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Mobile Phones Help Bolster Uganda's Fight against HIV

Stella Nayiga clutches her mobile phone as she describes the messages that she received punctually every morning and evening for over a year, reminding her to take her antiretroviral (ARV) drugs regularly.

"The text messages would come twice a day and were saying things like 'Dear friend, please take care of yourself' and when you got them you knew it was time to take your medicine," Nayiga, 28, told Agence France Presse.

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U.N., OIE Call for More Controls on Rinderpest Virus

The U.N.'s food agency and the OIE called on countries on Monday to comply with a 2011 global moratorium and destroy potentially dangerous rinderpest virus samples or put them into safe storage.

The deadly animal virus, which caused cattle plague, was the second viral disease in history to be wiped out after smallpox more than 30 years ago.

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Alzheimer's Drug Fails in 1 Study, 2nd Continues

A closely watched experimental Alzheimer's treatment has failed to slow the disease in one late-stage study, a big disappointment for doctors and patients but not the end of the road for the drug. Pfizer Inc. said Monday that it will continue to study its effect on a different group of patients.

Pfizer, which is testing bapineuzumab with partner Johnson & Johnson, said the injected drug didn't slow mental or functional decline in patients with mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease. The study included about 1,100 patients who carry a gene called ApoE4, which gives people a higher risk of developing the memory-robbing disorder.

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Cancer-Causing Toxin Found In Chinese Baby Formula

A Chinese baby drinks coconut milk …

A Chinese dairy has been ordered to suspend production after a cancer-causing toxin was found in its infant formula, China's quality watchdog said Monday, in the country's latest milk scare.

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Researchers Unveil Promising TB Drug Cocktail

Researchers reported progress Monday with an experimental drug cocktail that killed a record 99 percent of TB bacteria in two weeks and costs a fraction of existing treatments.

It may also, crucially, be compatible with AIDS medicine.

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Docs at Odds over Kids' Cholesterol Test Guidance

Should all U.S. children get tested for high cholesterol? Doctors are still debating that question months after a government-appointed panel recommended widespread screening that would lead to prescribing medicine for some kids.

Fresh criticism was published online Monday in Pediatrics by researchers at one university who say the guidelines are too aggressive and were influenced by panel members' financial ties to drugmakers.

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Lab-Engineered Jellyfish May Mend a Broken Heart

Using cells from rat hearts and a seer polymer film, scientists on Sunday reported they had created an artificial jellyfish that could one day help save patients with heart disease.

The exploit marks an advance in so-called bio mimicry, in which a natural wonder inspires copycat innovation in the lab.

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Mozambique Launches Brazil-Funded Drugs Plant to Battle HIV

Mozambique on Saturday launched a Brazilian funded pharmaceutical plant that will make anti-retroviral drugs to battle the HIV/AIDS scourge in the southern African country.

The factory -- built with $23 million in aid from Brazil and $4.5 million from that country's mining giant Vale -- will initially package drugs from Brazil but start producing the pills by the end of the year.

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International Group Urges Prompt HIV Treatment for All

An international group of scientists on Sunday called for all adults who test positive for HIV to be treated with antiretroviral drugs right away rather than waiting for their immune systems to weaken.

The recommendations by the International Antiviral Society are the first by a global group to make such a call, and were released at the 19th International AIDS Conference in Washington, the world's largest meeting on HIV/AIDS.

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European Regulator: Gene Therapy Treatment OK

The European Medicines Agency is recommending the first-ever approval of a gene therapy treatment in the EU, in a significant move for a type of treatment that has so far failed to deliver on its promise to cure diseases.

In a statement on Friday, the EMA said Glybera, made by Dutch company uniQure, should be approved across Europe for the treatment of an extremely rare disorder that leaves people unable to digest fat. The treatment consists of a gene that makes a protein to break down fat.

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