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HIV Prevention Efforts In Five African Countries Not Reaching At-Risk Groups, Report Says
National HIV prevention strategies in at least five African countries are not reaching the groups most at risk of infection, according to a report from UNAIDS and the World Bank conducted in conjunction with the national HIV/AIDS authorities of Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Uganda, IRIN/PlusNews reports. The study was conducted between 2007 and 2008 to determine how and where most HIV cases were occurring in each country. It also aimed to examine whether prevention programs and spending aligned with those findings. According to the report, most prevention initiatives are not based on evidence of the behaviors that spread HIV in the five surveyed countries. For example, most new infections in Lesotho occur because of concurrent sexual partnerships, both before and after marriage. However, the country does not have any prevention strategies aimed at concurrent partnerships, or couples who are married or in long-term relationships. In addition, the report found that in Mozambique, an estimated 19% of new HIV infections were spread through commercial sex work, 3% from injection drug use and 5% among men who have sex with men. According to the report, few programs in the country target sex workers, while none are tailored to IDUs or MSM. According to the report, spending on HIV prevention often is low in the surveyed countries. Lesotho spends 13% of its national HIV/AIDS budget on prevention, while Uganda spends 34%. Director of the World Bank"s Global HIV/AIDS Unit Debrework Zewdie said that the economic downturn makes it important to maximize the impact of HIV prevention investments. "These syntheses use the growing amounts of data and information available to better understand each country"s epidemic and response and identify how prevention might be more effective," she said. The report includes recommendations on how the surveyed countries can better implement evidence-based prevention efforts. It said that Lesotho should revise its prevention messages to address multiple concurrent partnerships and integrate the subject into future initiatives. In addition, Mozambique should focus condom promotion on groups such as sex workers, the report said. According to IRIN/PlusNews, the five-country program aims to enhance capacity to ensure that the countries can conduct similar studies in the future (IRIN/PlusNews, 5/27).

GERD Patient Satisfaction Hinges On Medication Type And Physician Bedside Manner
Patient satisfaction with their medications and the quality of interactions with their doctor reflect the success of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) therapy, according to a new study in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
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Cystic Fibrosis - Liposomal Tobramycin Receives Second Orphan Drug Designation Within Weeks
An innovative treatment for infections of the respiratory tract in cystic fibrosis patients has received a second orphan drug designation in the US only weeks after a first designation was granted. The recent designation relates to Burkholderia cepacia pathogens that can cause lethal infections in cystic fibrosis patients. For Axentis Pharma AG of Zurich, Switzerland, both designations affirm the therapeutic potential of its product candidate Fluidosomes(TM)-tobramycin, whose unique microbiological profile sets it apart from other antibiotic formulations (including free tobramycin).
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Today's Racial Categories Evolved From Negative Assumptions Made Hundreds Of Years Ago To Justify Slavery

Much is often said about the glaring statistics showing that some racial and ethnic minorities face greater risks than whites when it comes to health. Nina T. Harawa, an Assistant Professor and researcher at Charles Drew University, says today"s disparities are linked to many factors, including economics, access to health care and the impact of living in a race conscious society. But in the recent issue of Ethnicity and Disease, she writes that the concept of race is often misunderstood or inconsistently used when examining differences (or "disparities") in health outcomes. "There is no gold standard for the use of race in health research," said Harawa, who co-wrote the article with Assistant Professor Chandra L. Ford, PhD, of the UCLA School of Public Health. Harawa said there are no readily agreed-upon standards for measuring someone"s race, as in the case of gauging someone"s age. Nevertheless, race has been used to categorize people since before the country"s founding. Efforts to simplify the complexities of race - including genetic, cultural and socioeconomic variations - have made race-related research "a minefield of often premature and ultimately wrong conclusions," she said. To understand health disparities in the various population groups, she said, researchers need to understand how today"s racial categories evolved from the negative assumptions made hundreds of years ago to justify slavery. "Advancing our ability to address racial/ethnic disparities in health requires a historically informed understanding of these issues, including how the notion of fixed and distinct races became fixed in the American mind," she wrote. A report, titled "Health Disparities: A Case for Closing the Gap", recently released by the U.S. Health and Human Services, shows significant disparities: * 48 percent of all African American adults suffer from a chronic disease compared to 39 percent of the general population. * Eight percent of White Americans develop diabetes while 15 percent of African Americans, and 14 percent of Hispanics and 18 percent of American Indians develop diabetes. * African Americans are 15 percent more likely to be obese than Whites. "Minorities and low income Americans are more likely to be sick and less likely to get the care they need," said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius after the release of her report earlier this month. However, Dr. Harawa points out there are also exceptions, such as first generation Latino immigrants who have health advantages in many areas despite high levels of poverty and generally low levels of education. Further, Black immigrants frequently experience much better health outcomes than do other Black populations in the US. Unfortunately, today"s race and ethnic categories often fail to make these distinctions. Nina T. Harawa, MPH, PhD, is an epidemiologist. Her research involves both documenting and understanding trends in the distribution of HIV infections and developing effective HIV prevention interventions. She has conducted and led numerous studies examining the prevalence of HIV infection and risky behaviors in a variety of high-risk populations. "Race Origins and Health Disparities" by Nina Harawa, MPH, PhD, and Chandra Ford, PhD John L. Mitchell Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science


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