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Nations up their fight against HIV/AIDS

In India, the Andhra Pradesh government is stepping up efforts to control the spread of AIDS. It is going to make it compulsory for prospective brides and grooms to get tested for HIV before they tie the knot. With Andhra Pradesh leading the Indian states in the number of affected people, the government wants to introduce the bill in the budget session of the Legislative Assembly in 2007. An all-party meeting will be called to discuss the bill but the Health Minister does not expect any opposition.

India’s neighbor China is also taking proactive steps to combat AIDS by targeting the prejudice that accompanies AIDS reporting. At a two-day workshop, publicity officials from municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions were taught to report on the disease in an accurate, balanced manner that does not discriminate against those suffering from this disease. Emphasizing the importance of reporting to create awareness, the organizers stressed that reports should also be detailed and accurate. The organizers hope that the course will help to make officials more sensitive to the human side of the disease.

Meanwhile, Bahrain too is gearing up to fight AIDS. The National Aids Committee has launched a program urging people to learn how to safeguard themselves from AIDS. While incorporating features from an earlier program, it will also include a public awareness drive to spread the message. The program will mainly be directed towards the youth, pregnant women and drug users. The estimated cost of the program is USD 40,000. The United Nations Development Program has lent its support to this initiative.

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Indian firm to launch human trials of oral human insulin

One of India’s premier biotechnology companies, Biocon, plans to soon launch the Phase-I human trials for their ‘oral human insulin,’ within a month. India is on its way to become the diabetes capital of the world, with the number of diabetics totaling close to 34 million and growing rapidly.

Recently, the company has acquired US-based pharmaceutical company, Nobex Corporation, for USD 5 million, with whom it had formed an alliance earlier to develop oral human insulin. This deal gives Biocon, the full ownership of its on going oral insulin and oral B-type natriuretic peptide programs, and also enhances its intellectual property platform. With this project in line, Biocon is all set to become the largest producer of recombinant human insulin in Asia.

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases in the world and people affected by the disease end up getting a host of other medical problems as well. The disease occurs because the body produces insufficient insulin, does not produce insulin at all or does not use insulin properly. Diabetics therefore have to take insulin injections to make up for the lack of insulin produced by the pancreas. To simplify diabetic treatment and make it as painless as possible, many companies worldwide have been working on developing non-invasive forms of insulin. Recently, the FDA cleared the sale of Exubera, Pfizer’s inhaled insulin drug that is slated to be launched in the US by mid 2006. It will be released in developing countries two years following its US launch.

Another parallel research conducted by the University of Calgary, Canada, has been able to develop pancreatic cells that produce insulin in the laboratory. This heralds a significant milestone on the path to effectively producing human tissue that may be used to treat Type-1 diabetes.

Conferences to tackle killer-diseases

Pneumonia and meningitis are major killers among children. The two dreaded diseases together kill about 1.8 million children under the age of 5 years across the globe on an annual basis. Of this, nearly 700,000 deaths occur in Southeast Asian countries and those in the Western Pacific regions.

A meeting on Preventing Childhood Pneumonia and Meningitis with Vaccination was organized in Kuala Lumpur to look at effective solutions for combating the disease. Vaccination has been shown to be an effective intervention that could protect Asian children from these diseases. The participants will review the regional burden of Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib) and pneumococcal disease, and share lessons learned and case studies from Asian countries tackling both infectious diseases. Experts will also examine challenges such as resource allocation, supplies, and advocacy issues related to the introduction of the Hib vaccine and propose innovative strategies to overcome them in the near future. Last year the GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) Alliance launched the USD 37 million Hib Initiative, which comprises infectious disease experts from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and WHO.

Recently, authorities in southern Vietnam’s Kien Giang province held a workshop to discuss measures to tackle a meningitis epidemic that has affected 83 people and killed 15. They decided to allocate USD 63,000 for medical equipment and drugs needed to treat the disease and told preschools in badly stricken Hon Dat district to temporarily close.

Meanwhile, more than 16 people have died of bacterial meningitis in the Indian capital of New Delhi in March. Per local media reports, about 170 cases of the disease have been reported from crowded areas of the city since December 2005. Health officials are distributing leaflets to educate people about the symptoms of the disease.

Indian doctor develops new technique to treat Spondylitis

A neurosurgeon at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, India has developed a new technique in treating Spondylitis that is being hailed as a breakthrough in spinal treatment. The technique uses a unique vertebral drill that facilitates keyhole surgery for cervical spondylitis and disk prolapse. The new method will save patients from the complicated and painful procedures currently performed to treat the disease. The Central Commerce Ministry has awarded a patent for the device to prevent the duplication of the product.

