandan genocide widows in a deal that could generate millions of dollars for survivors of the 1994 massacre, an official said on Tuesday. The women will sell their so-called peace baskets and other crafts to Federated Department St
Vertex says FDA grants HIV drug fast-track status: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2005; CHICAGO - U.S. regulators have granted fast-track approval status to an experimental drug being developed by GlaxoSmithKline and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for drug-resistant HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, Vertex said on Tuesday. Vertex said Glaxo plans to start a Phase IIb study of the compound, dubbed 640385, in t
S Africa's Aspen gets Merck & Co. AIDS drug licence: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2005; JOHANNESBURG - Africa s biggest generic drugs maker, Aspen Pharmacare said on Tuesday a Merck & Co. subsidiary had given it a licence to produce and supply the HIV/AIDS treatment drug efavirenz . Shares in Aspen rose by as much as 1.1 percent to 27.55 rand after the announcement, but pared the gains to trade 0.
Myanmar Spreads AIDS in Asia, Study Says: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2005; UNITED NATIONS - Heroin users and prostitutes in Myanmar have spread HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, through large parts of Asia, according to a Council on Foreign Relations study released on Monday. Skip to next paragraph Reuters The use of so-called genetic fingerprinting now allows scientists to identify changes in
AIDS strikes at some countries' ability to govern: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2005; Irwin Arieff; UNITED NATIONS - Poor nations devastated by AIDS are coming under pressure to funnel what few drugs they can afford solely to their political and military elites, a move likely to stir unrest among the rest of the population, a Council on Foreign Relations study said on Monday. There are countries right now where membe
US warns Roche: HIV drug salesperson misleading: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2005; The FDA says a salesperson for the Swiss drug company made false claims about anti-HIV drug Fuzeon. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Roche Holding AG salesperson made false claims about how well the drugmaker s anti-HIV drug Fuzeon works, the Food and Drug Administration said Monday. At a November 2004 meeting on infections di
Clinton opens Lesotho clinic, says must stop AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2005; Ntsau Lekhetho; MASERU, July 18 (Reuters) - Lesotho will cease to exist unless it can tackle an HIV rate of around 30 percent, former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Monday as he opened a clinic in the impoverished mountain kingdom s capital. Clinton is on a six-nation tour of Africa seeing how the AIDS pandemic is affecting child
AIDS Torch Celebrates Mandela's 87th Birthday: Reuters NewMedia - July 18, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa celebrated Nelson Mandela s 87th birthday on Monday, lighting a special torch in his apartheid prison cell as part of a new nationwide drive to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. The torch was lit just after midnight on Robben Island, the former apartheid prison off Cape Town where Ma
Clinton Takes Cheap AIDS Drugs to African Children: Reuters NewMedia - July 17, 2005; MAPUTO (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton hopes his foundation will help treat more than 60,000 children suffering from HIV/AIDS as part of a plan to fight the disease in poor countries, he said on Sunday. Clinton was speaking at a children s hospital in the Mozambique capital of Maputo on the first leg
Singapore to inform spouses of HIV patients: Reuters NewMedia - July 15, 2005; SINGAPORE - Singapore , facing a rise in AIDS cases, will make it mandatory for spouses of HIV patients to be informed of their partner s illness. The health ministry said it was the first time official sanction was being given to breach patient confidentiality, but the measure was necessary to protect the health of th
India clears human trials for second AIDS vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - July 14, 2005; Krittivas Mukherjee; NEW DELHI - India has approved human volunteer trials for the country s second preventive vaccine against HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, health officials said on Thursday. Home to the second-largest number of people living with the killer virus after South Africa , India started human trials on its firs
Zimbabwe turns to retired nurses to ease brain drain: Reuters NewMedia - July 15, 2005; HARARE - Zimbabwe will rehire retired nurses to help ease a critical staff shortage in public hospitals caused in part by the exodus of health care workers to Europe and Australia , the health minister said on Thursday. Zimbabwe s public hospitals have a shortage of about 3,000 nurses. With an estimated unemployment ra
U.S. FDA OKs Generic AIDS Drug for Overseas Use: Reuters NewMedia - July 14, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday tentatively approved a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc s AIDS drug Retrovir, or AZT , allowing it to be used overseas as part of a U.S. plan to fight global AIDS. The generic form of the anti-retroviral drug, made by Indian drugmaker
Rise in US drugs needle exchanges, study shows: Reuters NewMedia - July 14, 2005; Paul Simao; ATLANTA (Reuters) - The number of syringes traded at needle exchange sites grew in the United States despite efforts by political conservatives to stop the programs, which they say promote drug use under the cover of HIV prevention. About 24.9 million syringes were exchanged at clinics, mobile vans and other sites in 2
Mrs Bush, Cherie Blair in Rwanda remember victims: Reuters NewMedia - July 14, 2005; Tabassum Zakaria; KIGALI - U.S. first lady Laura Bush and Cherie Blair, wife of the British prime minister, paid tribute on Thursday to thousands who died in Rwanda s genocide and observed a moment of silence for London s bomb victims. I very much wanted to come here to see the reality of what happened during the genocide. I am very mov
S Africa police slammed for firing on AIDS activists: Reuters NewMedia - July 14, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Activists condemned South African police on Thursday for firing rubber bullets and smoke grenades at AIDS protesters marching on a hospital to demand the government improve access to life-prolonging drugs. Forty people were injured and 10 treated for gunshot wounds after police fired on protest
India asks people to save "wickets" in AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2005; Kamil Zaheer; Cricket-mad India is mixing cricket and humour to promote safe sex and fight AIDS in a bold pilot campaign warning people to save their wickets from unwanted googlies and protect their stumps . India has more than five million HIV/AIDS cases, about the same as the AIDS capital, South A
Los Angeles blacks still fare poorly, study shows: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2005; Alexandria Sage; LOS ANGELES - Blacks in America s second-largest city fare the worst among all major races in education, health, economics, housing and criminal justice, according to a study released on Wednesday. The State of Black Los Angeles, prepared by the United Way and the Urban League of Los Angeles, said the promise of the Am
World Bank approves $240 mln in loans to Madagascar: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2005; WASHINGTON - The World Bank approved loans totaling nearly $240 million for Madagascar on Tuesday for infrastructure development, HIV/AIDS prevention and economic reforms. The development lender granted $129.8 million to help the government of the Indian Ocean island build and rehabilitate infrastructure that will spur
For less than a coffee a day, many Indians die early: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2005; Terry Friel; SILIGURI, India - Niram Sharma is 28, jobless and dying. He says he is lucky. For, unlike Niram, most of the new friends he has made at HIV/AIDS support groups in this bustling Indian trading town can t afford the medicine that could give them 10 to 15 more years of life. The cost? Just 1,300 rupees ($29.85) a month --
R&D to build value for Numico shareholders: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2005; Karl Emerick Hanuska; AMSTERDAM, July 13 (Reuters) - Research and development are a key to building value for shareholders in Dutch food group Numico and are driving both its core businesses, the executive board member responsible said on Wednesday. Ajay Puri, a former executive of Coca Cola s Minute Maid company, said that as Europe s larg
U.S. FDA OKs generic AIDS combo drug for overseas: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2005; WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday tentatively approved a generic version of GlaxoSmithKline Plc s AIDS drug Retrovir, or AZT , allowing it to be used overseas as part of a U.S. plan to fight global AIDS. The generic form of the anti-retroviral drug, made by Indian drugmaker
S.Africa health dept sharply hikes AIDS estimate: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - New South African figures say more than 6.5 million of the country s 47 million people may now be HIV-positive, a sharp jump on previous estimates likely to fuel debate on the extent of the country s HIV/AIDS pandemic. The Department of Health, releasing a 2004 study of women at antenatal clinics, said r
India says over 7,200 died of AIDS in two decades: Reuters NewMedia - July 10, 2005; Krittivas Mukherjee; CALCUTTA, India - At least 7,200 people have died of AIDS in India, the world s second worst affected nation, since an official count began two decades ago, a top health official said on Sunday. The figure was a cumulative estimate which most likely suffered from under-reporting, said S.Y. Qureshi, director of the stat
Calif. puts medical marijuana program on hold: Reuters NewMedia - July 8, 2005; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Following a Supreme Court ruling that said the U.S. government could prosecute medical marijuana use, California officials said Friday they would stop issuing identification cards to state residents who smoke marijuana to treat medical conditions. The state program has been suspended pending a
African business key to AIDS fight - Holbrooke: Reuters NewMedia - July 7, 2005; James Macharia; CULLINAN MINE, South Africa , July 7 (Reuters) - Africa s businesses are a key weapon in the war against HIV/AIDS but thus far have not done enough to combat the epidemic, Richard Holbrooke said on Thursday. The former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who now heads the New York-based Global Business Coalition (GBC
Glenmark to develop Napo Pharma's diarrhea drug: Reuters NewMedia - July 7, 2005; BOMBAY - Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. said on Thursday Napo Pharmaceuticals Inc. had licensed its anti-diarrheal drug crofelemer to the Indian drug maker for further development and sale in India and some other markets. Crofelemer targets gastrointestinal ailments and is in advanced clinical development to treat AIDS-
War, prostitution fuel AIDS epidemic in Ivory Coast: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2005; James Knight and Katrina Manson; FERKESSEDOUGOU, Ivory Coast - Love me , says the slogan above a red heart emblazoned on Kati Soro s T-shirt, with a condom . A foot soldier in a second battle raging alongside Ivory Coast s civil war, she is on the front line fighting AIDS. Soro, 20, became a member of her local AIDS awareness association in the northe
Par Pharmaceutical gets FDA approval on Megace ES: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Drugmaker Par Pharmaceutical Cos. on Wednesday said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its Megace ES oral suspension for the treatment of anorexia, cachexia and weight loss in AIDS patients. The company said Megace ES was developed with nanocrystal technology of Elan Pharma Internat
Drugs body says Brazil to lose from AIDS patent move: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2005; GENEVA, July 6 (Reuters) - The global pharmaceutical industry body IFPMA warned on Wednesday that Brazil s decision to break a U.S.-held AIDS drug patent would turn foreign firms against cooperating with the country s health programmes. In a statement on the long-mooted Brazilian move, expected to go into force later o
Angelina Jolie adopts Ethiopian AIDS orphan: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2005; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actress Angelina Jolie is adopting a newborn Ethiopian girl orphaned by AIDS, People magazine reported on Tuesday. Jolie, who has toured the world as goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees, said the baby would be named Zahara Marley Jolie but would not reveal th
Japan's AIDS stigma strong, HIV-positive woman says: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2005; Elaine Lies; KOBE, Japan (Reuters) - The young Japanese woman had just given birth to her first baby when her husband fell ill with a fever that would not go down. Soon after, he was diagnosed with AIDS -- and she found out she was HIV-positive. Eleven years later, the stigma against people like her in Japan is still so strong that
Chance to Reverse Asia AIDS Epidemic Could Be Lost: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2005; KOBE, Japan (Reuters) - An international AIDS conference ended here on Tuesday with warnings that a window of opportunity to reverse the epidemic in Asia, where an explosion of the disease may loom, is closing rapidly and urgent action is needed. One in four new infections occurs in Asia, home to more than half the wor
Miss Universe Takes HIV Test to Boost Awareness: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A perfectly groomed Miss Universe took an AIDS test in a Johannesburg hospital on Tuesday and said she hoped her fame would persuade others to do the same. Immaculate in a white suit, heels, low-cut top and a glittering smile, Russian-born Canadian Natalie Glebova said she wanted to use her tim
Italy moving ahead in human trials of AIDS vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - July 5, 2005; Shasta Darlington; ROME (Reuters) - Encouraged by an initial trial, Italy wants to launch a larger-scale human test of its AIDS vaccine in Africa in the hope of having it ready for the market by 2011, the project s chief researcher said on Tuesday. Barbara Ensoli of Italy s National Health Institute began the small-scale trial involving
US Clears Generic AIDS Drug for Global Relief Plan: Reuters NewMedia - July 4, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators on Friday gave tentative approval to Aurobindo Pharma s generic AIDS drug stavudine, a step that makes the medicine available for purchase under President George W. Bush s global AIDS relief plan. Stavudine is a generic version of the Bristol-Myers Squ
Better trade terms key to growth-African official: Reuters NewMedia - July 4, 2005; Manoah Esipisu; SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Debt relief and increased aid will inspire investment in Africa but the key to growth is better trade terms, a senior African Union official said on Monday. Elisabeth Tankeu, the AU s Commissioner for Trade and Industry, doubted Western countries were ready to cut subsidies and allow Africa to
Agenda for Gleneagles G8 summit: Reuters NewMedia - July 4, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Details of agenda to be discussed by leaders of the Group of Eight nations when they gather in Scotland from July 6-8. Declarations are expected on Africa, climate change, tsunami aid, economics/oil prices and world trade talks, Middle East peaace, counter-terrorism, non-proliferation and HIV/AIDS.
