WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-05-19 Time: 05:00:05 Posted By: Jan
Science & Medicine
Researchers Develop Vaccine Candidate That Is Successful in Blocking Simian Version of HIV
[May 18, 2009]
Researchers have successfully blocked SIV, the simian version of HIV, using a new technique that could help lead to the development of an effective HIV/AIDS vaccine, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The team also included scientists from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and the New England Primate Research Center in Boston.
Johnson and colleagues developed a genetically altered virus that carried the vaccine candidate and injected it into the muscles of monkeys. The vaccine prompted the muscles to produce a protein that is designed to bind to SIV and prevent it from infecting cells (Goldstein, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/18). After treating nine monkeys with the vaccine candidate for one month, the researchers injected them with SIV. Six monkeys were not administered the vaccine candidate before being injected with SIV. None of the immunized monkeys developed AIDS, while three showed indications of SIV infection. Researchers detected high concentrations of the proteins in their blood one year later. All six non-immunized monkeys became infected with SIV, and four died during the trial (Schmid, AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18). The DNA used in the carrier virus can deliver DNA into the cells of both monkeys and humans, according to the Inquirer.
Johnson said that the results of the trials were so encouraging that he plans to request approval from FDA to begin clinical trials in humans, the Inquirer reports. However, he said that there is “no guarantee that things that work in monkeys will work in humans,” adding that an HIV/AIDS vaccine could be 10 years away (Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/18). Recent HIV/AIDS vaccine failures prompted the researchers to try a different route that involved “bypassing the natural immune system that was the target of all previous HIV and SIV vaccines candidates,” Johnson said. “Some years ago I came to the conclusion that HIV was different from other viruses … and we might not ever be able to use traditional approaches,” he added (AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18).
Peggy Johnson — head of the HIV Vaccine Research Branch at NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which helped fund the study — said, “As a concept, I think this is very promising.” She added, “We need to make the genes as humanized as possible so that the human body doesn’t react to that.” According to Peggy Johnson, tests will be needed to prove that the vaccine candidate can protect against sexually acquired HIV (Fox, Reuters, 5/17). Beatrice Hahn, an HIV/AIDS researcher with the University of Alabama-Birmingham, said that the study’s findings indicate that there is “a light at the end of the tunnel,” adding, “It shows thinking outside the box is a good idea and can yield results, and we need perhaps more of these nonconventional approaches” (AP/Austin American-Statesman, 5/18).
Hildegund Ertl, a virus expert at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, said, “It is a very innovative approach but currently, in my mind, still far from clinical use.” Ertl added that because most people have been exposed to adeno-associated viruses through cold viruses, they would be “likely to mount an immune response” to the vaccine. According to Phillip Johnson, most people have not been exposed to the strain of the adeno-associated virus that the researchers used as the carrier. He added that they “will be certainly looking at that as part of our Phase I testing in humans” (Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/18).
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Across The Nation
Denver Post Examines Efforts To Establish Needle-Exchange Programs in Colorado
[May 18, 2009]
The Denver Post on Friday examined efforts to establish needle-exchange programs in Colorado to reduce the risk of HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users. According to the Post, 185 cities in Colorado have needle-exchange programs, but legislation that would have legalized needle exchanges statewide did not advance in the Legislature this year. “The issue is more complex than it perhaps first appears,” Evan Dreyer, a spokesperson for Gov. Bill Ritter (D), said, adding that “law enforcement and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment both expressed serious reservations” about a proposal that would have legalized needle-exchanges statewide.
A coalition of public health officials, treatment providers and advocates are increasing efforts to establish a needle-exchange program in Denver, the Post reports. The Denver Drug Strategy Commission in February recommended that Mayor John Hickenlooper consider a pilot needle-exchange program, DDSC Director Karla Maraccini said. The commission is looking at different programs to develop a model following Hickenlooper’s request for additional research. However, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has concerns that a local needle-exchange program would violate state law, according to Morrissey’s spokesperson Lynn Kimbrough. Eric Brown, a spokesperson for Hickenlooper, added, “Anything in contradiction to city or state law would have to be carefully considered.”
Proponents of needle-exchange programs say they prevent HIV and hepatitis C, but opponents say they condone injection drug use. Mark Thrun, director of HIV prevention for Denver Public Health, said, adding that needle-exchange programs prevent IDUs from “getting these chronic, potentially fatal diseases” and give public health workers “an opportunity to link them into treatment; and it lessens the economic burden on the already overburdened health care system.” Thrun noted that several studies have found that needle-exchange programs do not encourage or prolong injection drug use and make IDUs more likely to seek treatment. In addition, a 2005 CDC study found that 86% of exchange programs make treatment referrals and that more than 80% offer counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.
Nancy Steinfurth, executive director of the Hep C Connection, noted that an estimated 10% of HIV cases and 70% of hepatitis C cases are transmitted through needles (Auge, Denver Post, 5/15).
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Global Challenges
New HIV/AIDS Initiative in Tanzania Aims To Increase Condom Availability
[May 18, 2009]
Condom vending machines will be unveiled on Monday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as part of a six-year pilot HIV prevention initiative in the country, Tanzania’s The Citizen reports. Daniel Crapper of Population Services International said, “We are working very hard to ensure that condoms are widely available to the people.” About 100 machines — at a cost of about 380,000 Kenyan shillings, or $350 — will be installed in various bars in Dar es Salaam. The project also will be carried out in Morogoro, Iringa and Mbeya before being rolled out to other regions across the country, according to Crapper.
