BAMAKO, Mali , Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A device introduced by Swiss researchers to the West African nation of Mali will detect bogus or substandard medicine within minutes, the researchers said. The capillary electrophoresis technology, using thin wires hooked to electrodes to analyze a medicine s chemical properties, will we
CAIRO, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Cases of the virus that causes AIDS have risen six-fold in Egypt , moving the Arab country toward an HIV epidemic, a government report said. The number of people reported living with the human immunodeficiency virus in Egypt rose to 3,735 by the end of 2008, a six-fold increase since 1994, the r
USHUAIA, Argentina , Dec. 29 (UPI) -- A gay couple formally wed in Ushuaia, Argentina, in what gay rights groups say was the first same-sex marriage in Latin America. Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41 were barred from marrying each other Dec. 1, International AIDS Day, because of a judge s ruling that a ban
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has thrown out an AIDS advocacy group s request that condoms be required on the sets of pornographic movies. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation petitioned the court, claiming the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has passively observed an
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras , Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Up to 18 gay and transgender men have been killed in Honduras in the six months since its president was deposed in a coup, human rights advocates say. That is as many homophopic hate crimes as were recorded in the Central American country the prior five years, The Miami Herald r
WASHINGTON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- A bill before the Ugandan Parliament that would outlaw homosexual acts would hurt the country s efforts to fight AIDS, a U.S. State Department official warned. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said Friday he has discussed the bill at two meetings with with Uga
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists say they are one step closer to developing a vaccine against the AIDS virus. Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, led by Professor Matthias Schnell, director of the Jefferson Vaccine Center, say they have determined a rabies virus-based vaccin
KAMPALA, Uganda , Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Uganda is considering legislation that would impose a death sentence for intentional or willful transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, authorities say. While the measure has not been passed by the country s parliament, courts have started handing out sentences for people convicted
AUCKLAND, New Zealand , Dec. 5 (UPI) -- An HIV-positive man was convicted in Auckland, New Zealand, of twice injecting his sleeping wife with his infected blood. The Sydney Morning Herald reported in its Sunday edition the 35-year-old man is awaiting sentencing in Auckland High Court after being convicted of willfully
ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A Web site allows rural youths in Alaska to get information about sexually transmitted diseases, make test appointments and obtain condoms, officials say. The site, www.iknowmine.org, was created by the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium in response to the growing rates of STDs, t
TORONTO, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- Just because a vaccine is available doesn t mean people will choose to be inoculated, researchers in Canada suggest. Lead author Peter A. Newman of the University of Toronto says in the current climate of confusion around H1N1 flu shots, the availability of a vaccination alone is not enough to
NEW YORK, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Risky sexual behavior among men having sex with men under age 30 is a major contributor to the rise in HIV diagnoses, New York City health officials say. The number of new human immunodeficiency virus diagnoses in New York City has not changed significantly in recent years -- about 4,000 -- bu
BUENOS AIRES, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- An Argentinean judge blocked what would have been Latin America s first same-sex marriage Tuesday, a union that would have coincided with World AIDS Day. Judge Marta Gomez Alsina s ruling Monday blocked an earlier holding by another judge that found Buenos Aires city laws banning same-sex
VIENNA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Activists around the world on Tuesday marked World AIDS Day to keep attention on the infection that affects more than 41 million people. The theme for this year s World AIDS Day is Universal Access and Human Rights. The United Nations estimates more than 41 million people -- mostly in undevelope
CONGERS, N.Y., Dec. 1 (UPI) -- On World AIDS Day Tuesday, a day devoted to raising awareness, U.S. researchers point out the world could face a funding shortfall for treatment. The policy journal Health Affairs devoted much of its November/December edition to the cost and demand challenges of HIV/AIDS. Over the next se
MONTREAL, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Canadian scientists say they ve developed a new treatment for the human immunodeficiency virus that has successfully passed its first clinical trial. McGill University Health Center researchers, led by Dr. Jean-Pierre Routy, an associate professor at McGill, and Dr. Rafick-Pierre Sekaly from
SHANGHAI, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- China may lift its ban against foreigners who have HIV-AIDS, said health officials who favor scrapping the policy. I hope China will remove the ban thoroughly and forever by the time of the Shanghai Expo, Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu told The China Daily in a story published Monday. Th
WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Efforts of the Obama administration to address HIV/AIDS are the focus of remarks in Washington by officials Monday, the eve of World AIDS Day, officials said. The event by the officials was to be delivered live and online at WhiteHouse.gov/live, the White House said. Participants include Se
CINCINNATI, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Some patients with human immunodeficiency virus experience an improved quality of life following their diagnosis, U.S. researchers found. Dr. Joel Tsevat of the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and colleagues conducted two sets of int
GENEVA, Switzerland , Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Nearly 9 million children worldwide under the age of 5 die every year, officials at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, said. Using 2007 figures, WHO officials said about 70 percent of these early child deaths could be prevented by improving living conditions and
HARARE, Zimbabwe , Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Living conditions in Zimbabwe for women and children have deteriorated during the last five years, government data and a U.N. report indicated. The Multiple Indicator and Monitoring Survey, conducted in May 2009 by UNICEF, reported a decline in access to many social services for wome
SHANGHAI, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- New infections of HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, have been reduced worldwide 17 percent during the past eight years, U.N. officials said Tuesday. A report released in Shanghai by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS , and the World Health Or
EDINBURGH, Scotland, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A total of 264 cases of syphilis were diagnosed in Scotland in 2008, the most in more than half a century. A report prepared by the National Health Service also showed young people are the most likely to contract sexually transmitted diseases. Almost 75 percent of cases of Chlamydi
MONTREAL, Nov. 23 (UPI) -- A Canadian-led team of researchers is urging creation of better quality diagnostic studies for tuberculosis, malaria and human immunodeficiency virus tests. The team, led by Dr. Madhukar Pai, an assistant professor at McGill University, said a rapid and accurate diagnosis is the first step to
WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army psychiatrist charged with killing 13 people at Fort Hood donated $20,000 to $30,000 annually to foreign Islamic charities, investigators say. They also said Major Nidal Malik Hasan may have been worried he would test positive for the HIV virus, ABC News reported. ABC reporters
LONDON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- British pop icon Elton John says he is feeling much better after battling the flu and an E.coli infection. The 62-year-old singer was forced to cancel several concerts recently due to his illness, but has since recovered and attended his annual AIDS Foundation benefit in New York this week, the
AIKEN, S.C., Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A former South Carolina teacher has been sentenced to six years in prison for not telling his ex-wife he had HIV and exposing her to possible infection. Joel L. Bedenbaugh, 47, married in 2002 and in the five years he was married, never told his wife of his HIV, the Aiken Standard reported
DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists seeking a vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus say a study of HIV antibodies is leading them in a new direction. The Duke University Medical Center-led researchers said that new direction came from a detailed study of how the most robust antibodies work to block th
SACRAMENTO, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- The growing number of medical marijuana clinics opening in California has ratcheted up the debate about both their legitimacy and worthiness, observers say. California s Compassionate Use Act passed in 1996 allowed patients holding a valid doctor s recommendation to possess and cultivate mar
WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Human rights activists warned Friday there could be a resurgence of AIDS in Uganda if a proposed new law they say is flawed takes effect in the African nation. Uganda s HIV-AIDS prevention and control bill, which is under discussion by lawmakers, would mandate testing for the disease but wou
BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- U.S. emergency physicians have issued guidelines to help people determine whether their flu symptoms warrant a hospital emergency room visit. Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, said the guidelines, posted at http://www.acep.org/WorkArea/Download
CLINTON, Mich., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- An HIV-positive Clinton, Mich., man intended to use the virus as a weapon when he allegedly bit through his neighbor s lip, a judge said. Daniel Allen, 44, Monday was ordered to stand trial on charges of assault with intent to maim and commit great bodily harm, The Detroit News reported
BOSTON, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Hepatitis B does not increase the risk of pancreatic cancer but age does, U.S. researchers say. Researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit say their study of more than 74,000 patients contradicts a previous study suggesting a link between pancreatic cancer and previous hepatitis B infection.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Oct. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they re using the world s fastest supercomputer in an effort to create the world s largest human immunodeficiency virus evolutionary tree. Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy s Los Alamos National Laboratory, as part of the International Center for HIV/AID
WASHINGTON, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Cruise lines serving U.S. ports would be required to improve crime reporting and safety measures under a bill approved Friday by the House of Representatives. The measure would require cruise ships to publicly report shipboard crimes, install peepholes in cabin doors and employ U.S. doctors
MIAMI, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Former NBA great Isiah Thomas says he is hurt by comments made by Magic Johnson in a new book, Sports Illustrated reported. Johnson teamed with Larry Bird and author Jackie McMullan on the soon-to-be released When the Game Was Ours. In the book, Johnson accuses Thomas, his boyhood friend, of que
NEW YORK, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Afghanistan s opium trade is causing worldwide devastation through increased addiction, the spread of the HIV virus and rising terrorism, a U.N. report said. The U.N. drug and crime tsar says intensified efforts are needed to combat the multibillion-dollar opium trade, the U.N. News Center re
WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama should quickly sign a bill extending a program to help 530,000 low-income people living with AIDS or HIV, a doctors group urged. The bill, known as the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009, would provide funding under the Ryan White program for an
British Columbia Health officials want the federal government s permission to operate medically supervised sites to allow crack cocaine users to smoke. Dr. Evan Wood of the B.C. Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS released his recommendations Monday in Vancouver, where the center already oversees Canada s only legal site
U.S. researchers recommend quickly treating maternal human immunodeficiency virus to prevent transmitting the virus to newborns. The study, published online in ahead of print in the Nov. 15 issue of The Journal of Infectious Disease, finds 82 percent of the mothers in the African country of Malawi involved
The first clinical trial of the H1N1 influenza vaccine in human immunodeficiency virus-infected pregnant women has begun, U.S. officials said. Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said a similar trial will begin in HIV-infected children and youth next week. The
The encouraging results of an AIDS vaccine trial announced by the U.S. Army and Thailand may have been a fluke, a scientist says. The Army, the Thai government and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which helped finance the three-year, $105 million study, announced last month the results indicated they had found t
A nurse allegedly has acknowledged she reused medical supplies that may have exposed 1,851 people to HIV, Broward County, Fla., officials said. The nurse is suspected of reusing saline bags and tubes intended for one-time use in chemical cardiac stress tests since 2004 at Broward General Medical Center, The South Flori
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says the 100th anti-retroviral drug was recently approved to treat the human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS. The approval, officials said, came under the President s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, a program aimed at the prevention, treatment and care of people infected
Grants totaling $5 billion pack a one-two punch by providing funding for cutting-edge medical research and jobs, U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday. The 12,000-plus grants, announced during a visit to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., are part of an overall $100 billion American Recovery and R
U.S. scientists say a shift in types of cancers among human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients has occurred since anti-retrovirals were introduced. Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center said non-AIDS-defining malignancies, such as anal and lung cancer, have become more prevalent among
Scottish researchers found transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus among heterosexuals slower than among homosexual men. A study, published in PLoS Pathogens, also found transmission clusters in the heterosexual population occurred in networks of more than 10 people and as many as 30 people, but were smaller t
Migrants with AIDS being deported should be guaranteed treatment at their point of destination, an international human rights group said Thursday. Citing cases in the United States , South Korea , Saudi Arabia
Migrants with AIDS being deported should be guaranteed treatment at their point of destination, an international human rights group said Thursday. Citing cases in the United States , South Korea , Saudi Arabia