As Live 8 echoes fade, Africa shapes message for G8: Reuters NewMedia - July 3, 2005; Opheera McDoom; SIRTE, Libya (Reuters) - Exploiting the momentum of a star-studded global anti-poverty campaign, African countries called on Sunday for stepped up pressure on rich nations to help them fight hunger, disease and war on the continent. Leaders of many of the 53 member nations of the African Union (AU) were arriving for a
Canada Red Cross tries to put blood scandal to rest: Reuters NewMedia - July 1, 2005; Victims of Canada s tainted blood scandal had a chance to air their stories in an Ontario court on Thursday as the Canadian Red Cross was formally sentenced for distributing blood products contaminated by donors who suffered from HIV and hepatitis C. A court in Hamilton, Ontario, handed the agency the maximum fine of C
Aurobindo Pharma gets US nod for generic AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - July 1, 2005; BOMBAY - Indian drug maker Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. has received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the oral formulation of generic AIDS drug efavirenz. Efavirenz is an antiviral that is used with other AIDS medications. It is part of the nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor class, whi
Pfizer Drops Development of Two Drugs: Reuters NewMedia - July 1, 2005; NEW YORK - Pfizer Inc. said on Friday it is dropping development of two drugs, one to treat HIV and one to treat smoker s lung and asthma, after they failed to show any substantial benefit to patients. The world s largest drug company said it is dropping the HIV treatment, capravirine, based on the results of two mid-s
Asia in Danger of AIDS Explosion, U.N. Warns: Reuters NewMedia - July 1, 2005; KOBE, Japan - The risk of AIDS spreading in Asia is higher than ever and there is a danger of an explosion of the deadly disease if prevention efforts are not intensified now, the top United Nations AIDS official said on Friday. One in four new infections occurs in Asia, with the disease having spread to all provinces
African poverty in a league all its own: Reuters NewMedia - June 30, 2005; Ed Stoddard; JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - Crosby is a rich man by Africa s standards. He makes around $9 a day guarding cars by a Johannesburg park, where well-heeled suburbanites walk their dogs and give him loose change for minding their vehicles. It s enough for living, I can eat and get taxis to this place. Some peopl
U.S. House restores $165 million in HUD spending: Reuters NewMedia - June 30, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted to add $165 million to planned federal housing spending late Wednesday, keeping alive a program to rebuild severely distressed public housing. In amendments to a transportation, housing, treasury and judiciary appropriations bill, the House voted to increas
Laura Bush to visit Africa, focus on women, AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 30, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First lady Laura Bush, continuing a string of high-profile solo international trips during her husband s second term, will visit Africa next month to highlight the role of women and fighting AIDS. Next month, Laura will travel to South Africa , Tanzania and
G8, UN must act to get new AIDS drugs to poor-MSF: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; Robert Evans; GENEVA (Reuters) - Rich countries governments and the World Health Organisation (WHO) must push for quick moves to ensure that the latest AIDS drugs can reach poorer nations at low cost, the MSF medical charity said on Wednesday. MSF, or Medecins Sans Frontieres, said action -- such as compelling big pharmaceutical com
WHO likely to miss "3 by 5" AIDS drug target: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - A million people in poor countries are receiving life-saving AIDS drugs but the World Health Organisation is unlikely to reach its goal of getting three times that number on treatment by the end of 2005. Dr Jim Yong Kim, director of the WHO s HIV/AIDS department, admitted the 3 by 5 target was ambiti
How AIDS drugs save lives: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Antiretroviral drugs have transformed HIV infection from a death sentence to a manageable, chronic disorder for patients in the West. But most people in the developing world still do not have access to treatment. The World Health Organisation had hoped to have 3 million people on AIDS drugs by the en
US monitoring Brazil plan to break AIDS drug patent: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is keenly following Brazil s plan to break a patent held by a U.S. drug company to cut treatment costs for the country s tens of thousands of AIDS sufferers, a U.S. official said on Tuesday. We are monitoring this latest development closely through our embassy in Brasilia and he
House clears $20.3 billion in foreign aid: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; Vicki Allen; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday backed a steep cut in funds President Bush sought for his signature program to reward countries that make economic and democratic reforms as it passed a $20.3 billion foreign aid bill. The bill that cleared the House 393-32 also was $2.5 billion below
Ethiopian orphans fend for themselves: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; Katie Nguyen; ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Tadeau Abera wants to be like the other children chasing through the rain-splashed alleyways of her shanty town on the edge of Addis Ababa. Instead, the 13 year-old wakes at dawn to prepare breakfast for her siblings, fetch the water, wash their clothes and clean their one-roomed home. Once the
China at turning point in AIDS fight - WHO: Reuters NewMedia - June 29, 2005; Elaine Lies; TOKYO (Reuters) - China is at a turning point in its AIDS fight, capable of building on current prevention measures or flagging and putting millions of lives at risk, a senior World Health Organisation (WHO) official said on Wednesday. The darker side of the economic boom in the world s most populous country is that gr
Science to give women new tool against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2005; NEW HIV prevention treatments for women may be available as early as 2009, a top researcher said recently. Microbicides, which women might be able to use in gel or cream form to shield themselves from HIV infection, hold some of the best promise for fighting a disease which continues to defy efforts to create a vaccine
High risk, uphill fight for Asia in AIDS epidemic: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2005; Elaine Lies; AIDS could spiral out of control in Asia, home to more than half the world s population, unless authorities step up their fight against the disease, experts say. One in four new infections occurs in Asia, which includes economically booming China , where the virus has spread to all provinces, and
Ugandan MPs back lifting presidential term limits: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2005; Daniel Wallis; KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda s parliament voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to scrap presidential term limits, giving its clearest indication yet it would support a campaign to keep former rebel Yoweri Museveni in power. Although the move requires another vote in late July, it was the first time MPs have been asked about t
Russian prisoners slash wrists, necks in protest: Reuters NewMedia - June 28, 2005; MOSCOW (Reuters) - Several hundred Russian prisoners slashed their wrists, necks or legs on Tuesday in a coordinated protest over breaches of their rights, local media reported. State television reported that 179 inmates at the Lgov prison camp in the Kursk region, about 500 km south of Moscow, had sought medical help
Live 8 shows power, pitfalls of stars with a cause: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2005; Mike Collett-White; LONDON (Reuters) - When aid groups approach the media to draw attention to a problem, the response is more often Who have you got? than What is the issue? Driven by an insatiable appetite for celebrity, newspapers and broadcasters often want a recognizable face as much as a theme, helping explain why stars get involved
U.S. vaccine works against Lassa fever in monkeys: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A genetically engineered virus may offer the first effective vaccine against Lassa fever, a sometimes deadly hemorrhagic fever common in West Africa, U.S. and Canadian scientists said on Monday. The vaccine successfully protected four monkeys against Lassa, a virus that sometimes causes high feve
High risk, uphill fight for Asia in AIDS epidemic: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2005; Elaine Lies; TOKYO (Reuters) - AIDS could spiral out of control in Asia, home to more than half the world s population, unless authorities step up their fight against the disease, experts say. One in four new infections occurs in Asia, which includes economically booming China , where the virus has spread to all provinces, and
U.S. aid for Africa is up, but short of Bush claim: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. aid to Africa has increased 56 percent over the last four years, but has not tripled as President Bush claimed earlier this month, according to a report on Monday by the Washington-based Brookings Institution. Excluding food and security assistance, U.S. aid to Sub-Saharan Africa rose just 3
Brazil aims for quick license on US AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - June 27, 2005; Robert Evans; GENEVA (Reuters) - Brazil said on Monday it expected to formally break the patent on a U.S. firm s key drug by July 6 in a drive to slash costs of treatment for tens of thousands of AIDS sufferers in the country. Reporting the action at a news conference, Health Minister Humberto Costa said it was covered by World Trad
Brazil Says to Break Patent on Abbott AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia -June 27, 2005; Tiago Pariz; BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil s government will break a patent on Abbott Laboratories Inc. s Kaletra AIDS drug in order to provide a cheaper generic version for its treatment program, Health Minister Humberto Costa said on Friday. This is the first time that the governm
Live 8 shows power, pitfalls of stars with a cause: Reuters NewMedia -June 26, 2005; Mike Collett-White; LONDON (Reuters) - When aid groups approach the media to draw attention to a problem, the response is more often Who have you got? than What is the issue? Driven by an insatiable appetite for celebrity, newspapers and broadcasters often want a recognisable face as much as a theme, helping explain why stars get involved
Indian AIDS couple keep love hopes alive: Reuters NewMedia -June 26, 2005; AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - Indian matchmakers are helping HIV/AIDS sufferers find partners, advertising in the matrimonial columns of weekend newspapers and arranging weddings. Matchmakers write the ads, keep the identities of would-be brides and grooms secret and arrange counseling for couples facing the rest of the
$5.1 billion could save 6 million children - study: Reuters NewMedia -June 24, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Six million children who die each year from preventable diseases could be saved if richer nations gave another $5.1 billion a year, researchers said on Friday. That s the amount they calculate would cover the costs of providing drugs, vitamins and vaccines to treat sick babies in 42 countries that ac
U.S. clears generic AIDS drug for overseas use: Reuters NewMedia -June 24, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Indian company s generic version of a Bristol-Myers Squibb drug used to treat HIV was tentatively approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday for use overseas. The action allows Aurobindo Pharma s version of Sustiva , known chemically as efavirenz, t
African poverty in a league all its own: Reuters NewMedia - June 24, 2005; Ed Stoddard; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Crosby is a rich man by Africa s standards. He makes around 65 rand ($9) a day guarding cars by a Johannesburg park, where well-heeled suburbanites walk their dogs and give him loose change for minding their vehicles. It s enough for living, I can eat and get taxis to this place. Some people al
Gilead Seeks to End Tamiflu Pact with Roche: Reuters NewMedia - June 24, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. on Thursday said it is seeking to regain rights to its flu pill Tamiflu from Roche Holding AG because the Swiss drugmaker has failed to adequately promote the drug. Gilead accused Roche of a material breach of the companies 1996 development and licensing d
Roche Sees No Major Impact from Tamiflu Claim: Reuters NewMedia - June 24, 2005; Tom Armitage; ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG does not expect a material financial impact from U.S. biotech firm Gilead s demand for the return of rights to flu drug Tamiflu and some $18 million in royalties. Roche rejected Gilead s claims made late on Thursday that the Swiss company had failed to adequately promote the drug and
$5.1 billion could save 6 mln children - study: Reuters NewMedia - June 23, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Six million children who die each year from preventable diseases could be saved if richer nations gave another $5.1 billion a year, researchers said on Friday. That s the amount they calculate would cover the costs of providing drugs, vitamins and vaccines to treat sick babies in 42 countries that ac
US approves Boehringer drug for resistant HIV: Reuters NewMedia - June 23, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boehringer Ingelheim won U.S. approval on Wednesday to sell its AIDS medicine Aptivus for treating adults with drug-resistant HIV infections in combination with Abbott Laboratories Inc. s Norvir . Germany s Boehringer, the world s largest pri
Health problems in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - June 23, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Africa is ravaged by preventable and curable illnesses but healthcare is often non-existent, sub-standard or too expensive for all but an elite. Following is a list of some of the continent s major health problems: * AIDS - Sub-Saharan Africa, with just over 10 percent of the world s population, is h
Agony of Africa's sick pressures G8 leaders: Reuters NewMedia - June 23, 2005; Andrew Cawthorne; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Benta Adhiambo s wan features are barely distinguishable in the fetid darkness of her tin-roof shack behind a sewage trench in one of Africa s largest slums. So it s the sounds that give away her appalling condition -- the AIDS-stricken Kenyan woman wheezes, moves with pain and struggles to speak ev
AIDS money must triple to $22 billion in 2008-U.N.: Reuters NewMedia - June 22, 2005; GENEVA (Reuters) - Global funding for AIDS needs to triple to $22 billion in 2008 to reverse the spread of the killer disease in the developing world, the United Nations said on Wednesday. UNAIDS , the U.N. agency, said financing from all sources must rise sharply from next year when $15 billion would be needed, compar
Fear, graft and silence shroud Uganda sex attacks: Reuters NewMedia - June 22, 2005; Daniel Wallis; GULU, Uganda (Reuters) - When the young Ugandan realized the woman he had raped in the dark of the refugee camp was his mother, he hung himself from a beam in their hut. The incident shocked even his neighbors, hardened as they are by years of sheltering from clashes between government troops and brutal rebels that hav
Pope to convoke big Vatican meeting on Africa: Reuters NewMedia - June 22, 2005; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict announced on Wednesday that he would summon a special synod of Roman Catholic bishops to discuss the church s role in solving the problems of Africa. Benedict told pilgrims at his weekly general audience that he planned to follow through with the intention of his predecessor, John
HIV positive African clergy fight AIDS stigma: Reuters NewMedia - June 22, 2005; Katie Nguyen; NAIROBI (Reuters) - A group of African clergy infected with HIV is urging the faithful to test for the virus and admit their status to help fight stigma hampering efforts to stem AIDS in the worst-affected continent. Africa is home to 25 million of the world s 38 million people with HIV/AIDS despite accounting for only
Allion Healthcare IPO prices at $13 per share: Reuters NewMedia - June 21, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - The initial public offering of Allion Healthcare Inc. priced at $13 per share, which was within its expected range, an underwriter said on Tuesday. The specialty drug distributor, which focuses on patients with HIV and AIDS, had filed for an offering of 4 million shares in the estimated pricing ran
S.Africa court mulls AIDS drugs defamation: Reuters NewMedia - June 21, 2005; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - A South African court reserved judgment on Tuesday on an attempt by the country s most influential AIDS activist group to block an AIDS dissident from labelling it a front for pharmaceutical companies. German doctor Matthias Rath and his Rath Foundation have accused the Treatment Action Campaign (
Generic Drugs Key to Uphill AIDS Fight, WHO Says: Reuters NewMedia - June 21, 2005; Ben Hirschler; VALLETTA (Reuters) - Generic drugs hold the key to AIDS treatment in the developing world, although a target of getting 3 million people on therapy by the end of 2005 may now be out of reach, according to the World Health Organization . Hans Hogerzeil, its director of medicines policy and standards, said around half of
RPT-U.S. Clears 2 Generic AIDS Drugs for Global Relief Plan: Reuters NewMedia - June 21, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators gave tentative approval on Monday to two generic versions of Boehringer Ingelheim s HIV drug nevirapine , which allows the medicines to be used as part of President George W. Bush s plan to fight AIDS around the world. The generic medicines will be sold by Indian firms
Glaxo inks AIDS vaccine deal with non-profit group: Reuters NewMedia - June 21, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc is to develop an experimental AIDS vaccine in collaboration with a non-profit group, in the first such public-private HIV vaccine partnership involving a major company. Jean Stephenne, head of GSK Biologicals, the vaccines arm of Europe s biggest drugmaker, said on Tuesday the dea
Zambia charges key president's ally over graft: Reuters NewMedia - June 20, 2005; LUSAKA (Reuters) - An ally of Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa was hit with fresh charges of corruption relating to supplies of AIDS drugs Monday, a month after a government decision to halt a graft case against him drew donor protests. Independent Anti-Corruption Task Force spokesman Mpazi Sinyangwe said Kashiwa Bulay
Zambia to put debt relief into AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - June 20, 2005; Shapi Shacinda; LUSAKA, (Reuters) - Zambia will use millions of dollars freed up by debt relief to provide AIDS drugs for 100,000 people by the end of the year, a minister said on Monday. Finance Minister Ng andu Magande said the plan to provide free anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) was approved by cabinet last week after Zambia received
Indian, Pakistani prostitutes discuss AIDS lessons: Reuters NewMedia - June 20, 2005; Krittivas Mukherjee; CALCUTTA, India (Reuters) - A group of Pakistani prostitutes has been picking up tips in safe sex and brothel management in one of India s biggest red light districts in Calcutta, health activists said. Indian prostitutes have been showing their Pakistani peers around the crowded, dirty Sonagachi district -- where arou
Africa needs deeds not words from G8 - ActionAid: Reuters NewMedia - June 19, 2005; Jeremy Lovell; LONDON (Reuters) - Leaders of the world s richest nations have a unique opportunity to start digging Africa out of poverty when they meet in Scotland next month, pressure group ActionAid said on Monday. Citing a stream of broken promises from past summits of the Group of Eight industrialised nations, ActionAid called f
Wolfowitz applauds Africa's anti-corruption fight: Reuters NewMedia - June 18, 2005; Lesley Wroughton; PRETORIA, South Africa (Reuters) - New World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, wrapping up a four-nation African tour, on Saturday hailed a new leadership in Africa that was fighting corruption. Wolfowitz was speaking at a news conference standing beside South African President Thabo Mbeki, who last week fired his graft-t
Wolfowitz meets Mandela, plays with Soweto children: Reuters NewMedia - June 18, 2005; Lesley Wroughton; SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - New World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz met former South African President Nelson Mandela and played football with children in the Soweto township on Saturday as he continued his tour of Africa. The former U.S. deputy defense secretary, who was one of the architects of the
More Africans in cities than countryside by 2030-UN: Reuters NewMedia - June 17, 2005; Andrew Cawthorne; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Sub-Saharan Africa s traditionally rural-based society is fast disappearing, with more than half its roughly 700 million people seen living in urban areas by 2030, the United Nations said Friday. The head of the U.N. housing project Habitat said Africa s chaotic urbanisation was -- together with the
House again defeats medical marijuana use: Reuters NewMedia - June 16, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Wednesday refused to allow cancer patients and other severely ill people to smoke marijuana to ease pain, as opponents argued the measure was a back-door attempt to legalize the substance. By a vote of 264-161, the House rejected a measure that would have stopped f
US House panel trims Bush's pet foreign aid plan: Reuters NewMedia - June 16, 2005; Vicki Allen; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee on Thursday voted to cut back funds President Bush had requested for his signature foreign aid program, one day after the head of the program announced his resignation. The $20.3 billion foreign aid bill approved unanimously by the House Appropriations foreign aid s
Internet fuels risky sex in gay, bisexual men-study: Reuters NewMedia - June 16, 2005; Paul Simao; ATLANTA (Reuters) - Gay and bisexual men who meet partners over the Internet are more likely to engage in risky sex but have a greater tendency to do so with people who have the same HIV status, a U.S. study said on Wednesday. Forty-one percent of men who arranged to have sex with other men through the Internet reporte
Aurobindo Pharma Gets U.S. Nod for AIDS Generic: Reuters NewMedia - June 16, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday granted tentative approval for Indian drug maker Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. (ARBN.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) to market a generic version of the AIDS drug lamivudine. The tentative approval allows the company to sell its tablets as part of the U.S.
