REMINDER: UN High Level meeting on HIV AIDS is taking place in New York. For opening day media as well as NGO statements see this post.
CANADIAN NEWS
CIHR Social Research Centre for HIV Prevention
The SRC, in partnership with CANFAR, held a press conference on Thursday, June 2nd to release the results of a survey measuring Canadians’ attitudes towards HIV/AIDS, and people living with HIV/AIDS.
CBC News Jun 6, 2011
Quebec public health officials are dealing with a growing measles outbreak in the province, with 254 reported cases since the beginning of 2011, according to the latest data.
Toronto Star, 6 Jun 2011
An Ontario man has Canada's first suspected case of E. coli linked to the ... where 22 people have died and more than 2300 been sickened..
Saskatoon Star Phoenix June 6, 2011
In a globalized food market where a consumable produced one day in a country can be on a dinner plate thousands of kilometres away the next day, Germany's deadly outbreak of E. coli O104: H4 underlines cautions long issued by food distribution specialists.
The Globe and Mail, June 4, 2011
Thirty years after the discovery of the disease, Julio Montaner charges that Canada has fallen behind
QMI Agency June 6, 2006
Most Canadians believe they are knowledgeable about HIV and AIDS, yet only half of those surveyed considered condoms to be very effective in reducing the spread of HIV, a new study reveals.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Nature 6 June 2011 doi:10.1038/news.2011.351
South African researchers are testing whether financial incentives can stop HIV infection in teenagers.
Fast Company Jun 6, 2011
A new program from HP is equipping African health workers with cell phones so that information about outbreaks can be collected and analyzed as fast as possible.
The Monitor (Ugana) 5 June 2011
Ten years ago, Uganda was considered a shining example of how a country--even a poor one at that can effectively fight HIV/Aids, having reduced its prevalence from 18 per cent in the 1980s to about 5 per cent by 2000. But in recent years, the country's reputation has lost its lustre, as gains against the disease have halted.
AFP June 3, 2011
Ninety percent of new infections in the region occur in Russia and Ukraine, with a growing share of women infected by sex partners who have contracted the disease through drug injection, according to the United Nations.
Science Speaks (blog) 03 Jun 2011
Key changes to the way global HIV/AIDS investments are made, with an accompanied boost to investment by 2015, could dramatically change the future trajectory of the AIDS pandemic. That’s according to Dr. Bernhard Schwartländer and other members of the Investment Framework Study Group convened by the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
IRIN, 1 June 2011
A new study into the linkages between rain, temperature and cholera shows scientists may be able t o predict epidemics in time to save people from the life-threatening disease.
RESPONSE TO H1N1 in ASIA
Respirology June 2, 2011 DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2011.02003.x
Among the lessons learned, according to the report: (1) An emerging flu pandemic, regardless of severity, places a huge burden on the healthcare system and will expose its weaknesses; (2) containment measures did little to keep the novel virus out of countries; (3) antiviral stockpiles and plans overly relied on one oral form and had poor distribution plans; (4) some countries failed to engage local practitioners; (5) hospitals had suboptimal infection-control practices; and (6) important clinical research was underused.
GERMAN E.COLI
Reuters June 08, 2011
German ministers on Wednesday defended their response to the E.coli outbreak that has killed 24 people and signaled possible changes in the way the country handles health crises in the future.
CIDRAP News Jun 7, 2011
German investigators working on a major enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) outbreak revealed little new information today, as the number of infections continued to rise and new details emerged about four American cases linked to the outbreak and an atypical pattern some doctors are seeing in severely ill German patients.
Nature 7 June 2011 | | doi:10.1038/474137a (includes a map of the spread)
Spread of rare Escherichia coli strain raises questions over surveillance of infectious diseases.
CTV.ca June 7, 2011
Time is running out for German investigators to find the source of the world's deadliest E. coli outbreak, which has left more than 2,000 in Germany ill according to the country's national disease control centre.
Saskatoon Star Phoenix June 6, 2011
In a globalized food market where a consumable produced one day in a country can be on a dinner plate thousands of kilometres away the next day, Germany's deadly outbreak of E. coli O104: H4 underlines cautions long issued by food distribution specialists.
Waffling over E. coli cause points to 'incompetence,' US expert says
msnbc.com June 6, 2011
"All this wishy-washy back-and-forth, it's just incompetence," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "Where's the epidemiology?"
msnbc.com June 6, 2011
"All this wishy-washy back-and-forth, it's just incompetence," said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. "Where's the epidemiology?"
DRUGMAKERS LOWER COSTS FOR POOR NATIONS
GAVI (News Release) 6 June 2011
In the lead up to its first pledging conference on June 13, the GAVI Alliance announced today it has achieved commitments from two emerging market vaccine manufacturers to lower prices for the life-saving pentavalent vaccine, which protects against five deadly diseases. Developed country manufacturers have also offered price reductions on rotavirus and human papillomavirus, or HPV, vaccines.
The Guardian June 6, 2011
Several large drug firms have announced big cuts to the amounts they charge for their vaccines in the developing world
Nature News blog June 6, 2011
Pharmaceutical companies have agreed to large cuts in the price of vaccines bought by the GAVI Alliance, an international partnership aimed at boosting immunisation of chidren living in poor countries. The vaccines covered by the deal will protect against rotavirus and human papillomavirus, and also includes a pentavalent vaccine protecting against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type b.
Down Jones June 6, 2011
Merck is also offering GAVI its HPV vaccine Gardasil at a reduced price of $5 per dose, a 67% drop in the current public price.
