2000

Antibiotics Resistance Common, Rising: Reuters Newmedia - Thursday December 28, 2000; Gene Emery; BOSTON (Reuters) - The risk of developing an antibiotic-resistant infection rose by about a third from 1995 to 1998, the latest warning that antibiotics are losing their effectiveness due to overuse, researchers reported in Thursday s New England Journal of Medicine . Extensive use in both people and animals is breedin
Holbrooke Slams UN Peacekeeping on AIDS Prevention: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 22, 2000; Irwin Arieff; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke accused the U.N. peacekeeping staff on Friday of doing too little to prevent AIDS from being spread to -- and by -- U.N. soldiers based in global hot-spots. Holbrooke also criticized the Security Council for holding a meeting behind closed doors to review U.N
FDA Warns of Stolen AIDS 'Treatment' Serum: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 22, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Someone stole a batch of an unapproved goat serum treatment for HIV infection and might try to sell it, but it could be extremely dangerous, the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) warned on Friday. It said Dr. Gary Davis reported the serum was stolen from a storage facility in Raleigh, North Ca
Zambia's Kaunda Urges Politicians to Take AIDS Tests: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 22, 2000; LUSAKA (Reuters) - Former Zambian ruler Kenneth Kaunda on Friday urged African politicians to take AIDS web tests before seeking office to help raise awareness about the pandemic. Kaunda told reporters in the Zambian capital Lusaka that he did not back compulsory testing, but any leader with a conscience had a duty to
UN Report Calls for Commitment to Fight Epidemics: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, December 19, 2000; Lisa Richwine; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Scattered successes fighting diseases in poor countries prove that massive epidemics can be brought under control if public and private groups commit billions of dollars and political will to fight them, a U.N. report released on Tuesday said. Representatives of five U.N. agencies and the World B
Health Warnings May Promote Unsafe Sex by Gay Men: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday December 19, 2000; Mike Collett-White; LONDON (Reuters) - Unsafe sex between men is becoming increasingly acceptable in the West and appears to be a backlash among the gay community against what are seen as monotonous health campaigns, research showed Tuesday. Michele Crossley of Manchester University told a British Psychological Society conference in Londo
Bush Era Heralds Marginalization for Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Monday December 18, 2000; Simon Denyer; NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - The arrival of George W. Bush - at the White House is likely to leave Africa marginalized even further, as he puts together an administration with little interest in the continent, analysts said on Monday. Bush is expected to rely heavily on his vice-president, Dick Cheney , for advice on for
Natural Protein May Defend From HIV, Study Finds: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday December 16, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A natural body protein usually associated with cystic fibrosis might be enlisted in the fight against AIDS because it shuts down the HIV virus , researchers said on Friday. The protein, called alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), seems to prevent the AIDS virus from infecting cells, the team at the Univers
Fate of Romanian Children Has Improved, UN Says: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday December 14, 2000; Karin Popescu; BUCHAREST (Reuters) - The living conditions of Romania s AIDS -infected children have improved since the fall of communism a decade ago, but anaemia and malnutrition pose growing threats, a UNICEF official said on Wednesday. If we remember the documentaries of the early 1990s where we saw kids lying in their urine with
AIDS Vaccine Encouraging to Advocacy Groups: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday December 13, 2000; Chris Michaud and Ransdell Pierson; NEW YORK (Reuters) - AIDS research and advocacy groups on Tuesday said they were cautiously encouraged by predictions of Merck & Co. that its long-time quest for an effective vaccine against HIV will ultimately succeed. Dr. Edward Scolnick, research chief for the nation s No. 2 drugmaker, on Tuesday told Wall Stree
Quest, Stanford Find Antiviral Resistant HIV: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday December 12, 2000; TETERBORO, N.J. (Reuters) - Quest Diagnostics Inc., a provider of gene-based medical testing, information and services, said on Tuesday that it and the Center for AIDS Research at the Stanford University School of Medicine have found strain of HIV-1 that is resistant to antiviral drugs. The strain has reduced susceptib
Merck Sees Its AIDS Vaccine Proving Effective: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday December 12, 2000; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Merck and Co. Inc. (NYSE:MRK - news) on Tuesday predicted that its AIDS vaccine, which is still in early studies, will prove effective. My feeling and fond hope is that I, or my successor, will some day be in front of you, telling you the efficacy of this HIV program, Dr. Edward Scolnick, head of M
Albright Hugs Botswana Singer Who Broke AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Monday December 11, 2000; Elaine Monaghan; GABORONE (Reuters) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Monday embraced a Botswanan singer for breaking HIV taboos by declaring for the first time in public that she had the virus. Mayoress Molefi-Mochanga made her announcement before a small group of pregnant women, their friends, Health Minister Joy Phumaphi an
Albright Gets Firsthand View of Africa AIDS Crisis: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 8, 2000; SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright posed for pictures on Friday with some of the most vulnerable victims of southern Africa s HIV-AIDS epidemic -- three little boys, infected and abandoned. Siboni, 6, lined up with Nhlanhle, 7 and Wellisile, 8, in matching blue and red training suits
U.N.'s Annan Demands War Against AIDS in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday December 7, 2000; ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan - called on Thursday for an all-out war against the AIDS epidemic in Africa, telling the continent s leaders it must be their top priority. Annan told a conference in the Ethiopian capital that the world had been too slow to respond to the epidemic that has alre
African Leaders Meet to Map Out Anti-AIDS Strategy: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday December 3, 2000; ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - African leaders gathered in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday to assess the impact of the AIDS pandemic on the continent and to construct a strategy against it. Former South African President Nelson Mandela is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the meeting which later in the week will als
African Leaders Urge Urgent Action Against AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday December 3, 2000; Tsegaye Tadesse; ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Reuters) - African leaders attending an international conference on HIV/AIDS called Sunday for urgent action to combat the devastating impact of the killer disease on their continent. Kingsley Amoako, executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), appealed to African leaders to
Pakistan Estimates Up to 80,000 AIDS Patients: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Friday 1,700 HIV/AIDS cases had been confirmed but the total could be nearly 50 times as large because of taboos on discussing the disease. Taboos on AIDS compel a number of AIDS patients to hide their disease, making it very difficult for policymakers to make a policy on the base
Web Cloaks AIDS Chat in Strait-Laced Singapore: Reuters Media - Friday December 1, 2000; Amy Tan; SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The Internet became the channel of choice on Friday for a young HIV-infected Singaporean woman to spread the word about AIDS -- but to stay anonymous. The 20-year-old, who goes by the pseudonym Natashya Yong, held a hour-long afternoon webchat at a local television Web site to commemorate World AI
Ethiopia Marks World AIDS Day with Safe-Sex Warning: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Military helicopters flew over Ethiopia s capital on Friday, dropping leaflets encouraging residents to practice safe sex as the country marked World AIDS Day. The leaflets urged people to abstain from sex before marriage and be faithful to their spouses to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in a count
AIDS to Hit African Work Force Hard, ILO Says: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; GENEVA (Reuters) - The loss of African workers to the AIDS epidemic is set to be far worse than predicted even six months ago, the International Labor Organization (ILO) said on Friday. Already the leading cause of death in Africa, AIDS will cause declines of 25 to 35 percent in the workforces of several countries in t
UK Marks World AIDS Day As Infections Set to Soar: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Britain marked World AIDS Day on Friday with hundreds of events across the country to commemorate victims of the killer illness. As new British figures show that the number of people living with HIV/AIDS is expected to increase by 40 percent in the next few years, there were plans for candlelight vig
AIDS Epidemic Threatens Ukraine , Experts Say: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Olena Horodetska; KIEV (Reuters) - The AIDS virus is spreading faster through Ukraine than anywhere else in Europe, and an epidemic could sweep through the country uncontrolled unless public awareness is raised, officials warned on Friday. Poverty, unemployment, ignorance and access to cheap drugs have coalesced into a dramatic threat,
Mandela's AIDS Day Plea Echoes Around World: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Former South African President Nelson Mandela led World AIDS events on Friday with a passionate plea to people to use condoms and destigmatise HIV/AIDS in a message that reverberated around the world. No corner of the globe is untouched by the illness which has been described as the most catastrophic
Uganda Gradually Emerging From Worst AIDS Crisis: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Paul Busharizi; KYOTERA, Uganda (Reuters) - Flora Nalule walked the five miles from her home to Kasari where World AIDS day was marked on Friday, in the hope that she would get help for her eight children. I am badly off, any help at all I will take. Money, food anything, Nalule said. The family will end with us if we do not get help.