AIDS "tsunami" threatens Africa children - Red Cross: Reuters NewMedia - June 15, 2005; Alistair Thomson; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The Red Cross issued a warning of a silent tsunami wiping out an entire generation as it launched a campaign on Wednesday to help millions of African children orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies estimates 12.3 million
Zambia to reopen graft case: Reuters NewMedia - June 15, 2005; Shapi Shacinda; LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia will reopen the trial of a close ally of President Levy Mwanawasa accused of diverting cash meant for AIDS drugs, a senior official said on Wednesday, bowing to pressure from donors and the public. The move came a day after South African President Thabo Mbeki sacked his graft-tainted deputy Ja
Zambian army wins praise for battle against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 14, 2005; Manoah Esipisu; KAFUE, Zambia (Reuters) - The army corporal sitting on a wooden bench at a dusty camp outside the Zambian town of Kafue has seen brutal warfare at first hand. But he and his brothers-in-arms are now fighting a biological enemy as lethal as any hostile army. He and a dozen other soldiers listen to a peer educator preach
Blacks hardest hit by HIV in U.S. - report: Reuters NewMedia - June 13, 2005; Paul Simao; ATLANTA (Reuters) - Blacks account for nearly half of the more than 1 million Americans with HIV, according to federal data released on Monday that suggests the battlelines of the nation s AIDS epidemic are marked as much by race as by sexual preference. An estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 Americans were living with HI
Bush pledges to speed up aid to Africa: Reuters NewMedia - June 13, 2005; Steve Holland; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush told African leaders on Monday he would work harder and faster to accelerate aid to the region under a heavily promoted but little-used program after they complained the system was too bureaucratic. Bush has held up the Millennium Challenge Account as a landmark program t
AIDS Discrimination in China Rife - Vice Minister: Reuters Newmedia - June 12, 2005; SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has drafted a new law to protect people infected with the AIDS virus in a country where discrimination against those suffering from the condition is rife, a senior Chinese health official said on Monday. China, for years criticized as being slow to recognize to the spread of AIDS in the count
Pope says Church leading African fight against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 10, 2005; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict attacked the use of condoms to fight HIV/AIDS on Friday in his first comments on the disease, saying the Church was leading the fight against the epidemic by teaching chastity and fidelity. In a speech to bishops from AIDS-wracked southern Africa, the Pope said the Church s ban on
Africans seek Bush backing for aid, debt reduction: Reuters NewMedia - June 10, 2005; Manoah Esipisu; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Five African leaders will press President Bush next week to significantly increase aid and back a British plan for debt reduction for the globe s poorest continent, officials said on Friday. Presidents John Kufuor of Ghana , Tandja Mamadou of Niger , Festus Mogae of
Transcript of BBC Radio interview with UK's Brown: Reuters NewMedia - June 10, 2005; LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - Following is a transcript of an interview by BBC Radio with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, broadcast on Friday ahead of a meeting of G8 Finance Ministers in London. We ll have to see at Gleneagles (how many countries will sign up to the International Finance Facility), but for
Global Fund grant to Russia to boost AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; GENEVA, June 9 (Reuters) - The number of Russian AIDS patients receiving life-extending drugs will increase ten-fold to 15,500 under a two-year project, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria said. Prisoners, drug users and sex workers will be the major beneficiaries of a $34.2 million grant to Russia,
China's migrant workers a high AIDS risk - expert: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; Tan Ee Lyn; HONG KONG (Reuters) - China faces a tragic surge in AIDS/HIV cases unless it curbs the spread of the disease among the vast country s transient rural workforce, a Chinese health expert said on Thursday. Wan Shao Ping, a medical doctor and project officer with the China-UK HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Project in southwe
S.Africa urged to quadruple patients on AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; Andrew Quinn; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa s leading AIDS group challenged the government on Thursday to quadruple the number of people getting free HIV drugs by the end of the year to 200,000. The figure of 200,000 roughly equals the number of citizens the disease kills each year. The Treatment Action Campaign,
Singapore Bans Benetton Magazine for Sexual Content: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The latest edition of a magazine published by Italian fashion house Benetton has been banned in Singapore because of its explicit sexual content, the government s media regulator said on Thursday. Colors magazine s spring issue contains explicit illustrations and photos of nudity and sexual acts,
UN presses rich nations to meet commitment to poor: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; Irwin Arieff; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Rich nations must live up to commitments made in 2000 to give poor countries more aid, debt relief and trade benefits, or the world will miss key anti-poverty goals over the next 10 years, the United Nations said on Thursday. While poor nations themselves bear the primary burden for their dev
Frail Mandela thanks Norway for apartheid help: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; Gordon Bell; OSLO (Reuters) - A frail Nelson Mandela thrilled crowds in Oslo on Thursday, stopping ahead of his 46664 AIDS concert to thank Norway for its role in ending South Africa s repressive apartheid system of racial segregation. If it was not for that support we would still be fighting against apartheid rule in our country,
Tiny Swaziland losing war to weed out marijuana: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; PIGG S PEAK, Swaziland (Reuters) - After hours of scrambling over rugged mountain terrain, Swaziland s anti-drug squad finally find what they re looking for: a secret field packed with some of the world s strongest marijuana. Prized for its potency across the world, Swazi Gold is grown in the remote northern mountains
Science hopes to give women new tools against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 9, 2005; Andrew Quinn; New HIV prevention treatments for women may be available as early as 2009, a sign of hope for fighting a world AIDS epidemic with an increasingly feminine face, a top researcher said on Thursday. Microbicides, which women might one day be able to use in gel or cream form to shield themselves from HIV infection, hold so
South Africa warned of "national wipe-out" from AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2005; Andrew Quinn; DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa faces national wipe-out unless it steps up its war on HIV/AIDS, a business leader said on Wednesday as a study showed education -- one of society s building blocks -- caving under the epidemic. Defeat in this war means national wipe-out, Clem Sunter, former chairman and CEO of mining gia
Threatened chimps may hold key to AIDS mystery: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2005; Andrew Quinn; DURBAN (Reuters) - Chimpanzees may hold vital clues for mankind s war against the AIDS virus, but the apes could be wiped out before they reveal their secrets, a leading genetic expert warned on Wednesday. Paul Sharp of Britain s University of Nottingham told an AIDS conference in Durban that the latest research indica
Ocean 'bioprospecting' needs rules - U.N. experts: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2005; Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent; OSLO (Reuters) - The scientific exploitation of exotic species living in the depths of the world s oceans should be regulated to avoid a commercial free-for-all, U.N. scientists said on Wednesday. Worldwide sales from products using marine biotechnology -- ranging from anti-malaria drugs to suntan creams -- totaled abo
Call for $3 bln to fund neglected disease research: Reuters NewMedia - June 8, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Governments around the world should provide $3 billion a year to fund research into neglected diseases, a group of leading scientists and charities said on Wednesday. Britain s John Sulston, who pioneered the sequencing of the human genome and won the Nobel prize for medicine in 2002, said politician
CHRONOLOGY-Libya HIV trial of Bulgarian medics: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2005; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - A Libyan court acquitted nine policemen and a doctor on Tuesday of charges of torturing five Bulgarian nurses to extract confessions that they deliberately infected hundreds of children with the HIV virus. Following is a chronology of key events in the trial. Feb 1999 - Nineteen Bulgarian medical wo
AIDS testing key to Africa drug plans - expert: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2005; Andrew Quinn; DURBAN (Reuters) - African countries must move quickly to roll-out public AIDS drug treatment before sufferers become too sick to benefit from it and must persuade people to get HIV tests earlier, a leading specialist said on Tuesday. Ernest Darkoh, who managed the public anti-retroviral (ARV) drug programme in
S.Africa minister asks if drugs alone can stop HIV: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2005; Andrew Quinn; DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa opened its biggest-ever AIDS conference on Tuesday with its health minister publicly questioning whether life-saving anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs alone could turn back the disease. More than 200,000 are believed to die of AIDS in South Africa every year, with the United Nations estimating
South Africa's military grapples with HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 7, 2005; Andrew Quinn; DURBAN (Reuters) - South Africa s armed forces are battling HIV/AIDS, which affects almost a quarter of troops, with resources under strain as soldiers and officers fall to the epidemic, military officials said on Tuesday. At this stage we do rise to the occasion as an organisation, but we are starting to get stretched
Mandela spreads AIDS message to the Arctic: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Aging South African peace icon Nelson Mandela will take his 46664 campaign against AIDS to the Arctic Circle this week to awaken youth in the world s far north to the disease that has ravaged sub-Saharan Africa. It will be the first concert on such a scale to take place in the Nordic region and ha
Zimbabwe to seek more AIDS help as politics weighs: Reuters NewMedia - June 3, 2005; MacDonald Dzirutwe; HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe and U.N. agencies will ask donors for at least $40 million for HIV/AIDS programmes between 2006-7, hoping to speed funding officials charge is being blocked by hostility to President Robert Mugabe. A UNAIDS official said on Friday the new funding request was no guarantee Zimbabwe would get t
Goal to reverse AIDS by 2015 won't be met, UN says: Reuters NewMedia - June 3, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The world will not meet its goal of halting and reversing the spread of AIDS in 10 years if the disease continues to race faster than efforts to stop it, a senior U.N. AIDS specialist said on Thursday. Presidents and prime ministers, meeting at the United Nations nearly five years go, set a s
China gets grant to stop AIDS among drug users: Reuters NewMedia - June 2, 2005; GENEVA - China will receive its first grant to prevent the spread of AIDS among drug users and prostitutes from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Fund said on Thursday. Another grant for tuberculosis aims to increase detection and awareness of the infectious disease, transmitted by coughing a
AIDS outruns global efforts to stop it, Annan says: Reuters NewMedia - June 2, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Money to fight AIDS has soared to an all-time high but the pandemic is racing faster than efforts to stop it, especially among women and girls, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told a high-level U.N. forum on Thursday. Last year saw more new infections and more AIDS-related deaths than ever befor
G8 protest movement grows but its task is tough: Reuters NewMedia - June 2, 2005; Jeremy Lovell; LONDON (Reuters) - Bob Geldof is aiming to galvanize the world to aid Africa with his Live 8 concerts next month and thousands of people will demonstrate in Scotland as leaders of the world s richest nations gather for a summit there. But skeptics say Irish rocker Geldof s strong words and the aims of the Make Poverty
Business reponse to AIDS slow in Africa - WEF: Reuters NewMedia - June 1, 2005; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African companies lead the way in the response to HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, the epicentre of the pandemic, but elsewhere in the region the response has been slow, a new survey shows. A study by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) found that 91 percent of South African companies
Bulgarian president to meet Libyan children: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2005; Paul de Bendern; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Bulgaria s president flew to eastern Libya on Saturday to meet children with HIV days before a court rules on an appeal by Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting more than 400 children with the deadly virus. In a gesture of solidarity Georgi Parvanov will tour the hospital in the eastern
Canadian Red Cross Fined for Tainted Blood Scandal: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2005; Rachelle Younglai; TORONTO (Reuters) - The Canadian Red Cross Society was fined C$5,000 ($4,000) on Monday for its part in distributing tainted blood products that infected more than 15,000 Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C in what is dubbed the worst public health tragedy in the country. The charity will provide C$1.5 million for a sch
Indonesia kicks off mass polio vaccination drive: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2005; Telly Nathalia and Tomi Soetjipto; JAKARTA (Reuters) - Mothers carrying babies and dragging toddlers by the hand flocked to clinics on Tuesday as Indonesia launched a massive polio vaccination drive to halt an outbreak of the disease that has crippled 16 children. Officials want to immunise 6.4 million children across the provinces of West Java and Bant
Ranbaxy gets US FDA approval for generic AIDS drug: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2005; BOMBAY (Reuters) - Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. became on Tuesday the first Indian drug maker to have regulatory approval for a generic AIDS drug to be included in a major U.S. anti-HIV programme. Ranbaxy, India s top drug maker, received tentative approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make and market lam
Libya court delays ruling on appeal by foreign medics: Reuters NewMedia - May 31, 2005; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s Supreme Court on Tuesday delayed until November 15 a ruling on an appeal by five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for deliberately infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus. In a surprise decision, Supreme Court president judge Ali al-Alous said the ruling
Glaxo, UK firm settle AIDS drug diversion case: Reuters NewMedia - May 27, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc has settled a long-running legal dispute over the diversion of AIDS drugs destined for Africa, Europe s biggest drugmaker said on Friday. The world s largest supplier of antiretroviral medicines had accused UK-based Dowelhurst Ltd of selling batches of AIDS pills in Britain which
New UNICEF chief says no condom policy change: Reuters NewMedia - May 27, 2005; Peter Apps; MACHINGA, Malawi (Reuters) - The new head of UNICEF, a former member of the Bush administration, has tried to calm fears that the agency would adopt more conservative policies on AIDS prevention, sexual health and condoms under her leadership. Some aid workers had voiced concern that Executive Director Ann Veneman migh
Swazis say king has right to "cute cars, cute wives": Reuters NewMedia - May 27, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; MBABANE (Reuters) - Swaziland s King Mswati faces growing criticism over his lavish lifestyle and absolute rule, but many in the dirt-poor African kingdom shun talk of democracy as un-Swazi and say he has free rein to do as he likes. The king has courted controversy in recent months by splashing out on a luxury limousi
Roche Has Europe Approval for More Potent HIV Drug: Reuters NewMedia - May 27, 2005; ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche SA has received European approval for the more potent formulation of its Invirase tablet to treat HIV, the Swiss drugmaker said on Friday. The European Commission approved the drug in a 500 mg formulation, cutting the daily pill requirement from five to two, Roche said in a statement. Invir
UK doctor shortage has knock-on effect in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - May 26, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s shortage of doctors is having a knock-on effect in Africa. Physicians in developing countries, particularly in HIV/AIDS-stricken sub-Saharan Africa, are making up the shortfall and leaving countries like South Africa , Ghana and Nigeria with too fe
Africa lagging on AIDS drug goals -UN AIDS head: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG - Efforts to speed distribution of life-saving AIDS drugs in poor countries are making progress, but many areas in Africa are still moving too slowly, the U.N. AIDS chief said on Wednesday. UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said factors including creaky health systems and the only recent launch of anti-
India says growth of new HIV infections slows: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2005; NEW DELHI, India , which has the second largest number of people in the world living with HIV/AIDS, said on Wednesday it had cut the growth rate of new infections sharply in 2004 as its awareness campaign reached more people. A Health Ministry statement said only 28,000 people had been infected by the deadly virus last
EU Commissioner Meets Libyan Gaddafi On Medics: Reuters NewMedia - May 25, 2005; TRIPOLI - The European Union s external relations commissioner met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Wednesday to try to secure the release of six foreign medical workers sentenced to death last year. Skip to next paragraph Reuters Benita Ferrero-Waldner met Gaddafi in an ornate, book-lined office in a heavily guarded c
World must save Africa's children from AIDS-UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - May 24, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; DVUMBE, Swaziland (Reuters) - Rich countries must do more to protect African children from HIV/AIDS, the new head of the United Nations children s agency said on Tuesday. Ann Veneman said she chose southern Africa for her first foreign trip since taking over at UNICEF three weeks ago to highlight the devastation AIDS h
Drugs, AIDS evade clampdown in India's northeast: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2005; Simon Denyer; AIZAWL, India (Reuters) - Malsawmdawngu was just 14 when he began injecting a powerful painkiller and opiate into his veins because, he says, all his friends did. When he finally found out he was HIV-positive at 26, he almost went mad. I had stopped taking drugs by then, and I was thinking about my future, says the yo
Britain urges EU to boost fight against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2005; Marie-Louise Moller; Britain urged the European Union on Monday to boost the fight against AIDS by improving the availability of condoms to prevent the spread of the disease. I don t think people should die because they have sex, International Development Secretary Hilary Benn told reporters. You need to make sure that people have the mean
England football stars fight AIDS in Malawi: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2005; BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Three England international footballers met more than 3,000 Malawian youths on Monday urging them to step up the fight against HIV/AIDS, a pandemic that kills 10 people every hour in the southern African state. I am glad to be here and encourage Malawian youths in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Abstai
African films scoop awards but audience elusive: Reuters NewMedia - May 22, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; KHAYELITSHA, South Africa (Reuters) - If Michael Mahomba wants to take his girlfriend to the movies he must spend an hour in a minibus taxi in this South African shanty town and a day s wages on tickets. That s why I don t go that often, says Mahomba, 21, standing in a community hall not far from his corrugated iron sh
Macho attitudes hamper Swaziland's AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - May 22, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; KAPHUNGA, Swaziland (Reuters) - When Chief Mfanyana Lukhele mentions AIDS at community meetings in this Swazi hamlet the men usually get up and leave. There are so many people who are dying and sick but no-one will say what they are dying of, he told Reuters outside his homestead in the tiny southern African kingdom s
Boehringer HIV Drug OK But Data Needed - US Panel: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, May 20, 2005; Susan Heavey; GAITHERSBURG, Md. (Reuters) - U.S. health experts cautiously backed Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical Inc. s HIV drug Aptivus on Thursday for the treatment of drug-resistant patients when used in combination with Abbott Laboratories Inc. s (ABT.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
Sweden's BioInvent Leaps on HIV Drug Trial in UK: Reuters NewMedia - May 18, 2005; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Shares in Swedish pharmaceutical research firm BioInvent soared on Wednesday after it said its drug against HIV was approved for trials in Britain, its first product to reach that stage. Its shares were up 8 percent at 13.50 crowns by 1200 GMT, having reached 14.35 earlier. It said in a statement
Boehringer HIV Drug Helps Some, Says U.S. FDA Staff: Reuters NewMedia - May 18, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceutical Inc. s experimental HIV drug is effective in some drug-resistant patients when used in combination with Abbott Laboratories Norvir , U.S. regulatory staff said in documents released on Wednesday. Data for the Boehringer protease inhibitor, cal
