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Women At Risk Of Gaining Excessive Weight With Injectable Birth Control Identified By UTMB Study
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have identified women who are likely to gain weight while using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, more commonly known as Depo-Provera or the birth control shot. These findings dispel the myth that all women who use DMPA will gain weight and will help physicians to counsel patients appropriately.
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Surgeon General Nominee Backs Obama's Positions On Reproductive Health, White House Says
The Washington Post reports that Regina Benjamin -- President Obama"s nominee for U.S. surgeon general -- shares Obama"s position on reproductive health issues, a position that could put her "at odds" with the Catholic Church"s positions on reproductive rights, according to s familiar with her selection. White House spokesperson Reid Cherlin said, "Like [Obama], she believes that this is an issue where it is important to try and seek common ground and come together to try and reduce the number of unintended pregnancies." Cherlin added, "As a physician, she is deeply committed to the philosophy of putting her patients" needs first when it comes to providing care." The White House would not specifically comment on her views on abortion rights, and an HHS spokesperson says Benjamin is not permitted to speak publicly until she is confirmed. s close to Benjamin, who is Catholic, say that she does support abortion rights, the Post reports. However, several individuals who know Benjamin said her views would not affect her role as surgeon general. David Satcher -- a surgeon general in the Clinton administration who taught community health to Benjamin at the Morehouse School of Medicine -- said, "We all have our religions, but when you speak as the surgeon general to the American people, it"s not about your religion." He added, "I don"t see why the surgeon general has to get involved in a discussion about abortion." Jorge Alsip -- president of the Medical Association of the State of Alabama -- said abortion-related issues occasionally arose when he and Benjamin served on the Alabama State Committee on Public Health. Alsip, who is Catholic, said he does not know her position on the issue, adding, "You kind of have to park your personal beliefs at the door when they conflict with what your role is."Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, said, "This is not pivotal to the surgeon general"s job." She added, "From the perspective of being a practicing Catholic, you can certainly say that it matters. I think being willing to work to reduce (abortion) is a good thing."Robert Lawrence, a director at Johns Hopkins University"s Bloomberg School of Public Health and chair of the board of Physicians for Human Rights, served with Benjamin on the group"s board from 1996 until 2002. He said, "I would think that as surgeon general she would uphold the law of the land, and the law of the land guarantees women a choice for reproductive health." He added, "The charge of the surgeon general is to be the people"s doctor and ensure that all those health services guaranteed under federal law are available to the people" (Thompson, Washington Post, 7/19). Drugshop to buy zoloft online and other pills.
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Continued International Investment, Decreased Discrimination Key To Fight Against HIV/AIDS, Says U.N. Secretary-General
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon during a General Assembly meeting Tuesday urged governments not to cut aid for the international fight against HIV/AIDS, the AP/Washington Post reports. Even as Ban "called for "bold action" not only to increase funding but also to break down social barriers to achieve the goal set by world leaders in 2006 of universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention services, treatment, care and support by 2010," he and other speakers at the meeting "reviewing progress and challenges in the battle against AIDS indicated that it will be exceedingly difficult - if not impossible - to reach the goal" (Lederer, AP/Washington Post, 6/16).
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New Advances On The Long Road To The Development Of An AIDS Vaccine

AIDS Vaccine Day, May 18, marks the occasion in 1997 when U.S. President Bill Clinton challenged researchers to come up with an AIDS vaccine within the following decade, stating that such a vaccine was the only way to eliminate the threat of AIDS. Twelve years later, the goal of an effective HIV vaccine remains unfulfilled, but the need for one remains urgent. AIDS is the number four killer in the world and number one in sub-Saharan Africa. Despite education and prevention campaigns, every day 7,500 people become infected with HIV. Antiretroviral drugs can prolong the lives of those who are infected, but they are not cures, and because of their cost and logistical difficulties, they reach only a minority of those who need them. And for every two individuals who go on antiretroviral treatment, five become HIV infected. As with any major viral pandemic, a vaccine remains the best hope of ending, and not just mitigating, AIDS. Development of an effective AIDS vaccine will require time and perseverance. Many of today"s licensed vaccines took decades to develop and were the product of many failed attempts. That"s how science works. With each miss, or near hit, researchers learn something-if only what not to do-that advances their progress. As a result of this kind of incremental learning, we are facing an exciting time in AIDS vaccine science. AIDS vaccine research and development has focused on two arms of the immune system: the arm that dispatches T-cells to seek and destroy human cells that have become HIV infected, and the arm that stimulates the production of antibodies to block HIV from infecting cells in the first place. Today, there are promising new advances on both fronts. In the past decade, most HIV vaccine development has focused on the T-cell arm, also called cellular immunity. Although vaccine candidates of this type, in the absence of an antibody response, are unlikely to fully prevent HIV infection, in animal studies they have been shown to reduce the amount of virus circulating in the body of the animals that become infected after vaccination. Thus, such a vaccine might keep HIV in check, slowing or preventing progression to AIDS and, perhaps, reducing the chances of transmitting HIV to another person. The only AIDS vaccine candidate of this type to reach efficacy testing failed to show efficacy in the STEP trial in 2007. However, for the first time, researchers have shown in animal studies that a handful of new T-cell vaccine strategies under development can control the amount of virus in infected animals better than approaches previously tested in clinical trials. A subset of these improved T-cell approaches are in early development, heading toward clinical trials. The greatest scientific challenge impeding AIDS vaccine development is the antibody problem: how to design a vaccine that elicits antibodies that neutralize the many types of HIV in circulation so that the vaccine is protected from infection. But here, too, there is progress to report. Scientists have identified new antibodies capable of neutralizing a wide spectrum of HIV types circulating worldwide. These antibodies may now provide the keys to new vulnerable targets on the surface of HIV, which can be exploited for vaccine design. There is also an interesting concept now in preclinical testing that aims to use vector-mediated gene transfer to maintain in the body large amounts of broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV over long periods of time. Of course, these developments will not lead us directly to an AIDS vaccine. There is much work to do, and more failure ahead, certainly. But the point is, despite disappointments, overall, AIDS vaccine science is progressing. It does so because of a wide array of participants in the HIV vaccine effort, among them: researchers and technicians who devote themselves to the mission, study and trial participants who make the selfless contribution of volunteering for research, community workers who lend their voices and ears, political leaders who pave the way and donors who make the whole enterprise happen. On the occasion of World AIDS Vaccine Day, we at IAVI salute these individuals and our many partners for their dedication to making an AIDS vaccine a reality. IAVI


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