Latest news with #prevention
Zawya
2 hours ago
- Health
- Zawya
Community support boosts Angola's cholera response
In the heart of Boa Vista, a neighbourhood in Angola's capital, Luanda, 48-year-old mother of three Maria Teresa da Silva is joining other community members to spread awareness of the ongoing cholera outbreak. When the first cases were reported in her community in mid-January 2025, she joined a group of concerned women eager to contribute to the response. With support from local authorities, they began educating neighbours, distributing hygiene products and promoting cholera prevention practices. 'We live in a community,' she says. 'We must find time and support each other to protect our health and save lives.' Community involvement in this low-income urban neighbourhood has helped to curb the outbreak: no new cholera cases have been reported for four consecutive weeks, since 19 May. 'At first, many families didn't seek health services. Lack of information was the biggest challenge,' says the municipal administrator of Ingombota, Mika Kaquesse. Local authorities organized 800 community awareness sessions, built water tanks, distributed hygiene products and implemented sanitation sensitization campaigns. 'We know that prevention is key in cholera control ‒ clean water, sanitation and information,' says Dr Genoveva Mafu, clinical coordinator at the Boa Vista cholera treatment centre. 'It was frightening at first, but teamwork and partner support made all the difference.' The Ministry of Health in Angola, with support from World Health Organization (WHO), has trained more than 8000 community mobilizers to support the response and around 4450 community leaders in early detection, oral rehydration solution preparation and household water treatment. Health authorities have conducted sensitization campaigns with community and religious leaders, community listening sessions, and engaged with multiple sectors such as environment, fisheries, water and energy, youth and the military to ensure a coordinated and culturally appropriate response. This has resulted in more than 8 million people reached with messages on cholera prevention. 'Community-based activities have increased public trust in health services and strengthened local epidemiological surveillance,' says Mateus Mariano Miguel, president of the Boa Vista Residents Committee. 'The community responded massively. We continue working, even without new cases, because we know prevention must never stop.' Health authorities have also trained 1000 health workers and activated almost 140 surveillance teams conducting case management, active case finding, and infection prevention and control. Nationwide, 166 rapid response teams have been deployed and 180 cholera treatment centres have been established to manage and treat cases. In just over five months, Angola has recorded over 26 000 cases and nearly 750 deaths. This marks the worst cholera outbreak in the country in almost two decades. Thanks to a multisectoral and multipronged approach, the past two weeks have shown encouraging trends. As of 14 June 2025, the number of new weekly cases has dropped to 826 – the lowest levels since March. Weekly deaths have decreased to the lowest levels since January and the weekly case fatality rate has declined to 1.5% from a high of 8.8% in January 2025. 'While the situation remains serious, these improvements demonstrate the impact of the ongoing response and provide hope that the outbreak can be brought under control soon. We must continue to reinforce collaboration because when communities are empowered and engaged, lives can be saved and dignity restored,' says Dr Indrajit Hazarika, WHO Representative in Angola. Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.
CBS News
11 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
Nonprofit in Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood working to prevent HIV infections
In a quiet corner of Philadelphia's Kensington neighborhood, Kareem Mims is doing work that could one day put him out of a job, and he hopes it does. As a prevention healthcare coordinator at Prevention Point Philadelphia, Mims tests people for HIV, the virus that has taken the lives of over 700,000 people in the United States since the start of the epidemic in 1981. "HIV is still an easy virus to spread. It's still an easy virus to contract, and it can go unnoticed for years," Mims said. "So, the more people getting tested, especially our at-risk folks, if they are infected with HIV, we can get them in treatment and have them undetectable, which means un-transmittable, within 30 days." Mims works for Prevention Point, a nonprofit that has been on the front lines of harm reduction for over 30 years. The organization launched Philadelphia's first legal syringe exchange in 1992, at the height of the AIDS crisis, a time when nearly 50% of new HIV infections in the city were linked to drug use. Today, thanks to expanded access to testing, treatment, and prevention, Prevention Point said that figure has dropped to just 5.8% as of 2023. One of the people getting tested is Maryann Parken, a regular at Prevention Point. "These people are awesome," she said. "I get a lot of services here. I get PrEP. I get everything. So, I come here like every day." Parken said she tests regularly because her partner had hepatitis C. "Just in case," she said. The science around HIV prevention has evolved dramatically. Antiretroviral medications now allow people living with HIV to become undetectable, meaning they cannot transmit the virus to others. There's also PrEP, a once-daily oral medication that prevents HIV infection, and more recently, long-acting injectable versions. "When I first started working here four years ago, we only had oral PrEP like Descovy," Mims said. "Now we're doing long-acting injections, which I really recommend to all of our patients, especially our unhoused patients." "In this population, people lose their pills," he added. "People get their pills stolen." Despite the progress, Mims said there's still work to do. He hopes treatment continues to advance and that one day, the virus will no longer be a threat. "I'm currently trying to work myself out of a job," he said. "When we have zero HIV infections, I'll feel satisfied."