Roche Says to Pull Older HIV Drug on Poor Demand: Reuters NewMedia - May 18, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG said on Wednesday it will voluntarily withdraw its anti-HIV drug Fortovase in early 2006 because demand for the drug has declined significantly. The Swiss drugmaker said Fortovase will be discontinued in the first quarter of 2006 because of the availability of a new formulation of t
FDA approves GlaxoSmithKline's HIV drug Trizivir: Reuters NewMedia - May 16, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc s HIV infection treatment tablet, Trizivir , has been granted traditional approval status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the company said on Monday. Trizivir is a fixed-dose combination drug for HIV that combines three drugs --
Bulgaria president says to visit Libya over nurses: Reuters NewMedia - May 15, 2005; SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said on Sunday he plans to visit Libya to discuss the case of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death over the infection of hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. The sense of such a visit to Tripoli is to revive the dialogue between the two countries, Parvanov sai
Venezuela slaps $1.6 mln fine on US medical firm: Reuters NewMedia - May 13, 2005; CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela s state antimonopoly watchdog said on Friday it was imposing a $1.6 million fine on the local unit of U.S. medical equipment maker Becton Dickinson and Co. for abusing its position in the Venezuelan market. The Pro-Competencia agency said it was also requesting state prosecutors
Bulgaria president says to visit Libya over nurses: Reuters NewMedia - May 13, 2005; SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov said on Sunday he plans to visit Libya to discuss the case of five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death over the infection of hundreds of Libyan children with HIV. The sense of such a visit to Tripoli is to revive the dialogue between the two countries, Parvanov sai
S.Africa AIDS group faces maverick doctor in court: Reuters NewMedia - May 13, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s most influential activist group took prominent AIDS dissident Matthias Rath to court on Friday to stop a campaign to vilify the group and discredit AIDS drugs. The lies that the Rath Foundation is spreading are a complete fabrication, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) Chairman Zackie
Nigeria opens blood screening center to fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - May 12, 2005; ABUJA (Reuters) - President Olusegun Obasanjo opened Nigeria s first blood transfusion center Thursday to help stem the spread of the AIDS virus by preventing the use of contaminated blood in Africa s most populous nation. Nigeria s blood transfusion system has been in disarray, leaving those requiring blood to turn to
NEWSMAKER-Investor muscle rules at charitable hedge fund TCI: Reuters NewMedia - May 12, 2005; Louise Heavens; LONDON (Reuters) - The Children s Investment Fund, which this week claimed the scalps of Deutsche Boerse s chairman and chief executive in a campaign for clearer corporate governance, stands out in the tough world of hedge funds. The UK fund, set up by prominent manager Christopher Hohn in 2003, was one of the first he
U.N. slams AIDS 'dissident' for attack on drugs: Reuters NewMedia - May 12, 2005; Stephanie Nebehay; GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations aid agencies on Thursday slammed prominent AIDS dissident Matthias Rath for what they called his wrong and dangerous campaign against life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs. The maverick German doctor placed advertisements in international newspapers this week, days before he faces a cou
Catholics turn to condoms in AIDS-ravaged Honduras: Reuters NewMedia - May 11, 2005; Catherine Bremer; SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (Reuters) - With his mother long dead and his father off with a new family, nobody comes to visit Carlos, 27, as he sits blinded by AIDS and awaiting death in a charity hospice. His father, who left him alone to care for his grandmother until she died, won t let him near his home, mistakenly be
Maverick doctor steps up campaign against AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - May 10, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) - Prominent AIDS dissident Matthias Rath intensified his campaign against AIDS drugs on Tuesday, placing advertisements in international newspapers days before he faces a challenge in a South African court. South Africa s most influential activist group is suing the Rath Foundation, headed by the G
Sex researchers shed light on unpopular sex acts: Reuters NewMedia - May 9, 2005; Amy Kalin; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - From bondage to breath play and zoophilia, it s not easy keeping up with society s fast-developing sexual trends. That s why some of North America s top sexologists are hunkered down with academics and therapists at a Fisherman s Wharf hotel this weekend: to swap findings about everything from
U.S. Catholic editor quits, Vatican pressure seen: Reuters NewMedia - May 7, 2005; Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor; PARIS (Reuters) - A leading Catholic commentator has resigned as editor of an influential Jesuit magazine in the United States amid reports the Vatican doctrinal department formerly run by Pope Benedict had demanded his ouster. Father Thomas Reese announced his unexpected departure from America magazine on Friday in a
Darfuris demand action after women raped: Reuters NewMedia - May 7, 2005; Opheera McDoom; ZAM ZAM CAMP, Sudan (Reuters) - Darfuri Sumaya Hassan Mohamed was kidnapped, beaten, raped and then given money to go and buy soap to wash the blood off herself. This pattern is repeating itself in many of the camps in Sudan s Darfur region which house the more than 2 million people driven from their homes by more than
San Francisco chosen for Calif. stem cell center: Reuters NewMedia - May 6, 2005; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco was picked on Friday after a hard fought battle as the headquarters for California s $3 billion stem cell research institute. The board of directors of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine selected San Francisco, a leading center for biotechnology research, over Sac
Cheaper group tests flag infectious HIV carriers: Reuters NewMedia - May 4, 2005; Gene Emery; BOSTON (Reuters) - Health officials in North Carolina have found a cost-effective way to identify people whose infection with the AIDS virus is so recent that the standard screening test would not normally work. A new system pinpoints carriers earlier in the course of the disease, when they are at least 10 times more i
Trade deal won't hit Thai generic AIDS drugs - U.S.: Reuters NewMedia - May 4, 2005; BANGKOK (Reuters) - The United States assured Thailand on Wednesday that a bilateral free trade deal under negotiation will not prevent Thai companies making cheap, copycat AIDS drugs, which are being used to treat thousands of patients. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick said the issue of manufacturing gen
Brazil spurns U.S. AIDS cash over prostitution issue: Reuters NewMedia - May 4, 2005; Axel Bugge; BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil will not accept funding from the United States for its AIDS prevention program until Washington drops a demand that Brazil condemn prostitution, the head of the country s AIDS program said on Wednesday. Brazil turned down $40 million last week from the United States Agency for Intern
Judge takes on S.Africa's AIDS 'denialists': Reuters NewMedia - May 2, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - White, wealthy and proudly gay, Judge Edwin Cameron is hardly a typical face of the AIDS pandemic ravaging southern Africa. But Cameron, a member of South Africa s Supreme Court of Appeal and the only senior public servant in the country to publicly disclose he has HIV, shares one thing with mi
FDA approves once-daily dosing of Abbott's Kaletra: Reuters NewMedia - May 2, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc on Monday said U.S. regulators approved a new dosing regimen for its HIV medication, Kaletra . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a once-daily dose of Kaletra, a protease inhibitor used in combination with other anti-HIV medications, for the initial treatmen
S.Africa's Mandela to take AIDS fight to Arctic: Reuters NewMedia - April 29, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s Nelson Mandela will head to the Arctic Circle in June for a special AIDS benefit concert aimed at highlighting the worldwide impact of the killer epidemic. The 86-year-old anti-apartheid icon will take part in the concert, dubbed 46664 ARCTIC in honour of his one-time apartheid p
AIDS Drugs Dog U.S.-Southern Africa Trade Deal: Reuters NewMedia - April 29, 2005; Alfonce Mbizwo; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The United States and the Southern African trade bloc are set to revive free trade talks next month, but analysts say intellectual property rights for urgently needed AIDS drugs remain a stumbling block. The Southern African Customs Union (SACU) -- made up of S
S.Africa's Vundla Drives Showbiz Black Empowerment: Reuters NewMedia - April 29, 2005; Manoah Esipisu; JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa s top soap opera Generations is as black as can be. The show is itself black economic empowerment. I mean our top boss is black, 90 percent of the cast is black and we talk about black issues and how to respond to them, said Sophie Ndaba, who plays advertising executi
"Angel of Burundi" wins top U.N. refugee award: Reuters NewMedia - April 29, 2005; GENEVA (Reuters) - The Angel of Burundi , a woman whose orphanages have provided care to more than 10,000 children fleeing conflicts in Africa s Great Lakes region, on Friday won the United Nations refugee agency s top award. Marguerite Barankitse was given the annual Nansen Refugee Award for tireless work with separa
Africa's Real Killer Diseases Win Little Publicity: Reuters NewMedia - April 28, 2005; Zoe Eisenstein; LUANDA (Reuters) - Africa is a notorious incubator of frightening, exotic new diseases like Ebola and Marburg, but the real killers on the world s poorest continent are easily preventable illnesses like malaria and cholera. Even experts congregating to study the world s deadliest outbreak of the Marburg virus in
Low-profile killers need AIDS cash, experts warn: Reuters NewMedia - April 28, 2005; Ruth Gidley and Mark Hanrahan; LONDON, (Reuters) - HIV/AIDS has captured world headlines leaving other killer diseases out of the spotlight and under-funded, health experts warn. Lower-profile illnesses also kill millions of people every year, most of them children, they say. Respiratory infections kill more than four million annually, diarrhoea kil
UN: Don't Let New Viruses Distract from Old Killers: Reuters NewMedia - April 28, 2005; Ruth Gidley; LONDON (Reuters) - A new infectious disease comes along every year but in looking out for the next big global virus we risk overlooking less dramatic illnesses that cause millions of quiet deaths, a top U.N. health official said. The problem with infectious agents is that whilst we are getting new ones, the old ones do
Onward corporate soldiers, say religious activists: Reuters NewMedia - April 28, 2005; Alister Bull; ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - Armed with the power of faith and billions of dollars, America s mighty religious establishment is trying to reform the country s boardrooms on issues from human rights to television violence. Faith-based groups, like other special interest groups, have strategic investments in hundreds of compani
Gilead/Bristol-Myers HIV Pill to Be Reformulated: Reuters NewMedia - April 27, 2005; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Tuesday said an experimental pill combining its HIV treatment Truvada with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co s popular Sustiva treatment will be scrapped, but that a second version of the pi
S Africa's Aspen Wins AIDS Drug Deal with U.S. Firm: Reuters NewMedia - April 25, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa s biggest generic drug maker, Aspen Pharmacare, has signed a non-exclusive deal to manufacture and distribute life-prolonging HIV/AIDS drugs for U.S.-based Gilead Sciences . Aspen said in a statement on Monday it would manufacture Gilead s Tru
Migrant women trapped in Europe's sex industry: Reuters NewMedia - April 24, 2005; Tom Pfeiffer; LONDON (Reuters) - The money Rosa was earning in a Turkish shoe factory was not enough to support the three children she had left behind in Ukraine . Then her new friend in Turkey , Katerina, told her she could earn $700 a month as a casino waitress in Bosnia and convinced Rosa to c
Serono Posts Loss on $725 Mln Charge for AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - April 22, 2005; Tom Armitage; ZURICH (Reuters) - Shares in Swiss biotechnology company Serono SA tumbled on Friday after the firm unexpectedly booked $725 million to cover legal costs relating to an investigation into U.S. sales of its Serostim AIDS drug. The charge, which Serono s chief financial officer said was a one-off, exceeded the forecast f
11 States Have Waiting Lists for AIDS Drugs: Reuters NewMedia - April 20, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 600 low-income AIDS patients in 11 U.S. states are on waiting lists for medicines as funding for assistance programs falls short, a report released on Wednesday said. Ten other states have had to limit drug coverage or take other steps to control costs for their AIDS Drug Assistance Pro
S.Africa's Tutu Disappointed at Pope Choice: Reuters NewMedia - April 20, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s former Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu said on Wednesday he was disappointed with the choice of the new pope who was a rigid conservative out of step with the times. Tutu, a Nobel Peace laureate and Africa s best-known cleric, criticized both Joseph Ratzinger s conservative views o
Cervical Cancer Virus Reactivates Sometimes -Study: Reuters NewMedia - April 20, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The virus that causes cervical cancer can be reactivated after lying quiet in the body for years, which can help explain why HIV-infected women are vulnerable to the cancer, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday. Their study of 2,500 women who were examined every six months for an average of sev
Gilead slightly raises 2005 HIV drug sales outlook: Reuters NewMedia - April 20, 2005; LOS ANGELES, April 19 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Tuesday slightly raised its outlook for 2005 sales of its HIV drugs to a range of $1.225 billion to $1.275 billion. On a conference call, Chief Financial Officer John Milligan said the biotechnology company had previously projected 2005 HIV drug sales of $1.2 bi
Kenyans Text Messaging Their Way to Jobs: Reuters NewMedia - April 19, 2005; George Obulutsa; NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - In the rural parts of Kenya, jobseekers wishing to use the Internet used to have to travel long distances to the nearest town with a cyber cafe. That changed last year with the creation of OneWorld International, a Kenyan firm offering a mobile phone text messaging service that advertises job
Substandard Drugs Threat to Heart Patients - Study: Reuters NewMedia - April 18, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Substandard generic drugs are putting the lives and health of heart patients at risk, researchers said Tuesday. A study of 21 samples of a clot-busting drug used to treat heart attack patients showed that only three formulations performed as listed on the label. The drugs, known as streptokinase, bel
S.African Activists Take on AIDS 'Dissident': Reuters NewMedia - April 18, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa s most influential activist group said Monday it would sue a prominent AIDS dissident it accuses of persuading sick people to stop taking life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), which was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize last year, al
Is the world ready for a black pope?: Reuters NewMedia - April 15, 2005; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - On crosses and paintings in Catholic Churches throughout Africa, Jesus is depicted as black -- a suffering man on a suffering continent. Now some say the time may have come for cardinals to consider a black African for the papacy when they enter the conclave on Monday. I think that an African p
Africa Activists Want Catholics to Back Condoms: Reuters NewMedia - Friday April 15, 2005; Daniel Wallis; KAMPALA, Uganda (Reuters) - Rose was raised as a good Catholic schoolgirl by her grandparents, but now the 18-year-old orphan survives by selling sex in a Ugandan slum with scant regard for the teachings of the church. Whatever the next pope says about condoms, she believes they are the only way to stop an AIDS epidem
Vietnam Finds HIV Carrier Infected with Bird Flu: Reuters NewMedia - April 14, 2005; Ho Binh Minh; HANOI (Reuters) - A 21-year-old woman has been infected by both the deadly HIV/AIDS virus and bird flu, the first such case in Vietnam , health officials said Thursday. The Health Ministry said two other patients have been diagnosed with the H5N1 virus in the northern provinces of Ha Tay and Hung Yen between April 2 an
China Arrests 15 in AIDS Blood Donor Scandal: Reuters NewMedia - April 14, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China has arrested 15 people for involvement in illegal blood-selling schemes blamed for widespread HIV/AIDS infections in the 1990s, the China Daily said on Thursday. The arrests were linked to 106 cases of unsafe blood collection, illegal organization of people to sell plasma and serious malpracti
AIDS to Kill 1 in 5 Southern Africa Farmers - Experts: Reuters NewMedia - April 14, 2005; Peter Apps; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - AIDS will kill 20 percent of southern Africa s agricultural workers by 2020, researchers said on Thursday, possibly threatening food production in a region already facing frequent shortages. But with massive unemployment across the continent, loss of earning power after families lose th
INTERVIEW - Anglican cleric Tutu hopes for African pope: Reuters NewMedia - April 13, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu hopes cardinals in Rome will choose an African pope to push developmental issues up the global agenda, and that the new pontiff will lift the Church s ban on condoms. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate who helped galvanise international opinion against r
Sketches of Catholic Cardinals from Western Europe: Reuters NewMedia - April 13, 2005; BERLIN (Reuters) - Following are sketches of prominent cardinals from western Europe who are participating in the election for the next pope at a conclave which opens on Monday. They are listed in alphabetical order. PHILIPPE XAVIER IGNACE BARBARIN (FRENCH), BORN OCT. 17, 1950 Archbishop of Lyon in southeastern
Evangelical Sects, Catholics Vie for African Souls: Reuters NewMedia - April 13, 2005; Silvia Aloisi; LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Sitting on a bench in a back room of a Lagos church, Victoria Abraham held up a sign with her name, age and -- in big, bright pink letters -- the word AIDS. Like her, a dozen other HIV-positive faithful came Sunday convinced that Prophet T.B. Joshua, a 41-year-old fundamentalist preacher with
Activists Attack Ethics of Pfizer AIDS Drug Trial: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, April 12, 2005; Ben Hirschler; LONDON (Reuters) - A clinical study into an experimental AIDS pill made by Pfizer Inc, the world s biggest drugmaker, should be halted because it offers patients no safety net, activists said Tuesday. The European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) said the design of the trial for Pfizer s so-called CCR5 inhibitor drug maravi
Abbott Profit Rises on Higher Drug Sales: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2005; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc. said on Tuesday its quarterly earnings from continuing operations rose 9.9 percent on higher sales of prescription drugs, including arthritis treatment Mobic. The company, which also makes medical devices and diagnostics, earned $837.9 million, or 53 cents a share, from con
Activists Attack Ethics of Pfizer AIDS Drug Trial: Reuters NewMedia - April 12, 2005; Ben Hirschler; LONDON (Reuters) - A clinical study into an experimental AIDS pill made by Pfizer Inc, the world s biggest drugmaker, should be halted because it offers patients no safety net, activists said on Tuesday. The European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) said the design of the trial for Pfizer s so-called CCR5 inhibitor drug mar
UN Official Hopes New Pope Will Ease Condom Stance: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, April 11, 2005; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The U.N. population chief said on Monday she hoped the next pope would ease the Catholic church s opposition to contraception in order to fight the spread of AIDS. Pope John Paul II, who died on April 2 after 26 years at the helm of the Roman Catholic church, was criticized by Western health campa
New Study Reduces Tanzanian HIV Prevalence to 7 Pct: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, April 8, 2005; Helen Nyambura; DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters) - Tanzania revised its HIV infection rate downwards to 7 percent Friday, from a previous estimate of 12 to 15 percent, but said the number of people infected by the deadly virus was still too high. The revision was made to reflect the findings of a new poll, the first study to carry o
JT, Torii to Launch 2 Gilead HIV Drugs in Japan: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, April 8, 2005; TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Tobacco, the world s third-biggest tobacco company, said on Friday its drug unit will start marketing two new HIV-fighting drugs, licensed from Gilead Sciences Inc., in Japan from April 19. The two drugs, Emtriva capsules and
Panel Defends Study Behind AIDS Drug for Babies: Reuters NewMedia - April 7, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Medical experts on Thursday defended a study that led to the widespread use of a single AIDS drug called nevirapine to protect newborns, saying allegations the research was flawed were unfounded. AIDS activists and researchers said they hoped the report would lay to rest any doubts about the safe
Report: Offer Money Up Front to Prod Vaccine Makers: Reuters NewMedia - April 7, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies might be coaxed into making much-needed vaccines if governments and private donors teamed up to buy them in advance, a Washington think tank suggested on Thursday. The plan would give the donors an option, obligating them to pay the manufacturer only if a vaccine was actually produced.
