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New York Times
3 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
MRNA, Used in Covid Shots, May Help Rid the Body of H.I.V.
The technology that powered Covid vaccines may also lead scientists to a cure for H.I.V. Using mRNA, Australian researchers said they were able to trick the virus to come out of hiding, a crucial step in ridding the body of it entirely. The research, published last week in Nature Communications, is still preliminary, and so far, has been shown to be successful only in a lab. But it suggests that mRNA has potential far beyond its use in vaccines as a means to deliver therapies against stubborn adversaries. Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is a set of instructions for a gene. In the case of Covid vaccines, the instructions were for a piece of the coronavirus. In the new study, they are for molecules key to targeting H.I.V. 'mRNA is just this miraculous — I really do think miraculous — tool to deliver things that you want into places that were not possible before,' said Dr. Sharon Lewin, director of the Cumming Global Center for Pandemic Therapeutics in Melbourne, who led the study. Vaccines deploying mRNA instruct the body to produce a fragment of the virus, which then sets off the body's immune response. In the United States, the shots were initially hailed for turning back the pandemic, then viewed by some with suspicion and fear. Some officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have falsely said that they are highly dangerous and even deadly. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services sought to limit the vaccine's availability to pregnant women, children and healthy younger adults. The administration also canceled a nearly $600 million contract with the drugmaker Moderna to develop an mRNA shot for humans against bird flu. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Health
- Time of India
Bill Gates to give away his fortune: What it means for global healthcare
Image credits: Getty Images Bill Gates and his former wife, Melinda Gates , together founded the Gates Foundation in 2000. The aim of the foundation was to help all people lead healthy and productive lives, as every life has equal value. On May 8, 2025, the Gates Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary with an announcement that shocked many to the core and left the future of global healthcare with a huge question mark. Bill Gates announced that the Gates Foundation would be closing on December 31st, 2045. Currently, he is committing the foundation to 20 more years of generous aid, which means a monetary dedication of more than $200 billion targeting health and human development. This end has come significantly earlier than was previously anticipated by the founder and his team, but they now believe that their central goals can be achieved in much shorter time. Operation Sindoor Pak drones enter Indian airspace, explosions heard just hours after truce deal Sirens, explosions in border districts after Pak breaks deal: What we know so far 'What happened to ceasefire?' J&K CM after explosions heard across Srinagar This is what the Gates Foundation will be doing for global healthcare in what has been termed by the founder as their "miraculous period." The current situation American President Donald Trump has announced several cuts in foreign aid provided by the U.S. across the globe. As a result of this, a study in The Lancet stated that due to the cuts in American spending in PEPFAR, a program that delivered H.I.V and AIDS relief abroad, about 500,000 children could lose their lives by 2030. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Warga Emas Boleh Dapat Insurans Kesihatan Swasta Murah (2025) Knowledge Knower Undo The journal Nature stated that the overall reduction in U.S. aid could lead to roughly 25 million additional deaths over the next 15 years. Over the 25-year course of the foundation, it reduced 10 million childhood deaths to 5 million. With proper resources, this number could be cut by half; however, in the current scenario, where aid to places such as Mozambique in Gaza, which requires aid for H.I.V, is being cut, Gates predicted that millions of additional kids could die. Gates shared in an interview with the New York Times that while vaccines had been the saving grace during the pandemic, they are now being seen with suspicion and that the commitment to health surveillance had decreased. He added that the global health and healthcare systems had been affected by the pandemic. He shared how Africa had been the worst hit over the years, with progress slowing down due to various civil wars. While the U.S. should be helping right now with debt relief to the African countries, he shared that with the current power, that will is no more. What will happen now, and how is the Gates Foundation planning to tackle these issues? New cures coming up Image credits: Getty Images Bill Gates shared that the foundation has a lot of new stuff in the pipeline related to diseases such as tuberculosis. He announced that they will have a genetic cure for H.I.V. The three main goals for global healthcare For the organisation's final phase, Gates highlighted three goals it would be focusing on: Eliminating preventable deaths among babies and mothers, eradicating infectious diseases such as typhoid, malaria, cholera, lymphatic filariasis and eliminating poverty. Eliminating preventable deaths among babies and mothers Gates announced that the first major goal for the next twenty years is to ensure that "no mom, child or baby dies of a preventable cause." The foundation is focusing on maternal mortality, specifically on eclampsia and gestational diabetes, to reduce maternal mortality by half. Eradicating infectious diseases Image credits: Getty Images While diseases like rotavirus can not be suppressed, the Gates Foundation is aiming to get rid of lymphatic filariasis in India, and for H.I.V., he shared about a shot called Lenacapavir, which allows women six months of protection and an oral drug called Merck that has to be taken just once a month. He added that for Merck, they were reducing the cost to $2 to make it even more accessible. Eliminating poverty The Gates Foundation wishes to eliminate poverty in Africa by improving the country's agriculture. It has invested in seed improvement, such as gene-edited seeds, which will result in "Green-Revolution-type-seed-productivity-improvements and disease resistance" A.I. is the future Gates referred to A.I. as a "magic wand" that can bring advances into health systems, agriculture systems, and education systems. "I wish I didn't have to rely on that magic wand, but I guarantee you that it is real. I'm not making that up," he said to the New York Times. He shared that the foundation will be making use of AI to "make things better in the next 20 years." It seems in the next 20 years, the Gates Foundation aims to do all it can to leave the world healthier and stronger than it was before the foundation began its impactful work in 2000. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Mother's Day wishes , messages , and quotes !