Chirac Says EU Not Doing Enough to Combat AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; ROME (Reuters) - French President Jacques Chirac said on Friday the European Union was not doing enough to combat AIDS in Africa and called for a UN-organized conference to help fight the killer disease. Speaking in Rome on World AIDS Day, Chirac said that while the EU must remain vigilant to the threat of AIDS within
Work on AIDS Drugs Shows Long Road Ahead: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; FORT DETRICK, Md. (Reuters) - John Coffin has a shiny new lab, a multi-million dollar budget and a team of six different research groups to play with. Such a brand-new facility is a dream for government-funded research scientists, who are more used to dealing with leaking ceilings and cracked floors. But Coffin s two-d
Clinton Marks AIDS Day with Global Research Aid: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Adam Entous; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton on Friday unveiled a $100 million plan to bolster AIDS research around the globe, citing grim statistics about the epidemic s devastating toll in Africa and its alarming spread through the former Soviet republics. Like other world leaders, Clinton commemorated World AIDS Day wit
AIDS Day Pleas Target Men Around World: Reuters NewMedia - Friday December 1, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton announced a $100 million plan to coordinate AIDS research around the globe on Friday, while other world leaders urged men to take the initiative in helping stem the spread of HIV. Statistics released this week ahead of Friday s World AIDS Day commemoration show the HIV epidemic
After 13 Years, Importance of World AIDS Day Grows: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - From rock concerts in Laos to rallies in Washington, World AIDS Day has raised awareness about one of the world s biggest killers for more than a decade. St Paul s Cathedral in London, the South African parliament and the Sydney Opera House are bathed in red light and millions of people wear red ribb
Young AIDS Victim Urges Condom Use: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Nkosi Johnson, a 11-year-old South African boy with AIDS , has a clear message for the world--practise safe sex. Nkosi, left orphaned at three after being left by his mother over fears of being ostracised for having an infected child, weighs just 27 lbs but has become a symbol of hope in a coun
Hong Kong HIV Patients Hide Disease From Families: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong HIV/AIDS patients hide their conditions from their families, partners or spouses as long as they can, a survey this week showed. The study released by Chinese University of Hong Kong ahead of Friday s World AIDS Day found that less than 10 percent of HIV/AIDS sufferers disclose their sta
Survey Says Few Chinese Know How AIDS Transmitted: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; BEIJING (Reuters) - Only 3.8 percent of Chinese know how HIV/AIDS is transmitted, according to a survey of 3,824 people in cities and villages throughout China . The Guangming Daily said on Thursday the survey by the Ministry of Health and the People s University of China asked people aged between 20 and 64 if HIV/AIDS
China on 'Fast Track' to AIDS Epidemic - U.N.: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; Sarah Cheung; BEIJING (Reuters) - China is on a fast track to an AIDS epidemic and will have 10 million or more HIV/AIDS sufferers by 2010 unless its acts decisively and soon, the United Nations says. There is no more time to wait. China does not have time to wait, Edwin Judd, the United Nations Children s Fund (UNICEF) representati
No Change in Condom Ban, Vatican Says: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; Philip Pullella; VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican, quashing speculation of an imminent change in its position on condoms, on Thursday reaffirmed its total opposition to their use to stop the spread of AIDS. Vatican officials also told a news conference that while it was no secret some priests had contracted AIDS either through sexu
Red Cross Admits Not Doing Enough to Fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 30, 2000; NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies admitted on Thursday it had failed to do enough to combat AIDS, which it said would reap a grim harvest in Africa over the next decade. Marking World AIDS day, to be observed worldwide on Friday, the Red Cross admitted that around
AIDS Epidemic on Move, Asia Next: Reuters New Media - Thursday November 30, 2000; John Chalmers; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The AIDS epidemic is on the move, and heading east. Sub-Saharan Africa may still be the worst affected by the scourge that reared its head more than two decades ago, but Asia is next in line. We have a major challenge over the next 5 years as this virus moves into the large demographic countries o
India Cannot Afford AIDS Medication: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 29, 2000; NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India cannot afford to care for all AIDS-affected people in the country because the treatment is too expensive for its health budget, a health ministry official said on Tuesday. Antiretroviral therapy given to people who are HIV-positive is beyond the reach of the Indian government because it cost
Vietnam Expects 46,000 AIDS Deaths: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 29, 2000; HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam s Health Ministry expects more than 46,000 people to die of AIDS and another 200,000 to be diagnosed with HIV by 2005 and the United Nations organization UNAIDS said the country was now a blackspot for the disease. The Vietnamese Health Ministry figures, released ahead of Friday s World Aids D
Pfizer to Unveil Free Drug Plan for S. Africa: Reuters New Media - Wednesday November 29, 2000; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pfizer , the world s leading drugmaker, will unveil a plan Friday to give away a $50 million 2-year supply of its expensive AIDS-related medicine, Diflucan, to South Africa , the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. Activists have pressured pharmaceutical companies to respond to the growing sub-
Educating Mothers Can Shield Children From AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 28, 2000; Clifford Coonan; BERLIN (Reuters) - As long as AIDS remains incurable, educating mothers about how not to transmit HIV to their children can help halt the spread of the disease, the head of the UNICEF children s agency said on Tuesday. We believe passionately that until a cure is found the best cure is education, Carol Bellamy, executi
HIV/AIDS Infections Rise to 36 Million in 2000: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 28. 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - The HIV/AIDS epidemic has tightened its grip on the planet, surprising experts with the speed at which it has infected 36 million people and outstripped even the worst predictions, the U.N. said on Tuesday. More than five million new cases were reported this year alone, according to new figures relea
Hepatitis C Raises Death Risk in HIV Patients: Reuters NewMedia - November 28, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - The HIV virus and hepatitis C form a particularly deadly combination, Swiss doctors said on Friday. People infected with both viruses have a higher risk of dying and do not respond as well to anti-AIDS drugs as HIV patients without hepatitis, Swiss doctors said on Friday. Hepatitis C (HCV) is a life-
Young Misinformed, Complacent About HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 28, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - Many young people are misinformed about HIV/AIDS and are not using condoms to prevent the spread of the virus that has already infected more than 36 million people, according to a poll published Tuesday. A new survey by MTV music television showed that 60 percent of 16 to 24-year-old MTV viewers ques
Belgian Research Hints at 17th Century Roots for HIV: Reuters NewMedia - November 24, 2000; Ian Geoghegan; BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A predecessor of the HIV virus that has killed millions may have been around in humans as early as the 17th century, according to international researchers. Using new computerized dating methods based on virus genetic data, Belgian scientists claim to have tracked links back over 300 years between
South Africa to Decide on Key Anti-AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - November 24, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s top medical body met on Friday to decide whether to approve a key anti-AIDS drug in what experts believe is a litmus test for the government s commitment to fight the deadly disease. The regulatory Medicines Control Council was to rule on granting a licence to allow German firm B
WHO Reports 5.3 Million New Cases of HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Friday November 24, 2000; Stephanie Nebehay; GENEVA (Reuters) - An estimated 5.3 million people worldwide became infected with HIV/AIDS this year, but for the first time the number of new infections in sub-Saharan Africa seems to have stabilized, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. However, AIDS morbidity (contraction of the fatal disease) and mor
SA faces one Aids death a minute: Reuters NewMedia - November 23, 2000; Jeremy Lovell, Cape Town; WITHIN five years, one South African will die of an Aids-related illness every minute unless action is taken now to curb Aids and treat its victims, says a leading insurance industry official. By 2005 there will be six million people infected with HIV/Aids and there will be more than 1 600 deaths a day in South Africa,
Official: South Africa Faces 'AIDS Holocaust': Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 21, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa faces a potential AIDS Holocaust if more is not done urgently to stop the deadly disease from spreading, one of the country s leading AIDS experts said Tuesday. Malegapuru William Makgoba, president of the government- funded Medical Research Council (MRC), rang the alarm bells in a
Internet Chatters Fight La Syphilis Outbreak: Reuters NewMedia - Friday November 17, 2000; BOSTON (Reuters) - When a syphilis outbreak struck gay or bisexual men earlier this year, the County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services used Internet chat rooms to combat it. The campaign used anonymous Internet chatroom participants to target educational messages directly to men at risk, Harlan Rotblatt repo
Annan says TV should help educate developing world: Reuters NewMedia - Friday November 17, 2000; Daniel Bases; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told media executives Thursday they should bring not only news and information to the developing world, but educate it as well. One of the things you can do is to inform people about the Internet and its possibilities, and so help create the demand for the ne
World Bank Offers Russia $150 Mln for AIDS Fight: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 16, 2000; Tara FitzGerald; MOSCOW (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Thursday it was negotiating a $150 million loan with Russia to help fight what a UN official has called the world s highest AIDS web growth rate. This is really the time for action, particularly because AIDS is a serious problem among young people and so it s really a problem f
Scientists Shed Light on a Genetic Engine of Cancer: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 16, 2000; David Morgan; PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - HATs and tails may sound more like formal wear than the stuff of cutting-edge genetic research. But scientists on Thursday said both are critical to deciphering the genetic secrets of certain cancers. By subjecting common yeast cells to painstaking molecular analysis, a team of biologists at th
World Bank Offers Russia $150 Million for AIDS Fight: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 16, 2000; Tara FitzGerald; MOSCOW (Reuters) - The World Bank said on Thursday it was negotiating a $150 million loan with Russia to help fight what a UN official has called the world s highest AIDS web growth rate. This is really the time for action, particularly because AIDS is a serious problem among young people and so it s really a problem f
Glaxo Wins FDA Approval for HIV Combo Drug: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday November 16, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical group Glaxo Wellcome Plc. said on Wednesday it had won accelerated approval from the US Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) for its Trizivir triple-combination tablet for the treatment of HIV. The company said the medicine, a triple combi
AIDS Experts Say Catastrophe Threatens Russia: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 15, 2000; Tara FitzGerald; MOSCOW (Reuters) - The spread of AIDS could reach catastrophic proportions in Russia unless officials take quick action to reduce runaway growth rates of the killer disease, Russian and foreign experts said Wednesday. The joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS ( UNAIDS ), in a statement issued
South Africa Gives Go Ahead for Anti-AIDS Drug: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 15, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s top medical body has approved the use of a combination anti-AIDS drug which contains the drug AZT , its maker British drug giant Glaxo Wellcome said on Tuesday. The approval was the first reaffirmation of the efficacy of AZT compounds by an official medical body sin
Ricky Martin to preach safe sex on MTV: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 15, 2000; Paul Majendie; STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Latin heartthrob Ricky Martin, fronting an MTV campaign to educate teenagers about the dangers of AIDS , urged them Wednesday to practice safe sex and show compassion for victims of the virus. For World AIDS day on Dec. 1, the pop superstar is hosting an MTV documentary on the ravages of AIDS. It
Botswana's Mogae chides rich countries on AIDS, debt: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 14, 2000; Christopher Noble; BOSTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The industrialized world and particularly Group of Seven nations should do more to address the double scourge of AIDS and heavy foreign debt crippling southern Africa, Botswana President Festus Mogae said on Tuesday. Mogae said he was disappointed by the lack of response and accused the U.S.
