March 07 2008 1:00 AM ET
Bill Gates Creates $100 Million Grant for New Health Ideas
If you have an unorthodox, unproven idea that can prevent HIV infection or help protect against infectious diseases, one of the richest men in the world wants to hear from you. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has set aside $100 million to encourage innovation in global health research, offering grants to those with innovative ideas on four topics: tuberculosis, HIV, infectious diseases, and drug resistance. The foundation's new Grand Challenges Explorations program plans to give $100,000 each to about 60 projects in the first round of what is expected to be a five-year program.
March 05 2008 1:00 AM ET
Hepatitis C in Nevada Could Be "Tip of the Iceberg"
An outbreak of hepatitis C at a clinic in Nevada might represent ''the tip of an iceberg'' of safety problems at clinics around the country, says the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
March 04 2008 1:00 AM ET
DNA Protein Found That Bolsters Weak Immune System
A protein found in some people's DNA can shield them from viral attacks such as HIV, a North American research team has discovered.
March 01 2008 1:00 AM ET
California County Opposes Ban on Gay Blood Donors
The Santa Clara, Calif., County board of supervisors voted Tuesday to oppose the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on blood donations from gay men and called for federal lobbyists to concentrate on overturning the ban, according to a story in The [San Jose] Mercury News. Board members said they made the symbolic decision, proposed by gay supervisor Ken Yeager, because blood banks can screen for HIV infection more effectively now than when the ban was imposed, in 1983. The supervisors did not vote to ban blood drives on county property, to avoid depleting area hospitals of blood supplies, but they said they might revisit the idea in the future.
March 01 2008 1:00 AM ET
Suit Filed Against Clinic for Reusing Syringes
A former patient sued a surgical center believed to have spread hepatitis C by reusing syringes and vials of medication, saying Thursday he fears for his health.
February 29 2008 1:00 AM ET
Google Health Won't Have Ads
Google Inc. won't sell ads to support a new Internet service that stores personal medical information, CEO Eric Schmidt said Thursday in the search giant's first detailed comments about a venture that has raised privacy concerns.
February 29 2008 1:00 AM ET
Syphilis Jumps 60% in NYC, Mostly Among Gay, Bisexual Men
The New York City Department of Health is reporting a 60% increase in the number of syphilis cases in 2007 over the previous year in 2006, with much of that growth occurring in gay and bisexual men, according to an article in the Gay City News. "Whichever way you choose to spotlight it or put your magnifying glass on it, syphilis is increasing in New York City," Dr. Susan Blank, assistant health commissioner, told GCN.
February 28 2008 1:00 AM ET
House Panel Approves Increase in Global AIDS Spending
A committee in the House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to more than triple spending for a U.S. global AIDS program that has proven to be one of the Bush administration's most successful and popular foreign policy initiatives. The Foreign Affairs Committee's voice vote on the plan to approve spending of an average $10 billion annually over the next five years came hours after lawmakers and the White House reached a compromise on some of the policy issues, including spending amounts on abstinence programs, that had held up action on the legislation.
February 27 2008 1:00 AM ET
N.J. Needle Exchange Slow to Reach Addicts
New Jersey has become the last state where intravenous drug users can legally get clean needles, but two of the state's three needle exchanges are struggling to get clients.
February 23 2008 1:00 AM ET
Dallas Repaying Feds for Misusing HIV Education Money
The Dallas Independent School District has been ordered by a judge to repay the federal government $336,000 for misusing grant money that was supposed to be geared toward HIV education programs.
