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USAID Zika maternal and child survival program lauded
Thanks to a meaningful partnership between the government of St. Lucia and the United States Government, St. Lucia has seen a reduction in Zika cases. Addressing a close-out ceremony for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported, Zika Maternal and Child Survival Program, the US Ambassador to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the…
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Meagan Good and Amanda Cerny to jointly host Concert on Plastic Pollution / Play it Out
The President of the UN General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa, along with the Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, and Norway, today welcomed two new participants to the ‘Play it Out’ concert, to be held in Antigua on 1 June 2019. “Having dedicated my presidency to women and girls everywhere, it gives me immense pleasure that…
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CIBC Walk for the Cure Donates $50,000 to support Cancer Organisations
Two local organisations are benefitting from funds raised locally and regionally during CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank’s 7th Annual Walk for the Cure which was held last October. The Bank’s Country Manager Glen Smith noted: “Our participation in our Annual CIBC FirstCaribbean Walk for a Cure is important in terms of increasing awareness of the disease; raising…
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Pakistani police holding doctor for allegedly spreading HIV
Pakistani police say a court will allow a doctor with HIV and AIDS to remain in police custody for two more days to determine whether he knowingly spread HIV to over 150 people, mostly children, by using contaminated syringes. Local police chief Wasim Raja Soomro said Monday that Dr. Muzaffar Ghangharo was detained last week,…
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Curacao: Scientology ship to remain under quarantine
Authorities in Curacao say 318 people aboard a Church of Scientology ship docked in the Dutch Caribbean island will remain quarantined until they determine how many might be infected with measles. Dr. Izzy Gerstenbluth told The Associated Press that a team of health officials took 277 blood samples and sent them to the Netherlands. He…
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IAS statement on “London Patient” in HIV remission after transplant
The International AIDS Society (IAS) today welcomed an announcement that an HIV-positive man has remained in HIV remission off antiretroviral therapy (ART), 19 months after receiving a bone marrow transplant from a CCR5 negative donor for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. University College London (UCL) researchers made the announcement at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections…
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2nd case reported of a “Functional Cure” of HIV
By Eleanor Frederick, MSc, MPH Reports from the Conference on Retrovirus and Opportunistic Infection (CROI), in Seattle, United States is of the second case of an HIV infected man “functionally cured” of HIV. The HIV infected man from the United Kingdom was treated for lymphoma with stem cells transplanted from a donor with a rare…
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New study warns of inadequate prevention responses to HIV epidemic in the Caribbean
A study has found that while the Caribbean has made progressing in responding to the HIV epidemic, the impact of the prevention response has been inadequate, particularly among key populations. The study also found that of concern to regional stakeholders is that the annual number of new HIV infections among adults in the Caribbean declined…
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Region urged to prepare for possibility of severe outbreak of Dengue Fever
The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) has called on health officials across the region to prepare for the possibility of a severe outbreak of the mosquito borne Dengue Fever. In a statement Thursday, CARPHA said the last major regional outbreak of Dengue occurred in 2009. “Since then, the Region has experienced two large outbreaks of…
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KPMG donates funds raised for cancer
During the months of October and November, KPMG in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean (BEC) engaged in a special campaign across Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent to raise funds for breast and prostate cancers, respectively. Dubbed the “Pink Challenge,” for every day in October that staff across KPMG BEC wore an…
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A medical student’s token of appreciation
By Saeed Graham As a medical student, it isn’t often that I get to interact with superiors who are genuinely interested in my development in the field. It would appear as though completion of this particular stage of the journey precipitates as amnesia for the feelings of insecurity and incompetence associated with being a grass-shoot…