Kissing Spreads Cancer-Related Herpes Virus: Study: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 8, 2000; BOSTON (Reuters) - A once-rare form of cancer may be spread through kissing, according to researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle. The findings in Thursday s New England Journal of Medicine are especially significant for people who have AIDS . In healthy people, human herpesvirus 8 or HHV-8 generally doe
Indian Doctor Demands Ministry of Sex: Reuters Newmedia - Wednesday November 8, 2000; NEW DELHI Nov 08(Reuters) - A prominent Indian doctor has called for a Ministry of Sex to tackle an alarming rise in AIDS and other sex-related health problems, The Asian Age newspaper said. Dr. Prakash Kothari told a seminar in the city of Chandigarh that even the most innovative budgetary planning could soon be usele
Brazil Becomes Model in AIDS Fight: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 7, 2000; Shasta Darlington; RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - When the AIDS web epidemic first began spreading across the globe in the 1980 s, Brazil was one of the worst hit countries. But it has since slowed the epidemic and become a model in the AIDS fight. South Africa was better off than Brazil in the 1980s but unlike them, we realised
Vietnam Estimates 165,000 with HIV by Year End: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday November 7, 2000; HANOI (Reuters) - The deputy head of Vietnam s national AIDS committee estimated on Tuesday the country would have 140,000 to 165,000 people infected with HIV by the end of this year. The situation with HIV is serious and is getting more and more serious, Nguyen Chung A, vice chairman of the National Committee for HIV/
WHO Chief Tells Russia to Take Action on TB, AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Monday November 6, 2000; Tara FitzGerald; MOSCOW (Reuters) - World Health Organization chief Gro Harlem Brundtland urged Russia on Friday to take strong measures to stem the tide of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS threatening the country. Brundtland, a medical doctor and former Norwegian premier, also said there was a pressing need to take concerted action against a
U.N. Says Latam, Caribbean Not Confronting Aids: Reuters NewMedia - Monday November 6, 2000; Shasta Darlington; RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Latin America and the Caribbean are facing a growing AIDS epidemic and must tackle controversial issues like gay sex and condom use if they are going to stop its spread, the United Nations web said Monday. The recognition that Latin America, with the exception of Brazil , is fac
Report: Former Zimbabwe Boxer Fought When HIV Positive: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday November 5, 2000; HARARE (Reuters) - A former Zimbabwean boxing champion was quoted as saying Sunday that he took part in a Commonwealth title fight 14 years ago despite testing HIV positive. The state-owned Sunday Mail quoted former national middleweight champion Gilbert Josamu as saying he had gone ahead with the October 1986 fight ag
AIDS May Hurt South African Economy, Says Minister: Reuters Newmedia - Wednesday November 1, 2000; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s economy could suffer a major setback in years to come from the AIDS epidemic now sweeping the country, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Wednesday. Increased morbidity and death will have an impact on labour productivity and available resources and so on economic growth, Manue
Chinese HIV Carriers Up 37 Percent: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday November 1, 2000; BEIJING (Reuters) - China had 20,711 HIV carriers at the end of September, up 37 percent when compared to a year earlier, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday. Xinhua, quoting the health ministry, said the majority of people who had tested positive to HIV, the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficien
AIDS "vaccine" fails to boost immunity in US study: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 31, 2000; CHICAGO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - A deactivated form of the AIDS virus designed like a vaccine to boost the immune systems of HIV-infected people failed to slow the deadly disease in a trial, and the study was aborted, researchers said on Tuesday. In earlier testing, HIV-1 Immunogen, made under the brand name Remune by Carls
Bristol-Myers Says U.S. OKs New Version of HIV Drug: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 31, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE:BMY - news) said on Tuesday U.S. regulators approved a new version of its anti-HIV drug Videx that can be taken daily as a single pill and has fewer side effects than the older formula. The Food and Drug Administration cleared the new formula, known as Videx EC
S. African Opposition Says Government Fears Drug Firms: Reuters NewMedia - Friday October 27, 2000; Jeremy Lovell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s opposition Democratic Party on Friday accused the government of allowing a pathological fear of the major drug companies to determine its entire policy on the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping the country. I can only assume that the whole government s policy is driven by an anti-pharmaceut
Healthy People Will Have to Wait for Flu Shots: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday October 25, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Healthy people who want to get flu shots will just have to wait for them, the nation s top doctor said on Wednesday. They said a delay in getting enough influenza vaccine doses manufactured this year meant a large supply would not be available until late November or early December. So we are urgi
Immune Booster Helps HIV Patients, Study Says: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday October 25, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Adding an immune booster to standard HIV therapy seems to help patients handle the AIDS web virus better than the drugs alone, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. The immune booster, interleukin-2 ( IL-2 ), increased the number of CD4 T-cells, the immune system helper cells attacked by HIV, the r
Companies reach AIDS drug deal with Senegal: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 24, 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON, Oct 24 (Reuters) - British drugs giant Glaxo Wellcome PLC (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland : GLXO.L) said on Tuesday it has reached a deal with Senegal to sell its leading anti-AIDS drugs to the West African nation for a fraction of their re
Lesbians Not Immune to Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 24, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - Lesbians are just as likely as heterosexual women to get sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis and genital herpes , Australian researchers said on Tuesday. Women who have sex with other women were thought to have a small chance of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs) but a study
South Africa Limits Role of Key Drugs in AIDS Fight: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 24, 2000; Steven Swindells; SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa issued new guidelines in its battle against AIDS on Tuesday that limit the availability of key anti-AIDS drugs such as AZT , which the government labeled expensive and toxic. Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang used the surroundings of a Soweto township clinic to
WHO Pushes for Tough Anti-Tobacco Rules in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 24, 2000; David Mageria; NAIROBI, Kenya (Reuters) - The World Health Organization - Tuesday urged tougher anti-tobacco policies in Africa, but the OAU is worried the drive could undermine political and economic stability if farmers are not given alternatives. Parliamentarians and health experts from 21 African English-speaking countries are me
Celebrities Lend Their Voices to U.N. Causes: Reuters NewMedia - Monday October 23, 2000; Evelyn Leopold; UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - More than 40 world celebrities, including boxing great Muhammad Ali, actor Michael Douglas and Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, spoke on Monday about the rewards and frustrations of using their fame to fight for causes on behalf of the United Nations . Ali, the three-time world heavyweight champion
South Africa Goes Back to Basics on AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Monday October 23, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa sought to draw a line under the damaging controversy surrounding its handling of HIV-AIDS by going back to basics on Monday, delivering a simple message on safe sex and promising to treat HIV. The government took out advertisments in newspapers urging its citizens to prevent the sp
Researchers find possible new TB vaccine target: Reuters NewMedia - Monday October 23, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A new kind of test and a new understanding of the human immune system may help researchers figure out how to vaccinate against the centuries-old scourge of tuberculosis. Scientists said on Monday they had found three proteins that the human body uses to recognise and fight TB, and they ar