CNN
14 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
FDA approves twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV
FDA approves twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV A drug already used to treat HIV has now been given FDA approval to prevent new infections, and the drugmaker says it is remarkably effective. 01:20 - Source: CNN Vertical Top News 14 videos FDA approves twice-a-year shot to prevent HIV A drug already used to treat HIV has now been given FDA approval to prevent new infections, and the drugmaker says it is remarkably effective. 01:20 - Source: CNN Iranian missile strikes major Israeli medical center CNN's International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, reports from Beer Sheva, Israel, where a hospital was struck during an Iranian attack. Iran said it was targeting an Israeli intelligence and command center 'near a hospital.' There have been no reported deaths from the strike. 01:04 - Source: CNN Israel's defense minister: Khamenei cannot 'continue to exist' Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cannot be allowed to 'continue to exist,' after an Israeli hospital was struck by an Iranian missile on Thursday. 00:13 - Source: CNN SpaceX Starship rocket explodes An explosion occurred late Wednesday night at SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas. A Starship rocket preparing for its tenth flight test experienced a 'major anomaly,' SpaceX says. There were no injuries and all employees are accounted for, according to SpaceX. The cause of the explosion and the extent of any damage are unclear. CNN has reached out to local police and fire departments for more information. 00:35 - Source: CNN Sole survivor of Air India crash mourns brother Vishwash Kumar Ramesh is the only survivor among 242 on board an Air India flight that crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12. On Wednesday Ramesh attended the funeral for his brother, who died in the tragedy. 00:30 - Source: CNN Hear former President Obama's warning about direction of the US Former President Barack Obama warned that the United States is 'dangerously close' to becoming 'consistent with autocracies' during a civic group event in Connecticut. 00:56 - Source: CNN Anne Burrell dead at 55 Anne Burrell, a chef and television personality whose joyful demeanor made her a beloved fixture on the Food Network, has died, according to the network. She was 55. 00:38 - Source: CNN NYC mayoral candidate arrested at immigration court New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander was released from federal custody Tuesday afternoon, hours after he was arrested by officers at an immigration court in Manhattan when he tried to escort a migrant whom officers were attempting to arrest. 01:48 - Source: CNN Trump's new phone looks a lot like one from China The Trump Organization says its upcoming T1 smartphone will be 'proudly designed and built in the United States.' But experts tell CNN they're skeptical that goal can be achieved-- and say the T1's specifications are strikingly similar to a Chinese-made phone already on the market. 01:07 - Source: CNN This is how the US could get involved in the Israel-Iran conflict CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports on how the US could get involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran while the countries continue trading strikes for a sixth day, with civilians in flashpoint areas facing waves of attacks. 02:14 - Source: CNN Trump's sons announce mobile phone company Trump Mobile, a wireless service created by the Trump Organization, aims to rival US carrier companies like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. The Trump Organization, run by President Donald Trump's eldest sons Eric and Donald Jr., announced the business and launched a new gold smartphone for pre-order. 01:09 - Source: CNN What Iranian residents are texting to CNN as strikes hit As Israeli strikes zeroed in on Iran's capital city of Tehran, CNN's Clarissa Ward reports from Tel Aviv some of the messages she's received from residents in Iran offering a glimpse into the daily anxieties of living in a country faced with an ever-escalating conflict in the sky. 01:33 - Source: CNN Minnesota suspect went to 4 state lawmaker homes night of shootings The suspect in the killing of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband in addition to the shooting of another lawmaker and his wife also visited two more politicians' homes, according to authorities. 02:08 - Source: CNN Trump slams G7 for kicking out Russia President Donald Trump kicked off his visit to the G7 summit in Canada by criticizing nations for kicking out Russia eleven years ago. 00:36 - Source: CNN
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gilead's twice-yearly HIV prevention injection gets FDA approval
