WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gels aimed at helping women protect themselves from the AIDS virus may end up helping men as much or more, researchers predicted on Monday. Computer models predict that if and when such gels or creams are perfected, they would reduce the risk that men could get the incurable virus from women.
TOYAKO, Japan , July 8 (Reuters) - Leaders from the Group of Eight rich nations reassured skeptics on Tuesday that they were firmly committed to the aid target for Africa that was pledged at Gleneagles in 2005. In 2005, G8 nations vowed to raise annual aid levels by $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of which was to go t
TOMSK, Russia (Reuters) - Alexander Pushkarev, head doctor at the 1,000-bed hospital in a Soviet-era prison nestling at the edge of Siberia, flashed a row of metal teeth with his smile. Welcome to Tomsk Correction Facility No. 1, he said. This is the best treatment for TB in Russia. In the mid-1990s, virulent tube
GENEVA (Reuters) - International aid to Africa should be used to boost doctors salaries and bolster the recruitment and training of medical staff, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said on Wednesday. In the latest WHO bulletin, researchers from the U.N. agency and the University of California said there is now a
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush urged Congress on Wednesday to approve funds to fight AIDS in Africa and other countries, and said the issue was high on his agenda for a Group of Eight summit in Japan next week. Members of the U.S. Senate sought last week to pass legislation to more than triple funds to
A group of African leaders are scheduled to meet their counterparts from wealthy nations at a G8 summit in Japan next week. Following are key elements of previous dealings between the G8 and Africa and factors likely to be discussed this time. GLENEAGLES COMMITMENTS, 2005 After several years of increasing focus on Afr
LONDON (Reuters) - People with HIV in the developed world are no more likely to die in the first five years following infection than men and women in the general population, British researchers said on Tuesday. The risk for people infected through sex creeps up after that, according to the study published in the Journa
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - A strong political will was stimulating India s fight against AIDS, raising hopes of controlling its spread in the country with the world s third-largest caseload, the U.N. s AIDS agency said on Monday. Politicians were helping generate awareness among people, lobbying for HIV-related legislation
LONDON (Reuters) - Queen, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds, Amy Winehouse and some of Africa s top singers are among the stars expected to perform before Nelson Mandela and nearly 50,000 fans at a London concert on Friday. The tribute to the elder statesman as he approaches his 90th birthday coincides with a disputed electio
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Counseling heterosexual couples in Zambia and Rwanda about HIV could avert up to 60 percent of infections, U.S. researchers said on Thursday. Most transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS in these countries is heterosexual, and the researchers said it is mainly among married
WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Senate sought on Thursday to pass bipartisan legislation to more than triple funds to fight AIDS in Africa and other countries, but some Republican foes vowed to block it because of its cost. President George W. Bush had called for a doubling of U.S. funding to help f
JOHANNESBURG, June 26 (Reuters) - South Africa s Aspen Pharmcare Holdings (APNJ.J: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it had won a significant portion of a tender for anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs, sending its shares up more than 10 percent. Aspen, Africa s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, said it had secured
LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) - The European Medicines Agency has recommended approval of Johnson & Johnson s (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Intelence for use in combination with other medicines for the treatment of HIV in adults, the drugs watchdog said on Thursday. Recommendations for marketing approval by the Lon
Pop stars including Queen, Leona Lewis, Annie Lennox, Simple Minds and Razorlight are expected to perform in London on Friday before Nelson Mandela. The gig in Hyde Park is to celebrate the former South African president s 90th birthday, which falls on July 18. Mandela guided South Africa from the shackles of apartheid
GENEVA, June 26 (Reuters) - HIV/AIDS infection rates are growing among intravenous drug users, prostitutes and gay men around the globe but they are often viewed as outcasts and refused treatment, according to a report issued on Thursday. The report, from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socie
CHICAGO (Reuters) - New guidelines are needed to inform people about the risks of organ transplants after four organ recipients in Chicago got HIV and hepatitis C from a single donor last year, U.S. doctors said on Wednesday. While tests initially showed the organs to be free from infection, the donor was known to have
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Over a quarter of Ethiopia s HIV/AIDS patients on drugs are not taking their medicine because of logistical problems but also due to religious beliefs, the head of a treatment body said on Tuesday. Over 40,000 of Ethiopia s 156,360 HIV/AIDS patients on the life-prolonging medication have discont
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa on Wednesday urged the U.S. Senate to pass a bill that would more than triple spending to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in Africa and other parts of the world. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the legislation in April, but it has stalled in t
GENEVA (Reuters) - China has improved the safety of its blood supply by drawing in more volunteer donors, some of whom will be awarded Olympics-inspired medals for life, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. Unpaid donations now make up 98.5 percent of blood stocks used in surgery and emergency treatments
MAPUTO, June 13 (Reuters) - Mozambique has approved the construction of a $23 million pharmaceutical plant that will manufacture drugs to treat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, the African nation s deputy health minister said on Friday. The former Portuguese colony has been hard hit by the AIDS epidemic, with an e
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - A South African court on Friday issued an order banning unauthorized clinical trials of vitamin therapies for AIDS conducted by a team including a former adviser to President Thabo Mbeki. The Cape High Court ruled against German physician Matthias Rath and U.S. doctor David Rasnick, a former membe
KRANJ, Slovenia (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will seek support from the European Union to help combat treatable diseases in Africa and provide additional health care workers there, a White House official said Monday. At the annual U.S.-EU summit Tuesday, Bush plans to ask for financial commitments to treat
UNITED NATIONS, June 10 (Reuters) - Researchers have been undercounting new cases of HIV infection in the United States , meaning the rate is probably 25 percent higher at 50,000 people per year, the nation s top AIDS doctor said on Tuesday. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectiou
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations top official in the global fight against AIDS, Peter Piot, is stepping down after 13 years, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday. Ban, in a speech before the 2008 High Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, praised Piot for being a tireless leader who has been at the vang