U.S. scientists say they have created the first antigen that induces protective antibodies capable of blocking strains of the human immunodeficiency virus. Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center say their new chemically-activated antigen that can block infection of human cells by genetically diver
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration says it has approved the second screening test that detects HIV antibodies in donated blood and in organ transplants. The federal agency said the new test -- the Abbott Prism HIV O Plus assay -- is one of five assays that run on the fully automated Abbott Prism System. There are t
Drug addiction centered in a filthy Kabul section threatens an HIV/AIDS epidemic in Afghanistan , already the world s top opium producer, a CNN report says. Describing the surroundings of the Kabul den, the report said: Here junkies lie in their own filth, wasted limbs poking out of blood-spattered clothing as they bla
An anti-AIDS video showing Adolf Hitler having sex with a woman is stirring outrage in Germany . The blurred clip shows a naked couple having sex, with the climax revealing that the man behind the woman is the grinning Nazi dictator. The spot s closing message: AIDS is a mass murderer. The video has sparked massiv
The following are remarks made Tuesday by U.S. President Barack Obama to students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va. Hello, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. All right, everybody go ahead and have a seat. How s everybody doing today? How about Tim Spicer? I am here with students at Wakefiel
A German AIDS awareness video that uses a Hitler look-alike is an insult to the victims of the Nazi era, a Jewish community leader says. The video shows a Hitler look-alike having sex followed by the message, AIDS is a mass murderer. Protect yourself. Basically, we wanted to give the virus itself a face, and this face
After years of research, scientists in California say they have isolated two antibodies that prevent human immunodeficiency virus from becoming full-blown AIDS. The discovery could lead to a vaccine against AIDS, scientists at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla said. Researchers collected blood samples from more th
A U.N. agency is backing away from U.N.-proposed guidelines intended to reduce HIV infections through sex education for young people, officials in Paris said. Responding to criticism by conservative groups, the United Nations Population Fund has requested its name be removed from published materials associated with the
U.S. scientists say they ve discovered patients infected with a specific subtype of the human immunodeficiency virus have an increased risk of dementia . Johns Hopkins University researchers said they determined HIV Subtype D might be more likely to cause dementia than other subtypes. HIV is the virus that causes A
A private hospital in Rajasthan, India , has been accused of giving children transfusions of blood not tested for HIV, authorities said. Criminal charges have been filed against administrators of the hospital, which was not publicly named, CNN reported Monday. No children treated at the hospital tested positive for HIV
A Florida man charged with kidnapping his ex-girlfriend and killing her told police he did it because she infected him with HIV, authorities say. Anton Jamal Josey, 34, of Pompano Beach was arrested late Wednesday after police in Fort Lauderdale pulled him over for speeding, The Miami Herald reported. Police said Domin
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., has died at his home in Hyannis, Mass., after a long battle with brain cancer, his family said. He was 77. We ve lost the irreplaceable center of our family and joyous light in our lives, but the inspiration of his faith, optimism, and perseverance will live on in our hearts forever, the
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has given the University of Illinois a $600,000, three-year grant to educate AIDS patients about food safety. Researchers at the university s Chicago School of Public Health said the money will be used to develop better ways to disseminate information to AIDS patients who are at high
A Florida man is one of at least 50 people suing the Department of Veteran Affairs with allegations of negligent use of medical equipment, authorities said. Juan Rivera, 55, was diagnosed with HIV after having a routine colonoscopy at the veterans hospital in Miami in May 2008, Ira Leesfield, his lawyer, said. Rivera,
AIDS Healthcare Foundation officials say they are filing complaints against California production companies to promote the use of condoms in porn videos. Foundation President Michael Weinstein alleges 16 production companies operating out of California have violated workplace safety laws by not having their actors wear
U.S. scientists say conventional AIDS vaccine strategies shouldn t be the only plans of action considered in the fight against the disease. Researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, located at Emory University, said their proposal is based on studies involving simian immunodeficiency viruses in Africa
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed an agreement to help Angola battle AIDS Monday in Luanda before leaving for Congo. Clinton and Angolan Minister of External Relations Assuncao Afonso dos Anjos signed a framework to combat HIV/AIDS, part of the U.S. President s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEP
Four female African refugees died of AIDS in Sweden after Swedish doctors declined to test them for human immunodeficiency virus, health authorities said. The women had sought medical treatment in 2007 for AIDS-related illnesses, but at the time the doctors did not test them for HIV, which causes AIDS, The Local report
High school students in Washington, D.C., will be offered tests for sexually transmitted diseases after a program found lots of infected kids, officials said. The pilot program, conducted last year at eight local high schools, found 13 percent of some 3,000 students tested positive for an STD, mostly gonorrhea or chlam
An environmental expert in Lesotho says U.S. companies wastes are health risks to the country s people, who are already plagued by AIDS and other diseases. The Sunday Times of London reported Chinese and Taiwanese companies serving large foreign garment manufacturers -- notably Gap Inc. and Levi Strauss & Co. -- we
Researchers found a gorilla strain of HIV in a Cameroonian woman, they reported in Paris Sunday. This demonstrates that HIV evolution is an ongoing process, Dr. David Robertson, an AIDS researcher and frequent contributor to Nature Medicine, told the magazine. The HIV-1 strain, which is the main source of human infecti
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed nearly $500 million in spending Tuesday, cutting money for child welfare, AIDS treatment, parks and other programs. The vetoes, however, do not make up the entire $1.1 billion budget shortfall, the Los Angeles Times reported. This has been a very tough budget, probably the t
Pop singer La Toya Jackson says the proceeds from the iTunes sale of her new single, Home, are to be donated to AIDS Project L.A. Jackson sings the song she co-wrote and co-produced with Jeffre Phillips. A news release described the single as having been written with affection about her childhood memories and based on
Cambodia s moves to relocate families with AIDS and the HIV virus to a ramshackle colony is inhumane, human rights groups say. The groups say 20 families were forced last week to move from Phnom Penh to a collection of makeshift metal sheds at Tuol Sambo on the outskirts of the city that lack running water, further sti
U.S. cities would gain more flexibility in their anti-AIDS efforts under a measure to lift a federal ban on funding for needle exchange programs, analysts say. A bill to end a 21-year-old on federal funding for needle exchanges run by local programs aimed at stopped the spread of AIDS, and the HIV virus that causes it,