Bulgaria Says Libya HIV Trial May Be Delayed Again Full Coverage: Reuters NewMedia - Friday October 20, 2000; SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria s Justice Minister Teodossyi Simeonov said on Friday the trial of six Bulgarian medical staff accused of deliberately infecting hundreds of Libyan children with the HIV virus , might be delayed for a seventh time. The trial of the five nurses and a doctor, who were detained by Libyan authorit
Study Points to Possible Route for AIDS Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday October 19, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An AIDS vaccine that helped keep monkeys from getting sick could show scientists how to start fighting the HIV epidemic in people, researchers said on Thursday. The vaccine did not prevent infection, but it did stop monkeys from developing symptoms of HIV infection -- and it kept the animals aliv
S.Africa Retailer Says Staff to Get Free AZT: Reuters NewMedia - Friday October 13, 2000; Ellis Mnyandu; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa s largest supermarket chain Pick & Pay (PIKJ.J) said on Friday it planned to offer its staff free access to the anti-AIDS drug AZT , which the government refuses to provide to the wider public. The move, the first of its kind by a major private South African company, contrasts
South African Government AIDS Scheme Counter to Policy: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday October 10, 2000; Jeremy Lovell; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The South African government is handing out subsidized antiretroviral drugs to parliamentarians to combat HIV but refusing to give them to ordinary citizens, the opposition Democratic Party has said. The drugs are being offered through Parmed, the parliamentary medical aid scheme, which gives comp
Mbeki's HIV Skepticism Sparks Anger, Denial: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday October 7, 2000; Sue Thomas; SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - President Thabo Mbeki s skepticism over the link between HIV and AIDS is causing anger and confusion among South Africans and making overworked health counsellors jobs even tougher, activists say. I don t believe HIV causes AIDS. I don t believe AIDS exists. Mr. Mbeki told us, says Eli
China Health Officials Debate AIDS Prevention Laws: Reuters NewMedia - Friday October 6, 2000; BEIJING (Reuters) - China is drafting laws to manage HIV and AIDS prevention in a bid to curb the spread of the killer disease that currently infects at least 500,000 Chinese, state media said on Friday. But health officials are locked in debate over whether the law should allow the distribution of condoms and sex educ
Lower Doses of AZT Show Limited Effectiveness-Study: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday, October 4, 2000; Gene Emery; BOSTON (Reuters) - Lower doses of AZT given to HIV-infected mothers and infants impede the transmission of the AIDS virus from parent to child, but still do not work as well as higher levels of the drug, researchers reported in Thursday s New England Journal of Medicine . The study, funded by the drug s maker
S.Africa Prepares Clinical Trials of AIDS Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - October 4, 2000; Jeremy Lovell; CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) - South Africa, at the heart of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, will begin clinical trials of a vaccine to combat the deadly disease within months, the Medical Research Council said in its annual report Wednesday. A South African clade C-based Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis vector vaccin
House Backs HIV Testing for Accused Rapists: Reuters NewMedia - Monday October 2, 2000; Andrew Clark; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure on Monday that would let rape victims force their accused attackers to be tested immediately for HIV to give victims a better chance of getting early treatment that could prevent infection with the virus that causes AIDS web . The House voted 380
Patient Makes Anti-HIV Immunity Cells in Enzo Trail: Reuters NewMedia - October 2, 2000; FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (Reuters) - Biotech company Enzo Biochem Inc. (NYSE:ENZ - news) said on Monday a patient participating in a Phase I study produced new immunity cells to combat the virus that causes AIDS web-. The tests show that after nine-and-one-half months, Enzo- engineered cells have successfully engrafted in the
Central Banker: AIDS Biggest Threat to South Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, September 29, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, Australia (Reuters) - South Africa s central bank governor Tito Mboweni has warned that the AIDS web epidemic threatens to obliterate his country s economy. Apartheid killed many people, but AIDS could obliterate our economy and country, he told students at Graduands University in a remote part of the cou
Mandela Repudiates Mbeki on AIDS Stance: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, September 29, 2000; Brendan Boyle; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Former President Nelson Mandela has repudiated the controversial position on AIDS web of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, saying HIV is the primary cause of the disease that threatens to kill 6 million South Africans. In an interview published by Independent Group newspapers on Friday, Mandela, 82, sai
U.S. Health Officials Call for New HIV Strategy: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday September 27, 2000; Paul Simao; ATLANTA (Reuters) - Health officials urged the United States on Wednesday to battle the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, by improving monitoring and funding, and embracing the use of proven strategies such as condom distribution and needle exchange programs. A new report issued by the Institute of Medicine of
San Francisco AIDS Activists Unite: Reuters NewMedia - Friday September 22, 2000; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco AIDS activists united Thursday to fight a faction of dissident denialists they accuse of physical intimidation and spreading misinformation claiming that the global AIDS epidemic is a myth. We say as a community, in one loud voice, no more, Michael Lauro, a volunteer at the group
South Africa's Mbeki Sees HIV-Aids Link: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday September 20, 2000; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki Wednesday refused again to acknowledge that HIV causes AIDS , but said an assumed link did form the basis of his government s response to the AIDS crisis. His remarks to parliament during a question-and-answer session went further toward acknowledging a relation
Primate Virus Shows How AIDS Escapes Immune Response: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday September 20, 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists have figured out how a primate virus similar to HIV evades the immune system in the first weeks of infection, a discovery they say could pave the way for the development of a new AIDS vaccine. The HIV virus that causes AIDS is particularly cunning because it replicates and mutates so quick
Once-daily HIV drug seen safe, well-tolerated: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday September 19, 2000; TORONTO (Reuters) - Scientists said an ongoing trial of an experimental anti-HIV drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb showed it continued to be safe and well- tolerated, although given just once a day, unlike other drugs in its class that must be taken several times daily. The experimental drug, from the protease inhibitor c
Severe costs to Africa of HIV/AIDS predicted: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday September 19, 2000; PRAGUE (Reuters) - Southern Africa faces severe economic costs from the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping the region and will require international help to alleviate the problem, the International Monetary Fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook. The costs, which some studies reckon will lead to a drop in annual econom
Doctors describe AIDS patients' medical paradox: Reuters NewMedia - September 18, 2000; WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Some AIDS patients whose ravaged immune systems have been boosted by taking cocktails of powerful medicines have been suffering a surprising increased susceptibility to infections, researchers said on Monday. Scientists at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia labeled as a medical
U.S. FDA approves Abbott's anti-HIV drug Kaletra: Reuters NewMedia - Friday September 15, 2000; WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Friday approved Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - news) drug Kaletra , a combination medicine for fighting HIV infection. The Food and Drug Administration said it approved Kaletra, a protease inhibitor, for treating adults and children age six months or older.