UNITED NATIONS, June 9 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria requires another $7 billion to $8 billion to reach its funding goals for 2008, the fund s executive director, Michel Kazatchkine, said on Monday. The estimated gap, again, this year is around $7 to $8 billion. It is going to incr
MAPUTO, June 8 (Reuters) - Not enough people are coming forward to get life-prolonging HIV drugs, despite Mozambique being able to provide antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to anyone needing them, the country s health minister said. We have the capacity to supply ARVs to anyone carrying the virus, but we have to convince peop
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Millions of Zimbabweans dependent on food and other relief aid are at risk after the Zimbabwean government banned international aid work in the southern African country, CARE International said on Friday. Zimbabwe indefinitely suspended all work by aid groups on Thursday, accusing some of campa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign journalists covering the Beijing Olympics must take care to avoid placing Chinese assistants and news sources at risk of arrest when covering sensitive topics, a U.S. watchdog group said on Thursday. The Committee to Protect Journalists also called on the International Olympic Committee t
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - The prevalence of HIV among pregnant women in South Africa fell for the second time in two years last year as a result of intensive prevention campaigns, the health minister said on Thursday. Presenting the health department s budget to parliament, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said the decline, sho
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood s glass closet may not be shattered, but with stars such as Ellen DeGeneres and T.R. Knight openly out and shows like The L Word proving popular in recent years, insiders say being gay or lesbian is no longer a career breaker for celebrities. The California Supreme Court on Wednesday g
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday pressed fellow rich nations to make good on their pledges to provide $60 billion to help African countries combat diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS. The Group of Eight industrialized nations promised the money at their summit in Germany
BOSTON, June 4 (Reuters) - Three months of extra treatment with the drug nevirapine helps babies ward off the AIDS virus longer, and infected women do not need to rush to wean their infants, researchers reported on Wednesday. Separate studies in two African nations address a pressing problem in developing countries, wh
KAMPALA, June 4 (Reuters) - Ugandan police arrested three gay rights demonstrators who stormed a major AIDS conference in Kampala on Wednesday in protest at the government s stance on homosexuality, which is banned in the east African nation. Uganda s government said this week it would not focus any HIV/AIDS prevention
NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc(VRTX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it sold the rights to future royalties on two HIV drugs under a license agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) to unnamed financial investors for a one-time cash payment of $160 million.
ROME, June 3 (Reuters) - More than 20 countries already have serious problems of malnutrition and stunted growth as a result of the food crisis that has set back anti-poverty efforts by years, the World Health Organisation head said on Tuesday. In an interview in Rome, where world leaders are meeting to discuss global
NEW DELHI, June 3 (Reuters) - Vast distances are a major hurdle to India s efforts to curb its soaring HIV rate. India, which has the world s third largest HIV-positive caseload, gives drugs for free to HIV/AIDS patients. But doctors say this is not enough to stop the spread of HIV which is making inroads in rural Indi
KAMPALA, June 2 (Reuters) - Uganda s government said on Monday it would not focus any of its HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programmes on outlawed homosexuals because the east African country is short of funds. Gays are one of the drivers of HIV in Uganda, but because of meagre resources we cannot direct our program
LONDON, June 2 (Reuters) - Nearly 3 million people in the developing world now get AIDS drugs -- 1 million more than a year ago -- but two-thirds of those in need still lack access to treatment, the World Health Organisation said on Monday. The increase in use reflects deep cuts in the price of branded medicines and wi
LILONGWE, Malawi (Reuters) - A Malawian court ruled on Wednesday that Madonna may formally adopt the baby boy she took home from an orphanage in the impoverished southern African nation, a lawyer for the U.S. pop star said. We are very happy with what the judge has ruled. It is a positive and beautiful judgment that wi
BRUSSELS, May 27 (Reuters) - The world s richest countries must meet their commitments to help less developed nations, despite financial pressures created by the slowing global economy, the head of a leading programme to fight disease said. Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of The Global Fund, said his organisatio
KABUL, May 26 (Reuters) - The prevalence of HIV is low in Afghanistan , but the potential risk factors for the spread of the disease remain high, the Public Health Ministry said on Monday. So far 435 HIV positive cases have been reported in Afghanistan, the ministry said in a statement, but it is estimated there are 2,
KINSHASA: Congolese former rebel warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba was arrested by Belgian authorities in Brussels on Saturday on an International Criminal Court warrant for war crimes committed in the Central African Republic . Bemba, the defeated contender in Democratic Republic of Congo s 2006 presidential election, is accu
MOUGINS, France (Reuters) - Madonna auctioned a private concert late on Thursday at a star-studded dinner, raising 350,000 euros ($560,000) for AIDS charity amfAR. The biggest lot on a night of conspicuous spending was a restored 1976 Porsche 911, which went for 500,000 euros after rap mogul Sean Diddy Combs stopped
xLOS ANGELES, May 20 (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday that U.S. patent officials have upheld one of the four challenged patents covering its AIDS medicine Viread . The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) has not announced its ruling on the remaining three pate
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People with HIV have a much higher risk for many cancers, including anal cancer, but a lower risk for prostate cancer, researchers said on Tuesday. Some types of cancers like Kaposi s sarcoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma have long been associated with people infected by the AIDS virus. The study focu
GENEVA (Reuters) - Chronic conditions such as heart disease and stroke, often associated with a Western lifestyle, have become the chief causes of death globally, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday. The shift from infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria -- traditionally the big
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) - When 19-year-old Fatima returned to her home in northern Afghanistan after years as a refugee in Iran , she struggled desperately to earn a living. She briefly found work with an NGO, before being let go, and then spent two months learning how to weave carpets, before the factory
WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - The World Bank on Wednesday unveiled a four-year strategy to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa that shifts focus from emergency response to long-term development. The change was made possible after billions of dollars in grant funding became available from the U.S. Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief a
GENEVA, May 14 (Reuters) - Health ministers from around the world will try next week to bridge differences over how to overhaul drug patent rules that developing countries say make life-saving medicines costly and inaccessible. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has struggled to find a way to encourage the development
GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly will donate $1 million to train doctors treating tuberculosis (TB), a disease that infects 9 million people every year and kills nearly 2 million. The interactive online course is meant as a refresher for physicians on the best ways to diagnose, prevent and treat
MAPUTO, May 11 (Reuters) - Corruption, AIDS and bureaucracy are among the obstacles hampering Mozambique s efforts to reduce poverty, a senior European Union official said on Sunday. The head of the EU delegation in Mozambique, Glauco Calzuola said, however, the government had achieved good results in macro-economic st
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Providing free AIDS drugs to people in northern Malawi has slashed adult mortality rates, vindicating a recent ramp-up in treatment in poor parts of rural Africa, researchers said on Friday. Just eight months after a free clinic opened in Karonga Town in June 2005, the death rate in a rural ar
FAIZABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Jam Bigum, a drug addict in Afghanistan s impoverished northern province of Badakhshan, feeds her three-month-old son opium three times a day to keep him quiet. The baby got addicted in my womb. He will die of crying if I don t give him opium. When I give him opium he becomes quiet and
May 6 (Reuters) - Diagnostic tests maker OraSure Technologies Inc (OSUR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a higher quarterly profit, but cut its outlook for the second quarter and full year citing inventory issues and legal expenses among reasons, sending its shares down 13 percent to their new year-low. The company
LUSAKA, May 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency and Zambian officials have resumed repatriation of Congolese refugees after suspending the effort due to a lack of funds last year, the agency said on Tuesday. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says over 64,000 Congolese fled to Zambia during a 1
LONDON (Reuters) - Nelson Mandela will come to London in June to celebrate his 90th birthday with a series of events attended by stars and politicians including Oprah Winfrey, Robert de Niro and Bill Clinton, organizers said on Tuesday. Three days of celebrations will culminate in an evening concert at London s Hyde Pa
MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria may loan cash to developing countries when they grow too wealthy to qualify for grants, the fund s director, Michel Kazatchkine, said on Sunday. Including loans in its remit would allow The Global Fund -- which has raised about $10.8 billion for
MOSCOW, May 3 (Reuters) - Russia will undo good progress in combating HIV/AIDS and miss the chance to stem the epidemic if it does not offer more help to people who inject themselves with drugs, U.N. AIDS chief Peter Piot said on Saturday. Piot also warned Russia and Ukraine of a rise in the
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new type of treatment that trains immune system cells to better recognize the AIDS virus may help control the deadly and incurable infection, Australian researchers reported on Friday. Tests on monkeys infected with a similar virus shows the treatment controlled the infection, although it does
A new, viral web site conceived by U.S. college students challenges stereotypes about who might be infected with HIV using a model pioneered by a campaign to raise awareness about Darfur. The site, www.PosorNot.com, was unveiled on Wednesday by MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation and POZ Magazine and presents viewers wit
WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina (Reuters) - Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, trying to quell a political firestorm that has roiled his presidential campaign, strongly denounced his former pastor on Tuesday and called his racially charged comments appalling. The controversy over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been a major stum
BRASILIA (Reuters) - A slight majority of Brazilians favor changing the constitution to allow President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to run for a third consecutive term in the 2010 election, a poll showed on Monday. Lula, whose popularity rose in April to its highest since he took office in 2003, would also be the favorit
WASHINGTON, April 28 (Reuters) - Researchers have pinpointed a protein in a key human immune system cells needed for the AIDS virus to infect them, and found that turning it off can greatly slow down the deadly virus. Inactivating a protein called ITK in immune system cells called T cells reduces HIV s ability to enter
GENEVA, April 25 (Reuters) - AIDS patients in poor countries checked for signs of decline such as fever or weight loss are likely to have nearly the same survival rate as Western patients who undergo costly laboratory tests, researchers said on Friday. Observing clinical symptoms is also almost as effective as laborato
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - African countries hardest hit by malaria are failing to contain it and a new U.N. campaign launched on World Malaria Day on Friday aims to ensure that all Africa has access to basic malaria control measures. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said some African countries have fallen behind in
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - African singer and activist Youssou N Dour on Friday challenged the next president of the United States to eradicate malaria, Africa s biggest killer. While there has been steady progress in treating and slowing the spread of the mosquito-borne disease, N Dour said in an interview he believes mal
MALLAY, Sierra Leone (Reuters) - A year ago Adama Jongo, a rice and cassava farmer in Sierra Leone, almost died from malaria while pregnant. Now, the 37-year old mother of seven has turned volunteer medic to fight the disease under a pioneering scheme to bring life-saving healthcare closer to rural communities. Mal
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A single phone call prompted Madonna to begin charity work in Malawi and it was while making a documentary on the African country s 1 million orphans that she found a baby she decided to adopt. Premiering at New York s Tribeca Film Festival on Thursday, I Am Because We Are, which was written, prod
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities will harshly deal with anyone who spreads rumors which excite popular feelings or disturb social harmony in the already restive region of Tibet, the government said on Thursday. The notice, coming just months before the Beijing Olympics, seems to be aimed at Tibetans who listen t
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A new generation of drugs made from nature, from antibiotics to treatments for cancer, may be lost unless the world acts to stop biodiversity loss, according to a new book. These developments could come from chemicals made by frogs, bears and pine trees, but the authors of Sustaining Life warned t
ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall, 74, symbolically passed the torch on Tuesday to a new generation of hand-picked environmental and peace activists whom she gathered this week for the first Jane Goodall Global Youth Summit. The 100 (young people) who are here represent hundreds of thousa
LONDON (Reuters) - Would the hundreds of men who paid to have sex with Alicia have cared if they knew she was being held captive by a trafficker who raped her and pimped her, and that she was infected with HIV? I don t think they would have come back. If they really knew, says the Rwandan woman, who was brought from Af
Would the hundreds of men who paid to have sex with Alicia have cared if they knew she was being held captive by a trafficker who raped her and pimped her, and that she was infected with HIV? I don t think they would have come back. If they really knew, says the Rwandan woman, who was brought from Africa to a south Lon