WHO: Millions of Mothers, Babies Die Needlessly: Reuters NewMedia - April 7, 2005; Stephanie Nebehay; GENEVA (Reuters) - One woman still dies every minute in pregnancy or childbirth, while each 60 seconds 20 young children succumb to easily preventable disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday. The United Nations agency said the situation for expectant mothers and babies had worsened since the 1990s in
Promoting abstinence ineffective against AIDS-Brazil: Reuters NewMedia - April 6, 2005; Irwin Arieff; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - There is no evidence that promoting abstinence or marital fidelity works against AIDS, as the Bush administration argues, a senior Brazilian health official told the United Nations on Wednesday. Based on international experiences, today there is no evidence whatsoever that moral recommendatio
Cannabis Compound Slows Artery Disease in Mice: Reuters NewMedia - April 6, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - An active ingredient in cannabis can ease inflammation and slow the progression of coronary artery disease in mice, and possibly humans, researchers said on Wednesday. Daily low doses of the ingredient, THC, prevented atherosclerosis, a primary cause of heart disease and stroke in western countries,
Tuberculosis-Susceptibility Gene Found in Mice: Reuters NewMedia - April 6, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered a tuberculosis-susceptibility gene in mice that may help to improve diagnosis and prevent the disease that kills up to 2 million people each year. They believe the gene, called Ipr1 in mice, has a human equivalent that could improve understanding of how the infectious airbo
Gen-Probe Says Arbitrator Decides Bayer Dispute: Reuters NewMedia - April 5, 2005; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Diagnostic company Gen-Probe on Tuesday said an arbitrator has tentatively awarded it the right to develop and market future nucleic acid diagnostic tests for viral organisms previously reserved for Bayer Healthcare LLC. The arbitrator decided that Gen-Probe is entitled to a co-exclusive right t
Pope's Opposition to Contraception Alienated Many: Reuters NewMedia - April 5, 2005; Andrei Khalip; RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Rosa Maria Domingos Soares, a 52-year-old Brazilian housemaid and passionate Catholic, fondly remembers her grandparents family. They had 12 children and never used contraception, she said. But that is out of the question nowadays. A big family is beautiful, but today one must use som
South Africa's children risk catching AIDS in hospital: Reuters NewMedia - April 5, 2005; Peter Apps; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Blood-stained medical instruments and mix-ups with HIV-contaminated breast milk are raising the risk that children in some South African hospitals will contract the AIDS virus, a survey said on Tuesday. Researchers found about 24 percent of dental and medical instruments in use in certain paedi
More than half young adult Swazis have HIV - survey: Reuters NewMedia - April 5, 2005; MBABANE (Reuters) - More than half of young adults in Swaziland between the ages of 25 and 29 are infected with the virus which causes AIDS, a government survey has found. Africa is at the centre of a global AIDS crisis with over 25 million people believed to be infected with the HIV virus. The tiny southern kingdom of
India Plans Law to Stop Discrimination Against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - April 4, 2005; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India , which has the world s second largest HIV/AIDS population, plans to introduce a law to stop discrimination against people infected with the virus, the health minister said on Monday. A huge stigma is attached to people who are HIV-positive in India and many of the country s 5.1 million peop
Oral sex safe and not really sex, say U.S. teens: Reuters NewMedia - April 4, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - One in five U.S. teenagers say they have engaged in oral sex, an activity that some adolescents view as not sex at all and certainly less risky than intercourse, a report released on Monday said. The survey of 580 children with a mean age of 14-1/2 found 20 percent said they had engaged in oral sex,
Kenyan business slow in tackling HIV/AIDS-study: Reuters NewMedia - April 1, 2005; David Mageria; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Businesses in Kenya are not doing enough to combat HIV/AIDS at their workplace although they are fully aware the disease is affecting their bottom line, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed on Friday. Although some companies had developed policies to deal with the epidemic, their efforts have h
Rare Gay Male Sex Disease Enters Britain: Report: Reuters NewMedia - March 31, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - A rare disease found in gay men in the Netherlands two years ago, and since reported in France , Sweden , Belgium , Germany and the United States , has now found its way into Bri
Soweto sex survey shows S.Africa's AIDS challenge: Reuters NewMedia - March 31, 2005; Peter Apps; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa may have the world s largest number of HIV infections, but more than one in seven township dwellers say they rarely or never use a condom when having sex. Although unprotected sex is the main transmission route for the HIV virus, over a quarter of men and a 10th of women in Johanne
Theratechnologies to begin Phase 3 tests on ThGRF: Reuters NewMedia - March 31, 2005; TORONTO, March 31 (Reuters) - Biopharmaceutical company Theratechnologies Inc. (TH.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it will begin two Phase 3 trials on its ThGRF treatment for HIV-associated lipodystrophy by mid-year. The Montreal-based company said the decision to conduct the trials follows a positive me
Guatemalan HIV patients slam new trade rules: Reuters NewMedia - March 30, 2005; Frank Jack Daniel; GUATEMALA CITY, March 30 (Reuters) - Dozens of Guatemalan HIV patients, many with paper bags over their heads to protect their identities, protested on Wednesday at new U.S.-backed trade rules they say rob them of access to medicines. Under pressure from the United States , Guatemala approved a new law offering greater
Drug Cuts Cancer Risk After Kidney Transplant: Reuters NewMedia - March 30, 2005; BOSTON (Reuters) - Kaposi s sarcoma, a type of skin cancer often diagnosed in kidney transplant patients, can be eliminated using the same drug that helps stop transplanted kidneys from being rejected, researchers said on Wednesday. The anti-rejection drug sirolimus appears to make the skin cancer disappear, at least a
U.S. Abstinence Calls Hurt Uganda AIDS Success -Report: Reuters NewMedia - March 30, 2005; Daniel Wallis; KAMPALA (Reuters) - President Yoweri Museveni is jeopardizing Uganda s giant strides against HIV/AIDS by backing U.S.-funded abstinence-only programs, a New-York based human rights group said on Wednesday. Museveni has been widely praised for reducing infection rates to around six percent today from 30 percent in the e
Libyan Court to Rule on Bulgarian Nurses in May: Reuters NewMedia - March 29, 2005; Salah Sarrar; TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya s supreme court will rule in May on an appeal by five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death for infecting hundreds of children with HIV, officials said on Tuesday. The medics, convicted last year of deliberately infecting more than 400 children at a hospital in Benghazi,
Speed of HIV assault revealed: Reuters NewMedia - March 28, 2005; Maggie Fox in Washington; WITHIN days of infection, the AIDS virus destroys more than half of the immune cells that might recognise and help fight it, US researchers have found. The discovery might force a re-evaluation of how to tackle the deadly infection. Two separate studies in monkeys showed that SIV, the monkey version of the human immuno
Zimbabwe's war on AIDS threatened by cash crunch: Reuters NewMedia - March 27, 2005; Manoah Esipisu; HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe , one of the countries worst hit by the AIDS, is not getting enough money to fight the epidemic, the main U.N. agency coordinating the programme said on Sunday. Zimbabwe, with about a quarter of its adult population infected with HIV or with AIDS received $60 million from the U.S. government
AIDS virus destroys immune cells fast - studies: Reuters NewMedia - March 27, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Within days of infection, the AIDS virus destroys more than half of the immune cells that might recognize and help fight it -- a finding that may force a re-evaluation of how to tackle the deadly infection, two teams of U.S. researchers reported on Sunday. Two separate studies in monkeys showed t
China Shuts Down Blood Dealers to Curb AIDS Spread: Reuters NewMedia - March 25, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China s health ministry has closed 147 illegal blood collection agencies and arrested dozens of people since last May to prevent the spread of the virus that causes AIDS, the Xinhua news agency said. The central government had told local authorities to check blood collection and supply agencies more
Scientists Urge Africa to Fund Disease Research: Reuters NewMedia - March 24, 2005; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Cash-strapped African states should spend more money on research and training to tackle diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, international scientists said Thursday. I don t think enough money has gone into tuberculosis and malaria and other tropical diseases... Therefore you need major publ
Officials Argue Over Sex in Prisons: Reuters NewMedia - March 24, 2005; Gershwin Wanneburg; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s jails watchdog and prison officials have locked horns in a public row over proposals to allow consensual sex behind bars. The Department of Correctional Services says criminals have no right to demand sex, but the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons (JIP) said in a report this week
Xcyte Cuts Workforce by 24 Pct, Limits Focus: Reuters NewMedia - Mar 24, 2005; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Biotech drug developer Xcyte Therapies Inc. on Wednesday said it has cut its workforce by 24 percent and will focus on developing leukemia and HIV products while phasing out programs in multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin s lymphoma . Seattle-based Xcyte said it will complete ongoing clinical trial
Africa Lags in Fight Against TB, WHO Report Says: Reuters NewMedia - March 23, 2005; Stephanie Nebehay; GENEVA (Reuters) - Tuberculosis has reached alarming proportions in Africa, where co-infection with the widespread HIV virus makes a lethal combination, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on Thursday. The number of cases of tuberculosis is rising 3 to 4 percent annually across the African continent, though th
Gaddafi says will not release Bulgarian nurses: Reuters NewMedia - March 23, 2005; Paul de Bendern; ALGIERS (Reuters) - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on Wednesday rejected calls from the West for the release of Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for injecting children with the HIV virus. Everyone from the West comes to Libya, and says to me release the Bulgarian nurses. This means that our children died and this was
Study downplays HIV patients' need for repeated test: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Requiring all HIV-infected women to undergo pap smears every six months to test for the papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer may not be necessary, researchers said on Tuesday. U.S. government guidelines call for HIV-infected women to have pap smears every six months, creating a significant cos
India's Lower House Passes Illegal Patent Drug Bill: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2005; Surojit Gupta; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s lower house of parliament passed a patents bill on Tuesday making it illegal to copy patented drugs, a practice that has made cheaper medicines available in India and abroad. Lawmakers of the Congress party-led ruling alliance and their communist allies passed the bill with a voice vote, a
Southern Africa Upbeat Despite Zimbabwe: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2005; Peter Apps; KAZUNGULA FERRY, Botswana / Zambia (Reuters) - After decades of civil war and economic decay, southern Africa is following regional powerhouse South Africa along the path of political stability and financial growth, and has little to fear from turmoil in neighbor Zimbabw
JT in $100 Mln HIV Drug Deal with U.S. Firm Gilead: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2005; TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan Tobacco Inc. said on Tuesday that U.S. bio company Gilead Sciences will pay over $100 million for the exclusive right to develop and market the Japanese firm s HIV-fighting drug outside Japan. Under the agreement, Gilead will pay JT, the world s third-biggest tobacco company, an up-front payment
Health Activists Urge India to Review Patent Laws: Reuters NewMedia - March 22, 2005; Sugita Katyal; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Health activists urged the Indian government on Tuesday to review a patent bill that makes it illegal to copy patented drugs, saying it would make drugs unaffordable for millions suffering from AIDS. Last week, India proposed changing the country s patent laws to make it illegal to copy patented d
UN General Assembly to Hear Annan Overhaul Plan: Reuters NewMedia - March 21, 2005; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan awaited government reactions Monday for sweeping reform proposals aimed at reconciling security concerns of rich states with poor nations battle against poverty and disease. Proposing the most wide-ranging overhaul of the world body since its creation in 1945
Glaxo to work on TB drugs with non-profit group: Reuters NewMedia - March 21, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc is linking with a non-profit group to hunt for better tuberculosis treatments, Europe s biggest drugmaker said on Monday. GSK and the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development will work on four projects intended to attack the Mycobacterium tuberculosis in new ways at GSK s research
Scientists in Kenya to Push African Genome Research: Reuters NewMedia - March 21, 2005; Matthew Green; NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - Africa risks missing out on the rewards of a revolution in genetic science unless it can win a bigger slice of funding for diseases like AIDS and malaria, according to researchers meeting in Kenya Monday. More than 100 scientists from around the globe were due to converge in Nairobi for the s
Music Stars Perform to Support Mandela AIDS Drive: Reuters NewMedia - March 19, 2005; Gordon Bell; GEORGE, South Africa (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela joined movie and music stars on Saturday at an international concert to raise funds for women in South Africa suffering from HIV/AIDS. Film star Will Smith was master of ceremonies, and Annie Lennox and Queen were among those entertaining more than 15,000 fans sprawled ac
Testing key to curbing AIDS pandemic - Holbrooke: Reuters NewMedia - March 18, 2005; Lindsay Beck; BEIJING (Reuters) - Better testing is the key to fighting the global AIDS pandemic, Richard Holbrooke said on Friday in Beijing, where he was in town to encourage Chinese businesses to play a role in stopping the spread of the disease. The former ambassador to the United Nations who now heads the Global Business Coalit
INTERVIEW-Aspen Wins Lucrative Africa AIDS Drug Orders: Reuters NewMedia - March 18, 2005; James Macharia; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa s biggest generic drug maker, Aspen, has won tenders to supply life-prolonging AIDS drugs to Nigeria and Ethiopia for tens of millions of rand under a U.S. anti-HIV program. We have aid agencies in Nigeria who have placed really huge orders worth tens and tens of millions of rand for the
India Proposes End to Patent Drug Copying: Reuters NewMedia - March 18, 2005; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s government proposed on Friday to change the country s patent laws to make it illegal to copy patented drugs, a practice that has made cheaper medicines available in India and abroad. The bill proposed to parliament, which also covers other products such as chemicals, mobile phones and comp
Overdoses kill 70,000 Russians every year: Reuters NewMedia - March 18, 2005; MOSCOW (Reuters) - Some 70,000 Russians -- close to 200 people a day -- die from drug overdoses every year, a top official said on Friday. The figures underline the shocking rate of non-natural deaths in Russia, which recorded 46,000 suicides and 36,000 murders last year. Unfortunately, doctors don t collect precise st
Senate Adds $500 Mln for Global AIDS Fund: Reuters NewMedia - March 17, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday backed a $500 million increase in funding for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, almost tripling the sum asked for by President Bush. If approved by the House of Representatives, the increase would raise to $800 million the U.S. contribution to th
AIDS Kills Zimbabwe Child Every 15 Minutes - UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - March 17, 2005; Manoah Esipisu; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - AIDS kills a Zimbabwean child every 15 minutes and global donors should open their purses to fight the epidemic there with the same intensity they have fought for democracy, UNICEF said on Thursday. Carol Bellamy, on her last trip to Africa as executive director of the U.N. Children s Fund, tol
Tanzania Wants 44,000 HIV Patients on Drugs by December: Reuters NewMedia - March 17, 2005; Helen Nyambura; DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania plans to sharply increase the number of HIV patients receiving life prolonging medicines by the end of this year with the help of donors, the health minister said on Thursday. About 12 to 15 percent of Tanzanian adults are infected with HIV, while 200,000 of them are in acute need of
UCLA to Start $20 Mln Stem Cell Research Center: Reuters NewMedia - March 17, 2005; Leonard Anderson; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The University of California at Los Angeles will spend $20 million over five years to establish a stem cell research institute and compete for new state funds to fight cancer and other diseases, university officials said on Wednesday. UCLA will focus on research in three areas: HIV and AIDS, c
S Africa's Aspen Sells 18 Pct Stake to Black Partner: Reuters NewMedia - March 17, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa s biggest generic drug maker Aspen will sell a 17.9 equity stake to black investor groups in a transaction worth 645 million rand ($110.7 million), the pharmaceuticals group said on Thursday. Aspen said in a statement to the Johannesburg Securities Exchange that it will sell the stake to
Brazil Takes Step Toward Breaking AIDS Patents: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2005; BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil has moved a step closer to breaking AIDS drugs patents by asking U.S. companies for the right to copy four products so the country can slash health costs, the government said on Tuesday. Brazil requested Merck & Co. Inc., Abbot Laboratories Inc. and
AIDS cocktails prevent cancer, study finds: Reuters NewMedia - March 15, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug cocktails taken to control the AIDS virus may not only keep patients healthy but may protect them against some cancers caused by the infection, international researchers said on Tuesday. The drug mixtures, called highly active antiretroviral therapy or HAART, suppress the deadly and incurabl
Swedish Medivir Shares Plunge as Drug Fails Trial: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2005; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Shares in Swedish drug firm Medivir fell 25 percent on Tuesday after it said privately held German company Boehringer Ingelheim had stopped development of a potential AIDS drug after failed clinical trials. A recently completed four-week Phase II clinical trial of Medivir s MIV-310 (alovudine) for
AIDS Virus Came to Britain Six Times, Study Shows: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The AIDS virus came to Britain at least six separate times in the early and mid-1980s, not once as has been widely believed, researchers reported on Monday. The team lead by University College London researchers found that HIV-1 subtype B -- that most commonly found in Britain -- spread quickly v
Church Coalition Takes Aim at U.S. Budget Plan: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2005; Deborah Zabarenko; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. church activists rallied on Capitol Hill on Monday to protest the proposed 2006 federal budget, which they contend provides too little funding for children and the poor. It s quite troubling, said Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches USA, speaking of the Bush admi
AIDS, TB, Malaria Body Warns 'Ad Hoc' Funding Risky: Reuters NewMedia - March 14, 2005; Stephen Brown; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A global fund dreamt up by U.N. chief Kofi Annan to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria is facing a shortfall just three years after its birth and needs donors to commit billions of dollars over the next few years. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria was set up as an independe
Zimbabweans battle food shortages as drought worsens: Reuters NewMedia - March 13, 2005; Stella Mapenzauswa; ESIGODINI, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Two orphan children kneel on the side of a highway in Zimbabwe s drought-hit south, picking up kernels of the food staple maize which have spilled off a passing truck. We hope to gather enough maize to boil for a meal for the two us and our grandmother, with whom we have lived since our
China launches first human trials of AIDS vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - March 12, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China , criticized for a slow initial response to its AIDS/HIV crisis, has begun its first human trials of a new AIDS vaccine, Xinhua news agency said. A 20-year-old man became the first volunteer to receive the AIDS vaccine on Saturday, followed by seven others, four of them women, Xinhua said.