Spondylitis is a type of arthritis that affects the spine or the backbone and causes back pain and stiffness. In both, Spondylitis and prolapsed disk also know as Slip Disk, it is the compression of the disk/bones that leads to pressure on the nerves or the spinal cord resulting in the pain and stiffness. The new technique developed will facilitate the easy removal of the compression between the disks without having to indulge in major surgery, and will be a lot less painful. It is a major step forward from the current surgery procedures such as the Cloward technique.

People affected with the ailment also don’t opt for the surgery due to the risks associated with it. The new technique reduces risks associated with the surgery drastically due to additional safeguards such as a cap fitted at the end of the drill that minimizes the chances of complications. Other factors that make it safer than the current treatment procedure include the fact that it will be a less invasive, microscope-monitored surgery.

New cellular finding provides hope for HIV infected

Research conducted at the Ohio State University, US, has made a path-breaking discovery that may change the way HIV/AIDS is treated. Scientists have identified a previously unknown mechanism that cells use to fight off HIV. It has been found that  two proteins, XPB and XPD that help in repairing the DNA of injured cells in the body also act as a destroyer of the DNA of HIV virus. The proteins inhibit the growth of the cDNA of the virus that is major force behind the growth and spread of the virus in the body.

Currently, HIV/AIDS is treated through a host of drugs in a ‘combination treatment’, with drugs that target the virus directly, blocking its ability to reproduce. Considered to be one of the fastest mutating viruses the medical world has faced, it also has the tendency to develop resistance to drugs being used or to mutate to develop a new strain that is resistant to the effects of an antiretroviral drug being administered. Researchers believe that drugs targeting the cellular components would yield better results, as they would make it difficult for the virus to develop resistance.

HIV/AIDS is a major killer worldwide, but it is infected people in the sub-Saharan and Asian continent who constitute more than half of the infected population. In these countries, curing the disease is a distant dream due to the high cost of drugs and low per capita income. As the constantly mutating virus is always one step ahead of scientists, the focus is on preparing a vaccine to prevent the spread of the HIV virus to the non-affected population of the world.

New low cost vaccine heralds hope for Meningitis patients

The WHO, the Serum Institute of India and the Partnership for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH), a non-profit organization based in the US, are working in collaboration to launch a new low-cost meningitis vaccine. The three together are part of the Meningitis Vaccination Project. The first round of tests in India was successful in proving that the vaccine was safe, and evoked good immune responses from infants and toddlers, the most affected and most vulnerable victims, primarily in the sub-Saharan belt. In the pivotal Phase II of the trials, Gambia and Mali will be targeted once the appropriate approvals from regulatory authorities are obtained.

Meningitis is an inflammation of the thin layer of fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It is a fatal disease that claims 10 per cent of the infected and causes permanent neurological problems such as deafness and epilepsy in 20 per cent of the diseased population. The new vaccine is aimed at the Meningitis A strain of the virus, prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa. It protects patients for up to 10 years compared to three years protection provided by existing vaccines and is safe enough to be administered to children below two years. However, it does not protect from the remaining strains such as the W135 strain of meningitis, which has caused the largest and most fatal outbreaks in recent years. The vaccine will be made available at very cheap rates with a target rate of 40 cents per dose.

Meningitis is a serious problem in Africa especially spanning Senegal and Gambia in the west to Ethiopia in the east, famously called as the ‘Meningitis Belt’. It also affects South Asian countries sporadically. The latest to be affected by the disease has been Delhi, the capital of India.

Insights on blood clotting during long air travel

A new study carried out by Leiden University Medical Center, Netherlands has revealed that sitting in cramped seats during flights is not the only reason for Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), popularly known as blood clotting. The study has revealed that poor air quality and low air pressure in the airplanes are among the main reasons for blood clotting.

The team researched 71 healthy individuals who were taken onboard a Boeing 757 for a non-stop eight-hour flight. Similar tests were carried out during their daily life activities and while attending a movie marathon. The results showed that the concentration of TAT complex, which is associated with blood clotting, rose considerably as much as 30 per cent after the flight, while it decreases by 2 per cent and 8 per cent after the movie marathon and daily life experiments respectively.

The researchers have concluded that a mixture of flight associated factors such as poor air quality and low air pressure also known as hypobaric hypoxia, sometimes associated with mountain climbing at high altitudes, both contribute to the phenomenon of blood clots during long flights in high risk people. The study has also hinted at methods to reduce DVT, which include reducing alcohol intake in flight, stretching one’s legs, taking aspirin and wearing compressive socks that improve blood circulation.