JOHANNESBURG, April 16 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki s refusal to take a tougher line on neighbouring Zimbabwe has further damaged his credibility and handed rival Jacob Zuma another opening to improve his image. Regional leaders last year mandated Mbeki to lead mediation between President Robert Muga
CAPE TOWN, April 16 (Reuters) - African countries have made the least progress among developing nations towards a U.N. goal of cutting infant and maternal mortality by two thirds by 2015, a new report showed on Wednesday. The 10 countries with the worst infant mortality records were in sub-Saharan Africa, hard hit by H
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories Inc said on Wednesday first-quarter earnings increased 34 percent on higher sales of its prescription drugs and medical devices and favorable foreign exchange factors. The company reported strong sales gains for its top medicines, diagnostics and other products even excluding th
BEIJING, April 16 (Reuters) - A group of Chinese HIV/AIDS sufferers appealed on Wednesday for police to release their relatives, detained after trying to complain to Premier Wen Jiabao about a hospital they said spread the HIV virus. Wen visited Hebei province, next to Beijing, on April 5, and some residents of Shahe i
(Reuters) - Pope Benedict lands in Washington on Tuesday to begin a six-day visit to the United States , his first as pontiff. Here is a chronology of major events since Joseph Ratzinger was elected pope on April 19, 2005. April 24, 2005 - Benedict is installed as leader of the Roman Catholic Church at an inaugural Mas
JOHANNESBURG, April 15 (Reuters) - South Africa s ruling ANC, in its strongest criticism of President Thabo Mbeki yet, on Tuesday warned of a dire situation in Zimbabwe which was having a negative impact on all of southern Africa. Mbeki, who has long pursued quiet diplomacy in Zimbabwe and adopted a wait-and-see appro
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police have detained up to eight HIV/AIDS-affected people who tried to complain to Premier Wen Jiabao about a hospital they claimed spread the HIV virus, lawyers for two of the families said on Monday. Wen visited Hebei province next to Beijing on April 5, and some residents of Shahe in the
TORONTO, April 14 (Reuters) - Theratechnologies (TH.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would release more results from the Phase 3 trial of tesamorelin by the end of the first half of 2008. The company said the last patient had completed 26 weeks of treatment in the confirmatory Phase 3 trial testing of th
LILONGWE (Reuters) - U.S. pop star Madonna is expected to appear in a Malawian court in about two weeks for a final ruling on whether she can adopt a child from the southern African country, court clerks said on Friday. Tentatively the case is expected in court on these dates -- the 22nd, 23rd and 25th (of April), sai
RIO DE JANEIRO, April 10 (Reuters) - Brazil has decreed U.S. pharmaceutical firm Gilead s (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) AIDS drug Tenofovir in the public interest , signaling it may reject a patent request due to its high price and import a generic version. The Health Ministry said in a decree publishe
CAIRO, April 9 (Reuters) - An Egyptian court on Wednesday convicted and jailed five men arrested on morals charges in what rights groups have described as an escalating crackdown on Egyptians living with HIV. Court sources said the men, four of whom are HIV-positive, were sentenced to three years in jail for the habitu
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - American Idol hosts a star-studded fund-raising special this week aimed at raising more than $100 million for children s charities in the United States and Africa. Idol Gives Back, which last year raised $76 million in the first mass fund-raising venture by a U.S reality TV show, airs a 2 1/2-ho
BRASILIA (Reuters) - The Brazilian government began producing condoms on Monday using rubber from trees in the Amazon, a move it said would help preserve the world s largest rainforest and cut dependence on imported contraceptives given away to fight AIDS. Brazil s first government-run condom factory, located in northw
TOKYO, April 6 (Reuters) - Development ministers from the world s rich nations on Sunday called for action to confront soaring food prices, which they say hurt developing nations as well as donors efforts to help them. Ministers from the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations said development assistance needed to b
MOSCOW, May 4 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria may loan cash to developing countries when they grow too wealthy to qualify for grants, the fund s director, Michel Kazatchkine, said on Sunday. Including loans in its remit would allow The Global Fund -- which has raised about $10.8 bill
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Africa must make higher health spending a priority if it is to stop rich nations poaching medical staff and cut deaths from the continent s five biggest killers, an African health campaign group said. Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, malaria, child and maternal mortality kill 8 million Africans every yea
BEIJING (Reuters) - A Buddhist Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Thursday, a conviction likely to become a focus of rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Hu Jia, 34, was found guilty of inciting subversion of state power for criticizing th
LILONGWE (Reuters) - Malawi s government has recommended that its High Court approve Madonna s adoption of David Banda, the child she met in a Malawian orphanage a year and a half ago. Madonna began adoption proceedings in 2006 and the 2-year-old has been living with the pop star and her film director husband Guy Ritch
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (Reuters) - Efforts to reduce the number of children dying of HIV/AIDS have made some progress but still fall well short of targets, the U.N. children s agency UNICEF reported on Thursday. Last year, an estimated 2.1 million children worldwide were infected with HIV and 290,000 died. As of 2005,
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to more than triple spending to fight AIDS in Africa and other parts of the world, one of President George W. Bush s foremost foreign aid quests. The measure, a bipartisan compromise backed by the White House and passed by a vote of 308 to 1
LONDON, April 2 (Reuters) - The European Medicines Agency said on Wednesday it was seeking further information about the safety of certain GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) AIDS drugs, after a study showed a higher heart-attack risk compared with other HIV medicines. The move follows a similar r
HARARE, April 2 (Reuters) - Prospects for a runoff in Zimbabwe s election appeared to increase on Wednesday after state media said President Robert Mugabe had failed to win a majority for the first time in nearly three decades. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai insisted on Tuesday that he would win an outright majori
LILONGWE (Reuters) - American pop star Madonna is due back in Malawi next week for what is expected to be a final court ruling on whether she can adopt a child from the southern African country, airport officials said on Tuesday. A senior official at Lilongwe International Airport told Reuters her jet was cleared for l
HARARE (Reuters) - Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai will beat President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe s crucial election, but be forced into a runoff vote in three weeks, according to a ruling party projection. Two ZANU-PF party sources said on Tuesday the projection showed Tsvangirai falling short of the 51 percent nee
April 1 (Reuters) - Seretse Khama Ian Khama was inaugurated president of Botswana on Tuesday. Botswana is the world s biggest producer of diamonds and more recently became known for Precious Ramotswe, the heroine of Alexander McCall Smith s fictional Lady Detective series, set in the country s capital of Gaborone.
