A team of researchers who conducted a landmark trial in Orange Farm, South Africa, which concluded that male circumcision can sub stantially reduce the risk of becoming infected with HIV, have now studied the economic aspects of this approach to preventing HIV/AIDS.
Related stories:
New male circumcision device for HIV prevention studied by NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell
With the recent endorsement by the World Health Organization (WHO) and scientists worldwide of adult male circumcision as an important strategy for HIV prevention, there is increased urgency to develop safe and cost-effective circumcision services. This is especially the case in Africa where HIV/AIDS continues to spread at an epidemic rate.
Lack of political will and the subordination of women are major barriers to tackling AIDS
Denial, myths, complacency, lack of political will and the subordination of women are major obstacles in the fight against HIV and AIDS. And with no cure or vaccine in sight, scaling up prevention is of paramount importance, according to Professor Lars Kallings, a leading expert in the global fight against the world’s first modern pandemic.
Cutting HIV: male circumcision booms in Uganda
Like many cultural events, a male circumcision ceremony in eastern Uganda has its share of governing rules: the "candidate" is not supposed to see the surgeon until seconds before the cutting and his mother cannot be present.
New way to make malaria medicine also first step in finding new antibiotics
University of Illinois microbiology professor William Metcalf and his collaborators have developed a way to mass-produce an antimalarial compound, potentially making the treatment of malaria less expensive.
NTDs burden in Latin America and the Caribbean may exceed that of HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria
According to a new analysis published September 24th in the open-access journal
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, "The Neglected Tropical Diseases of Latin America and the Caribbean: A Review of Disease Burden and Distribution and a Roadmap for Control And Elimination,", neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) as a group may have surpassed HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria as the most prevalent infectious diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. The analysis found that NTDs are the most common infections of approximately 200 million of the poorest people in the region. They include tens of millions of cases of intestinal worm infections, and almost 10 million cases of Chagas disease, as well as schistosomiasis, trachoma, dengue fever, leishmaniasis, lymphatic filariasis (LF), and onchocerciasis.
Study examines cost-effectiveness of HIV monitoring strategy in countries with limited resources
In a computer-based model evaluating the benefits and costs of three types of HIV disease monitoring strategies, early initiation of antiretroviral therapy and monitoring using the CD4 count, a measure of immune system function, instead of based on symptoms appear to provide health benefits in low- and middle-income countries, according to a report in the September 22 issue of
Archives of Internal Medicine.
Researcher micro-sizes genetics testing
Using new "lab on a chip" technology, James Landers hopes to create a hand-held device that may eventually allow physicians, crime scene investigators, pharmacists, even the general public to quickly and inexpensively conduct DNA tests from almost anywhere, without need for a complex and expensive central laboratory.
As personalized, genomic medicine takes off, four developing countries show the way for others
Developing countries that want the benefits of cutting-edge health care possibilities based on the genetic variation of individual citizens and sub-populations need to foster the new science at home, says a major new Canadian study published today by Nature Publishing Group.