Wild chimpanzees infected with Simian Immunodeficiency Viruses can contract AIDS-like symptoms and die, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. SIV has many forms and was thought to be harmless to apes, researchers from the University of Illinois who participated in the global study said in a news release. SIV is the precurso
Seeking medical advice, including being tested for human immunodeficiency virus, goes against many black men s notion of masculinity, U.S. researchers say. Waverly Duck, a post doctoral associate at Yale University, said the current leading gender, masculinity and health behavior models are not relevant enough to Afric
Hundreds of thousands of lives could be saved if South Africa promoted circumcision as a way to prevent AIDS, activists said. South Africa has no shortage of scientists, said Olive Shisana, chief executive officer of South Africa s Human Sciences Research Council. We have a shortage of people willing to take the eviden
California health officials have failed to address a reported HIV virus infection outbreak in the adult film industry, advocates said while filing a lawsuit. Contending that Los Angeles County officials have ignored pleas to require film producers to have actors wear condoms while making pornographic movies, leaders of
A 28-year-old man in Hialeah, Fla., alleges he was denied a hair transplant procedure because he has human immunodeficiency virus. Diego Del Rio has filed a lawsuit alleging Dr. Brett Bolton of the Age Defying Surgical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., refused him treatment because Del Rio is HIV-positive, The Miami Her
U.S. researchers say Brazil has been successful in its nearly 20-year effort to treat people living with the human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS. Scientists at Brown University and the Harvard School of Public Health say Brazil s success shows developing countries can successfully combat the epidemic with inexpensive
Risky sex by male clients of sex workers in Tijuana, Mexico , heightens human immunodeficiency virus transmission, U.S. and Mexican researchers say. The bi-national team of global health researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, examined HIV infection among male clients of female sex wo
Israeli and Senegalese doctors will perform male circumcisions in southern and eastern Africa to try to reduce HIV transmission, team organizers said. An agreement was reached at a recent visit of Senegalese doctors and health officials to Israel, Operation Abraham, the organization in charge of the medical teams, said
Police in Washington said they arrested 26 individuals who had been protesting federal AIDS policy at the Capitol Thursday. Police told CNN those individuals arrested during the Capitol Rotunda demonstration stand accused of unlawful assembly and disorderly conduct. The activist group, Health Global Access Project, is
Among the agreements signed by U.S. and Russian leaders in Moscow Monday was a document on cooperation in public health and medical sciences. The memorandum of understanding sets up a framework for cooperation between government and scientific research institutions in several areas, the Obama administration said in a f
Officials in Indonesia s West Java province have declared a state of emergency in the fight against AIDS. West Java Gov. Ahmad Heryawan said Tuesday at a coordination meeting of the provincial AIDS commission that the infection rates for AIDS and the virus that causes it, human immunodeficiency virus, are higher among
A deeply disappointed U.N. secretary-general left Myanmar saying the military rulers had lost a unique opportunity to show they were serious about democracy and elections in 2010. Before departing the country, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon s carefully worded speech in Yangon leveled strong criticism toward the gov
U.S. researchers found a link between increased levels of nitrates in the environment and food and increased deaths from Alzheimer s and diabetes. Study leader Dr. Suzanne de la Monte of Rhode Island Hospital and colleagues studied the trends in mortality rates associated with aging, such as diabetes, Alzheimer s, Park
Social barriers faced by black gay men may have a serious impact on their health and well-being, U.S. researchers said. H. Fisher Raymond and Willi McFarland of the San Francisco Department of Public Health said black gay men have less choice when it comes to sexual partners than other groups and, as a result, their se
Scientists said an HIV/AIDS vaccine developed at Canada s University of Western Ontario is ready for the first phase of human trials. Officials at Sumagen Co. Ltd., the manufacturer of the vaccine, said they have submitted an investigational new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin Phase 1
The government of India is considering repealing a law that makes homosexual sex illegal even for consenting adults. Home Minister P Chidambaram, Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad plan to meet soon to discuss their differences on the law, known as Section 377, Indian Express reported,
Some 40 percent of people are diagnosed with AIDS within one year of receiving an initial human immunodeficiency virus diagnosis, U.S. researchers said. The late AIDS diagnosis could make treatment more difficult. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Weekly Report said that an analysis of those diagnosed wi
A New York City initiative to increase HIV testing in the Bronx has boosted testing by 28 percent, city health officials said. The Bronx Knows, a borough-wide effort that involved clinics, hospitals and community organizations, provided voluntary human immunodeficiency virus tests to nearly 160,000 Bronx residents in t
An alleged Medicare fraud ring based in Miami defrauded the government program of $30 million by filing false claims for obsolete HIV therapy, officials say. A 20-count federal indictment unsealed Tuesday indicated FBI agents broke up an eight-person conspiracy that allegedly received Medicare reimbursements using empt
The U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday the world s 65-and-older population is expected to triple by the middle of this century. Figures cited by the bureau said the number of seniors, at 516 million in 2009, is expected to grow to 1.53 billion by 2050. In contrast, the under-15 population is expected to grow only by 6 per
One in every four South African men interviewed for a survey admitted having raped at least one woman, the Medical Research Council reported. Almost 8 percent said they had raped 10 or more women and girls. Understanding Men s Health and Use of Violence: Interface of Rape and HIV in South Africa involved a survey in th
Alan Berkman, a New York radical whose career was interrupted by a prison term and who later started a group that brought AIDS treatment to the poor, has died. Berkman, 63, a resident of Manhattan, suffered from cancer of the lymph nodes and died June 5, his wife, Dr. Barbara Zeller, told The New York Times. She said t
Health and county officials in California say they will review the case of a porn actress who tested positive for HIV. State health officials, along with Los Angeles county officials, have expressed concern the adult film industry does not have sufficient safety regulations to prevent the spread of sexually-transmitted
A California clinic that treats performers in X-rated films has refused to identify an actress who tested positive for HIV, officials say. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation has also declined to give the name of the production in which the actress was involved or the company producing it, the Los Angeles
Canadian researchers say they might have found a new way to fight the human immunodeficiency virus -- the microorganism that produces AIDS. Scientists McGill University, Montreal s Jewish General Hospital, and the Universities of Manitoba and British Columbia said they have determined the key cellular machinery co-opte
Medical experts in Britain say the Department of Health is not doing enough to highlight the risks associated with HIV, leading to its spread. The Sunday Times of London reported senior doctors have accused the British department of not properly testing specific high-risk groups such as black Africans and gay men.