HARARE (Reuters) - Concern grew on Monday that long delays in issuing Zimbabwe s election results hid attempts by President Robert Mugabe to cling to power by rigging. Almost 48 hours after polls closed, only 52 of 210 parliamentary constituencies had been declared, showing Mugabe s ZANU-PF party one seat ahead of the
President Robert Mugabe gave out 450 cars to senior and midlevel doctors at government hospitals in what opponents say is a vote-buying campaign ahead of Saturday s presidential election. Mr. Mugabe presented doctors with keys to the cars at a ceremony in which he blamed Western sanctions for harming health care in
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials are reviewing the safety of AIDS drugs sold by GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N: Quote, Profile, Research) after a study showed a higher heart-attack risk compared with other HIV medicines, the Food and Drug A
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. meeting in June will examine the worrisome links between tuberculosis and HIV and how best to help millions of people who have both diseases, the U.N. s special envoy on TB said on Tuesday. What we need from that meeting is to come out of it with a common strategy to scale up efforts t
UNITED NATIONS, March 26 (Reuters) - The number of people in Asia infected with HIV could jump by almost 8 million by 2020 unless more is done to combat the spread of the virus that causes AIDS, a report presented to the U.N. secretary-general said on Wednesday. That increase could be kept to 3 million if a response pr
BETHESDA, Maryland (Reuters) - The U.S. government began a major overhaul of its effort to produce an AIDS vaccine on Tuesday, stressing a return to basic scientific research after the failure of a key clinical trial last year. Government officials at a summit with AIDS scientists pledged to prioritize spending on lab
MUMBAI (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tentatively approved Strides Arcolab Ltd s stavudine , lamivudine and nevirapine combination drug to treat HIV, the regulator s Web site showed on Tuesday. Shares in the company ended 10.
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. researchers have identified all 1,116 unique proteins found in human saliva glands, a discovery they said on Tuesday could usher in a wave of convenient, spit-based diagnostic tests that could be done without the need for a single drop of blood. As many as 20 percent of the proteins that are fo
MAPUTO, March 25 (Reuters) - More than one-sixth of Mozambique s 9,000 teachers are dying of HIV/AIDS each year, lowering the quality of education and jeopardising future development, a government official told Reuters on Tuesday. Education and Culture Minister Aires Aly said in an interview that the pandemic had becom
GEOGRAPHY: Area: 2,230 sq km. The Comoros cover three small volcanic islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Moheli, in the Mozambique channel, 300 km (190 miles) - (Reuters) - Comoros used helicopters on Monday to drop leaflets on rebel Anjouan island, warning that a military assault was imminent and telling locals to sta
WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - Tuberculosis is appearing in the United States at the lowest rate ever recorded, with foreign-born people accounting for a majority of the cases, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday. It said 13,293 TB cases were reported in the United States in 2007, with the
LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - People with a genetic variation that slows down HIV may also be causing a mutation to the AIDS virus that makes it less potent if transmitted to others, researchers said on Friday. The human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS attacks immune system cells. Like other viruses, it cannot r
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Tuesday criticized his preacher for racially charged rhetoric but said he could not disown the man who baptized his children and officiated at his wedding. Obama sought to quell a firestorm of controversy ignited when attention was called t
CHICAGO: Syphilis is making a comeback in developed countries, spurred by illicit drug use and high-risk sexual behaviours, and many doctors are unprepared to recognize and treat it, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said syphilis has been on the rise since the beginning of the 21st century in high-income countries
SHANGANI, Zimbabwe (Reuters) - With her hand on her cheek, the 68-year-old woman gazes patiently at the cars racing past her, hoping someone will stop and buy the firewood at her feet so that she can feed her three grandchildren. MaNcube, as she is called in her village here in Shangani, a dry arid land 360 km (228 mil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The rate of tuberculosis incidence fell slightly worldwide for a second straight year in 2006, but there were still 9.2 million new cases and the disease killed 1.7 million people, the U.N. health agency said on Monday, The rate decline of 0.6 percent in 2006 compared to 2005 was so modest that t
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama clashed on Saturday over his ties to an indicted Chicago businessman and her tax records, despite their agreement two days earlier on the need to focus on issues. Clinton s campaign questioned Obama s judgment in his dealing
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India s Supreme Court suspended on Friday legal proceedings against Richard Gere, who faced obscenity charges for publicly kissing Bollyood star Shilpa Shetty last year. Gere made headlines when he arched over and kissed Shilpa Shetty, winner of the British reality television show Celebrity Big Br
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The World Bank and Indian government on Thursday agreed on steps to root out corruption after a World Bank probe uncovered serious incidents of fraud and corruption in country health projects the bank helped finance. The World Bank said it would work with the Indian government to conduc
PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - After visiting the world s oldest AIDS clinic and meeting HIV-positive Haitians, U.S. first lady Laura Bush on Thursday urged lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars more to combat the disease. As we speak, the second reauthorization of PEPFAR is being discussed in the U.S. Congress,
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A second study has found that treating genital herpes infections does not protect people from the AIDS virus. The study, published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, casts even more doubt on the once hopeful idea that treating the common infection might help put a dent in the AI
WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned of reported liver damage and death in patients taking the company s HIV drug Prezista, according to a letter released on Wednesday. The letter, sent by J&J s Tibotec Therapeutics
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. syphilis rate rose for the seventh straight year in 2007, driven by a continued surge in cases among homosexual and bisexual men, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. Since 2000, when the national syphilis rate sank to a low of 2.1 per 100,000 people aft
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Foreign donors who have propped up Indonesia s fight against AIDS/HIV are poised to slash their funding programs, partly because they now consider Indonesia a middle-income country, officials said on Wednesday. Infection rates in Indonesia are increasing rapidly among high-risk population groups, es
WASHINGTON: More than one in four U.S. teen girls is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease, and the rate is highest among blacks, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday. An estimated 3.2 million U.S. girls ages 14 and 19 -- about 26 percent of that age group -- have a sexu