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Gilead's (GILD) new HIV prevention drug. The drug, lenacapavir, only requires an injection every 6 months. Yahoo Finance Healthcare Reporter Anjalee Khemlani reports the details. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination Overtime here. What's a big milestone for Gilead Sciences today. The Biotech Giant securing FDA approval for its latest HIV treatment. It's a significant step forward for that company and patients. Gilead also seeing a boost on that news. Our senior health reporter Anjali kamlani joins us now. Au, what is what is the big takeaway for for investors watching all this? Yeah, I think the big takeaway here is that investors have actually been waiting for this approval. They anticipate quick uptake and a high volume of uptake of this drug used as a pre-exposure prophylaxis, you know, prep as the common acronym for those types of drugs. Now, Gilead already has discovy for that, but the difference here is that this new use or new approval for Lenca Paviar, it is a twice yearly injectable. And that is the difference between the regular oral and this new approval. And so that is really going to help boost Gilead's revenues for the year. We know that already Lenca Paviar brings in about $60 million for the company, and they're anticipating that that will get boosted to about $150 to $195 million in revenue for the company for the year. That's the estimate that analysts are expecting with the approval, and they've been waiting for this approval for quite some time. So really good news. You can see that, you know, the stock is benefiting from this right now and is supposed to be a game changer for those patients. There are some questions about whether or not being a twice yearly drug, it will be more expensive than say a daily oral. And so that is something that Gilead has tried to addressing that they plan to have a insurance and non-insurance access point for patients as well. Thanks so much for joining us on this. Appreciate it. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
CNN
2 days ago
- Health
- CNN
FDA approves twice-a-year injection for HIV prevention
A drug currently used to treat certain HIV infections has also, on Wednesday, received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to be used to prevent HIV. Gilead Sciences, maker of the drug, announced that a twice-a-year injection of lenacapavir has been approved in the United States for HIV prevention under the brand name Yeztugo. In clinical trials, the drug was found to dramatically reduce the risk of infection and provide near-total protection against HIV, significantly more than the primary options available for pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP. Therapies called PrEP have been used to prevent HIV infections for years. In the United States, this may involve taking pills, such as a daily medication called Truvada, or getting shots, such as injections every two months of the medication Apretude. But a twice-yearly shot of lenacapavir has now become another option in the prevention toolbox – making it the first and only such shot for HIV prevention. With any PrEP drug, 'by having that medicine in your bloodstream or in your body, if you encounter HIV, it blocks it from taking hold. It arrests infection from taking hold,' said Dr. Jared Baeten, senior vice president of clinical development and the virology therapeutic area head at Gilead Sciences. The human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, spread primarily through unprotected sex or sharing needles, attacks the body's immune system, and without treatment, it can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. Although rates of new HIV infections have fallen in the US, about 1.2 million people are estimated to have HIV, and about 13% of them may not know it. A study called the PURPOSE 2 trial found that just two shots a year of lenacapavir can reduce the risk of HIV infection by 96%, proving it to offer near-total protection against HIV. Another study, the PURPOSE 1 trial, found that lenacapavir demonstrated 100% efficacy for HIV prevention in women. 'Lenacapavir is a unique option for people for HIV prevention because it's an injection given just twice a year. So people can get it privately, discreetly, and then set it and forget it and not have to think about it until six months later,' Baeten said. 'For many people, that might be the empowered, private option that might make HIV prevention workable in their lives.' There continues to be a lot of stigma, fear and misinformation around HIV, said Ian Haddock, who participated in the PURPOSE 2 trial for lenacapavir. When Haddock was a teenager living in rural Texas, he recalled, he faced some of that stigma. 'The first thing that was said when my family found out that I was queer was, 'You're going to get AIDS,' ' said Haddock, who does not live with HIV. 'So that's the first thing I heard.' Now, at 37, Haddock knows that HIV does not discriminate. He works to break such misguided stereotypes about the LGBTQ+ community as the founder of a nonprofit called the Normal Anomaly Initiative, and he said he is proud to have participated in the clinical trial. 'It feels like a full-circle moment,' he said. Haddock said he started to take daily PrEP pills in 2015 to help reduce his risk of HIV, but sometimes they would give him an upset stomach or he would forget to take them. In January 2024, when he learned about the lenacapavir clinical trial, he quickly enrolled. He had no side effects during the trial other than irritation at the injection site, he said. Even though the trial has concluded, Haddock said, he plans to continue receiving lenacapavir injections twice a year, and he hopes the FDA approval will help raise awareness of HIV prevention tools. In 2012, the FDA approved Truvada, also made by Gilead Sciences, making it the first PrEP medication for HIV prevention in uninfected adults in the United States – but 'even though PrEP has been around since 2012, people don't really know what it is, and they often kind of conflate it to having HIV or being extremely promiscuous,' Haddock said. 