Gay blood donation limits must stay, US panel votes: Reuters NewMedia - Friday September 15, 2000; Lisa Richwine; GAITHERSBURG, Md (Reuters) - A federal advisory panel, in a close vote, declined Thursday to support easing restrictions on blood donations from gay men, a policy criticised as discriminatory and outdated. Many members of the US Food and Drug Administration panel said they would like to see a change in the policy, whic
S.Africa's ANC Group Pushes Mbeki on HIV-AIDS Link: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday September 14, 2000; Emelia Sithole; JOHANNEBSURG (Reuters) - An internal committee of South Africa s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has urged President Thabo Mbeki to acknowledge that the HIV virus causes AIDS, newspapers said on Thursday. South Africa s Independent Group newspapers reported that the appeal to Mbeki, who so far has refused to ack
Study: Ape Herpes Viruses May Be Transmissible to Humans: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday September 13, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - Chimpanzees and gorillas in Africa have herpes-like viruses that are potentially transferable to humans, French scientists said on Wednesday. Researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris have detected and sequenced a gene fragment from three viruses in apes that is more closely related to the herpes
S. Africans badly need sex education, says minister: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, September 12, 2000; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South African school children urgently need more sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of diseases including AIDS, Education Minister Kader Asmal said on Tuesday. Asmal, admitting that HIV may cause AIDS but sticking to the much criticized government line that there was no a
Iran official calls for AIDS education in schools: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, September 11, 2000; TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian official has called for the inclusion of AIDS education in school textbooks, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday. Gholamreza Sahraian, a reformist ally of President Mohammad Khatami and governor of Fars province in southern Iran, also said that teachers should be educate
AIDS Experts Say HIV Not Linked to Polio Vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - September 11, 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - AIDS experts on Monday dismissed a theory about the origins of the HIV virus which suggests the disease was spread to humans through a contaminated polio vaccine used in Africa in the late 1950s. At a two-day conference on the origins of AIDS, they presented evidence rejecting claims by journalist Ed
Puzzling Hip Condition May Cripple AIDS Patients: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, September 8, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A disabling disorder in which bone tissue from the hip bones is eaten away may be a new and unexpected complication of either HIV infection or the treatments used to fight it, doctors said on Friday. They found the condition, called osteonecrosis, affected about four percent of HIV patients they
AIDS Groups Plan Legal Action Against S.Africa Gvt: Reuters NewMedia - Friday, September 8, 2000; Emelia Sithole; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A coalition of South African anti-AIDS groups said Friday it planned legal action to force the government to provide the drug nevirapine to pregnant women to prevent them from passing the virus to their babies. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said its hand had been forced by continual gover
Britain starts human trials of AIDS vaccine: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday August 31, 2000; Kate Kelland; LONDON (Reuters) - A British parliamentarian will on Thursday be the first human to be injected with a new prototype vaccine against AIDS. Dr. Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, says he volunteered to take part in clinical trials because he believes an effective vaccination is the only way to combat
Deadly Bacteria Lurk in Dentist's Water Sprays: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday August 30, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - The whine of the dentist s drill can make most people cringe, but researchers warn patients with weak immune systems should also worry about potentially deadly bacteria from oral water sprays used during treatment. New Scientist magazine said Wednesday a British study showed that people with conditio
Immune Cells Come Back When Drugs Halted: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday August 30, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The immune system may be able to come back more powerfully than anyone thought after a break in treatment with AIDS drugs, researchers said Wednesday. They said in patients who had decided to interrupt their complex HIV drug regimens, two kinds of immune cells -- CD4 helper cells and CD8 killer
Calypte Up After China Approves HIV Test: Reuters NewMedia - Friday August 25, 2000; NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of California biotech company Calypte Biomedical Corp. (NasdaqNM:CALY - news) more than doubled on Friday after the company announced late Thursday that China had approved its urine test for presence of antibodies to the HIV-1 strain of the virus that causes AIDS. Calypte was up 2-5/8, o
US clown fails to dispel Romanian AIDS fears: Reuters NewMedia - August 24, 2000; Karin Popescu; SINGURENI, Romania (Reuters) - US AIDS awareness campaigner Patch Adams seemed to be making inroads with villagers at a picnic for AIDS orphans in Romania. Wearing the clown getup made famous by actor Robin Williams in the movie based on Adams s life, he evoked gales of laughter with his jokes, even though they had to
Cerus says study shows safety of platelet system: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday August 22, 2000; CONCORD, Calif., Aug. 22 (Reuters) - Cerus Corp. (NasdaqNM:CERS - news), a developer of products to make blood supplies safer, reported on Tuesday successful results from an advanced patient safety trial of its system of inactivating pathogens -- including viruses like HIV and hepatitis -- in blood platelets. The compa
Glaxo says HIV drug problems well known: Reuters NewMedia - August 20, 2000; LONDON, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Pharmaceuticals company Glaxo Wellcome Plc confirmed a press report on Sunday saying that its HIV treatment drug Ziagen can spark serious and sometimes fatal reactions in patients, but said the problems were well known. An unknown number of patients have died as a result of so-c
Clinton: U.S. Must Do More to Fight AIDS 'Plague: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday August 19, 2000; Deborah Charles; LAKE PLACID, N.Y. (Reuters) - President Clinton said on Saturday the United States must do more to combat the plague of AIDS around the world as he signed into law a bill boosting U.S. funding to fight the disease overseas. While we re making real progress in the fight against AIDS here at home, we have to do more to c
DuPont says halts Sustiva ads FDA called 'misleading': Reuters NewMedia - August 17, 2000; WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - DuPont Pharmaceuticals Co. said Thursday it had stopped circulating certain advertisements for its anti-HIV drug Sustiva that U.S. regulators charged were misleading. The Food and Drug Administration took issue with ads geared toward consumers and physicians containing the slogan So Life
Isolation camps proposed for Swazi HIV victims: Reuters NewMedia - August 16, 2000; MBABANE (Reuters) - An influential aide to the Swazi monarch called Wednesday for the creation of camps to keep HIV/AIDS sufferers from the wider public. These people should be kept in their own special place if we want to curb the spread of this disease, Tfohlongwane Dlamini, chairman of the powerful
Pharmacopeia expand drug finding pact: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday August 10; TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Aug 10 (Reuters) - Biotechnology firm Progenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NasdaqNM:PGNX - news) and its partner Pharmacopeia Inc. (NasdaqNM:PCOP - news) on Thursday said they added two new drug finding programmes to their existing research collaboration, including one for an HIV agent. Under the deal, Prin
Southern Africa Begins Summit on AIDS, Congo War: Reuters NewMedia - Monday August 7, 2000; WINDHOEK (Reuters) - Southern African heads of state met on Monday to forge unity in a controversial regional defence body, tackle the AIDS crisis and seek ways of reviving a peace deal in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The leaders, meeting behind closed doors, were also expected to approve a free-trade pa
Doctor in Japan Faces Three Years in HIV Blood Trial: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2000; Elaine Lies; TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese prosecutors demanded a three-year prison term on Wednesday for a former top AIDS expert accused of negligence in a scandal that exposed thousands to HIV through tainted blood products. The high-profile scandal, which grabbed headlines in the mid-1990s, spread deep into Japan s Health Ministry
Australia Hikes Overseas Spending on HIV/AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 26, 2000; BANGKOK (Reuters) - Australia raised its spending on HIV/AIDS projects around the world on Wednesday with a further A$70 million ($41.32 million) added to existing pledges of A$130 million, most of it earmarked for the Asia-Pacific region. AIDS strikes people in their most productive years and leaves millions of orphan
Bulgaria Amends Defence Rules for Libyan HIV Trial: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2000; SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria introduced a legal reform on Tuesday to smooth the way for one of its lawyers to defend six Bulgarian medics, accused in Libya of infecting hundreds of children with HIV. A Libyan court ruled last month that a Bulgarian defence lawyer could only take part in the trial if Libyan lawyers were a
Yahoo - EU approves new Videx formulation - Bristol Myers: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2000; LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - An improved version of an anti-viral treatment that fights HIV and can be taken as a single pill once daily has won European Union approval, U.S. drug company Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE:BMY - news) said on Tuesday. The company said its Videx gastro-
Study Sheds Light on Hepatitis C Risks: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2000; CHICAGO (Reuters) - A new study has shed more light on the risk of death from Hepatitis C, a blood-borne disease afflicting 170 million people worldwide, researchers said on Tuesday. Doctors at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore said a check of 1,667 people in the United States who developed the diseas
Internet Sex a Risky Business, U.S. Study Finds: Reuters NewMedia - July 25, 2000; Kathy Fieweger; CHICAGO (Reuters) - People who find sex partners through the Internet may face a greater risk of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases than those who find partners in less virtual venues, according to a study released on Tuesday. Sexual contact arranged via the Internet more frequently involved people with a his
Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders deride proposed US-Africa AIDS drug deal: Reuters NewMedia - July 24, 2000; LONDON, Jul 24 (Reuters) - The British-based relief agency Oxfam and the Nobel-prize winning group Doctors Without Borders on Friday denounced a proposed $1 billion US loan to help sub-Saharan African nations buy anti-AIDS drugs. The plan builds on an announcement made by major drug companies in May that they would pro
Nigeria Bans Use of Experimental Vaccine for HIV: Reuters NewMedia - July 21, 2000; LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigeria has banned the use of an experimental AIDS vaccine pending verification by experts that it is effective against HIV, health officials said on Friday. A spokesman for the health ministry told Reuters that the president s office ordered the suspension of the vaccine until a committee of experts
Study Says HIV Drugs Reduce AIDS Cases in Europe: Reuters Newmedia - July 21, 2000; Patricia Reaney; LONDON (Reuters) - Studies in Europe have found that cocktails of anti-viral drugs reduced the number of people with human immune virus who develop AIDS, but Danish scientists said Friday that long-term studies were needed. HIV patients develop full-blown AIDS when they get one or more of 20 so-called opportunistic inf
Nigeria Bans Use of Local Drugs for HIV Virus: Reuters NewMedia - July 21, 2000; LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria has banned the use of an AIDS vaccine claimed to have been developed by local scientists pending verification by experts that it is effective against the HIV virus, health officials said Friday. A spokesman for the health ministry told Reuters the president s office ordered the suspen
Study: Drug Reduces Mother-To-Child AIDS for a Year: Reuters NewMedia - July 20, 2000; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - An inexpensive drug given to HIV-infected mothers and their babies at birth reduces the chance of transmission of the virus to the child for up to a year, scientists said Thursday. New research presented at an AIDS conference in Durban showed that
Swaziland to Mull Sterilizing HIV-Positive: Reuters NewMedia - July 20, 2000; MBABANE (Reuters) - Swaziland s parliament said on Thursday that it will debate legislation mandating the sterilisation of people infected with HIV/AIDS. Parliamentary order papers indicated that the debate would be held next week. We are directing the ministry of health and social welfare to introduce legislation as a
Zambia Fires Strike Doctors, Appeals for AIDS Help: Reuters NewMedia - July 20, 2000; Lamba Simpito; LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia on Tuesday sacked 200 striking doctors at a time when the country is struggling with an AIDS crisis, a doctors representative body said. Dr Jonathan Tembo of the Resident Doctors Association dismissed a government assertion that retiring the doctors was in the public interest. At a time w
AIDS-Hit Country to Ban Mini Skirts at Schools: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2000; MBABANE (Reuters) - Swaziland will ban mini-skirts in schools to try to halt the spread of AIDS, a government official said on Tuesday. The aim is to put a stop to sexual relationships between teachers and their female pupils in a country where at least one quarter of the population is infected with HIV. Schoolgirls ar
G8 Leaders to Set AIDS Reduction Target: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2000; TOKYO (Reuters) - Leaders of the world s most powerful countries plan this week to set a target to reduce the number of young AIDS victims by a quarter over the next decade, local media reported on Tuesday. Group of Eight leaders, due to meet on Japan s southern island of Okinawa from Friday to Sunday, will issue a com
Thai Kindergarten Children to Get Sex Education: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2000; BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai children as young as four will receive sex education in a bid to halt underage pregnancies and the spread of HIV and AIDS, the state-owned Thai News Agency reported on Tuesday. It quoted the Thai public health ministry as saying a formal programme of sex education was needed from the nursery sc
Eu Committee Backs Glaxo Three-In-One AIDS Pill: Reuters NewMedia July 19, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - Glaxo Wellcome Plc said on Tuesday a key European Union committee had recommended approval for Trizivir , the group s new triple combination treatment for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. T he opinion of the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products will now be considered by the European
U.S. Offers Africa $1 Billion a Year to Fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 19, 2000; Mark Egan; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will loan $1 billion a year to sub-Saharan African countries to help them buy U.S.-made drugs and support their battle against the AIDS epidemic, the U.S. Export-Import Bank said on Wednesday. The plan builds on an announcement by major drug companies in May to provide drugs to
Spermicide Cream Worsens HIV Risk - Study: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; DURBAN, S. Africa (Reuters) - AIDS researchers hoping to find a way for women to silently protect themselves from AIDS infection were disappointed to report on Wednesday that tests showed one product actually worsened the risk. The product, a spermicide called nonoxynol-9 and marketed under the trade name Advantage S b
Myths Increase Women's Vulnerability to AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; Patricia Reaney; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Myths about AIDS common among men in some cultures, such as that sleeping with virgins can cure it, are putting young women and girls at extra risk of catching the deadly disease, activists said Thursday. The activists, interviewed at the 13th International AIDS Conference, also express
Drug Firms Face Fight on Generic AIDS Drugs: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; Steven Swindells; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Officials from developing countries and the U.N. have been meeting behind closed doors to devise ways to get cheaper generic drugs to AIDS patients despite international patents on many of the products. The topics discussed on the fringes of an international AIDS conference in Durban in
AIDS to Rob 30 Million Children of Parents: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; Emelia Sithole; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - AIDS will leave more than 30 million children in developing countries without at least one parent within 10 years, a leading U.S. aid agency said Thursday. In a report to the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, USAID said AIDS and related illnesses would leave 30.2 million chi
Immune Response's early trial of HIV drug promising: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; CARLSBAD, Calif., July 13 (Reuters) - Biopharmaceutical firm Immune Response Corp. (NasdaqNM:IMNR - news) said Thursday that preliminary Phase II results suggest its immune-boosting drug Remune stimulates killer T cells in HIV-infected subjects when used in combination with antiviral drug therapy. Data from the ongoing
Canadian firm joins call for generic AIDS drugs: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; Robert Melnbardis; MONTREAL, July 13 (Reuters) - Drug maker Apotex Inc. joined the international call for generic AIDS drugs on Thursday, saying it would be prepared to make them available at cost if the Canadian government lifted the 20-year patents on brand-name medications. If Canada is willing to take the lead in this fight, Apotex w
Nigeria Probes Claims of Local Vaccine for HIV: Reuters NewMedia - July 13, 2000; LAGOS (Reuters) - The Nigerian government said on Thursday it had appointed a committee of experts to investigate claims by a local scientist of having found a vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Jeremiah Abalaka claimed earlier this year to have developed the vaccine at his clinic in the capital Abuja. Abalak
HIV May Increase Sexual Desire, Study Finds: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2000; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Infection with the AIDS virus could make men more amorous, which could make them more likely to pass on the virus, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday. A team at the University of California, Berkeley, said they were checking out one of the basic premises behind natural selection -- that
Traditional Healers Demand Role in AIDS Battle: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2000; Patricia Reaney; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Up to 100 traditional healers chanted and danced to the sounds of African drums Wednesday as they marched to the 13th International AIDS Conference to demand a role in battling the disease. While delegates presented the latest scientific findings in Durban s high-tech conference center
Gates Foundation Announces $90 Million for AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2000; DURBAN, S. Africa (Reuters) - A foundation set up by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said on Wednesday it would donate $90 million for AIDS research and treatment, including programmes to help women protect themselves and their children from infection. T he largest chunk of money, $50 million, would go to help pay for a
Study: Bisexuals 'Bridge' Infecting Women with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2000; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Bisexuals can act as a bridge to carry the HIV epidemic from a gay population to women, U.S. researchers said Wednesday. A series of studies done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, in the United States at least, people are returning
Hollis-Eden Says HIV Drug Successful in Clinical Trial: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2000; SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Inc. said on Tuesday it would be presenting clinical data that showed its HIV treatment HE2000 was successful in containing the virus and fighting related opportunistic infections. T he data, from HIV-infected patients being treated with the investigational drug candida
Young People Bear Brunt of AIDS, UNICEF Says: Reuters NewMedia - July 12, 2000; Emelia Sithole; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Every minute six people under the age of 24 are infected with the HIV virus and many young people in the worst-hit countries do not know they are at risk, the UNICEF children s agency said Wednesday. In its annual Progress of Nations report issued at the International Aids Conference in
AIDS researchers make most of available weapons: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; DURBAN, South Africa , July 11 (Reuters) - Faced with the sobering knowledge that they cannot cure AIDS and with a vaccine a decade or more away, scientists are trying to make the most of drugs that can keep the devastating disease at bay. Such approaches might also be a way to help HIV patients in developing countries
Women Angry at Lack of Better HIV Protection: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Women are getting angry that nobody has developed a way for them to protect themselves from AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, activists told an international AIDS conference here. They said they were fed up with drug industry reluctance to work on an invisible condom or mi