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group working to develop a gel or cream women could use to protect themselves against the AIDS virus said on Tuesday they have permission to use an experimental new drug from Merck and Co (MRK.N: Quote, Profile, Research). It is the sixth HIV drug to be tested by the International Partnership f
LUSAKA, March 10 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria hopes to raise over $12 billion by 2012 to help some of the world s poorest nations fight the diseases, its chairman said on Monday. Rajat Gupta expressed confidence that the fund could raise the money after it secured $100 million in
BANGKOK, March 10 (Reuters) - Thailand s new government will override international patents on three cancer drugs, new Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap said on Monday after a month of protests against his review of the controversial policy. Chaiya, under pressure from health activists and doctors who campaigned to have
South Africa , which has one of the world s highest rates of HIV/AIDS, is worried a national programme to fight the disease could founder on a lack of financial resources, it said in a report to the United Nations. An estimated 500,000 people in South Africa are infected with HIV/AIDS each year and close to 1,000 die
PORT MORESBY, March 7 (Reuters) - Australia offered more money to help Papua New Guinea combat HIV/AIDS on Friday, saying more needed to be done to fight the growing epidemic in the South Pacific island nation. PNG has the South Pacific s highest rate of HIV/AIDS, with about 64,000, or
(Reuters) - Prince Harry, who is third in line to the throne, has been serving with the army in Afghanistan for 2-1/2 months, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday. The prince is the first member of the royal family to see action since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew helicopters in the Falklands War in 1982. Here
LOS ANGELES, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A safety board has recommended that certain AIDS patients taking part in a study of GlaxoSmithKline Plc s (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) Epzicom consider switching to Gilead Sciences Inc s (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research)
LONDON (Reuters) - Providing HIV drug cocktails to people in their homes can cut AIDS-related deaths substantially in poor, rural areas of Africa, researchers said on Friday. A study in Uganda showed that hiring local health workers to help people stick to a strict regimen of drugs cut the number of AIDS deaths by more
NEW DELHI, Feb 27 (Reuters) - India s patent office will consider this week whether to override patents on cancer drugs made by Pfizer and Roche and allow a generics firm to export copycat versions to Nepal in the first case of its kind here.
BANGKOK, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Thailand s chief negotiator with major drug firms that are battling Bangkok s override of their international patents has been removed from his post, Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap said on Tuesday. Siriwat Thiptharadon, head of the Food and Drug Administration and an architect of the previo
LILONGWE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Malawi has drafted a law to stop traditional healers from claiming they can cure AIDS and religious leaders from advising their flocks to discard treatment for prayer, a government official said on Tuesday. Malawi, with a population of about 13 million, ranks among the countries hardest hit
OUAGADOUGOU, Feb 25 (Reuters) - There were no crowds waving flags on the dusty streets of Ouagadougou, unusually for an African summit, but then many in Africa feel the arrival of the International Monetary Fund is nothing to cheer about. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn was in Burkina Faso on
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A gel that uses a popular HIV drug to protect women from the AIDS virus is safe and acceptable to women, although it is too early to know if it actually prevents infection, researchers reported on Monday. The gel uses the drug tenofovir , sold under the name
MAPUTO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - AIDS is becoming a major threat to Mozambique s booming economy, killing off workers who are key to the southern African nation s development, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday. More than 16 percent of Mozambicans between the ages of 14 and 49, generally the most economical
BEIJING (Reuters) - China unveiled on Friday a large percentage rise in 2007 in diseases transmitted sexually or via blood, including AIDS and syphilis, without reporting exact figures. The number of new AIDS infections soared 45 percent in 2007, compared with 2006, the Health Ministry said in a statement on its Web si
WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Rich countries are poaching so many African health workers that the practice should be viewed as a crime, a team of international disease experts said on Thursday. More than 13,000 doctors trained in sub-Saharan Africa are now practicing in Britain, the United States ,
BEIJING, Feb 21 (Reuters) - China will set policies aimed at stopping the spread of AIDS among gay men as the country seeks to stem growing numbers of HIV infections contracted through sex, state media reported. The Chinese Ministry of Health announced it would formulate policies concerning AIDS prevention and treatmen
LONDON (Reuters) - Health experts are mostly looking in the wrong places for the next AIDS, Ebola, or bird flu and should shift resources from rich countries to the developing world most likely to spawn the next big disease, researchers say. Many of the emerging disease danger zones were most likely to be found in the
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Wednesday promised billions of rand to help curb a rampant HIV/AIDS pandemic, reduce poverty and fight crime as the country prepares to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup. The host nation has one of the world s highest incidences of murder and rape, with
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed former French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy on Tuesday as a special adviser on raising non-governmental money for U.N. anti-poverty goals. The U.N. Millennium Development Goals aim to halve poverty around the world by 2015, but the
KIGALI, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush will commemorate the Rwandan genocide on Tuesday, one of the darkest episodes in Africa s recent history, and call attention to the current conflict in Darfur which he also calls genocide. Moving on from Tanzania , the centrepiece of his five-nation African tour,
LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK.L: Quote, Profile, Research) cut the prices on its range of HIV drugs offered to developing countries, marking the fifth such discount since 1997. The most significant reduction is an almost 40 percent cut on Ziagen , a pil
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A cream designed to protect women from the AIDS virus did not prevent infection, but it was safe, raising hopes that it might be combined with drugs or other compounds to work better, researchers said on Monday. The product, called Carraguard, is the first HIV cream to be tested in advanced trial
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The director-general of the World Health Organization on Monday met with officials in Angola in a bid to improve cooperation in the fight against AIDS, malaria and other common diseases in the African nation. Oil-rich Angola has struggled to rebuild hospitals, clinics and other parts of
NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Contemporary art collectors opened their wallets on Thursday and shelled out $42.6 million at a Valentine s Day charity auction spearheaded by rocker Bono and British artist Damien Hirst to benefit the fight against AIDS in Africa. Spirited bidding and prices far in excess of pre-sale estim
Feb 15 (Reuters) - Indevus Pharmaceuticals Inc (IDEV.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said an independent data monitoring committee recommended the closure of the high-dose arm in the late-stage trial of PRO 2000, its experimental vaginal microbicide gel for HIV prevention. The committee review found that there is no more