'So this just opens up a completely new opportunity,' he said of lenacapavir. Last year, Gilead Sciences released data from the PURPOSE 2 trial that showed 99.9% of the participants who received an injection of lenacapavir twice a year for HIV prevention did not become infected. There were only two cases among 2,180 people, effectively proving 89% more effective than the PrEP pill Truvada. The trial was unblinded early because it met its key endpoints, allowing lenacapavir to be offered to all participants, and the drug was found to be well-tolerated. 'The most common side effects, as you might expect, are injection-site reactions,' Baeten said, such as rash or discomfort. The PURPOSE 2 trial included cisgender men, transgender men, transgender women and nonbinary people 16 or older who had sex with partners assigned male at birth. Some of the study participants became pregnant during the trial and continued to receive lenacapavir during pregnancy without complications, Baeten said. 'This is a milestone moment in the decades-long fight against HIV. With twice-yearly administration and remarkable efficacy, lenacapavir will help us prevent HIV on a scale never seen before,' Daniel O'Day, chairman and chief executive officer at Gilead Sciences, said in an emailed statement. 'After 17 years of research and pioneering clinical trials, Gilead scientists have delivered the next frontier in HIV innovation: a prevention medicine with remarkable efficacy that only needs to be delivered twice a year,' O'Day said. 'It's a true scientific breakthrough that could help millions of people around the world.' Now that lenacapavir has been approved for prevention, people should be able to visit their providers and ask about the drug within two days, Gilead Sciences said in an email. The company added that it could take up to two months for someone to receive their first injections, based on coverage decisions. The list price for lenacapavir, when used for HIV prevention, will be announced soon, Baeten said. The list price is expected to be different from when lenacapavir is used for the treatment of multidrug-resistant HIV, in which other HIV medications have not worked and the patient meets certain other requirements for lenacapavir treatment. One study published in November in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy found that for treatment, lenacapavir costs up to nearly $45,000 per person per year without insurance, as an average wholesale list price – but it could be mass-produced for less than $100 per person per year. The team of researchers behind the study projected a possible minimum price based on the drug's current ingredients, production models and cost models. They demonstrated that lenacapavir could be mass-produced for up to $93 per person per year, potentially falling to about $40 per person per year 'if voluntary licences are in place and competition between generic suppliers substantially improves.' 'Voluntary licensing and multiple suppliers are required to achieve these low prices,' the researchers wrote in the study abstract. 'This mechanism is already in place for other antiretrovirals.' Lenacapavir is the latest HIV prevention shot to receive FDA approval. Apretude, made by GSK's ViiV Healthcare, was the first injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis medication to receive approval in the US in 2021. The hope is that PrEP tools could lead to a total halt to new HIV infections in future generations, Baeten said. 'Every one of us would like nothing more than to end this epidemic, and that's what really solid prevention can do for us – that coupled with testing and treatment,' he said. 'I want this next generation to think about HIV as something that they can end in their lifetime, end in their generation. And I want their next generation to be one where they've never had to think about HIV at all,' he said. 'We've got this amazing opportune moment right now as a world to think about where we can be in the future. We can be a world without HIV.' The new FDA approval comes as the Trump administration has cut back funding for HIV-related research grants, HIV prevention and surveillance programs through the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and sharply curtailed global HIV efforts. The administration's 2026 budget proposal includes the elimination of funding for HIV programs, totaling more than $1.5 billion, according to the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. With the approval of lenacapavir for PrEP, 'now is not the time to pull the rug out from under HIV prevention,' Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in an email. 'The obliteration of CDC HIV prevention and surveillance programs is an absurd proposal that will just increase HIV infections and health costs down the road,' he said. 'We urgently call on Congress to reject these cuts in order to ensure that states and community-based organizations have the resources to prevent HIV, which is still a serious infectious disease and results in about 32,000 new cases each year.'