HIV Drugs for All Would Cost $60 Billion: Reuters NewMedia - July 11, 2000; Patricia Reaney; DURBAN, S. Africa (Reuters) - At least 12 million people with HIV worldwide need drugs to suppress the virus and this would cost an estimated $60 billion a year at current prices, a London-based think tank said on Tuesday. The figure is less than a quarter of the United States annual military budget, but would break th
Mbeki, govt under fire over AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - July 10, 2000; Durban (Reuters) - President Thabo Mbeki came under fresh criticism from AIDS activists on Monday after he ducked an opportunity to end a damaging debate over the causes of the disease. Mbeki, attacked by activists and health experts for appearing to give credence to so-called AIDS dissidents who deny HIV causes AIDS,
HIV Drugs More Potent with Interleukin-2: Reuters NewMedia - July 10, 2000; E.J. Mundell; DURBAN, S. Africa (Reuters) - Intermittent use of the cancer drug interleukin 2 ( IL-2 ) can boost the immune system of HIV-infected patients already taking standard antiretroviral drugs, conclude researchers from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), in Bethesda, Maryland. After a year there was a substanti
More Evidence That Circumcision Protects: Reuters NewMedia - Monday July 10, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - More than half of all HIV infections in some groups of men might have been prevented by circumcision, a U.S. researcher told an international AIDS conference Monday. His findings add to a growing body of evidence that being circumcised somehow helps protect a man not only from becoming
30,000 Britons Living with HIV: Reuters NewMedia - Monday July 10, 2000; LONDON (Reuters) - About 30,000 adults in Britain have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and the rate of diagnosis is increasing, according to a report released to coincide with this week s international AIDS conference in South Africa . The number means that about one in 1,000 Britons between the ages of 15 and 49 have
Mbeki Opens AIDS Conference Stressing Poverty: Reuters NewMedia - July 9, 2000; Emelia Sithole; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki opened Africa s first international AIDS conference on Sunday and told thousands of health experts that poverty was the continent s biggest killer. In his address to the 13th International AIDS Conference, Mbeki failed to explicitly say that HIV cause
Aids Chair Optimistic About Ending HIV Controversy: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday July 9, 2000; Patricia Reaney; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - The chairman of the 13th International AIDS Conference said he believed the controversy over the disease s cause would be resolved when South African President Thabo Mbeki opened the meeting on Sunday. Much of the runup to the start of the conference has been shrouded in controversy ove
First Africa AIDS Conference Opens in Controversy: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday July 9, 2000; Emelia Sithole; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Africa s first international AIDS conference opens Sunday amid controversy over the cause of the disease and demands that rich countries and companies help the continent most ravaged by the virus. Researchers, activists and health officials hope the conference will highlight the AIDS di
$3 Billion a Year Needed to Fight AIDS in Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday July 8, 2000; Patricia Reaney; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - It will cost at least $3 billion a year to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa where nearly 25 million people are living with the disease, a leading AIDS expert said Saturday. The estimated bill is just to provide prevention methods and basic healthcare and does not include the cost of an
World Bank Offers $500 Million to Fight AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday July 8, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The World Bank is preparing a new $500 million program for fighting AIDS in Africa, home to two-thirds of all cases of the disease, the bank announced on Saturday. The money will be available to any African country that sets up a national AIDS program. Nearly every country would be eligible for t
Botswana Pres.: Nation Faces Extinction From AIDS: Reuters New Media - Saturday July 8, 2000; Steven Swindells; GABORONE (Reuters) - The truly devastating threat that AIDS poses to Africa comes into painful focus when the President of Botswana , Festus Mogae, says his country faces extinction from the disease. Mogae, who leads this diamond-rich southern Africa country of 1.6 million people, is not being alarmist or playing with
Study: Immune System Chemical Helps HIV Patients: Reuters NewMedia - July 8, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - A natural immune system compound can help boost the immune systems of HIV patients, adding to the effect of drug cocktails, U.S. researchers said Saturday. They said patients who got regular injections of the compound, interleukin-2 ( IL-2 ), saw a
Multi-Drug Therapy Improves Survival for HIV Kids: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday July 8, 2000; Patricia Reaney; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Cocktails of anti-AIDS drugs can improve the survival of children infected with the HIV virus at birth, Italian researchers said on Saturday. Triple combination therapy has reduced death rates and improved the quality of life of adults with AIDS, but research on the impact of the drug t
CDC: AIDS Declines Leveling Off in United States: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday July 8, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Dramatic declines in the rates of HIV infection and AIDS are leveling off in the United States , a clear sign that people are becoming complacent and that prevention measures need to be stepped up, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Saturday. The U.
Africa Reacts Coolly to German AIDS Drug Offer: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday July 8, 2000; Emelia Sithole; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - African health ministers Saturday gave a cool reaction to a German firm s offer to supply AIDS drug Viramune free of charge to help prevent mother-to-child HIV infections in developing countries. Pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelhei
FEATURE: AIDS Drug Advances Leave Poor Behind: Reuters NewMedia - July 7, 2000; Ben Hirschler; LONDON (Reuters) - There s no cure but, for the rich at least, HIV is no longer a death sentence. An arsenal of 16 antiviral drugs and simplified dosing regimes have transformed treatment in the developed world, turning the virus that causes AIDS into a manageable chronic condition for many. Scientists will tell next w
Controversy Overshadows AIDS Conference: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday, July 06, 2000; Maggie Fox; DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - The first time they met the 33 scientists meant to give South African President Thabo Mbeki the definitive answer on AIDS could not even stay in the same room together. The panel, made up of roughly even numbers of AIDS dissidents who question the link between HIV and AIDS and mainstrea
Little hope on horizon at AIDS conference: Reuters NewMedia - July 6, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; DURBAN, July 6 (Reuters) - When 11,000 doctors, scientists, health workers and AIDS activists descend on this Indian Ocean port city later this week, they will not hear of any dramatic cures for AIDS. They will not hear about some new vaccine that will prevent its spread, they will not hear about new drugs that keep pa
S.Africa AIDS panel to validate HIV tests: Reuters New Media - July 4, 2000; Emelia Sithole; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A meeting of international experts convened by South African President Thabo Mbeki Tuesday agreed to carry out further stringent studies on the reliability of the globally-used ELISA HIV test. A group of three researchers appointed by Mbeki s 44-member panel said the studies could help South Af
S.Africa slams AIDS declaration before conference: Reuters NewMedia - July 3, 2000; Emelia Sithole; JOHANNESBURG, July 3 (Reuters) - The South African government on Monday slammed as intolerant a declaration by more than 5,000 leading scientists and doctors published ahead of an international AIDS conference in Durban. The so-called Durban Declaration, published in the run-up to the world s largest AIDS meeting sched
AIDS devastates Africa, destroys human dignity: Reuters NewMedia - June 26, 2000; Steven Swindells; LILONGWE, June 26 (Reuters) - Every family in the southern African state of Malawi has lost a loved one to AIDS. The hundreds lying listlessly in Malawi s rotting and over-stretched central hospital will be the next to die from the disease, receiving little more than paracetamol and saline drips to ease their final pai
New England Journal editor blasts drug industry: Reuters NewMedia - June 22, 2000; BOSTON (Reuters) -- At a time when high drug prices force some Americans to choose between medicines and basic necessities, the outgoing editor of the New England Journal of Medicine attacked the pharmaceutical industry, calling for a study of price controls and urging new laws to curb certain business practices. The p
South Africa sees poverty as factor behind AIDS: Reuters NewMedia - June 6, 2000; CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa s top health official said Tuesday that poverty and malnutrition were important factors behind AIDS, a view shared by a controversial presidential panel debating what causes the illness. We believe that there are many confounding factors such as poverty and malnutrition ... which have
Internet comes to help in Africa's AIDS fight: Reuters NewMedia - June 2, 2000; GABORONE - Five southern African countries are being linked to an internet information network for healthcare workers and physicians fighting AIDS. The US-based International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care (IAPAC) has established I-Med Exchange, which will link African hospitals and clinics to international exp
Aids to make a million orphans in Mozambique by 2004: Reuters New Media - June 2, 2000; MAPUTO - Aids will make 1-million children orphans in Mozambique by 2004, the United Nations child agency Unicef said on Friday. Unicef said it was working with the government of the southern African country to map out a strategy to help local communities to look after the children. Health authorities estimate that
South Africa's Mbeki urges rich nations to help: Reuters NewMedia - May 23, 2000; Sue Pleming; WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki made an impassioned plea on Tuesday to rich countries such as the United States to help poor nations like his own that are struggling in an ocean of entrenched poverty. Mbeki, who is on his first state visit to the United States, used an inaugural lectu
American Official Concerned About Mbeki AIDS Policy: Reuters NewMedia - May 22, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States expressed its concern about South African President Thabo Mbeki s controversial stance on AIDS, the U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher said on Monday. In comments to Reuters before a state dinner at the White House honoring the South African leader, Satcher said that U.S. offici