A December 2005 study by the Department of Transport, UK, has blamed long hours of traveling to be major cause of the disease. This does not necessarily apply only to air travel but also to bus and any other mode of transport where people have to sit for long hours in an environment where the air quality is poor. This study also held that Airline Company would not be legally held responsible for causing DVT also referred to as the ‘Economy Class Syndrome’.

New drug more effective in Hepatitis B treatment

Two international studies carried out and published in the ‘The New England Journal of Medicine’ have shown that the new drug Barclude (Entecavir) manufactured by Bristol Myers Squibb Company is far more effective for battling the life threatening Hepatitis B than Epivir (Lamivudine) manufactured by GlaxoSmithkline.

The studies have shown that the new drug, Entecavir, not only battles the disease more effectively but also helps in reducing the Hepatitis B virus levels in the blood. Another important aspect discovered in the course of the study is that the virus is far less resistant to the new drug than to Epivir. DNA based tests are important to understand the levels of Hepatitis B virus per milliliter of blood as well as the effects of the virus on liver cancer or liver cirrhosis in the future.

Hepatitis B virus affects the liver and causes acute illness. It is the ninth most common cause of death that claims about 2 million people worldwide annually. It is more readily transmitted than the dreaded HIV/AIDS virus. Treatment is available for the disease but the cure so far has been temporary. The disease can remain in the human body for six months to sometimes lifetime with symptoms that seem to appear and disappear. Sadly, the virus cannot be completely removed once a person is infected, and can possibly lead to cirrhosis of liver or Liver cancer. The only mode of prevention is by vaccination. Also, as the virus easily mutates, 70 to 80 per cent of the patients treated become resistant to the drugs within three to four years.

The study brings hope to millions of peole worldwide as the drug’s excellent potency and low rate of resistance make it an outstanding candidate for treating chronic hepatitis. However, patients need to realize that it involves long term therapy.

India launches Rapid Diagnostic Kit For Kala Azar

Scientists at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, have developed the first rapid diagnostic kit for Visceral Leishmaniasis, popularly known as Kala Azar. This is a major breakthrough in diagnosing the disease. Prior to this, the only way to diagnose the disease was through a long-winded, painful process.

Caused by sand-fly bites, Kala Azar’s symptoms include fever, weakness, anemia and swelling of the liver and spleen. If untreated, it can prove fatal. On an average, about five million people are affected globally of which 60,000 cases are fatal. The kit, called ‘Signal-Ka’, will play a pivotal role in eradicating the disease from India by 2012 as envisaged by the WHO. Signal-Ka will allow for easy, accurate and specific detection without a surgical procedure and within just 10 minutes.

As opposed to the current painful practice of taking samples from the patient’s bone marrow, doctors will now just have to dab the infected individuals with a strip of special paper. The strip will change color confirming that the individual is suffering from Kala Azar. Another important aspect of this kit is that the disease can be detected within 15 days of infection, before the symptoms set in. This is beneficial as symptoms of the disease are usually seen three months later, when the parasite has completed its incubation period.

This new kit comes as a boon for the millions of people not only in the form of early and easy detection of the disease, but also because it costs almost one-fifth the current cost of diagnosis.

GAVI to boost India’s vaccination program

The Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) has pledged 100 million US dollars over the next 10 years to India. To be distributed in two phases, Dr Julian Lob-Levyt, Secretary, GAVI said that 40 million dollars would be given in the first phase and in the second phase the amount will be more then doubled.

Indian has made major progress in providing immunization programs and this money will be used to better reach out to the needy and provide basic vaccines and improve healthcare systems across the country especially in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Immunization programs here are precariously close to breakdown. Recent statistics reveal that only 23 per cent children were vaccinated in Uttar Pradesh. The number was further reduced in Bihar where just 10 per cent of the children have been vaccinated.

Additionally, the money will also be invested in introducing new vaccines for ailments like pneumococcus, rotavirus, meningitis and Japanese encephalitis.

The rising rates of childhood mortality around the world and particularly in poor and developing countries can be successfully reduced if children are injected with the necessary vaccines. Currently it is estimated that these countries spend just about 2.5 billion dollars on immunization programs. However, there is a shortfall of about 10 to 15 billion dollars in the mission of meeting the rapid progress in vaccine development and availability worldwide.

GAVI will also float the first ‘global health bonds’ that are expected to raise about 4 billion dollars. This scheme will provide individuals and concerned groups across the world an opportunity to make sound investments besides becoming a part of making healthcare accessible to the poor.

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