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush travels this week to Africa, one of the few regions where he can claim globally recognized successes for efforts on AIDS and development in a foreign policy legacy dominated by the Iraq war. But conflicts in Kenya and Darfur will i
Feb 14 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush travels to Africa on Friday for a first-hand look at U.S.-sponsored HIV/AIDS programs. Here are some key details about AIDS in the region: * AIDS IN AFRICA: -- Sixty eight percent of all people infected with HIV live in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than three quarters
LILONGWE (Reuters) - A Malawian minister on Monday praised Madonna s efforts to rally support for orphans in the southern African nation and said it would be wrong for the government to deny the pop star s adoption of a child there. Madonna, who is in the process of adopting a Malawian boy, David Banda, hosted a New Yo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have found another handle that the AIDS virus uses to attack cells, and said this one may explain how it gets into the gut, where it hides out and multiplies for a full assault on the body. The handle is a cell receptor, and its discovery could open new ways to fight the fatal and so
JAKARTA, Feb 8 - Indonesia should be more aggressive in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS to the general population while infection levels are still low, a U.N. special envoy said on Friday. Indonesia faces a growing AIDS problem, particularly among drug users and prostitutes. However, the country s overall estimated H
MOSCOW - A jailed former oil executive gravely ill with HIV/AIDS was transferred to a specialist clinic on Friday, Russia s prison service said, following an international campaign on his behalf. A former vice-president of the now-defunct Yukos oil company, Vasily Alexanian, 36, says he is nearly blind, has cancer of t
BANGKOK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Thailand , which has stunned major drug makers by overriding patents, will review the compulsory licences announced by the previous military-appointed government, Health Minister Chaiya Sasomsap said on Thursday. Chaiya, speaking to reporters as a new government began work after a December el
NEW YORK, Feb 6 - Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc (IDIX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday reported favorable data from a very small early-stage study of its experimental HIV treatment. The biotechnology company said the study of its medicine IDX899, a member of the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNR
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The AIDS virus can be passed from an infected mother to her baby if she pre-chews the child s food as sometimes occurs in developing countries, U.S. government scientists said on Wednesday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had identified three cases -- two in Miami and
CAIRO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch criticised Egypt on Wednesday for eight arrests prompted by one man s statement that he was HIV-positive, and said the detentions embodied both ignorance and injustice . The U.S.-based rights group said the men, all arrested since October, were given HIV tests without their c
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People who took a drug to reduce outbreaks of genital herpes were not any less likely to become infected with the AIDS virus, an international team of researchers reported on Monday. The findings raised questions about whether the drug, called acyclovir , worked well
(Corrects second paragraph to show babies, not mothers, got the drug and 6th paragraph to show babies got vitamins and not placebo.) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A drug that helps prevent babies from catching the AIDS virus at birth can also protect them while nursing, researchers reported on Monday. Babies of HIV-infected w
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The contemporary art world s brightest stars, including Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, have aligned to provide AIDS relief in Africa with a special auction in New York conceived by Hirst and rock star Bono. The (Red) Auction is estimated to take in up to $29 million and is being billed by Sotheby s a
MAPUTO - The head of the World Bank said on Monday he was worried very high rates of HIV/AIDS infections and related tuberculosis in Mozambique could spread as new transport routes are developed to meet growing economic activity. World Bank President Robert Zoellick met government officials, donors and non-profit group
GENEVA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Anti-retroviral drug treatments can dramatically reduce the level of HIV virus in the blood but transmission risks remain, United Nations health agencies said on Friday. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS , responding to a study published by Switzerland s Federal AIDS Commission, s
NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is reviewing its India operations after the World Bank said it found signs of widespread corruption in its own India projects, the Fund s regional head said on Friday. The Fund says it has no evidence right now that any of the more tha
GENEVA, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Increasing numbers of Kenyan women and children are raped nightly in displacement camps, where sexual violence is used to threaten and intimidate, United Nations agencies said on Friday. Elisabeth Byrs of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva said there had bee
LONDON (Reuters) - Rising numbers of complex births from women born in foreign countries and a shortage of midwives are putting a strain on maternity services in Britain, medical professionals say. Across Britain the birth rate has been rising steadily since 2001, with the babies of migrants making up two thirds of the
BANGKOK, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Thailand s outgoing Health Minister Mongkol na Songkhla defended on Thursday his unprecedented challenge of foreign drug patent rights, saying the poor would lose if a new government reversed the policy. Mongkol, a hero to health activists and vilified by major drug firms for overriding pate
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Researchers dedicated to finding a gel or cream that could work invisibly to protect women from AIDS the way a condom does said on Wednesday they got permission from Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to use its newest HIV drug. The International Partnership for Microbicides s
MOSCOW, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Jailed Russian oil boss Mikhail Khodorkovsky has gone on a hunger strike in solidarity with an imprisoned colleague who has been denied treatment for AIDS, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Russia s Supreme Court has refused to release Vasily Alexanian, another jailed executive from Khodorkovsky
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer Inc is seeking to reformulate its HIV drug to prevent the transmission of the virus through a partnership with a nonprofit group, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The report said Pfizer will license Selzentry, its oral HIV medicine, to the International Partnership for Microbic
GENEVA (Reuters) - Thousands of uprooted Kenyans are not getting the HIV medicines they need to survive, and rising sexual attacks in camps stand to further spread the disease, public health experts say. About 15,000 of the more than 250,000 people who have fled political, ethnic and revenge attacks in the month since
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About one-half of one percent of young adults living in homes in the United States are infected with the AIDS virus, around 600,000 people, the National Center for Health Statistics reported on Tuesday. The agency s snapshot of HIV infection in the United States shows the rate continues to be sta