AIDS Pioneer Calls for 'Therapeutic' Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists should first develop a so-called therapeutic vaccine to treat people already infected with HIV before moving on to a preventative one, the co-discoverer of the AIDS virus said on Friday. Professor Luc Montagnier, president of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention, said ther
Africa Commission's Recommendations: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - The UK-sponsored Africa Commission issued a bulky and ambitious report on Friday intended as a global blueprint for recovery on the continent. Following are some key quotes and recommendations: GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA: Weak governance has blighted the development of many parts of Africa to date ... Corr
Savient Stops Trial of Pain Drug as Not Effective: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Friday said it was terminating a trial of a drug for treating HIV patients with peripheral nerve pain as the medicine is unlikely to work. The company, whose shares fell 17 percent in pre-market trading, said the decision to end the Phase II trial of the drug Prosapt
'Marshall Plan' for Africa Depends on G8 Backing: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2005; Andrew Cawthorne; LONDON (Reuters) - An ambitious Africa recovery plan on Friday challenged the rich world to end appalling trade protectionism and stump up an extra $25 billion aid a year. But the widely trailed Africa Commission report, an initiative of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, faces a daunting task to gain acceptance from t
Steady Rise in UK Heterosexual HIV Infections: Reuters NewMedia - March 10, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - HIV infections among British heterosexuals have risen steadily in recent years but gay men still have the highest risk of acquiring the deadly virus, according to figures released on Friday. More than 21,000 of the 56,308 adults diagnosed with HIV in England, Wales and Northern
Death in the Family Brings AIDS Home to South Africans: Reuters NewMedia - March 10, 2005; Gordon Bell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Personal grief surrounding the families and friends of AIDS victims in South Africa is starting to create the kind of public concern about the pandemic that activists have sought for years, a survey showed on Thursday. The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) said its survey showed that
Poll: Congo War Is World's Top 'Forgotten' Crisis: Reuters NewMedia - March 10, 2005; Ruth Gidley; LONDON (Reuters) - Brutal conflicts in Congo, Uganda and Sudan are the world s three biggest forgotten emergencies, each dwarfing the toll of the Asian tsunami but attracting scant media interest, a Reuters poll of experts showed on Thursday. War in Democratic Republic of Congo has claimed at least 10 times as many l
Singapore Govt AIDS Comment Outrages Gay Activists: Reuters NewMedia - March 10, 2005; SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Gay activists responded with outrage and disbelief on Thursday to statements by a Singapore official who said a gay and lesbian festival -- dubbed Asia s largest gay event -- may have caused a big spike in AIDS cases. The Nation.04 party -- a festival of international DJs, podium dancers, pumping
Dutch insurers to offer HIV patients life policies: Reuters NewMedia - March 9, 2005; AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Several Dutch insurers will start offering life insurance policies to certain people suffering from HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, the Dutch Association of Insurers said on Wednesday. Life expectancy of people treated with a combination of drugs called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART
Childbirth Kills 9,000 Tanzanian Women Annually: Reuters NewMedia - March 9, 2005; Helen Nyambura; DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters) - About 9,000 Tanzanian women die every year as they deliver babies due to malnutrition and lack of access to health care, the U.N. said Wednesday. Sixty percent of all Tanzanian mothers deliver at home, many without the help of a skilled birth attendant, which puts both the lives of t
Global Pharmaceutical Sales Increases Slow Down: Reuters NewMedia - March 9, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Worldwide prescription drug industry sales last year grew at their slowest rate since 1998, hurt by government pressure to reduce prices, concerns over drug safety and competition from cheap generics, according to data from IMS Health. Global sales rose 7 percent in 2004 to $550 billion, of which n
New Method Makes 'Safer' Stem Cells, Study Finds: Reuters NewMedia - March 8, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers looking for ways to make safer stem cells for use in medical therapies said on Monday they had grown human cells without the use of contaminating animal cells. They said their work, done outside U.S. federal restraints, could bypass problems with existing stem cell batches, which scie
U.S. Court Grants Asylum Review to Gay Lebanese Man: Reuters NewMedia - March 7, 2005; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A gay Lebanese man with AIDS may seek asylum in the United States because he has a well-founded fear of persecution in his native Lebanon , a U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday. The ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an immigration judge s decisio
U.S. Defends Opposition to Addict Injection Rooms: Reuters NewMedia - March 7, 2005; Louis Charbonneau; VIENNA (Reuters) - American opposition to injection rooms and needle exchange for intravenous drug users is not undermining the fight against HIV/AIDS and other diseases that can be spread by dirty needles, a U.S. official said Monday. The so-called harm reduction programs are aimed at stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS a
US Draws Jeers for Abortion Comments at UN: Reuters NewMedia - March 4, 2005; Deborah Zabarenko; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Jeers and catcalls greeted the top U.S. delegate to a global women s conference on Friday as she stressed Washington s opposition to abortion and support for sexual abstinence and fidelity. After withdrawing an unpopular anti-abortion amendment from a key U.N. document, the Uni
HIV patients may run out of drug options: Reuters NewMedia - March 4, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - A growing number of HIV patients in Britain are in danger of running out of treatment options because their virus has become resistant to the drug combinations they have been taking, scientists say. A study, published on Friday, of more than 16,000 patients treated between 1996 and 2002 showed more a
HIV set to infect 89 million Africans: Reuters NewMedia - March 4, 2005; GENEVA (Reuters) - A further 89 million people in Africa could be infected by the HIV virus by 2025 unless the world takes tougher measures to stem the epidemic on the hard-hit continent, the United Nations says. The worst case scenario, which projects a four-fold increase in deaths from the killer disease over 20 year
Court Allows HIV Lawsuit Against American Airlines: Reuters NewMedia - March 4, 2005; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Three applicants denied flight attendant jobs at American Airlines can sue even though they lied about their HIV -positive status, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. American made tentative job offers in 1998 and 1999 to Walber Leonel, Richard Branton and Vincent Fusco pending medical an
S.Africa Awards AIDS Drug Tenders, Delivery in 2 Months: Reuters NewMedia - March 3, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa awarded tenders to seven drug companies on Thursday to supply AIDS drugs in state hospitals across the country, taking a big step forward in a long-delayed national rollout. The tender -- which expires in 2007 -- was awarded to Africa s biggest generic drug maker Aspen Pharmacare,
U.S. Says Expects to Approve More Generic AIDS Drugs: Reuters NewMedia - March 2, 2005; Anna Willard; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expects to approve more generic AIDS drugs in coming months, the head of U.S. AIDS policy said on Wednesday, a move which would allow them to be included in a $15 billion U.S. anti-HIV program. South Africa s Aspen Pharmacare, Africa s biggest generic drugs maker, in January bec
New Studies Point to Crisis Among U.S. Black Men: Reuters NewMedia - March 2, 2005; Alan Elsner; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A batch of new studies suggesting that black males in the United States are falling ever further behind other groups in health, education and employment has ignited a debate within the black community about who is to blame and what can be done. There s a major discussion within the community abou
China Rejects U.S. Criticism of Rights Record: Reuters NewMedia - March 1, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China rejected U.S. criticism of its human rights record on Tuesday, saying Washington should stop interfering in China s internal affairs and think about putting its own house in order. The State Department accused China in its annual human rights report on Monday of using the global war against te
Before the Bell - Savient falls, Visteon rises: Reuters NewMedia - March 11, 2005; NEW YORK, March 11 (Reuters) - Shares of Savient Pharmaceuticals Inc. fell 21 percent before the bell on Friday after the specialty pharmaceuticals company said it was terminating a trial of a drug for treating HIV patients with nerve pain as it is unlikely to work. On the Inet electronic brokerage system, Savient fell
Annan Says Women's Equality Hurt; U.S. Raises Abortion: Reuters NewMedia - February 28, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Monday that sex trafficking and the growth of AIDS were imperiling the quest for female equality as the United States raised the divisive issue of abortion rights. Annan told the opening of a two-week conference on women s rights that many governments
Beauty Pageant to Choose Miss HIV: Reuters NewMedia - February 28, 2005; Peter Apps; GABORONE (Reuters) - There is a catwalk banquet, hordes of journalists, traditional dancing and time-consuming hair styling -- but at Botswana s beauty pageant every competitor must be HIV positive. At a palm tree-studded resort and conference center in the capital Gaborone, 12 girls are competing this weekend for the
US Okays Roche Hepatitis Drug for HIV Patients: Reuters NewMedia - February 28, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug maker Roche Holding AG won U.S. permission to market its hepatitis drug Pegasys for treating patients infected with both hepatitis C and the HIV virus that causes AIDS, the company said on Friday. Pegasys, combined with another Roche drug called Copegus, is the only therapy approved for trea
Life-Prolonging AIDS Cocktails Show Real Value: Reuters NewMedia - February 27, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Drug cocktails that can prolong the lives of people infected with the AIDS virus are beginning to show their value but only about half of U.S. adults who should be receiving them are actually getting them, scientists reported on Friday. The study was presented at a meeting in Boston of AIDS resea
South African Films Bask in Oscar Limelight: Reuters NewMedia - February 26, 2005; James Knight and Katrina Manson; OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - In the sprawling city of Ouagadougou, a world away from Hollywood s Oscar frenzy, the cream of Africa s cinema talent will be looking stateside Sunday and hoping for a golden statuette for one of their own. For the first time, a South African film is in the running for cinema s top prize. Darrel
New virus may have come from monkeys, experts say: Reuters NewMedia - February 25, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two new retroviruses never before seen in humans have turned up among people who regularly hunt monkeys in Cameroon , researchers reported on Friday. Like the AIDS virus, these viruses insert their genetic material directly into cells and perhaps even into a person s or animal s chromosomes. Clos
New therapies may expand AIDS arsenal - conference: Reuters NewMedia - February 25, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several new drugs work well in HIV patients who are beginning to run out of options because their virus has mutated into drug-resistant forms, researchers reported on Friday. Adding new therapies to the 20 medications that already exist to control the AIDS virus is essential to keeping patients a
Clue Found to How HIV Invades Cells: Reuters NewMedia - February 24, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists said Wednesday they have discovered a key clue to how HIV mutates to evade the immune system that could advance the search for new drugs and a vaccine. Researchers at the Children s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School in the United States have shown that the virus, which has infecte
Biotech Firm Innogenetics Narrows Operating Loss: Reuters NewMedia - February 25, 2005; BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian biotech company Innogenetics said on Friday its operating loss narrowed in 2004, and forecast a further improvement this year despite an expected 15 percent hike in research costs. Losses before interest and tax fell to 12.9 million euros from 13.8 million, while revenues -- the bulk of whi
New York AIDS Case Puzzles Top Experts: Reuters NewMedia - February 25, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - AIDS experts who created an uproar when they publicized the case of a man infected with an apparently uniquely dangerous mutant of HIV said on Thursday it was important to warn health officials. The case is important because the patient has a form of the virus that is both resistant to several cl
More drugs better for protecting baby from HIV: Reuters NewMedia - February 24, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists defended the practice of giving a single dose of the drug nevirapine to protect newborns from their mothers AIDS infections, saying on Thursday it works and is not toxic. They found that adding other drugs to the dose helps even more and is safe for mother and baby. Several studies
Clinton to Meet Taiwan President During Visit: Reuters NewMedia - February 24, 2005; TAIPEI (Reuters) - Former U.S. president Bill Clinton will meet Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian on Sunday during a whirlwind visit to the island that China regards as a renegade province, but China was restrained in its reaction. China believes Taiwan must be reunited by force if necessary
Rich Tapestry of African Reality at Film Festival: Reuters NewMedia - February 24, 2005; James Knight and Katrina Manson; OUAGADOUGOU (Reuters) - The scars of genocide, the reality of AIDS, a talking donkey and a transvestite mortician -- just some of the images of Africa being offered to movie fans at the continent s top film festival which starts this week. Fespaco, the biennial pan-African festival of film and television, kicks off on
China Must Expand AIDS Fight -- UNICEF: Reuters NewMedia - February 24, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - China , having finally broken its silence about AIDS, must now expand its struggle against the disease nationwide but faces challenges in prevention and treatment, UNICEF said on Thursday. Experts have faulted China for being slow to recognize a growing AIDS problem, exacerbated by the cover-up of b
Abstinence Programs Failing in Uganda AIDS Study: Reuters NewMedia - February 24, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Programs that promote abstinence and monogamy to combat AIDS are failing in a landmark Ugandan study, and only condom use has kept the deadly virus in check, researchers reported on Wednesday. Their study, presented to a meeting of AIDS researchers, suggests that Uganda s much-lauded success in b
Clue Found to How HIV Invades Cells: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists said Wednesday they have discovered a key clue to how HIV mutates to evade the immune system that could advance the search for new drugs and a vaccine. Researchers at the Children s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School in the United States have shown that the virus, which has infecte
Abbott Sees Stent in '06 Outside U.S.: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2005; Julie Steenhuysen; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc. is confident its drug-coated stent will hit the market outside the United States by 2006, and it is developing a next-generation stent that will use multiple drugs to help set it apart from rivals. Richard Gonzalez, chief operating officer of Abbott s medical products group,
Gilead Says Gets European Approval for HIV Drug: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc. on Wednesday said it received European approval for its combination HIV treatment Truvada . The biotechnology company said it can market the drug, which combines its anti-HIV medications Emtriva and
Clinton hails China's AIDS progress, offers help: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2005; BEIJING (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said on Wednesday China has made progress in fighting AIDS since he last visited in 2003 and his foundation would give drugs and help train doctors battling the disease. Experts have criticised China for being slow to recognise a growing AIDS problem, and the Unite
Foreign Oscar Nominees Show the Dark Side of Life: Reuters NewMedia - February 23, 2005; Nigel Hunt; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - If you think you have it rough, then several of this year s foreign language Oscar nominations will at least convince you that you are not alone. One of the leading contenders for the awards to be given on Sunday -- Spain s entry The Sea Inside -- features a quadriplegic desperately seeking help
New HIV Cases Rise 17 Pct in HK in 2004: Reuters NewMedia - February 22, 2005; HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong recorded 268 new HIV cases in 2004, up 17 percent from 2003, the government said on Tuesday. The number of new cases was the highest annual total on record in the territory, the Department of Health said. Six of those who tested positive for HIV were pregnant women.
U.S. Belt Tightening Could Hit AIDS Efforts -Official: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A tighter 2006 budget for the National Institutes of Health could force the world s No. 1 funder of medical research to pull the plug on some AIDS research and other projects that don t prove their value, a top official said on Monday. The Bush administration s 2006 budget calls for a $163 millio
UNAIDS chief warns against Philippine complacency: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2005; MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines could see a sharp rise in AIDS cases in the coming years, partly due to opposition to condom use by the powerful Roman Catholic Church, the head of the United Nations AIDS programme said on Monday. UNAIDS executive director Peter Piot told reporters that while the number of cases i
GSK Rebrands Africa AIDS Drugs to Beat Smugglers: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithkline Plc (GSK), has rebranded AIDS medicines it sells at cut-price rates in Africa to prevent the drugs being smuggled back for sale in Europe, Europe s biggest drugmaker said on Monday. The drugs giant has adopted a new color on its anti-retroviral pills Combiv
Aspen First Half Earnings Jump 35 Pct: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African drug manufacturer Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd posted a 35 percent rise in first half headline earnings per share on Monday, driven by higher sales and a share buy-back. A statement said headline EPS for the six months to end-December rose to 63.7 cents from 47.2 cents in the sam
EU Experts Back New Formulation for Roche HIV Drug: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2005; ZURICH (Reuters) - A panel of European experts has backed a more potent formulation of Roche AG s HIV drug Invirase , the Basel-based pharmaceuticals maker said on Monday, paving the way for full European approval. The panel approved the drug in a 500 mg formulation, cutting the daily pill requirement from five to two.
Former Shire Boss Named Chairman of UK's PowderMed: Reuters NewMedia - February 21, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Rolf Stahel, the man who built Britain s Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc into a FTSE 100 company, has been appointed non-executive chairman of PowderMed Ltd. PowderMed was sold to management last year by U.S. vaccine maker Chiron Corp., which had acquired the business when it bought Britain s PowderJ
Opposition vows "new beginning" for Zimbabwe: Reuters NewMedia - February 20, 2005; Cris Chinaka; MASVINGO, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - Opposition leaders vowed a new beginning for Zimbabwe on Sunday, launching a campaign for March parliamentary polls analysts say are already loaded in favour of President Robert Mugabe. At a rally near the ancient Great Zimbabwe monument from which the country derives its name, Movement f
AIDS blamed as S.Africa reports huge jump in deaths: Reuters NewMedia - February 18, 2005; Andrew Quinn; PRETORIA (Reuters) - South Africa s death toll soared by 57 percent in the five years to 2002, new figures on Friday showed, underscoring how the country s AIDS epidemic is cutting a swathe through its working-age population. Releasing figures from a widely awaited national mortality study, Statistics South Africa (Sta
Two decades on, millions in Ethiopia rely on aid: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2005; Jeremy Lovell; LONDON (Reuters) - Two decades after Bob Geldof spurred people to empty their pockets to feed the starving in the horn of Africa, seven million Ethiopians still rely on food aid to survive, Catholic aid agency CAFOD said on Friday. Despite millions of dollars that poured into Ethiopia from the 1984 Band Aid record and
New HIV strain shakes up New York gay community: Reuters NewMedia - 17 Feb 2005; Larry Fine; NEW YORK, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A potentially virulent strain of the HIV virus found last week in a New York man has the gay community worried about a new deadly epidemic, and activists battling a scourge they believed was contained. The patient found to have a treatment-resistant and fast progressing strain of HIV was a
Bush Aides Play Down Need for Drastic Tax Overhaul: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2005; Caren Bohan and Adam Entous; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An overhaul of the U.S. tax code promised by President Bush could be accomplished without drastic changes such as a switch to a national sales tax or flat income tax rate, the White House said in a report on Thursday. While criticizing the U.S. tax system as costly and layered with complexities,
Spain doctor rebuilds penises cut off for AIDS cure: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2005; MADRID (Reuters) - Two Kenyan boys whose penises were cut off to be sold for making anti-AIDS potions have had them reconstructed in Spain , the doctor treating them said. The adolescent boys, from a remote region near the border with Uganda , were mutilated after being given drugged food or drink by strangers.