U.S. researchers say HIV/AIDS patients using marijuana rated it as effective as mainstream drugs for symptoms. The study, published in Clinical Nursing Research, also finds HIV/AIDS patients in the United States were more likely to use marijuana than patients in Kenya ,
An inmate in an Ohio jail has sued two former guards who allegedly gave him a sandwich contaminated by an HIV-positive prisoner with hepatitis C. Joseph Copeland Jr., who remains jailed in Columbus while awaiting trial on a robbery charge, also named Franklin County Sheriff Jim Karnes and county commissioners. The Colu
Researchers in Spain monitoring rates of HIV infection HIV and sexually transmitted disease said they found a high rate of condom use in female sex workers. The phenomenon of prostitution has changed over recent years in Spain, going from prostitution as an activity carried out by Spanish women, often injecting drug us
Onlookers during a New York visit by Prince Harry said the British royal has become a respected celebrity despite previous missteps. The New York Daily News reported Saturday while Harry has served as media fodder through questionable acts such as marijuana use or Nazi-themed costumes, the prince drew raves when he mad
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told crowds in two eastern Canadian provinces there had to be more public involvement in solving the world s problems. Clinton spoke first on Thursday in St. John s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, and coined his own term -- communitarianism -- for personal involvement, the
The Veterans Administration hospital in Miami says it s trying to contact 216 veterans at risk from improperly cleaned colonoscopy equipment. The equipment may have infected veterans who received colonoscopies at the hospital between May 2004 and March of this year, The Miami Herald reported Friday. Hospital officials
An HIV-positive Texas man faces a long prison term after being convicted of assaulting six women by having unprotected sex with them. Philippe Padieu, 53, a martial arts teacher from Frisco, was convicted Wednesday of aggravated assault, The Dallas Morning News reported. Jurors in Collin County deliberated for about fi
U.S. scientists say human immunodeficiency virus drug developers should focus on immune cells called macrophages instead of traditionally targeted T cells. In the largest study of its kind, researchers from the University of Florida and five other institutions said they discovered that in diseased cells, such as cancer
An editorial in the journal PLos Medicine calls for U.S. political and religious leaders to realign research and policy for improved sexual health. There are 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases each year in the United States , at an estimated cost of $15.9 billion annually to the healthcare system, t
A third Canadian woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a southwest Ontario HIV-positive man, health officials and police, court records show. In their respective suits, all three women in their late 20s claim they are also HIV-positive after relationships with Carl Leone that began as long as 13 years ago, the
Sharon Stone paid tribute to the late Natasha Richardson, her fellow actress and humanitarian worker, at an amfAR event in Cannes, France . Richardson died in March after sustaining a head injury while skiing in Canada . She was 45. The Tony Award-winning actress was the wife of film star Liam Neeson and the mother of
A new contraceptive device may also effectively block the transmission of the HIV virus that causes AIDS, New York researchers said. The new device is a vaginal ring that releases multiple types of non-hormonal agents and microbicides, which would prevent conception as well as the sexually transmitted human immunodefic
Four HIV-positive patients allege in a lawsuit against Massachusetts General Hospital they suffered emotional distress from the loss of some of their records. Attorney John Yasi, who is representing the four plaintiffs, alleges his clients were concerned over the private information contained in the hospital billing re
The 24th National Conference on Preventing Crime in the Black Community, held this week in Florida, focuses on young people, organizers say. The conference, sponsored by the attorneys general of Florida and Georgia , began Wednesday in Jacksonville. The 1,200 participants include police officers, members of community g
A U.S. research team says it may have broken the stubborn impasse that has frustrated the invention of an effective human immunodeficiency virus vaccine. The scientists from the Children s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Nationwide Children s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, said they used an approach that bypasses the usu
U.S. medical researchers say they ve determined AIDS patients with serious complications benefit from early antiretroviral treatment. Scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine said a multicenter trial they led determined patients testing positive for the human immunodeficiency virus who don t seek medica
Those travelling abroad should take seriously advice to pack their condoms and keep any needles to themselves, a virologist in Greece advises. Dr. Dimitrios Paraskevis, a virologist at the National Retrovirus Reference Center at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, says tourists, travelers and migrants f
Those infected with human immunodeficiency virus need to quit smoking, a U.S. researcher says. Syed Kadri of Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus says the disease has gone from being an automatic death sentence to a chronic condition, and like all chronic conditions, it brings with it other complications th
Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd said she will look like the late singer Johnny Cash when she dons a black habit for a 100-mile marathon in Florida. Comparing herself to the Man in Black singer, the 60-year-old nun said she is taking part in the second annual KEYS100 race through the Florida Keys in order to help orphaned c
Acyclovir , a drug that suppresses herpes simplex virus-2, does not reduce HIV risk when taken by people infected by HIV and herpes, U.S. researchers said. The majority of people with HIV infection also have herpes simplex virus-2 infection. Multiple studies have shown that frequent
Film actress Hilary Duff will take part in a ceremony commemorating the 24th annual AIDS Walk New York, organizers said Tuesday. Gay Men s Health Crisis and AIDS Walk New York announced that at dusk Thursday, the world-famous spire of the Empire State Building will glow red to kick off the AIDS Walk weekend. Duff will
U.S. President Barack Obama, taking an apparently cautious approach, is reported under mounting pressure to act on gay issues, associates and observers say. There is a flood of gay and lesbian issues facing the president amid what The New York Times calls a dizzying pace of social, political, legal and legislative chan
A federal lawsuit filed against former New York Mets player Roberto Alomar by a former girlfriend has been resolved, court records show. The New York Post, citing a letter filed in Brooklyn federal court, said Wednesday the lawsuit filed by Ilya Dall in February against Alomar was settled under a confidentiality agreem
The global swine flu threat is receding, but it could return in a far more deadly form in the fall. The warning was given Monday by Dr. Margaret Chan, head of the 193-nation World Health Organization , in an interview with the Financial Times of London. Chan warned that the swine flu virus known as H1N1 that caused the
Some of World Bank s health, nutrition and population programs performed poorly from 1997 through 2007, the institution s internal watchdog said. The weak showing of about a third of the programs resulted, in part, from inadequate monitoring and overly complex projects, The Washington Post reported Friday The World Ban
BERNE, Switzerland , April 30 (UPI) -- Swiss scientists say they ve determined early treatment of the human immunodeficiency virus reduces death rates in African countries. Researchers led by University of Berne Professor Matthias Egger said they found mortality rates of people starting HIV treatment in four African co
University of Central Florida scientists say they have developed a vaginal cream containing a re-awakened protein that might prevent the transmission of HIV. Assistant Professor Alexander Cole, who led the study, said his team revived a dormant gene found in humans and coaxed it to produce retrocyclin, a protein that r
A British-led study has determined survival rates among HIV positive and HIV negative patients are similar following liver transplantations. The research led by Kosh Agarwal at the Institute of Liver Studies at Kings College Hospital in London showed no difference in survival rates at one and five years between HIV neg
Hundreds of California counter-protesters shouted down an anti-gay church group picketing a high school production of the play Rent, witnesses say. Three members of the Westboro Baptist Church of Kansas who came to Newport Beach, Calif., to picket the Corona del Mar High School theatrical production asked to be escorte
German pop star Nadja Benaissa has been released from police custody after she was arrested for allegedly knowingly infecting a partner with the HIV virus. The 26-year-old singer is a member of the popular girl group No Angels. Prosecutors said Benaissa engaged in unprotected sex with three men between 2004 and 2006 wi
