‘Complacency Is Dangerous’ In Global HIV/AIDS Fight: A Lancet Editorial is critical of UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe’s statement in the annual UNAIDS report that “We have halted and begun to reverse the epidemic.” The editorial states, “These words, from the head of a U.N. agency, are reckless and premature, and…

Congress Must Honor Obama’s Global Fund Commitment “There are some encouraging signs in the epic battle against AIDS and HIV infections. … But those bright spots dim considerably in the face of the fact that about 7,100 people a day become infected. And that’s why the WHO continues to mark…

The growing evidence supporting the promise of new HIV prevention products, like microbicides, requires that groups start planning now for how best to roll-out prevention interventions in the future, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby and Special Advisor on Health Policy to the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget Ezekiel Emanuel said Monday during a USAID Microbicide Stakeholders Meeting in Washington.

Ahead of World AIDS Day, the International Federation of the Red Cross on Friday released a report (.pdf) calling for governments around the world to do more to help stop the spread of HIV/AIDS among populations of injecting drug users (IDUs), the Associated Press reports (Heilprin, 11/25).

Media outlets continued to track the major developments in HIV/AIDS this week, including: prevention research using an antiretroviral; new UNAIDS estimates of HIV/AIDS around the world; and Pope Benedict XVI’s stance on condoms for HIV prevention.

A study that included nearly 2,500 HIV-negative men and transgender women who have sex with men has shown that a daily dose of Truvada, a pill containing the AIDS drugs emtricitabine and tenofovir, “can reduce risk of contracting [HIV] by an average of 44% – and by more than 70% if the subjects” follow the regimen closely, Los Angeles Times reports (Maugh, 11/23).

Nigerian Drug Research Institute Halts Research Because Of Funding Shortfall Nigeria’s National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development (NIPRD), which focuses on developing traditional herbal remedies into drug candidates, has had to discontinue research after the Nigerian health ministry did not provide the full amount of expected funding and a “key grant…

Officials Highlight TB Control Concerns In Papua New Guinea Three years into Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) five-year $19 million tuberculosis control plan, program funders and local health authorities are expressing concerns about its progress, IRIN reports. “In comparison with other countries … coverage of treatment in PNG is lagging behind,” said Marcela Rojo,…

NPR’s “SHOTS” blog examines the growing interest of pharmaceutical companies to develop a vaccine to protect against the dengue virus.

“Drugmakers are now working on over 100 R&D projects designed to tackle diseases of the developing world and almost 80% of them are being carried out with non-industry partners,” according to a report (.pdf) released on Wednesday by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), Pharma Times reports.