Mandela Launches New Star-Studded AIDS Concert: Reuters NewMedia - February 17, 2005; John Chiahemen; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela, who last year announced he was bowing out of public life, promised on Thursday to attend an international concert to raise money to fight AIDS/HIV among women in South Africa . A host of international stars have agreed to perform for free at the concert, dubbed 46664 after Mande
Crucell, DSM in PER.C6 Licensing Deal with Roche: Reuters NewMedia - February 16, 2005; AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell and partner, Dutch chemicals firm DSM, said on Wednesday they had sealed a deal with Roche for the use of Crucell s PER.C6 gene technology. The two Dutch firms said in a statement that Switzerland s Roche would pay a research license payment and other payments for
Drug Giants Race for Pill to Lock Out AIDS Virus: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2005; Ben Hirschler; LONDON (Reuters) - The world s leading drugmakers are racing to be first to market with a new kind of pill that can block the AIDS virus before it enters human cells, experts said on Wednesday. If successful, so-called CCR5 inhibitors should have fewer toxic side effects and offer hope to patients whose virus has devel
Sudden Rises in HIV Levels No Concern, Report Says: Reuters NewMedia - February 15, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Sudden jumps of HIV levels in patients taking drugs for the AIDS-causing infection are harmless blips and do not mean the treatment against the virus is losing its punch, a report said on Tuesday. These results should provide relief to hundreds of thousands of HIV-positive patients in the
Scientists examine possible new HIV strain in NY: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scientists said on Monday they were studying a potentially new virulent strain of the AIDS virus taken from a New York man to see if it posed any public danger. Tests will include a close look at the genetic sequence of the virus to see if it is unique and perhaps has developed a more efficient w
It's a Warmer World, But Does That Mean Armageddon?: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2005; Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent; OSLO (Reuters) - When bears wake early from hibernation, Australia suffers its worst drought in 100 years and multiple hurricanes hammer Florida should we believe The End is nigh? That s the nub of a debate over the human impact on global warming that pits scientists who say such anomalies are signs of impending doom a
Abbott, OraSure Set HIV Test Distribution Deal: Reuters NewMedia - February 14, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc. on Monday said it has reached a deal to distribute an HIV test developed by OraSure Technologies Inc. Under the terms of the agreement, Abbott is the exclusive distributor to hospitals of OraSure s OraQuick Advance rapid antibody test for the detection of antibodies to HIV-
Singaporeans Seek Chaste Valentine's Day: Reuters NewMedia - February 11, 2005; SINGAPORE (Reuters) - As Valentine s Day stoked the embers of romance worldwide, a group of Singaporeans began a campaign urging couples to curb their ardor and abstain from sex. A Christian group launched Monday a week-long Abstinence Awareness Campaign on the island, which has one of Asia s lowest birth rates and has
Childhood Hardships Inspire Chinese Activist: Reuters NewMedia - February 13, 2005; Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent; NEW YORK (Reuters) - At 14, Zhang Ye furtively learned her ABCs while herding sheep in frigid Inner Mongolia during China s Cultural Revolution, a humble start on her path to a masters degree from Harvard University s Kennedy School. Now 50, Zhang is country director for the Asia Foundation in China, where her sufferin
New York warns of fast, resistant strain of HIV: Reuters NewMedia - February 12, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - One day after the discovery of a drug-resistant, fast-developing AIDS case in New York prompted city health officials to announce an alert, leading experts said on Saturday there may be little cause for alarm. There is absolutely no evidence that this is a super virus, Dr. Robert Gallo, director of
Swedish Court Clears Anti-Gay Priest: Reuters NewMedia - February 11, 2005; Stephen Brown; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A Swedish priest sentenced to a month in jail for calling homosexuals a cancerous tumor was cleared by a court on Friday in a ruling that upheld his right to preach biblical views even if many found them offensive. The 63-year-old Pentecostal pastor, Ake Green, gave a sermon on the island of Oland
South Africa's Mbeki vows AIDS action, critics persist: Reuters NewMedia- February 11, 2005; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki vowed on Friday to step up the battle against HIV/AIDS, saying his government s programme was among the world s best. But critics said his pledge fell far short of what was required to stem the disease that affects more in South Africa than in any other nation.
It's a Warmer World, But Does That Mean Armageddon?: Reuters NewMedia- February 11, 2005; Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent; OSLO (Reuters) - When bears wake early from hibernation, Australia suffers its worst drought in 100 years and multiple hurricanes hammer Florida should we believe The End is nigh? That s the nub of a debate over the human impact on global warming that pits scientists who say such anomalies are signs of impending doom a
Polio Campaign on Track Despite Saudi Case-WHO: Reuters NewMedia- February 11, 2005; GENEVA (Reuters) - A campaign to halt the spread of polio by year-end is on track despite a new case in Saudi Arabia that sparked fears it could be carried by Muslims going home after the haj, the World Health Organization said on Friday. A Nigerian boy living in Mecca, Islam s holy city, came
Childhood hardships inspire Chinese activist: Reuters NewMedia- February 10, 2005; Paul Eckert, Asia Correspondent; NEW YORK (Reuters) - At 14, Zhang Ye furtively learned her ABCs while herding sheep in frigid Inner Mongolia during China s Cultural Revolution, a humble start on her path to a masters degree from Harvard University s Kennedy School. Now 50, Zhang is country director for the Asia Foundation in China, where her sufferin
Vertex Quarterly Loss Widens on Charges, Revs Up: Reuters NewMedia - February 10, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Wednesday posted a slightly wider fourth-quarter loss as an 85 percent rise in revenue failed to offset a large restructuring charge. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company reported a net loss of $42.8 million, or 54 cents per share, compared with a
India Begins AIDS Vaccine Trials on Humans: Reuters NewMedia - February 7, 2005; Sugita Katyal; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India , home to the world s second-largest HIV population after South Africa , began its first ever human trials of a new vaccine against the deadly virus Monday, the health minister said. A vaccine -- the best hope for the developing world where drugs remain out of reach for millions -- is consid
US foreign aid up for HIV/AIDS, Millennium funds: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, February 7, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. foreign aid would rise 10.7 percent under the proposed White House budget released on Monday, with more money to fight HIV/AIDS and help countries that reform economically and politically. State Department figures showed the U.S. foreign operations budget, which funds everything from child h
Zimbabwe "makes mockery" of African democracy - Tutu: Reuters NewMedia - February 6, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Anti-apartheid icon Archbishop Desmond Tutu criticised Zimbabwe for making a mockery of African democracy and urged regional leaders to scold contemporaries who fail to foster justice and freedom. Tutu last year hit out at kowtowing in South Africa s ruling ANC party, including over President s
Marley Legacy of Love Clouded by Homophobia, Hatred: Reuters NewMedia - February 6, 2005; Horace Helps; KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Reggae legend Bob Marley, whose lyrics One love! One heart! turned the Jamaican into a global icon, has left a legacy tainted by profanity, homophobia and hatred. A small but influential group of Jamaican reggae artists who keep Marley s flame alive have seen concerts canceled, award nomin
G7 must show determination on aid-France's Gaymard: Reuters NewMedia - February 4, 2005; PARIS (Reuters) - The G7 group of industrial powers can make progress on financing development aid at a meeting this weekend if they show enough political determination, French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard said on Friday. He voiced hope Washington would back European countries proposals at the Group of Seven London m
Vivid Art Fetes Bob Marley at Ethiopia Tribute: Reuters NewMedia - February 4, 2005; Matthew Green; ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Dreadlocks flail, marijuana smoke billows and guitars wail in new images of Bob Marley on display in Ethiopia as part of celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the late reggae star s birth. Adored in Africa for singing songs of freedom that resonate with millions across the continent, Marl
Poverty Worsening HIV Among U.S. Black Women - Study: Reuters NewMedia - February 3, 2005; Paul Simao; ATLANTA (Reuters) - Poverty, unemployment and other socioeconomic factors are helping to fuel a growing HIV problem among black women, a U.S. study released on Thursday suggests. Black men and women account for a majority of the estimated 40,000 new HIV infections that are diagnosed in the United States each ye
Roche's Pegasys Wins EU Approval for HIV Patients: Reuters NewMedia - February 3, 2005; ZURICH (Reuters) - Roche Holding AG s, Pegasys hepatitis treatment has won approval from European authorities for use in HIV patients who also have hepatitis C, the Swiss drug maker said on Thursday. Roche said that Pegasys, in combination with ribavirin, was the first hepatitis C treatment to be given the green light
Mandela challenges G7 to feed the poor: Reuters NewMedia - February 3, 2005; Jeremy Lovell and Sumeet Desai; LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - South African democracy icon Nelson Mandela challenged leaders of rich nations on Thursday to ease the plight of the world s poor millions by slashing debt, boosting aid and making world trade fairer. On the eve of a meeting in London of G7 finance ministers, the political prisoner turned worl
Gilead HIV Combo Beats Glaxo Drug in Trial: Reuters NewMedia - February 3, 2005; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences , on Thursday said preliminary data from a 48-week trial show that two of its two drugs, Viread and Emtriva , were better able to control levels of HIV than Combivir
Unsafe sex taxes health in the US: Reuters NewMedia - February 2, 2005; THE public health burden related to unsafe sexual activity is three times higher in the US than in other developed nations, according to researchers at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Nearly all the premature deaths and adverse health consequences are preventable, the investigators maintain. Dr Shahul E
Rock star's lobby group urges debt deal at G7 meet: Reuters NewMedia - February 2, 2005; WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A lobby group co-founded by rock star Bono said on Wednesday a deal among rich countries to write off debts of the world s poorest nations will probably incorporate aspects of both British and U.S. proposals. Jamie Drummond, executive director of DATA -- or Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa -
Rare Sexually Transmitted Disease Strikes 2 in N.Y.: Reuters NewMedia - February 2, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New Yorkers have been diagnosed with a rare sexually transmitted disease that is spreading among gay and bisexual men in Europe, the city health commissioner said on Wednesday. The disease, known as LGV or Lymphogranuloma venereum, is caused by specific strains of chlamydia and is often marked
INTERVIEW - Malawi losing 10 people per hour to AIDS - minister: Reuters NewMedia - February 1, 2005; Mabvuto Banda; BLANTYRE (Reuters) - AIDS kills about 10 people every hour in Malawi and the government of the impoverished southern African nation is increasingly unable to cope with the crisis, Health Minister Heatherwick Ntaba said. This is a disaster because it means that the country is losing 240 people every day to HIV/AIDS and
UK Widens Crackdown on Animal Rights Extremists: Reuters NewMedia - January 31, 2005; Katherine Baldwin; LONDON (Reuters) - Britain proposed jail sentences of up to five years for animal rights protesters who obstruct experiments, widening its crackdown on extremists it says threaten vital medical research. The measures seek to protect all firms associated with animal experimentation, from suppliers like building contract
Africa Failing to Meet Development Goals - Annan: Reuters NewMedia - January 30, 2005; Tom Ashby and Dino Mahtani; ABUJA, Nigeria (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan told African leaders Sunday they were failing to meet targets for reducing poverty and combating killer diseases five years after agreeing to global development goals. Annan urged heads of state at an African Union summit in Abuja to make 2005 a tur
DAVOS-Cantor Fitzgerald says cash is best in disasters: Reuters NewMedia - January 29, 2005; DAVOS (Reuters) - Cantor Fitzgerald, the company hardest hit in the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, believes cash is king when it comes to helping victims of natural disasters, such as last month s Asian tsunami. Howard Luttnick, the brokerage s chairman and chief executive, said on Saturday it was giving $1 million i
S.Africa's ANC Attacks Economist Over Mbeki Story: Reuters NewMedia - January 28, 2005; Ed Stoddard; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The African National Congress accused the Economist newspaper on Friday of publishing lies about South African President Thabo Mbeki, in the latest salvo from the ruling party against the media. The London-based news weekly said in a three-page article last week that Mbeki had clamped down on p
Schroeder Backs UK's Africa Debt-Reduction Plan: Reuters NewMedia - January 28, 2005; Paul Taylor and Knut Engelmann; DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder backed British proposals on Friday for wealthy nations to cut Africa s debt but was more cautious on a French call for an international tax to fund the fight against AIDS. Schroeder said there was a danger that a summit of the Group of Eight industriali
Gilead HIV Drug Sales Rise But Profit Drops: Reuters NewMedia - January 28, 2005; Deena Beasley; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Biotechnology company Gilead Sciences Inc. on Thursday reported a 45 percent rise in HIV drug sales in the fourth-quarter, but net income fell. Shares rose 4.4 percent in after hours trade and the company set a sales target for its HIV drugs which one analyst called pretty spectacular. Net
Japan Sees Problems with Idea of Global AIDS Tax: Reuters NewMedia - January 27, 2005; TOKYO (Reuters) - A global tax to help fight AIDS, as proposed by French President Jacques Chirac, would not be fully effective unless every country in the world was involved, Japan s top financial diplomat said on Thursday. Chirac told the World Economic Forum on Wednesday that such a tax, which he said could be impos
Brazil's Lula Tries to Woo Both Rich and Poor: Reuters NewMedia - January 27, 2005; Carlos A. De Juana; PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Thursday urged the world s poor and hungry to unite against rich nations interests before he jetted off to a meeting of the globe s wealthy elite. Balancing the need to please his leftist constituency while wooing investment to Brazil, Lul
U.S. women at greatest risk of sexual disease - study: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Americans, and especially women, are three times more likely to suffer premature death and adverse health due to sexual activity than people in other rich nations, scientists said on Thursday. Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found some 20 million cases of adverse health co
Kenyans with HIV struggle to obtain drugs: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; Katie Nguyen; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Diagnosed with HIV four years ago, Kenyan woman Patricia Kagure is desperate to get her hands on some life-prolonging drugs to fight pain that makes her skin feel like its on fire. Kagure, 22, said she has gone without ARV drugs because she cannot afford to pay 3,000 shillings ($38.83) a month to ge
Hitler Film Wins Oscar Nomination: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; Arthur Spiegelman; LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Can a film that humanizes Adolf Hitler win an Oscar? Oliver Hirschbiegel hopes so. He is the director of Downfall ( Der Untergang ), a film about the last days of Hitler s life, which was nominated for an Oscar on Tuesday as one of five foreign language films. Also nominated were All it is in He
Seize historic chance to end poverty, Brown urges: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; Jeremy Lovell; LONDON (Reuters) - Debt eradication and new sources of long-term aid for the poorest countries must be put in place immediately if the world is not to miss a golden opportunity, British finance minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday. He told a meeting of diplomats and development officials aimed at turning high minded
Procyon cuts jobs,labs to focus on late-stage drugs: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; TORONTO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Procyon Biopharma Inc. said on Wednesday it will close three labs and cut its workforce to reduce its burn rate after disappointing trial results from its lead product Fibrostat to treat scars. It said 14 out of its 42 employees would lose their jobs, mainly in basic research and administrat
UN: 700,000 AIDS Patients Get Drugs, Funds Short: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; GENEVA (Reuters) - The number of AIDS patients receiving life-extending drugs in poor countries has jumped to 700,000 from 440,000 six months ago, U.N. agencies said on Wednesday, but warned much more needed to be done. The figure only amounted to 12 percent of the estimated 5.8 million adults needing antiretroviral th
Cash Crunch Looms as AIDS Drugs Reach 700,000: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; Ben Hirschler; DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - The number of people receiving life-saving AIDS drugs in poor countries has jumped 75 percent in the past year but $2 billion more is needed to reach the goal of putting 3 million on treatment by the end of 2005. U.N. agencies said on Wednesday that antiretroviral therapy (ARV) was now ge
South Africa Hopes for Movie Boom from Oscar Nomination: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; Gershwin Wanneburg; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa toasted its first film nominated for an Oscar on Wednesday, hoping the poignant story of a woman s battle with AIDS could help the fledgling film industry take flight. The nomination of Yesterday is yet another accolade for South Africa s fast growing film industry. A second film,
Chirac Calls for Global Tax to Fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - January 26, 2005; Ben Hirschler; DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac called for a tax to fund the global fight against AIDS Wednesday, as new figures showed a modest rise in the number of patients receiving life-saving drugs in poor nations. The experimental levy, which could be raised on international financial transactions
S.African Oscar Nod Seen Boosting Local Film-Making: Reuters NewMedia - January 25, 2005; Gershwin Wanneburg; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The first Oscar nomination for a South African film will boost the burgeoning industry and grab the attention of Hollywood, the film s director said on Tuesday. Director Darrell Roodt told Reuters an Oscar nomination in the foreign language category for Yesterday announced in Los Angeles should
Unionised Workers Heed Swaziland Strike Call: Reuters NewMedia - January 25, 2005; James Hall; MANZINI, Swaziland (Reuters) - Unionized workers in Swaziland downed tools on Tuesday in protest against King Mswati III, an absolute monarch whose big-spending ways stand in sharp contrast to the grinding poverty of most of his subjects. Post offices were shut and some banks were closed or ran with skeletal staff as t
S.Africa's Aspen gets U.S. approval for AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - January 25, 2005; James Macharia; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Africa s biggest generic drug maker, Aspen Pharmacare said on Tuesday it had won regulatory approval for some of its life-prolonging AIDS drugs to be included in a $15 billion U.S. anti-HIV programme. Shares in Aspen rose by as much as 5.2 percent to 19.99 rand following the announcement. The J
New Courts for Illegal Circumcision?: Reuters NewMedia - January 25, 2005; Peter Apps; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African authorities say they want to introduce special courts to prosecute people doing botched circumcisions in the Eastern Cape as they try to stamp out a practice that has left boys dead or mutilated. Since 1995, more than 6,000 boys have been admitted to hospital in the province, with
Botswana winning AIDS education war: Reuters NewMedia - January 24, 2005; Barry Baxter; GABORONE (Reuters) - Botswana , battling one of the world s highest HIV/AIDS infection rates, has made major inroads in its campaign to fight the deadly epidemic through public education, a national survey shows. The Botswana Aids Impact Survey (BAIS) is the latest measure of success for diamond-rich Botswana s efforts
Dutch Firm Crucell's Year Loss Narrows, Revenue Triples: Reuters NewMedia - January 24, 2005; Karl Emerick Hanuska; AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell reported on Monday a smaller net loss last year and a tripling in revenues, but its shares fell more than 10 percent as investors fretted over the possibility it might resort to a share issue to raise cash. Crucell -- whose PER.C6 gene technology is aimed at using
Merck Begins Mid-Stage Trial of HIV Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - January 24, 2005; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merck & Co. on Monday said it has begun a mid-stage trial of a vaccine to determine if it can prevent infection by HIV or treat patients who are already infected with the virus. Unlike conventional vaccines that coax the body to create antibodies against a target virus, Merck said its vaccine i
