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Alfredo Libombo, National Director, Media Institute of Southern Africa, MozambiqueThe Health Investigation Center in Manhica, also known as CSIM, published, on Wednesday 17 October 2007, results of a product that could lead to a vaccine against malaria.
Results reveal a 65% reduction of new infections in newborn babies aged between 10 to 18 weeks for a period of 3 months following treatment.
In addition, these children had a 35% reduction in "cyclic episodes of malaria" 6 months after starting treatment.
Dr. Pedro Luis Alonso, Scientific Director of the Manhiça Health Research Center (pictured left) says that if results continue to be positive, "Phase III" will start in the second half of next year". Successful results in "Phase III" could lead to the submission of the vaccine to the regulatory authorities in 2011.
Dave Agbenu, Accra, Ghana"I am the Organizing Secretary of the Ghana Journalists Association...
This is to inform members of the Health and Media listserv that from November 28 to November 30, there is going to be an AIDS conference in Ghana. The return airfare, accommodation, meals, local transport will be taken care of by sponsors.
The conference starts from 28th and ends on 30th November 2007.
Interested journalists should send their e-mails/contacts to etsey25@yahoo.com as soon as possible so that bookings for their flights from their respective countries can commence.
Thanks..."
New report cites progress on malaria
Who:
Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director, UNICEF
Dr. Awa Marie Coll-Seck, Executive Director, Roll Back Malaria Partnership
Dr. Tedros Adhanon Ghebreysus, Minister of Health, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, President's Malaria Initiative
When:
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
07.00 (Pacific time)
10.00 (Eastern time)
15.00 (London time)
16.00 (Johannesburg time)
What:
Media briefing, embargoed for 00.01 GMT, Wednesday 17 October
Where:
By telephone
Why: A new report, Malaria and Children, Progress in Intervention Coverage, finds significant gains in the fight against malaria in sub-Saharan Africa. Providing a comprehensive assessment of the progress that has been made in malaria control, the r eport finds a rapid increase in the supply of insecticide-treated bed nets between 2004 and 2006.
The report, prepared by UNICEF on behalf of the Roll Back Malaria initiative, is being launched in Seattle, Washington State, to coincide with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Malaria Forum, 16-18 October.
TO JOIN THE CALL AND FOR MORE INFORMATION: send your contact information to "HALIL, Katya
halilk@who.int sothat Katyacanconnect youto the call at the set time
Maruf Mallick, bdnews24.com, staff correspondent, Bangladesh
Dhaka, Sept 27 (bdnews24.com)—Increasing risky extramarital sex practices among the Bangladeshi males is likely to exacerbate the rate of HIV-AIDS infection countrywide, says a recent ICDDR, B study.
“We have to be extra careful about handling our sex life, as we’re highly vulnerable now because most people care very little about using condoms and choosing sex partners,” said ICDDR, B researcher Dr Mahbub Elahi to bdnews24.com Wednesday.
The study found efforts to raise awareness and to take protection against HIV infection was not seeing much success because of the high incidence of extramarital sex with sex-workers and chance acquaintances coupled with general nonchalance about using condoms.
These trends point to the possibilities of huge explosion in the rate of HIV infection in the near future, the study warned.
The study showed that females were less prone to having extramarital sex compared with males. Only about 11 percent of females with their husbands living abroad tended to be promiscuous.
It also revealed that habitually more promiscuous males tended to be more aggressively so when they were separated from their wives or regular sex partners.
The 2005 study conducted in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazaar, Bogra, Rajshahi and Faridpur districts on the sexual behaviours of 7,122 males observed that 18 percent of the survey respondents had experienced extramarital sex and 56 percent had sex with more than one partners.
Of the respondents, 52 percent were townspeople and 59 percent earned less than Tk 5,000 a month. Three-fourths of them were in services, the rest being farmers or labourers.
Males aged below 30 years were found to be most promiscuous among the different age groups; of them, 27 percent were bachelors.
“In case the current rate of extramarital sexual aberrations aggravates, it should be quite dangerous,” said BSMMU virology professor M Nazrul Islam to bdnews24.com.
He said the ICDDR, B study is a scientific one and reiterated, ”We’ve to seriously consider ways of curbing unsafe sex everywhere.”
The study found that more and more of the low-income people tended to have sex with risky partners. Again, it was them who did not care about using condoms while going for risky sex.
Promiscuity leads to HIV infection in increasing number of cases also.
The study highlighted the need for effectively changing the male sexual behaviour generally through cutting down on changing sex partners and using condoms regularly.
bdnews24.com/mrf/ac/gna/wz/bd/1534hours
