Science Speaks: HIV & TB News

USAID releases final RFA for new university engagement partnership program

Christine Lubinski — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:34:07 +0000

Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced the final Higher Education Solutions Network Request for Applications (RFA) to create partnerships with universities and colleges at a White House briefing Wednesday. The RFA is a five-year program to partner with universities to support multidisciplinary, evidence-based approaches to development. Awards are available [...]

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Expert panel strategizes to repeal the federal ban on funding for syringe exchange

Meredith Mazzotta — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:55:37 +0000

(The following guest blog post is by Yale University senior Helen Jack) “The federal ban on needle exchange funding is institutional stigma,” said Allan Clear, executive director of the Harm Reduction Coalition, to an audience of nearly 100 students and community members at a Yale University auditorium Wednesday night. By reinstating the federal ban on funding for syringe exchange programs, Clear said the government sends the wrong message...

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NIH launches program to ease access to technologies for humanitarian efforts

Meredith Mazzotta — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:47:10 +0000

At a White House briefing Wednesday morning on science, technology and innovation for global development, head of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Francis Collins announced a new effort to increase access to innovative technologies for those working to provide broad global access to technologies, products and services...

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The effect of delayed HIV diagnosis on life expectancy, drug resistant cases of TB increasing worldwide, and more…

Meredith Mazzotta — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:52:15 +0000

The following is a compilation of recent articles and releases making headlines in HIV, TB and global health news. Quantifying the Effect of Delayed HIV Diagnosis on Life Expectancy: This article in AIDS details a computer simulation model that predicts changes in life expectancy based on when a patient is diagnosed with HIV, assuming antiretroviral [...]

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HIV docs tell a powerful tale of combination prevention

Meredith Mazzotta — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:30:04 +0000

“This is an extraordinary moment in the AIDS epidemic – we finally have the tools to turn the tide,” said Diane Havlir, MD, of the University of California San Francisco, speaking to the arsenal of HIV prevention interventions the AIDS community now has at its disposal to combat new infections worldwide. She spoke alongside a [...]

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Inaccurate TB blood tests commonplace in many TB high-burden countries

Christine Lubinski — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:19:03 +0000

Although recent press attention has highlighted the problematic use of TB serological tests by medical providers in India, a new paper in The European Respiratory Journal (Widespread use of serological tests for tuberculosis: data from 22 high-burden countries) demonstrates that the use of these tests is much wider spread. Drs. J. Grenier and M. Pai conducted [...]

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U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator touts progress in HIV prevention in PEPFAR countries

Meredith Mazzotta — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:13:25 +0000

U.S. Global AIDS Ambassador Eric Goosby joined other HIV physician-scientists on Capitol Hill Wednesday to discuss the various evidence-based approaches to prevent HIV infection that the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program is implementing on the ground in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic. The briefing was the first in [...]

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NIAID announces funding ops for HIV Clinical Trial Networks, including TB and Hepatitis

Christine Lubinski — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:05:42 +0000

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the leading funder of AIDS research, issued long-awaited funding announcements to create leadership groups for clinical research networks in HIV that will also address tuberculosis (TB) and hepatitis—leading co-morbidities in persons with HIV infection. Requests for applications [...]

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CDC economic models show HIV treatment scale-up is cost-effective, can save money over time

Meredith Mazzotta — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:03:24 +0000

New economic modeling shows that scaling up antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention in the developing world not only saves lives, but saves money too. Dr. John Blandford of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Center for Global Health and his team of colleagues have found that cost savings from averted negative [...]

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Gates gives $750 million to the Global Fund, Patient with deadly TB strain in India tests positive for HIV, and more…

Meredith Mazzotta — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:11:56 +0000

The following is a compilation of recent articles and releases making headlines in HIV, TB and global health news. Gates Injects $750 Million in Troubled Global Fund: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Thursday that has committed $750 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, what Bill Gates called, “one [...]

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