TORONTO, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Theratechnologies Inc (TH.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it is considering strategic options, including a sale or merger of the company, as well as the licensing of its lead compound tesamorelin. As part of the review of its options, the company has filed for a preliminary bas
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The mother of a jailed Cuban dissident journalist will be on hand for President George W. Bush s State of the Union speech on Monday to underscore the administration s hard line against the Castro government. Blanca Gonzalez, who was granted political asylum in the United States after leavi
GENEVA (Reuters) - World Health Organization (WHO) experts will recommend ways to fight dangers linked to alcohol, including heart and liver disease, road accidents, suicides and sexually-transmitted infections, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The United Nations agency s executive board this week endorsed efforts to rais
LOS ANGELES, Jan 23 (Reuters) - U.S. patent officials have rejected four patents on Gilead Sciences Inc s (GILD.O: Quote, Profile, Research) AIDS drug Viread , the nonprofit Public Patent Foundation said on Wednesday. Viread, or tenofovir diso
LILLE, France (Reuters) - The French health service is recalling thousands of patients who might have been wrongly diagnosed or infected at five substandard radiology clinics, the Health Ministry said in a statement. Health experts said it was the largest such recall in France, adding the case had revealed severe faili
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Dell Inc and Microsoft Corp are teaming up to release a Product Red computer, donating up to $80 for every one sold to fund AIDS-fighting drugs in Africa. Dell will start selling two (Red) laptops and one desktop running Microsoft Windows Vista on Friday. The two companies will donate $50 for a lapt
GENEVA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Nearly 9.7 million children die each year before their fifth birthday from diseases from pneumonia to malaria, but simple affordable measures could save more lives, the U.N. Children s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday. While the annual toll is below 10 million for the first time, it still means
GENEVA (Reuters) - Post-election violence in Kenya and unrest in Gaza showed how political turmoil can threaten public health, the head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday. Margaret Chan, in an address to the United Nations agency s executive board, said she was concerned that upheaval in Kenya after
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Scientists in Hong Kong and China are working on an AIDS vaccine to protect against three variants of HIV sweeping across south and west China, Hong Kong and Taiwan .
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health-care products maker Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) won U.S. approval to sell a new HIV drug called Intelence for patients with resistance to other therapies, U.S. officials said on Friday. The drug, also known as TMC125 or etravirine, is a new member of the family
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Rights group Amnesty International on Friday urged Russia to provide proper treatment for a jailed oil executive who has AIDS and says he could die if he is not moved to a specialized hospital. Russia has snubbed three requests from the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to move 36-year-old
ACCRA (Reuters) - While political protests blight Kenya , Ghana will polish its image as a tourism and investment destination when it hosts the 2008 African Nations Cup soccer finals starting on Sunday. Staging Africa s most prestigious sporting event will cast a positive international spotlight on the small but stable
LONDON (Reuters) - A previously unknown virus may be to blame for a rare but deadly form of skin cancer, opening the prospect of new ways to treat and prevent the condition, scientists said on Thursday. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) mainly affects older people and those whose immune system has been compromised by AIDS or
A gravely ill former Yukos executive has accused his jailers of trying to blackmail him into testifying against old associates by denying him the medical treatment he needs to stay alive. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg made the highly unusual step of issuing three requests for Vasily Aleksanyan, 36, t
WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The United States said on Monday the arrest in China of prominent AIDS activist and human rights campaigner Hu Jia was disturbing and Washington had raised his case with the authorities in Beijing. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Washington was closely following the arrest
A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday. They said methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York
BHOOGAON, India , Jan 14 (Reuters) - In a smart blue tunic and red ribbons in her hair, 12-year-old Komal s laughing eyes hide a fear of death that stalks every student in her village school. Within months or years she could be dead, but while she lives she is fulfilling a dream -- of going to school again after she wa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have found more than 200 possible new targets for better AIDS drugs by doing a kind of backward search -- looking at human cells to see what resources they have that can be hijacked by the deadly virus. They scanned all the genes in the human genome and found 273 protein-coding genes
SOFIA (Reuters) - A Palestinian doctor, who says he was tortured to confess he deliberately infected hundreds of Libyan children with HIV, has filed a complaint against Libya with a U.N. human rights panel, his lawyer said on Thursday. Ashraf Alhajouj and five Bulgarian nurses were sentenced to death in Libya on charge
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Ignoring social taboos in this conservative nation, a Nepali radio program on safe sex is spreading awareness against HIV/AIDS and offers life-saving advice to young people who are vulnerable to the disease. Confined only to a few towns six years ago, Chatting with my best friend , a youth-friendl
BEIJING (Reuters) - A group of Chinese dissidents has signed an open letter condemning the arrest of an AIDS and environmental activist on subversion charges and urged the government to improve human rights ahead of this year s Olympics. The letter, signed by 57 lawyers, academics, editors, writers and civil rights cam
LILONGWE, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Malawi plans to start paying civil servants suffering from HIV/AIDS about $35 a month extra to help them buy more food, Health Minister Marjorie Ngaunje said on Monday. Malawi, with a population of about 13 million, ranks among the countries hardest hit by the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa,
HARARE, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Some of Zimbabwe s striking state doctors have returned to work on humanitarian grounds but most are still holding out for higher pay, the head of the doctors union said on Thursday. Amon Siveregi, president of the Zimbabwe s Hospital Doctors Association, told Reuters the industrial action had
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libya s foreign minister declared an end to confrontation with the United States on Thursday in a rare visit to Washington by a top Libyan diplomat aimed at cementing ties between the former foes. Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam -- the first Libyan foreign minister to set foot in the U.S. State Dep
RYE, N.H., Jan 1 (Reuters) - The war in Iraq , the war on terrorism and how to improve America s image abroad are hot issues as presidential hopefuls court New Hampshire voters before the state s Jan. 8 nominating primary. But former U.S. Marine Michael Castaldo has been working tirelessly since February to focus voter
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