A U.N. HIV/AIDS awareness group said Monday it welcomed the news that Senegalese officials released several men jailed because of their sexual orientation. UNAIDS , along with the U.N. Development Program, civilian groups, and French and Swedish embassies representing the European Union had campaigned for release of th
The New York City health department is warning residents about the dangers of receiving body-enhancement injections of castor oil and other substances. Dr. Nathan Graber, director of the health department s environmental and occupational disease program, says the department has been notified of five cases in the past t
A two-day conference in Los Angeles for the wives of African presidents is to focus on health, especially the fight against AIDS, and women s issues. At least 12 first ladies are committed to the summit, CNN reported. They are the wives of heads of state in Angola , Burkina Faso ,
MONTREAL, April 14 (UPI) -- An annual Montreal rave dance party that began Thursday and ended Monday netted 12 arrests, all drug-related, police said. An estimated 15,000 people paid $105 each to wear white and participate in the Bal en blanc, or Ball in White, event, which raises funds for AIDS and HIV research. Co
ATLANTA, April 9 (UPI) -- Despite more than a decade of declines in HIV infections among U.S. injection drug users, risk behaviors among this group remain high, health officials say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said the analysis involved risk behaviors, HIV tes
STANFORD, Calif., April 8 (UPI) -- Stanford University scientists say the U.S. government s AIDS program that started in 2003 has cut the disease s death toll by more than 10 percent in Africa. The Stanford University Medical Center researchers said their study is the first to evaluate outcomes of The President s Emerg
WASHINGTON, April 8 (UPI) -- Ready-to-eat ham can be eaten cold, but is best reheated for those at risk of a foodborne illness, a U.S. agency advises. The Food Safety and Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, says those with weakened immune systems -- the very young, the elderly,
WASHINGTON, April 7 (UPI) -- A five-year U.S. communication campaign highlights that almost every 10 minutes an American gets infected with HIV, White House officials said. Officials from the White House, Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that t
DETROIT, April 6 (UPI) -- The state of Michigan has started accepting application for medical marijuana from residents with debilitating illnesses, officials said Monday. Michigan is the 13th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana, the Detroit News reported. The Michigan Department of Community Health said it c
WASHINGTON, April 6 (UPI) -- A confidential report by the International Committee of the Red Cross alleges that U.S. personnel, including medical officers, engaged in torture. The report -- which was posted Monday on the Web site of the New York Review of Books -- is based on interviews conducted by the ICRC with so-ca
TORONTO, April 5 (UPI) -- Some Canadian legal experts say they are concerned about a precedent set by a man s murder conviction for killing two sex partners by infecting them with HIV. Johnson Aziga, 52, of Hamilton was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder and 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault Saturday,
ANTIBES, France , April 4 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will serve as one of the event co-chairmen for the annual Cinema Against AIDS benefit for the Foundation for AIDS Research. The Hollywood Reporter said Friday also serving in leadership roles for the non-profit organization s annual event in Antibes,
ROME, April 3 (UPI) -- The Belgian government says it will file an official complaint with the Vatican regarding Pope Benedict XVI s recent comments about condoms in Africa. The Belgian Parliament passed a proposal to condemn the pope s contention that comdoms will not solve Africa s AIDS epidemic, the Italian news age
LANSING, Mich., April 1 (UPI) -- Medical marijuana activists say they are planning an application rally in Lansing next week to encouraged ailing Michigan residents to seek pot permits. Michigan begins accepting applications Saturday for permits to use marijuana for relief from cancer, AIDS, Chron s disease and other c
OWENSBORO, Ky., March 31 (UPI) -- A gel derived from a close relative to the tobacco plant is being tested as an affordable preventative measure for HIV, U.S. researchers said. Kenneth Palmer, a senior scientist in the University of Louisville s Owensboro Cancer Research Program, has published research that suggests gr
MIAMI, March 29 (UPI) -- Health insurance company guidelines urge brokers to reject applicants with a wide range of pre-existing conditions, The Miami Herald reported Sunday. The guidelines are confidential, but the newspaper said it was able to find several posted on the Internet, and they reveal that insurers advise
LILONGWE, Malawi , March 28 (UPI) -- A 61-year-old woman in Malawi says she will try to block any attempt by U.S. pop star Madonna to adopt her 4-year-old granddaughter. Lucy Chekechiwa has questioned the Material Girl star s attempts to become the legal parent to Chekechiwa s granddaughter, Mercy James, The Daily Tele
LONDON, March 27 (UPI) -- The prestigious British medical journal The Lancet is speaking out against Pope Benedict XVI s opposition to the use of condoms. While in Africa last week, the pope told a French journalist the fight against AIDS in Africa cannot be overcome by the distribution of condoms: on the contrary, the
OKLAHOMA CITY, March 26 (UPI) -- Group sex parties may have led to an Oklahoma syphilis outbreak among teenagers, including two who learned they had syphilis and HIV, health officials said. We are still looking to see if (sex parties and syphilis) are related and how they are related, Jan Fox, chief of sexual transmitt
BALTIMORE, March 26 (UPI) -- Circumcised men are less likely to contract human papillomavirus and herpes than uncircumcised men, U.S. and Ugandan researchers said. The report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was led by researchers from Johns Hopkins University and Makerere University in Uganda, The Wa
NEW YORK, March 25 (UPI) -- Natasha Richardson s family donated the organs of the beloved British-born actress following her death last week, a source told People magazine. The film and stage star died in a New York hospital last Wednesday at the age of 45 following a skiing accident in which she sustained a fatal head
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 24 (UPI) -- Tuberculosis is increasingly becoming an illness linked to HIV, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday in Brazil . One out of every four TB deaths in the world is now related to human immunodeficiency virus, WHO officials said. Data from 2007 shows there were an estimated 1
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., March 24 (UPI) -- Education is helping slow the spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa after having the opposite effect during the early stages of the pandemic, researchers said. During the early stages of the pandemic, researchers found that males with a higher than average education were more likel
WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- A U.S. Agency for International Development official said U.S. jobs were considered when the agency decided to switch to cheaper sources for condoms. Of course, we considered how many U.S. jobs would be affected by this move, said a USAID official who did not want to be named, The Kansas C
STATE COLLEGE, Pa., March 23 (UPI) -- A U.S. sociologist says increased schooling across sub-Saharan Africa might be lowering the number of new HIV infections among younger adults. If that is true, Penn State University Professor David Baker says it would suggest a shift in a decades-long trend in which a formal educat
NANNING, China , March 21 (UPI) -- Human testing of an AIDS vaccine is moving into its second phase in China, researchers said Saturday. Chinese scientists said they intend to enroll 30 more volunteers for the next round of tests, Xinhua reported. The start of the second phase was marked by a ceremony in Nanning, the c
VATICAN CITY, March 20 (UPI) -- Sources near the top of the Vatican hierarchy tell a British newspaper that Pope Benedict XVI is out of touch with the real world. The pope is on his first trip to Africa this week. He caused an uproar by telling reporters as he traveled to Cameroon that condoms might aggravate the A
WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- The Obama administration s decision to permit the local dispensation of marijuana in America if it is in compliance with local and state laws is a small move in a complicated jungle of conflicting U.S. legal regulations on drug policy. But many experts argue that it makes sense for a numbe
ATLANTA, March 19 (UPI) -- The U.S. tuberculosis rate fell to an all-time low of 4.2 cases per 100,000 people, or 12,898 new cases, in 2008, federal health officials said. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said progress in eliminating TB hit a plateau in rec
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., March 18 (UPI) -- The Southern California high school that canceled a production of the musical Rent is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU claims that Corona del Mar High School in Newport Beach has an officially sanctioned sexist and homophobic environment on campus, The
VATICAN CITY, March 17 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI landed Tuesday in Cameroon after telling reporters on the plane that condoms will not overcome AIDS. The weeklong trip to Cameroon and Angola is the pope s first to the continent since he began his reign four years ago, The Telegraph reported.
