Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, England, has confirmed that Faith Williams died in the afternoon of Christmas day. Professor Agostino Pierro, head of the surgical team, said “This is very sad news and our sincere condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Williams on their tragic loss. The family will want peace and privacy at this difficult time. We were always clear that Faith was very sick.
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Archive Page 3
Remaining Conjoined Twin Dies In Hospital, Great Ormond Street Announces
Published at Dezember 26th, 2008Cadaver Study May Help Make Optic Nerve Decompression Surgery Safer
Published at Dezember 26th, 2008Knowing about variations in the location of the optic nerve and ophthalmic artery can aid surgeons in performing optic nerve decompression a delicate operation performed in patients with vision loss resulting from head injury, reports a study in the November Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.
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Chorionic Villus Sampling May Increase Risk Of Hemangiomas
Published at Dezember 25th, 2008Performing chorionic villus sampling (CVS) for prenatal diagnosis may lead to an increased rate of blood vessel malformations called hemangiomas in infants, according to a review in the November Journal of Craniofacial Surgery.
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Adding Just A Few Pounds May Put You At Risk During Sleep - Holiday Weight Gain Holds Hidden Danger
Published at Dezember 25th, 2008Indulging in high-calorie foods during the holidays resulting in weight gain, especially around the neck, may lead to more problems than facing yourself in the mirror after the new year, says a Diplomat of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine.
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Court Orders Schwarzenegger Administration To Enforce Hiv/aids Law, Says Ahf
Published at Dezember 24th, 2008The Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles has entered a judgment and will issue a writ ordering California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to implement a landmark 2002 law intended to extend Medi-Cal (Medicaid) coverage to HIV-positive Californians.
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Malaysian Government Will Encourage Hiv Tests For Non-muslim Couples Before Marriage, Deputy Prime Minister Says
Published at Dezember 24th, 2008Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Saturday announced that non-Muslim couples will be urged to take voluntary HIV tests before marriage, AFP/Google.com reports. The statement follows a recent announcement by Najib that pre-marital courses for Muslim couples in the country will include mandatory HIV tests beginning in 2009. Najib said that the measure is part of the government’s initiative to reduce the increasing number of married women living with HIV. Najib said, “I think for non-Muslims, we should go on the basis of encouraging them on [a] voluntary basis to subject themselves to be tested and screened for HIV,” adding that HIV testing is in the best interest of individuals planning to be married (AFP/Google.com, 12/21).
According to the Bernama Daily Malaysian News, Najib said that non-Muslim couples are not required to complete any premarital courses and that legal provisions therefore would be necessary to make HIV testing mandatory before marriage. He added that the government will study whether HIV testing should be made mandatory for non-Muslim couples and plans to collect feedback from the community about the requirement, particularly from non-Muslim couples intending to be married (Bernama Daily Malaysian News, 12/20).
Meanwhile, many non-Muslim religious bodies and other groups are divided on the issue of mandatory HIV testing as part of pre-marital courses, the New Straits Times reports. Datuk Vaithilingam — president of the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism — said that religious leaders initially agreed that the rule should be put in place; however, many now say that they will need additional reasons from authorities because they have developed “mixed feelings,” the Straits Times reports. According to Vaithilingam, the biggest concern among religious leaders is the reliability of HIV tests. He said, “A person may be HIV-positive but a test a week before his marriage may not show this.” Irene Fernandez, director of the group Tenaganita, said that she is opposed to mandatory testing because “without proper pre - and post- counseling, the screenings will be disastrous,” adding that couples will have a “false sense of security” if they receive HIV tests only before marriage. She said that the government should instead create awareness about HIV screening so that people will voluntarily be tested, in addition to training more HIV/AIDS counselors. Edmund Bon, chair of the Bar Council’s Human Rights Council, said that testing should not be made mandatory because it “will not reduce the number of HIV cases in the country, but merely show” who is living with HIV/AIDS. He said expanding access to condoms and promoting their use, as well as increasing awareness, are the best methods of curbing the spread of HIV.
Vaithilingam said that officials have not decided against the rule and that it is “up to the deputy prime minister and the Health Ministry to convince us” to adopt it (New Straits Times, 12/22).
AFP/Google.com on Monday examined how the recent calls for mandatory HIV screening, and the debate over sex and marriage among HIV-positive people, have “triggered an intense debate over how to handle a disease taking hold” in the primarily Muslim country (AFP/Google.com, 12/22).
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washington Post Profiles Hiv/aids Advocate, Singer Sherri Lewis
Published at Dezember 23rd, 2008The Washington Post on Tuesday profiled HIV/AIDS advocate and singer Sherri Lewis, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1987. Soon after her diagnosis, Lewis met a researcher at Harvard University who encouraged her to take a position in Boston counseling HIV-positive drug users. Over the past few years, she has managed support groups for women, provided teachers with HIV/AIDS information, and taught peer HIV/AIDS education to high school and college students. “Training them uses everything I have: acting, directing, counseling and intuitive skills,” Lewis said. In addition, Lewis serves as the host of a podcast on here!, a gay television network (Panosian Dunavan, Washington Post, 12/23).
