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WHO sponsors event at Copenhagen conference to highlight climate change effect on public health

The WHO held a "side event" on Thursday at the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen to highlight climate change's effect on public health, CNN reports. "We're reminding people that climate change is not just an environmental issue or an economic issue - it's a health issue that's actually about people's survival," Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a scientist in the WHO's Public Health and Environment department, said of the event.

18 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Scientific American article examines recent efforts to tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The author writes "NTDs have plagued humankind for thousands of years. … What is new, however, is that donors, drugmakers, health ministries in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), and public-private partnerships are linking their efforts to combat the NTDs in a more coordinated and systematic way."

18 Dec 2009

Opinion: Uganda anti-gay bill; Shah confirmation

Columnist Michael Gerson in a Washington Post opinion piece writes of Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 being considered by the country's parliament "that would impose new and harsher penalties on homosexuality, including life imprisonment and capital punishment. It also would force pastors and others to report homosexuals to the authorities.

18 Dec 2009

H1N1 cases still increasing in many countries; WHO to begin shipping donated vaccines within weeks

With many countries continuing to report a growing number of H1N1 (swine flu) cases, Keiji Fukuda, special adviser to the WHO director general on pandemic influenza, said Thursday it was too early to declare the pandemic over, the Washington Post reports.

18 Dec 2009

U.S. health officials announce shift in focus of prep trial in Botswana

U.S. health officials on Thursday announced they will shift the focus of a clinical trial in Botswana aimed at testing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) - the strategy that "a daily low dose of the drugs, which interfere with the ability of the virus to replicate, could also lower the risk of infection" - after researchers discovered they would be unable to determine the efficacy of Truvada, the medicine used in the trial, Reuters reports.

18 Dec 2009

EMA's CHMP issues positive opinion for Cangene's Human Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin product

Cangene Corporation today reports that it has received a positive opinion from the EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use ("CHMP") regarding the immunoprophylaxis indication of Cangene's ImmunoGam(TM) (Human Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin).

18 Dec 2009

PolyMedix completes first two segments of its PMX-30063 antibiotic drug candidate Phase 1B study

PolyMedix, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company developing acute care products for infectious diseases and acute cardiovascular disorders, has successfully completed the first two segments of a Phase 1B clinical safety study with its novel antibiotic drug candidate PMX-30063.

18 Dec 2009

Flamel Technologies initiates IFN-alpha-2b XL Phase 2a clinical trial for HCV

Flamel Technologies today announced the initiation of a Phase 2a clinical trial of Flamel’s Interferon alpha-2b XL (IFN-alpha-2b XL), which is based on Flamel’s Medusa® platform for controlled release of biologics. IFN-alpha-2b XL is being developed as a controlled release of unmodified interferon alpha-2b for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV).

18 Dec 2009

Congress lifts federal ban on needle exchange programs

The Minnesota Independent: "An appropriations bill passed by Congress last weekend is being hailed by public health advocates for ending funding for abstinence-until-marriage sex education and eliminating the ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs" (Birkey, 12/17).

18 Dec 2009

Safe living guidelines for transplant recipients

Keeping pets healthy can reduce infection risks for people who have received solid organ transplants and veterinarians should be seen as an integral part of the healthcare team. That's just one of the key pieces of advice from a safe living article published in an infectious diseases supplement in the American Journal of Transplantation.

18 Dec 2009

Many states still lack the 21st century technology capacity needed for disease surveillance

Today, CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) released a report showing that the number of state-level epidemiologists has decreased steadily since 2004, with a marked decline of over 10% since 2006.

18 Dec 2009

Government not held accountable for keeping nurses safe during SARS, Supreme Court denies appeal

Registered nurses in Ontario are devastated today to learn that the Supreme Court of Canada has denied an appeal of an earlier legal decision regarding responsibility for keeping nurses safe during the SARS outbreak.

18 Dec 2009

Human protein may help prevent H1N1 infection

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have identified a naturally occurring human protein that helps prevent infection by H1N1 influenza and other viruses, including West Nile and dengue virus.

18 Dec 2009

AHF praises California Assembly members' initiative to protect state’s AIDS drug program funding

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today praised the action taken by thirty-eight members of the California Assembly who, in a signed letter, urged Governor Schwarzenegger to protect funding for California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The Governor, who is currently completing his 2010-11 budget, could propose up to $70 million in cuts to ADAP in his upcoming budget, a move which, if enacted, will gut the state’s lifesaving AIDS drug program currently serving more than 35,000 low-income Californians living with HIV/AIDS.

18 Dec 2009

Immuno Laboratories and TRPN sign agreement to reduce chronic illness

Immuno Laboratories, a leading provider of food and environmental allergy testing services, announced an agreement with Three Rivers Provider Network (TRPN), the largest and fastest growing proprietary Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) network in the United States.

18 Dec 2009

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

According to the World Health organization’s World Malaria Report 2009 released earlier this week, more than one third of affected countries included in the study have witnessed reduction in malaria cases by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2008.

18 Dec 2009

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants funds for visceral leishmaniasis research

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Kuvin Center for the Study of Infectious and Tropical Diseases has received a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for research into visceral leishmaniasis.

18 Dec 2009

Genetic variant associated with reduced risk of COPD

What: Researchers have discovered evidence that suggests a genetic variant may be associated with better preserved lung function among children with asthma and adults who smoke, according to a new study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health.

18 Dec 2009

Flu-fighting proteins found in human cells stop flu virus, uncover scientists

In findings that may lead to better ways to prevent and treat influenza and other viral infections, researchers report the discovery of a family of naturally occurring antiviral agents in human cells.

18 Dec 2009

Comprehensive approaches to understand the interaction of H1N1 strains with human cells

Scientists have generated hundreds of new leads in the fight against the H1N1 flu pandemic, according to two new studies published online December 17th in the journal Cell, a Cell Press publication.

18 Dec 2009

Disease/Infection News

WHO sponsors event at Copenhagen conference to highlight climate change effect on public health

Recent releases in Global Health

Opinion: Uganda anti-gay bill; Shah confirmation

H1N1 cases still increasing in many countries; WHO to begin shipping donated vaccines within weeks

U.S. health officials announce shift in focus of prep trial in Botswana

EMA's CHMP issues positive opinion for Cangene's Human Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin product

PolyMedix completes first two segments of its PMX-30063 antibiotic drug candidate Phase 1B study

Flamel Technologies initiates IFN-alpha-2b XL Phase 2a clinical trial for HCV

Congress lifts federal ban on needle exchange programs

Safe living guidelines for transplant recipients

Many states still lack the 21st century technology capacity needed for disease surveillance

Government not held accountable for keeping nurses safe during SARS, Supreme Court denies appeal

Human protein may help prevent H1N1 infection

AHF praises California Assembly members' initiative to protect state’s AIDS drug program funding

Immuno Laboratories and TRPN sign agreement to reduce chronic illness

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants funds for visceral leishmaniasis research

Genetic variant associated with reduced risk of COPD

Flu-fighting proteins found in human cells stop flu virus, uncover scientists

Comprehensive approaches to understand the interaction of H1N1 strains with human cells

PhD researcher at LifeArc

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