BEIJING, March 10 (UPI) -- A hospital in Beijing must pay $1,959 for accidentally pricking a man s foot with a needle used on an AIDS patient, a court in China ruled. The 29-year-old man, identified only by his surname Xi, had accompanied a friend with AIDS to the hospital in March 2008, Xinhua, China (OTCBB:XHUA) s st
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, March 10 (UPI) -- As many as 3,000 people who used a Toronto-area tattoo and piercing parlor may have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis, local health officials said. Blood tests for HIV, and hepatitis B and C were urged as a precautionary measure for the customers of Moonshin Tattoo in Mississauga,
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- U.S. adults ages 50-64 are particularly vulnerable to high healthcare spending and are usually ineligible for Medicare, officials of AARP say. AARP released a report Monday saying problems experienced by 50- to 64-year-old seniors are not limited to those without insurance -- those who have
PARIS, March 9 (UPI) -- French researcher Luc Montagnier, who helped discover HIV, is accused by an inventor of allegedly stealing a technique that could cure AIDS. Bruno Robert claims he has the intellectual property to a technique that uses electromagnetic signals to pinpoint HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus,
BANGKOK, March 8 (UPI) -- A Swiss television documentary producer says his arrest in Thailand on defamation charges stemming from a 2002 program is bizarre. Christoph Muller, 58, a producer for the German-language SF (Swiss National) television network, told Sunday s Bangkok Post that he s baffled by his Feb. 27 arrest
LOS ANGELES, March 7 (UPI) -- U.S. pop singer says she does not plan to get pregnant anytime soon, despite her recent marriage to actor Josh Duhamel. The London Bridge singer said while she and Duhamel tied the knot a couple of months ago, she is not considering having a child yet since she intends to tour with the Bla
CAPE TOWN, South Africa , March 6 (UPI) -- The South African government says it is moving thousands of Zimbabwean refugees from a makeshift camp due to concerns of disease and germ infestation. The order by the Department of Home of Affairs to move the refugees out of a South African field camp known as The Showground
MINNEAPOLIS, March 4 (UPI) -- In a study of monkeys, a vaginal gel prevented sexual transmission of the AIDS virus, University of Minnesota researchers found. The gel s anti-HIV ingredient is glycerol monolaurate, which is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an ingredient in cosmetics and medic
SAN FRANCISCO, March 4 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers found examining levels of antiretroviral drugs in hair samples taken from HIV patients strongly predicts treatment success. The findings, published in the journal AIDS, said that the levels of antiretrovirals found in the hair of patients on treatment correlated strongly
GENEVA, Switzerland , March 3 (UPI) -- There is a surprisingly high prevalence of HIV among adults age 50 and older, a World Health Organization report released in Switzerland reveals. The report, published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, said older individuals more often than not are left out of demo
OCEANSIDE, N.Y., March 3 (UPI) -- An Oceanside, N.Y., teenager is suing former classmates and Facebook for alleged bullying in a forum on the online social-networking Web site. Denise Finkel, who is seeking $3 million, alleges four former classmates at Oceanside High School created a private Facebook group to expose he
MIAMI, March 24 (UPI) -- Thousands of U.S. veterans are at a slight risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis because of improperly cleaned water pumps in Miami, officials said. Patients who had colonoscopies and gastrointestinal procedures at Miami s Veterans Administration Medical Center were exposed to water pump tubes t
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 2 (UPI) -- U.S. and British researchers say HIV s ability to adapt so well to the body s defense system presents a formidable challenge to medical scientists. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Oxford say any successful AIDS vaccine must keep pace with
CHICAGO, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A Chicago man who allegedly sent then President-elect Barack Obama a letter stained with his AIDS-infected blood faces federal charges, officials said. Saad Hussein, 27, an Ethiopian refugee, allegedly sent a letter addressed to Obama to a state government building in Springfield, the Illinois
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama selected a health policy expert to be the country s top AIDS adviser. Jeffrey S. Crowley, a senior research scholar at Georgetown University s Health Policy Institute will coordinate the federal government s efforts on HIV-AIDS policy as the director of the Offic
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama selected a health policy expert to be the country s top AIDS adviser. Jeffrey S. Crowley, a senior research scholar at Georgetown University s Health Policy Institute will coordinate the federal government s efforts on HIV-AIDS policy as the director of the Offic
GALVESTON, Texas, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- University of Texas medical scientists say they ve found most prison inmates with HIV don t seek appropriate treatment immediately following release. The researchers said they discovered approximately 80 percent of Texas prison inmates infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, t
LONDON, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The British health system s use of tainted blood resulted in a treatment disaster that caused 1,756 deaths, says a report released Monday. A two-year inquiry lead by former Solicitor-General Peter Archer condemns the government for repeatedly failing to investigate the use of contaminated blood
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 23 (UPI) -- The 17th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation party celebrating the Academy Awards in Los Angeles raised nearly $4 million, the foundation said Monday. The pop star and his partner David Furnish were the hosts of the high-profile Oscar viewing party Sunday night at the Pacific Design Center.