ANALYSIS-S.Africa's Mbeki to take AIDS dispute to U.S.: Reuters NewMedia - May 15, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected to run the gantlet of AIDS activists during his first state visit to the United States next week for backing AIDS dissidents who deny that HIV causes the deadly disease. Mbeki s decision to question publicly the link between HIV and AIDS has been
U.S. Official Defends AIDS As Security Threat: Reuters NewMedia - May 7, 2000; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Donna Shalala Sunday defended the Clinton administration s decision to declare AIDS a threat to national security and warned that a top Republican s refusal to recognize the problem was tragic and dangerous. The White House last week said it considered the spread of AIDS aro
South Africa gives AIDS maverick role in task force: Reuters NewMedia - May 7, 2000; Steven Swindells; PRETORIA, May 7 (Reuters) - South Africa appointed leading American AIDS dissident Peter Duesberg on Sunday to a powerful government team tasked with staging experiments that could prove or reject orthodox science s view that AIDS is caused by HIV. Duesberg will work with the Atlanta-based Centre for Disease Control an
South Africa controversial AIDS panel starts work: Reuters NewMedia - May 6, 2000; Steven Swindells; PRETORIA, May 6 (Reuters) - South Africa s AIDS advisory panel began work on Saturday amid a storm of controversy over the inclusion on it of scientists who doubt that the deadly disease is caused by the HIV virus. The inclusion of American scientists Peter Duesberg and David Rasnick, who deny a causal link between HIV
South African Insurer Issues AIDS Warning to Firms: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday May 3, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - An insurance group urged South African firms on Wednesday to re-examine employee benefits such as sick pay and health care cover because the country s AIDS epidemic could make them prohibitively expensive. Sanlam, the country s second largest life assurer, warned in a study on the impact of HIV
About 500,000 Rwandans have HIV, government says: Reuters NewMedia - May 2, 2000; KIGALI, May 2 (Reuters) - Around half a million Rwandans, or over six percent of the population, are infected with the HIV virus which causes AIDS, the country s health minister said on Tuesday. We are facing a silent and devastating epidemic which threatens national security, Ezechias Rwabuhihi told a conference atten
Company Offers HIV Vaccine Technology to S.Africa: Reuters NewMedia - Monday, May 1, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Virginia-based biotechnology company said on Monday it had offered to give South Africa all the information and technology it needed to test its AIDS vaccine. Cel-Sci Corp., based in Vienna, Virginia, said it wanted to help South Africa battle its AIDS epidemic and at the same time help defuse
Canada AIDS-Prevention Pamphlet Raises Eyebrows: Reuters NewMedia - April 28, 2000; TORONTO (Reuters) - A government-funded AIDS-prevention pamphlet by the Canadian AIDS Society has startled public health officials with wording that appears to encourage intravenous drug use. The pamphlet, entitled My Choice. AIDS. Not In This Body, was produced by the Canadian AIDS Society as part of a national awaren
South Africa insists AIDS dissidents must be heard: Reuters NewMedia - April 20, 2000; Steven Swindells; JOHANNESBURG, April 20 (Reuters) - South Africa on Thursday defended the right of AIDS dissidents to be heard despite international criticism of President s Thabo Mbeki for backing scientists who say HIV does not cause AIDS. Mbeki sparked controversy on Wednesday for his defence of scientists like Peter Duesberg and Da
Scientists call S. Africa's AIDS policy idiotic: Reuters NewMedia - April 19, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Frustrated scientists battling the HIV epidemic denounced South Africa s AIDS policy as idiotic on Wednesday, saying thousands were dying while politicians argued about causes and cures of the disease. Some called for foreign governments, especially the United States , to intervene and give th
S.Africa's Mbeki defends his AIDS scepticism: Reuters New Media - April 16, 2000; JOHANNESBURG, April 16 (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday defended his decision to test popular medical assumptions about HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus infecting an estimated 1,700 South Africans every day. AIDS activists have been enraged by Mbeki s questioning of the link between HIV an
South Africa halts anti-AIDS drug trial: Reuters NewMedia - Wednesday April 5, 2000; Jeremy Lovell; CAPE TOWN, April 5 (Reuters) - South Africa said on Wednesday it had ordered a halt to further clinical testing of anti-AIDS drug Nevirapine after the death of five women in one trial run on behalf of U.S firm Triangle Pharmaceuticals (NasdaqNM:VIRS - news). Based on what has happened in the trial so far there is a dea
Estimated HIV cases top half a million in China: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday April 4, 2000; BEIJING, Apr 04 (Reuters) -- The number of Chinese infected with the virus that causes AIDS has topped half a million, according to government estimates reported on Tuesday. By the end of 1999, doctors had been able to confirm only 17,316 cases of people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in
Scientists Envision Anti-AIDS Creams: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday March 28, 2000; David Morgan; PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - The first laboratory model of the female genital tract to shed light on how women become HIV-infected during sex is fueling hopes that new prophylactic creams can be developed to prevent the spread of AIDS, researchers said on Tuesday. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and Northwestern U
Confused Myanmar AIDS Signals Alarm United Nations: Reuters NewMedia - Thursday March 16, 2000; David Brunnstrom; BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar is giving confused and conflicting signals about its AIDS crisis and not diverting enough resources to essential health programs, UNICEF s regional director has said. There are times when one part of the Burmese (Myanmar) government seems to acknowledge HIV/AIDS is a
Tooth or Consequences for Dr. Mustang's Patients: Reuters NewMedia - Monday March 13, 2000; MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida health officers are tracking down more than 600 people treated by an impostor dentist who worked out of his car, and urging them to be tested for HIV and other infections, a state medical official said on Friday. Police arrested Oscar Alfredo Lopez on Wednesday, charging him with operating an
AIDS invades body through common protein -study: Reuters NewMedia - March 2, 2000; Gene Emery; BOSTON, March 2 (Reuters) - Researchers have identified a protein, common in the cells lining the vagina, cervix and rectum, that protects the AIDS virus and ultimately delivers it into the body so it can infect and destroy the immune system. In a study published in Friday s issue of the journal Cell, the researchers o
Gene therapy doctor calls AIDS report premature: Reuters NewMedia - February 11, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A gene therapy researcher accused of possibly exposing 17 children to the AIDS and hepatitis viruses said on Friday she was afraid that reporting such incidents too publicly and too soon would scare people away from volunteering for experiments like hers. The Washington Post carried the r
Tracing origin of AIDS resurrects grim African history: Reuters NewMedia - February 3, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Somewhere in central Africa, a colonial patrol marches into a small village, demanding its rubber quota. A fisherman who is unable to pay up flees. Hiding out in the jungle, he shoots a chimpanzee and tries to butcher it, but the frightened animal bites him. As he skins the chimp, he cuts hims
Study Finds AIDS Virus Passed by Oral Sex: Reuters NewMedia - Tuesday, February 1, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent, Reuters; SAN FRANCISCO--A significant number of gay men are becoming infected with the AIDS virus through oral sex -- an activity that was rumored to be safe, researchers said on Tuesday. A study presented at a meeting of AIDS researchers found nearly 8 percent of recently infected men in the San Francisco area were infected th
HIV Man Offers Himself As Guinea Pig for Therapy: Reuters NewMedia - Sunday January 30, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - He is known only as the Washington patient. But a middle-age government contractor may be the living proof that an unorthodox approach to treating the AIDS virus may help a few patients control the infection on their own. The patient, who lives in Washington, D.C., volunteered to try the appro
Russian Official Criticizes Government Over HIV: Reuters NewMedia - Saturday January 29, 2000; MOSCOW (Reuters) - A top Russian health official criticised the government on Saturday for not taking measures to prevent a rapid rise in the number of new HIV cases in the vast country, Interfax news agency reported. It quoted Gennady Onishenko, a senior public health official, as saying cases of HIV more than trebled
New AIDS drug working well in patients - company: Reuters NewMedia - Friday January 28, 2000; WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - An experimental HIV drug that stops the virus from infecting cells is working in severely ill patients and seems to be boosting their immune systems, the company that makes the drug said on Friday. The drug, T-20, is the first of a new class called fusion inhibitors. Made by Durham, North
UK HIV cases rose in 1999: Reuters NewMedia - Friday January 28, 2000; LONDON, Jan 28 (Reuters) -- More heterosexual people than gays were infected with HIV in Britain last year for the first time since the AIDS epidemic began in the early 1980s, a report said on Friday. Figures released by the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) showed 1,070 new HIV diagnoses of heterosexuals compare
New HIV treatment guidelines on web: Reuters NewMedia - Friday January 28, 2000; WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The latest government guidelines for treating HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can now be found on the Internet, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Friday. The guidelines, which include advice on what drugs to use and which now suggest that doctors test patients to see if the
Researchers find new possible HIV target: Reuters NewMedia - Friday January 28, 2000; Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent; WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Researchers at Merck Research Laboratories said on Thursday they found a possible new way to attack the AIDS virus and said they hope to develop drugs that take advantage of the novel target. They said they had made an integrase inhibitor -- a long sought target that no one has been able
Supreme Court Allows Aids-Related Insurance Caps: Reuters NewMedia - Monday January 10, 2000; James Vicini; WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday allowed an insurance company to cap health care benefits for AIDS-related conditions at a fraction of what it pays for other illnesses, despite a federal anti-discrimination law. The justices let stand without any comment or dissent a U.S. appeals court ruling tha

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