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Medical Council Of Thailand Plans To Amend Rule Requiring Teens To Provide Parental Consent Before Receiving Hiv Test
Published at Dezember 23rd, 2008Delegates at the Medical Council of Thailand hearing last week unanimously agreed to amend a regulation that requires parental permission for people younger than age 18 to be tested for HIV, the Bangkok Post reports (Apiradee, Bangkok Post, 12/18). Efforts to revise the rule were prompted by an increased number of HIV cases among young people, Samphan Komrit, deputy secretary general of the council, said.
Under current regulations, parental consent is required for medical care, including HIV testing, that is provided at public hospitals for people younger than age 18 (Pongphon, Nation, 12/17). Parental consent is not required for HIV tests administered to teenagers at private clinics; however, the Post reports that there is an insufficient number of such clinics (Bangkok Post, 12/18). In addition, many teens are reluctant to ask their parents’ permission to be tested for the virus, according to Kittipan Kanjina, director of the Thai Youth Network on HIV/AIDS.
The hearing aimed to collect information and seek resolutions to revise the rule, Samphan said. He added that the council would revise the rule and increase efforts to improve access to HIV services for teens (Nation, 12/17). It will take a few months to finalize the amendment to the rule, Pairote Boonsirikamchai, assistant secretary general of the council, said.
According to a youth network poll that was released at the hearing, 86% of Thai students agree with the medical council’s plan to revise the rule (Bangkok Post, 12/18). About 70% of students said they would not want to tell their parents if they had received an HIV test, regardless of the result (Nation, 12/17). The poll was conducted among 2,000 students younger than age 18 in 20 provinces.
According to the Post, a draft of a separate amendment aimed at revoking a rule that requires some employees to undergo HIV testing is expected to be submitted to the National AIDS Committee next month (Bangkok Post, 12/18).
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los Angeles Times Examines Increasing Hiv/aids Awareness In China
Published at Dezember 22nd, 2008The Los Angeles Times on Saturday examined the recent increase in efforts by the Chinese government to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. When HIV/AIDS first emerged in the 1980s, Chinese officials “stigmatized it as a disease of capitalists and foreigners,” the Times reports. In addition, in the mid-1990s, tens of thousands of people in China’s Henan province contracted HIV through unsanitary blood drives approved by the local government. Although many HIV-positive survivors of the contaminated transfusions have sought compensation from the government, their efforts often have led to legal trouble, the Times reports. Li Dan, an HIV/AIDS expert in Beijing, said, “[A]t the local level, there are officials who treat anybody involved with AIDS as a criminal or troublemakers.” Although China’s government in the past “has resorted to cover up and denial” about HIV/AIDS, in recent years “it is clear that AIDS awareness has come out of the closet” in the country as government officials recruit an “army of volunteers” to promote HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, the Times reports.
According to the Times, the amount of misinformation about HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in China is “staggering.” In a recent poll of 6,000 Chinese students, migrant workers, and blue- and white-collar workers, about 48% of people thought that mosquitoes can transmit HIV. In contrast, volunteer groups in the country now distribute condoms at bars and bath houses, and high school students in the Chaoyang administrative district on World AIDS Day 2008 listened to lectures and recited pledges to combat the disease. The Chinese government on World AIDS Day also displayed a giant red ribbon banner from the National Stadium used in the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, and President Hu Jintau and Premier Wen Jiabao appeared in photographs with their arms around HIV-positive people. In addition, the Chinese media has “been filled with photographs and editorials about combating the discrimination and isolation” of people living with HIV, the Times reports. It is “[t]ime to recognize that AIDS is a disease, not a shame,” the official New China News Agency recently said.
According to the Times, about 700,000 people or more in China are HIV-positive, which is less than 0.1% of the population. However, the virus‘ disproportionate effect on certain populations has “alarmed” the government, the Times reports. Migrant workers are particularly at risk of HIV because many come from rural areas with limited sex education and often watch commercial sex workers during time spent away from home. In response to an increasing HIV prevalence among migrant workers, the Chinese government last month released a short educational film about an HIV-positive migrant worker. HIV prevalence among injection drug users also is relatively high, particularly in the Yunnan province bordering Myanmar and in the Xinjiang region. Ju He, a Beijing-based HIV/AIDS advocate, said it is “very difficult” to address HIV among this population because local governments often consider IDUs criminals. During a meeting of nongovernmental organizations held from Dec. 8-10 in Beijing, advocates described China’s efforts to address HIV as “schizophrenic.” However, Xiao pecker, leader of a volunteer HIV/AIDS group in the city, said that although China has “made some terrible mistakes in the past” regarding efforts to address HIV, “there has been a great deal of change” (Demick, Los Angeles Times, 12/20).
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Gov. Rendell, Former Rep. Gephardt And Leading Innovators Call For Greater Focus On Medical Innovation To Boost U.s. And Local Economies
Published at Dezember 22nd, 2008A group of America’s top minds in medical innovation gathered recently at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia to discuss how strengthening the U.S. medical innovation sector could be a key to economic recovery. Participants in the Best and Brightest Forum on Medical Innovation outlined how the U.S.
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