“Bars and night clubs are in our targets because they have the highest risk of unsafe sex, especially when people get drunk,” Crapper said, adding, “This will enable condoms to be available almost daily.” He noted that the condoms will be offered at a lower cost compared with some retail outlets and that the new initiative will not interfere with condom distribution systems throughout the country. According to The Citizen, the condoms will be available for purchase from the vending machines for 100 shillings, or about $1. John Wanyancha, PSI’s HIV/AIDS program manager, said that the project’s leaders focused on targeting areas with high HIV/AIDS rates after research revealed that inaccessibility to condoms at night was a major challenge in efforts to curb the spread of the disease. He noted that about 324 million condoms have been distributed in Tanzania since 2001 (Mbani, The Citizen, 5/15).
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Sex Workers in Pakistan Give Recommendations on HIV Prevention to Health Officials
[May 18, 2009]
Although the recorded HIV prevalence in Pakistan is relatively low, health officials are concerned that a concentrated epidemic of the virus among injection drug users could carry over to commercial sex workers and other high risk groups in the country, IRIN/PlusNews reports. To address the issue, the National AIDS Control Program and the United Nations Population Fund recently held a meeting, called the National Consultation on HIV and Sex Work, in an effort to improve HIV prevention efforts targeted at sex workers by consulting with workers in the field.
Sex workers at the meeting made various recommendations, including HIV testing, referrals and increased efforts to decrease stigma. The Ministry of Health reports that from 2006 to 2007, female sex workers were at a high risk of HIV in 12 cities across Pakistan. A survey of 4,639 female sex workers found that less than 25% reported condom use; 10% had a partner that had used injection drugs during the past six months; and that illiterate sex workers were less likely to use condoms than those with a higher level of education. A female sex worker at the meeting said, “It is very hard for us to convince [partners] to put on a condom, but I feel that a female condom would put us in a position where we can protect ourselves against HIV and sexually transmitted infections.” She added that female condoms are not widely available. Legalizing sex work would make it easier for sex workers to protect their rights, another female sex worker at the conference said. She added that often, outreach workers face barriers from police forces.
Daniel Baker, UNFPA’s country representative for Pakistan, said that sex workers should have greater involvement in creating and implementing HIV programs. He added, “The female sex workers have to be in there as managers, workers and leaders to benefit in the long run.” Safdar Kamal Pasha with UNFPA agreed that the recommendations from sex workers are critical points to address in future programming. “The female sex workers agreed that there should be vocational training and the means for alternative work opportunities for those who want to move out of sex work, as well as those who are past their prime and do not find sustainability in sex work,” Pasha said (IRIN/PlusNews, 5/14).
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Opinion
Global AIDS Coordinator Goosby Should Serve as ‘Fierce Advocate’ for Pediatric HIV/AIDS Programs, Letter to Editor Says
[May 18, 2009]
“The details of President Obama’s new global health initiative have left many concerned that the financing described does not reflect the commitment required to lead the United States’ efforts in the global fight against HIV and AIDS,” Jennifer Delaney, executive director of Global Action for Children, writes in a New York Times letter to the editor. She adds that the Obama administration “needs to recognize that we cannot afford to scrimp on global health — the cost of failure is too high. Our inaction threatens to forsake the more than 15 million children orphaned by AIDS, future parents and leaders of our world.”
As Eric Goosby, the recently nominated Global AIDS Coordinator, “begins his work in Washington, he faces serious obstacles to securing the full financing Congress has authorized to combat HIV and AIDS — the financing our moral obligations demand,” Delaney writes. She concludes, “We expect Dr. Goosby to be a fierce advocate for lifesaving HIV/AIDS and children’s programs. He can expect our tireless support in return” (Delaney, New York Times, 5/17).
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Global Poverty Eradication Efforts Should Start With Health Issues, Opinion Piece Says
[May 18, 2009]
“Eradicating global poverty starts with the health of the world’s poor,” Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority leader and currently a member of the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s (MCC) Board of Directors, writes in a Charlotte Observer opinion piece. “It starts with empowering them physically to contribute to the vitality of their countries,” Frist says, which “makes as much good sense for the world’s poor as for our collective international economic growth.”
Frist says that Obama’s recent proposal of a six-year $63 billion global health initiative is “bold,” and the “smart use of resources improves the health of the world’s poorest and strengthens the global economic climate for us all.” He writes that it’s important not to overlook “other factors that directly affect global health,” such as roads and water and sanitation systems. He points to the U.S. government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation, which “takes a holistic approach to global health, laying the groundwork for poverty reduction and economic development.”
“By building healthier, hopeful, and productive communities, we build safer and more secure societies that can alleviate global poverty and contribute to global prosperity,” Frist writes. “When communities are productive and thriving they don’t become breeding grounds for dangerous extremism” (Frist, Charlotte Observer, 5/14).
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Original date published: 18 May 2009
Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200905181281.html?viewall=1