Serono Completes Enrolment in Serostim Study: Reuters NewMedia - January 24, 2005; ZURICH (Reuters) - Serono has completed patient enrolment for final testing of Serostim in a bid to broaden the drug s use against side effects of HIV/AIDS, Europe s largest biotechnology firm said on Monday. Serostim, a growth hormone, is already used in other applications to treat a loss of vital muscle and organ tis
Pope Reaffirms No Condom Stand After Spain Debacle: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2005; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul on Saturday stressed that the Roman Catholic Church believed abstinence and fidelity within marriage, and not condoms, were the best way to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Pope s words, spoken to a new ambassador to the Vatican, took on an added significance being his first dire
Bush to Boost AIDS Funds; Critics Say More Needed: Reuters NewMedia - January 22, 2005; Adam Entous; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush will propose $3.2 billion for next year to combat the spread of AIDS globally, one of the few increases in what is expected to be a tight foreign aid budget, administration and congressional sources said on Friday. Administration officials said Bush was fulfilling his commitments o
'Morning After' Treatment Advised to Prevent AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - January 21, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A morning after treatment for the AIDS virus can help prevent infection after a rape, contact with a contaminated needle or even a night of passion without a condom, U.S. health officials said on Thursday. Taking drug cocktails for four weeks seems to greatly reduce the risk of becoming infected
Pope Says Church Must Help Poor AIDS Victims More: Reuters NewMedia - January 21, 2005; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope John Paul said on Friday the Roman Catholic Church and its health care workers had to pay particular attention to helping AIDS sufferers in the developing world. But the Pope did not mention the Church s general position against the use of condoms to stop the spread of the killer disease,
WHO backs AIDS drug despite FDA warning: Reuters NewMedia - January 20, 2005; GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it would continue recommending use of the Viramune drug in AIDS patients despite a U.S. regulatory warning, as the benefits were greater than toxicity problems. We don t think at the moment to change our policy ..., Charles Gilks, director of WHO s AIDS treat
Spain Debacle Spotlights Church Condom Debate: Reuters NewMedia - January 20, 2005; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - What does the Roman Catholic Church really think about the use of condoms to fight AIDS? It seems to depend on who is doing the talking. After Wednesday s about-face by Spain s Roman Catholic Church -- which first said condoms could have a role in anti-AIDS programs and then retracted the state
Brazil Hands Out Record 11 Mln Carnival Condoms: Reuters NewMedia - January 20, 2005; BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazil, one of the Latin American countries hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic, will hand out a record 11 million condoms to prevent the spread of the disease during its erotically charged Carnival festival when casual sex rises. With the pre-Lenten celebrations two weeks away, the Dress You
South Africa Medics, Activists Stand by AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - January 20, 2005; James Macharia; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Health officials and activists fighting AIDS in South Africa on Thursday stood by a key drug the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) warned a day earlier could cause deadly liver damage. But the ruling African National Congress (ANC) said the FDA warning vindicated its concerns about the
Boehringer, activists back AIDS drug despite fears: Reuters NewMedia - January 20, 2005; Sitaraman Shankar and James Macharia; FRANKFURT/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Germany s Boehringer Ingelheim expects no impact on its AIDS drug donation programme for poor countries from a U.S. regulatory warning that its Viramune medicine could cause liver damage, it said on Thursday. A spokeswoman for privately owned Boehringer, Germany s to
Companies Trailing in Global AIDS Fight -Survey: Reuters NewMedia - January 20, 2005; Ben Hirschler; LONDON (Reuters) - Companies around the world are falling behind in the fight against AIDS, leaving a black hole in education and healthcare, experts said on Thursday. More than 70 percent of companies have no HIV/AIDS strategy of any kind, and only 7 percent have a formal written policy, according to a survey by the W
Rush to Adopt Tsunami Orphans May End in Tears: Reuters NewMedia - January 19, 2005; Stephen Brown; STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) - Adoption hotlines around the world have been jammed with callers since the Asian tsunami on Dec. 26 orphaned thousands of children, but experts and aid agencies are telling would-be parents they may be disappointed. We ve had maybe a hundred calls just in the past two days, said Margret J
Aid donors forget southern Africa after tsunami - U.N.: Reuters NewMedia- January 19, 2005; Peter Apps; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Aid donors have failed to respond to pleas for food aid in southern Africa in the aftermath of Asia s tsunami, risking leaving over a million hungry as the region claws its way out of years of shortages. We haven t had a single donation since the tsunami, said George Aelion regional projects ad
France's BioMerieux Q4 Sales Rise 1.2 Pct: Reuters NewMedia - January 19, 2005; PARIS (Reuters) - BioMerieux s sales in the fourth quarter rose 1.2 percent, as higher sales of reagents helped to offset the negative impact of currency swings and mounting competition, the world s eighth largest diagnostics group said on Wednesday. France s BioMerieux, presenting its first full-year sales since its i
Ranbaxy Q4 profit down as costs rise, sales up: Reuters NewMedia - January 18, 2005; Rosemary Arackaparambil; BOMBAY (Reuters) - India s Ranbaxy reported an unexpected 11 percent quarterly profit drop as R&D costs doubled, and said the cost of preparing to launch a copy of Pfizer s blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug Lipitor would weigh on 2005 profits. New Delhi-based Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., India s top drug maker and
UN Unveils Action Plan to Save Millions of Lives: Reuters NewMedia - January 18, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 500 million people can escape abject poverty, 250 million people will no longer go to bed hungry and 30 million children can be saved if rich countries double development aid over the next 10 years to $195 billion, a new U.N.-sponsored report said on Monday. The 3,000-word plan writ
UK's Shire Out-Licenses HIV Product to Avexa: Reuters NewMedia - January 18, 2005; LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s third-biggest drugmaker Shire Pharmaceuticals Group Plc said on Monday that it had out-licensed an experimental treatment for HIV to Avexa Ltd of Australia . The out-licensing of SPD754 is one of the final steps in a divestment program to allow Shire to focus on later-stage pipeline investm
Prescription Drugs Boost Abbott Labs: Reuters NewMedia - January 18, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc., on Tuesday said its fourth-quarter profit rose 3.2 percent on higher sales of medical products and prescription drugs, including its popular new Humira treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The suburban Chicago-based company posted a net profit of $974.6 million or 62 cents
Microsoft's Gates Wants Meeting with Brazil's Lula: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2005; Terry Wade; SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. is lobbying Brazil s government to agree to a meeting between the company s chairman, Bill Gates, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at the World Economic Forum next week, a Brazilian official said. The country has taken prominent role in the so-called free software mo
UN Report Urges Rich Countries to Double Aid: Reuters NewMedia - January 17, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 500 million people can be lifted out of abject poverty, 250 million people will no longer go to bed hungry and 30 million children can be saved if rich countries double development aid over the next 10 years, a new U.N.-sponsored report said Monday. In a 3,000-word report, some 265
Ditching suit, Brown aims for human touch in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - January 16, 2005; Rebecca Harrison; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Rich countries are likely to back Britain s bid to channel more debt relief and resources to Africa, which is ready to shake off the shackles of poverty, British finance minister Gordon Brown said on Monday. Brown told a meeting of Britain s Commission for Africa a tour of the world s poorest cont
S.Africa's Manuel says "obscene" wealth gap growing: Reuters NewMedia - January 16, 2005; Mariam Isa; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s Finance Minister Trevor Manuel criticised international trade policies as benefiting wealthy nations and warned that obscene inequalities between the rich and the poor were widening. Manuel made the comments in the Sunday Times newspaper as his British counterpart Gordon Brown ar
Frail Mandela lays to rest son who died of AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - January 14, 2005; Alistair Thomson; QUNU, South Africa (Reuters) - A frail-looking Nelson Mandela buried his last son in a remote South African field on Saturday, wearing a red AIDS ribbon to symbolise the fight against the disease that killed him a week ago. Thousands of people, including South Africa s political elite, gathered near Mandela s childhood
Bristol-Myers Says Disclosure May Stem Regulation: Reuters NewMedia - January 14, 2005; Ed Stoddard; MBABANE, Swaziland (Reuters) - Plans by the global pharmaceutical industry to publish more data on clinical trials may make it unnecessary for governments to tighten the rules, the CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb said late on Thursday. There s been some discussion about legislation. But if we provide the same systems, ther
U.S. Finds Gaping Racial Disparities in Public Health: Reuters NewMedia - January 13, 2005; Paul Simao; ATLANTA (Reuters) - Black people in the United States are far more likely than whites to die from strokes, diabetes and other diseases, according to a federal study that shows wide racial disparities persist in health care. The finding, released on Thursday in a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
Taking Medicine Prevents AIDS Mutations - Studies: Reuters NewMedia - January 13, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Taking AIDS drugs exactly as prescribed is the best way to prevent the virus from mutating and becoming resistant to those drugs, researchers said on Thursday. Even missing the occasional dose is enough to let the virus escape the suppressive effects of the medications and start to mutate, the re
Britain's Brown unveils $10 bln plan to beat AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - January 13, 2005; Matthew Green; NAIROBI (Reuters) - British finance minister Gordon Brown unveiled a $10 billion plan to revitalise the fight against AIDS on Thursday, saying his scheme might be the world s only hope of beating the epidemic. Brown wants donors to pledge big funding increases for every front in the battle against HIV/AIDS, from speedi
Bristol to Divest Struggling Consumer Medicines: Reuters NewMedia - January 12, 2005; Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. on Wednesday said it plans to divest its struggling U.S. and Canadian consumer medicines, including its Excedrin painkiller, in a move that would tighten its U.S. focus on sales of more-profitable prescription drugs. The products, which also include Keri hand lotion, Bristo
Sen. Clinton Chides Bush on Women's Health Policy: Reuters NewMedia - Janury 12, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Bush administration was making it hard for the poor to receive the full range of reproductive health services by putting too much emphasis on abstinence to combat AIDS. Speaking at a dinner to hundreds of women s rights and health activists on Tuesday night, the
African Children in Need of Brown's 'Marshall' Plan: Reuters NewMedia - Janury 12, 2005; Helen Nyambura; MWANZA, Tanzania (Reuters) - Seated on the ground beneath a mango tree, 55-year-old Zaituni John beheads tiny sun-dried sardines for the afternoon meal with the help of some of her five grandchildren. The children belong to two of her sons. One died of AIDS and left two of the infants with her. She does not know where
Canadian promotes cartoon condoms against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Janury 11, 2005; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Using humor to promote safe sex, a Canadian television producer on Tuesday launched 20 short videos of animated condoms in 41 languages to help fight HIV/AIDS around the world. The cartoons, called The Three Amigos, are a hit in South Africa , where they have run for nearly a year. Now they a
Ranbaxy Says Files 2 More Anti-AIDS Drugs in U.S.: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2005; BOMBAY (Reuters) - India s Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd. said on Monday it had filed two more generic AIDS drugs for approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA ), taking the total to three. Ranbaxy is seeking U.S. FDA approval to qualify for inclusion in U.
Scientists Find Clue to AIDS Origins, New Therapy: Reuters NewMedia - January 10, 2005; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - A single change in a human gene may hold the key to preventing people living with HIV from progressing to full-blown AIDS, researchers said on Monday. They found a crucial difference between a gene in humans and one in rhesus monkeys that blocks infection of the virus in the animals -- a finding that
Tsunami Rebuilding Should Not Overlook Nature -WWF: Reuters NewMedia - January 9, 2005; BASEL, Switzerland (Reuters) - Poorly planned coastal development compounded the impact of Asia s tsunami and rebuilding efforts should use natural protection provided by reefs and forests, conservation group WWF said Monday. In a report ahead of a U.N. meeting on the plight of small-island states, the Worldwide Fund f
Powell, in Kenya, Meets Youths Who Fight HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - January 8, 2005; Arshad Mohammed; NAIROBI (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell heard a 11-year-old speak of valuing her virginity and an HIV-positive woman advise abstinence Saturday as he met Kenyan youths who teach their peers how to avoid HIV/AIDS. On what may be his last trip as secretary of state, Powell returned to a theme he has visited t
Mandela Grief Challenges South Africa AIDS Stigma: Reuters NewMedia - January 7, 2005; Andrew Quinn; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - When Nelson Mandela speaks, South Africa usually listens. But his message on AIDS still has trouble getting through. Mandela s announcement that his son died from HIV/AIDS made headlines across the country on Friday as the grieving former president urged people to speak openly about a disease i
Crucell Rises as Nears License Deal with Genentech: Reuters NewMedia - January 7, 2005; AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Shares in Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell rose almost 3 percent on Friday after news the smallcap company was close to a license agreement with Genentech on key technology. Crucell s STAR technology is to be used to produce human antibodies and proteins. By 0820 GMT Crucell shares were up 2.87 p
Global Disaster Orphans Feel for Tsunami Children: Reuters NewMedia - January 7, 2005; Linda Sieg; TOKYO (Reuters) - Julius, Tomoyuki and Bridget bear the scars of being orphaned by war or disaster, but for a vast tsunami generation of children now forced to share their fate, growing up may prove even more traumatic. Julius Segujja was nine when AIDS ravaged Uganda and took his parents. Tomoyuki Nagake was seven
Speculation Heats Up Over Who Will Head World Bank: Reuters NewMedia - January 6, 2005; Lesley Wroughton; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick out of the running to succeed James Wolfensohn as World Bank head, speculation heated up over who will lead one of the globe s top lenders. Officials said on Thursday Zoellick was set to be named deputy to incoming Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
India to Step Up AIDS Fight, Launch Media Campaign: Reuters NewMedia - January 6, 2005; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s prime minister vowed on Thursday to step up government efforts to fight HIV/AIDS as top media firms pledged to start a campaign against the disease in the country with the world s second-highest number of infections. The deadly disease was not just a public health issue but a serious socio
Gene Helps People Resist AIDS Infection- Study: Reuters - January 6, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gene that may help block the AIDS virus from getting into cells seems to protect some people from the deadly and incurable infection, researchers said on Thursday. They found that people who carry extra copies of the gene are less likely to become infected with the virus, which affects 40 milli
Breaking taboo, Mandela says son died of AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - January 6, 2005; John Chiahemen; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s Nelson Mandela, one of Africa s most committed campaigners in the battle against AIDS, announced that his only surviving son had succumbed to the disease on Thursday. Makgatho Mandela, 54, died in a Johannesburg clinic where he had been receiving treatment for more than a month.
Mandela's Comments on Son's AIDS Death: Reuters NewMedia - January 6, 2005; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela said on Thursday his son Makgatho had died of AIDS-related causes, adding that South Africans must fight the stigma that surrounds the epidemic. Following are selections from Mandela s comments to reporters at his Johannesburg home: Some of you are aware that for some time, for m
Mandela's Only Surviving Son Dies Aged 54: Reuters NewMedia - January 6, 2005; John Chiahemen; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The only surviving son of former South African President Nelson Mandela died on Thursday in Johannesburg following an undisclosed illness, a hospital official said. Makgatho Mandela, 54, was admitted to hospital late last year. Makgatho Mandela s wife died in July 2003 of pneumonia. Mandela s s
Panacos HIV Drug Gets 'Fast Track' Status from FDA: Reuters NewMedia - January 6, 2005; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Panacos Pharmaceuticals Inc., which is to merge shortly with V.I. Technologies Inc., said on Thursday that U.S. regulators will review its experimental drug to combat the HIV virus on an accelerated basis. The drug, PA-457, is currently in mid-stage clinical trials and is designed to treat patients
Bacteria may be biggest child-killer in Africa - study: Reuters NewMedia - January 5, 2005; Gene Emery; BOSTON (Reuters) - Bacterial infections of the blood, not malaria, may be the biggest killer of children in sub-Saharan Africa and many of the deaths could be prevented by simple vaccinations, researchers said on Wednesday. Each year in sub-Saharan Africa, 4.6 million children under age 5 die -- making it home to the h
World Bank's Wolfensohn tells board he will go: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; Lesley Wroughton; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn formally told the board of shareholder governments he will retire on May 31 and to start the search for a new head of the international lender, European sources said on Tuesday. In an internal email read to Reuters, Wolfensohn told the board on Monday: I woul
Condom testing reveals best brands: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The consumers group best known for rating cars and washing machines has turned its testing prowess to condoms to find out which ones measure up best and how other birth control methods compare. The nonprofit Consumers Union says in a new guide to contraception that the seven top U.S. types of con
U.S. Panel Mulls Dispute Over Uganda AIDS Trial: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A study aimed at showing whether a single dose of an AIDS drug could prevent mothers from passing the virus to their newborns was so sloppily run that it should be disregarded, a fired oversight expert said on Tuesday. Dr. Jonathan Fishbein, who is disputing his pending dismissal by the National
World Bank Head Wolfensohn to Retire: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - World Bank President James Wolfensohn has formally told the bank s board of shareholder governments he will retire on May 31 after 10 years as head of the global lender, European sources said on Tuesday. In an email read to Reuters, Wolfensohn told the board on Monday: I would like to retire at t
MIM amends merger agreement with Chronimed: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Drug distributors MIM Corp. and Chronimed Inc. on Tuesday said they have amended their merger deal, pushing back the termination date and increasing the share exchange ratio. Under the amended terms, the exchange ratio increased to 1.12 MIM shares for each Chronimed share held from the previous rati
German Team Finds New Way to Block HIV Replication: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; Philip Blenkinsop; BERLIN (Reuters) - German scientists have found a new way to prevent the HIV virus from replicating, offering hope in the face of the virus s increasing resistance to existing drugs. Joachim Hauber, a professor at the Heinrich-Pette Institute in Hamburg, told Reuters on Tuesday his team had identified a protein in huma
Bio-Rad gets FDA approval for rapid HIV test: Reuters NewMedia - January 4, 2005; CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc. on Tuesday said it received U.S. regulatory approval for a rapid test that is the only approved single-use kit that can differentiate between the HIV-1 and HIV-2 viruses. The new test produces results in about 10 minutes and can be used on both fresh and frozen serum and pl

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