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The laws of a majority of U.S. states do not interfere with federal HIV testing guidelines, a researcher said. Laws in 34 states and the District of Columbia are consistent with or do not affect the recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which make it
TOKYO, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- The number of people in Japan newly infected with the HIV virus and those contracting AIDS reached an all-time high of 1,545, Japan s health ministry reported. Of the 1,113 people diagnosed as newly positive with the human immunodeficiency virus in 2008 and 432 diagnosed with AIDS, 1,442 were ma
MIAMI, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Three Miami doctors have been arrested and charged with of taking part in an alleged Medicare fraud scheme, investigators say. The physicians were arrested during the holiday weekend as part of an investigation into an ring that allegedly submitted millions of dollars in false Medicare claims fo
EDMONTON, Alberta, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Sexually transmitted disease rates among Canadian soldiers are on the rise, documents seen by the Globe and Mail newspaper said. The records show chlamydia is by far the most common infection among soldiers under 30, much higher per capita than the civilian population, the Globe said
WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Healthcare activists say there is a hole in President Barack Obama s leadership team without a nominee for Health and Human Services secretary. Obama had tapped former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle for the post, but the South Dakota Democrat withdrew his nomination following disclosure
TORONTO, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Canada s federal court has ordered an HIV-positive stripper kept in a Toronto jail until she is deported to Thailand . Suwalee Iamkhong, 39, was sentenced in August 2007 to three years in jail for criminal negligence causing bodily harm for infecting her husband and immigration sponsor Percy W
TEL AVIV, Israel , Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is among this year s winners of $1 million Dan David Prizes, the philanthropist s foundation announced Monday. Blair was recognized in the Present Leadership category. Dr. Robert C. Gallo, director of the Institute of Human Virology at the Uni
BANGKOK, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- The Public Health Ministry in Thailand has launched an educational campaign aimed at curbing the spread of AIDS among teenagers. The White Valentine Design Your Love campaign encourages teenagers to postpone sexual intercourse, the Thai News Agency reported. The country s Bureau of Epidemi
NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- New Yorkers who visit NYC Condom on Facebook can send e-condoms, spread the word about safe sex and find condoms, New York officials said. The city health department also plans to host a virtual event on Facebook, where New Yorkers can say they will use a condom and invite their friends to do
MONTREAL, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- AIDS researchers meeting in Montreal say anitretroviral drugs given by vaginal gel may be effective at preventing HIV infection. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that two experiments in monkeys showed oral or vaginal treatment of tenofovir , or a combination drug that also contained
NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- Roberto Alomar s lawyer said a lawsuit filed in New York alleging the former baseball player has AIDS is a frivolous action. Alomar s former girlfriend, Ilya Dall, alleged Alomar insisted on having unprotected sex with her despite being well aware he was infected during their relationship.
BOSTON, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts couple is donating $100 million to help find an effective vaccine against AIDS. The presidents of Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University said the new Phillip T. and Susan M. Ragon Institute will bring scientists and clinicians
NEW YORK, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have determined how a deadly fungus microbe -- Cryptococcus neoformans -- evades the human immune system and causes disease. Albert Einstein College of Medicine researchers said their findings may help scientists develop new therapies or vaccines against fungal infecti
ATLANTA, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A study of young black men who have sex with men, in the Jackson, Miss., area shows many common risk behaviors, federal health officials said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention s Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report said that black men who have sex with men ages 17-25 in the Jacks
GRONINGEN, Netherlands , Feb. 3 (UPI) -- Fourteen HIV-infected men in the Netherlands say they are suing three men convicted of deliberately infecting people with the virus at sex parties. The civil case to be heard Wednesday in Groningen challenges the defendants to prove they didn t infect the 14 plaintiffs, Radio Ne
ROME, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The co-discoverer of the HIV virus, Luc Montagnier, says poor nations need better access to HIV drugs. While receiving an award in Rome Monday, he bemoaned the disparity among nations in treating patients with human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, ANSA reported. There is still a great d
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Male circumcisions are twice as likely to be performed in states where Medicaid pays for them as in states where they re not covered, U.S. researchers said. Lead author Arleen A. Leibowitz of the University of California, Los Angeles Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has sentenced two internationally renowned Iranian AIDS physicians to six and three years in prison for their alleged participation in a U.S.-backed plot to overthrow Iran s Islamic regime, their lawyer said Thursday. The attorney, Masoud Shafii, said authorities notified him this week of the senten
CAMBRIDGE, England, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- Seven British animal rights activists convicted of using extreme tactics to obtain their goals were sentenced to prison for their crimes, a judge ruled. Judge Neil Butterfield sentenced 41-year-old activist Gregg Avery and his wife Natasha, 39, to nine years in prison each for being
BOSTON, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- South Africa allows schools to give children age 12 and older condoms to fight the spread of HIV but distribution is sketchy, U.S. researchers have found. Juliana Han of the Harvard Law School and Michael Bennish of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health -- both affiliated with the Sou
BEIJING, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Chinese health officials said new AIDS drugs will be distributed to combat resistance to first-line anti-retroviral drugs. The Ministry of Health said two new second-line anti-retroviral drugs-- TDF and Kaletra-- will be distributed for free, Xinhua news service reported Tuesday. The medicines
BALTIMORE, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- HIV-positive kidney transplant recipients can have the same one-year survival rates as those without HIV if risk factors are managed, U.S. researchers said. Dr. Jayme Locke of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore said that traditionally, HIV patients were not consider
SEATTLE, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- A Belgian doctor who once was critical of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has joined the foundation as a top health adviser, the Seattle charity said. Dr. Peter Piot, who co-discovered the Ebola virus in 1976 and later helped create and headed a United Nations HIV and AIDS program that a
PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Ex-Canadian Football League player Trevis Smith, sent to prison for having sex with women without telling them he had HIV, was granted parole Wednesday. Smith, 32, will be released Feb. 25 and deported to the United States , Prince Albert radio station CJME reported. Th
BAGHDAD, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Iraqis contracting the virus that causes AIDS face isolation and threats from religious fundamentalists who view it as a sign of immorality, officials say. The rate of infection from the human immunodeficiency virus in Iraq is relatively low, with the Iraqi Health Ministry reporting only 44 HI
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton told a U.S. Senate panel Tuesday that donations to her husband s Clinton Global Initiative have already been made public. The panel is considering Clinton s confirmation as U.S. secretary of state. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., pointed out that a memorandum of understanding
TORONTO, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Researchers in Canada and Sweden have discovered a potentially important new resistance factor in the battle against HIV -- blood types. An international team of researchers from Canadian Blood Services, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Lund University in Sweden have discovered th
STANFORD, Calif., Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Humans are responsible for creating conditions that change harmless germs into infectious diseases, the winner of U.S. Lasker Award for medical research said. The enemy is us, Stanley Falkow said, paraphrasing a famous quotation from Walt Kelly s Pogo comic strip. Human behavior often
PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 7 (UPI) -- As President Bush prepares to leave office, U.S. citizens tend to see his legacy as negative, a poll released Wednesday said. The Gallup Poll found Bush gets positive ratings on AIDS and many people say race relations improved during his presidency. But that last finding appears to be a
BERN, Switzerland , Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Commonly used pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccines do not appear to be effective in preventing pneumonia, Swiss and British researchers said. Dr. Matthias Egger of the University of Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues said that in many industrialized countries, pneumococcal vaccines ar
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- Scientists at a Los Angeles multidisciplinary think tank say the herb Astragalus root may help fight HIV. University of California, Los Angeles, AIDS Institute researchers say a chemical from the Chinese medicinal herb may help immune cells stave off the progressive loss of disease fighting
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