More positive news in the fight against HIV/AIDS – close to 100 new products in testing for treatment/prevention

97 new products for the prevention or treatment of HIV/AIDS and related conditions are currently in human clinical trials, or awaiting approval by the FDA, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.  These products in development include 23 vaccines and 54 antivirals.
While not all these products will be approved, it’s more encouraging news [...]

UNAIDS report: 33.4 million worldwide have HIV, but infections slow

A newly released United Nations report on HIV  says that while the disease has killed 25 million people worldwide, the rate of new infections is slowing sharply.  The UNAIDS agency report says the number of newly infected grew by 2.7 million in 2008,  bringing the world total to 33.4 million.
In sub-Saharan Africa,  where the scourge [...]

Fake Chinese drugs marketed with ‘Made in India’ tag

An interesting article from the Financial Express, based in India, on counterfeit medicines and how they are being marketed.
Barely four months after China-made fake drugs with deceptive ‘Made in India’ labels were seized in Nigeria, more cases of spurious drugs are surfacing in the Indian market with alleged links to China.
Recently, seized samples of human [...]

Changes in global child mortality and the MDGs

A very interesting video on global child mortality and the Millennium Development Goals by Dr. Hans Rosling (in collaboration with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation).

Preventing disease through vaccination — a contrast between developed and developing countries

Nearly 12 million Africans deemed at highest risk from yellow fever will be vaccinated next week against the virus, which can cause explosive epidemics in cities.
Vaccination is the best way to prevent yellow fever, which is hard to diagnose in early stages and for which there is no specific treatment, according to the United Nations [...]

Poor nutrition stunting growth

A third of deaths in children under five in those countries are linked to poor diet, a report by UNICEF suggests. It also reveals 195m children – one in three – have stunted growth, even though rates have fallen since 1990.  UNICEF said the number of underweight children also remained high, with many countries struggling [...]

Health Canada warns people not to buy unauthorized products to fight H1N1 flu

Federal authorities are warning Canadians not to buy unauthorized products from the Internet or other sources that claim to fight the H1N1 virus.  The Competition Bureau and Health Canada issued a statement Wednesday saying that only three products are authorized for use against the virus: the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline called Arepanrix, which is available at [...]