New York Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Corrections: April 23, 2025
An article on April 16 about the French village where Vincent Van Gogh spent his final days and painted his final work misstated that the day that Van Gogh painted 'Tree Roots,' his final painting. It was made on the day he shot himself, not the day he died. (He died about 30 hours after he shot himself.) An article on Tuesday about possible contenders to succeed Pope Francis misstated where Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi is from. He is a native of Rome, not Bologna. An article on Tuesday about the rituals and procedures of selecting a new pope misstated the age of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. He is 91, not 87. An article on Monday about comments made by billionaires working in the Trump administration misstated the timing of President Trump's social media post in which he said it was 'a great time to buy.' Mr. Trump's post appeared on April 9, not last week. An article on Tuesday about the case before the Supreme Court over the constitutionality of a provision of the Affordable Care Act that can require insurance companies to offer some types of preventive care for free overstated what is known about the cost a new injectable medication that would prevent transmission of H.I.V. The drug's manufacturer has not yet said how much it would cost if approved by the F.D.A. as a preventive medication, not that it will cost $42,000 a year. An article on April 16 about the actor, musician and writer Whitney White misstated the title of a play directed by White. It is 'Our Dear Dead Drug Lord,' not 'Our Dear Drug Lord.' An article on Tuesday about the health benefits of asparagus misstated the title of Vanessa da Silva and her affiliation with the University of Arizona. She is a dietitian and extension specialist at the University of Arizona, but is not a diabetes educator affiliated with the Sarver Heart Center. An Overlooked No More obituary on Monday about the British suspense novelist Ethel Lina White referred incorrectly to the 1938 movie 'The Lady Vanishes.' It was the second-to-last film Alfred Hitchcock made in England, not the last. The last was 'Jamaica Inn' in 1939. Errors are corrected during the press run whenever possible, so some errors noted here may not have appeared in all editions.
New York Times
08-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Is This the End of Progress on H.I.V.?
A patient was recently interested in starting pre-exposure prophylaxis, known as PrEP, to protect himself from getting H.I.V. A Black man who had lost many friends to AIDS, he was nervous but eager to try it. After we discussed his sexual practices and I reviewed his blood work, I thought he was a great candidate. When I asked whether he preferred the once-daily pill or the long-acting injection, he said he wanted whichever option was cheapest with cash. I explained his insurance would almost certainly cover both options free of charge, but he expressed fear that going through his insurer would alert the government. Since I am a clinical pharmacist and do not dispense medications, I asked which pharmacy to send the prescription to. He seemed especially anxious that a prescription would create a paper trail. Though there was not yet a specific threat to his safety, he was scared that recent cuts to H.I.V. care may be a first sign of worse fears to come. It was one of the most agonizing conversations of my career. No one should have to worry that preventing H.I.V. could endanger them. And yet, as the Trump administration lays waste to essential H.I.V. prevention and care, I'm having more of these painful discussions, especially with Black and Latino people and patients from other groups that have typically faced higher rates of infection and worse care. Among other cuts to federal health agencies, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is said to be planning to lay off the entire staff of the Office of Infectious Diseases and H.I.V./AIDS Policy, which was working to end the H.I.V. epidemic in the United States and to solve related racial health disparities. The National Institutes of Health has canceled more than 100 grants for research into the disease. Marginalized groups fear they may lose access to PrEP from the gutting of federally supported programs — and this may worsen if congressional Republicans follow through with plans to cut Medicaid. Later this month, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments over whether private insurance companies must continue to pay for PrEP and other preventative medications. These events — coupled with the attempted dissolution of America's global H.I.V./AIDS program, the scrubbing of language from federal websites on H.I.V. said to promote 'gender ideology,' and the termination of L.G.B.T.Q.-focused H.I.V. programs and research — have terrified my patients and colleagues. It's enraging to watch the Trump government, which previously set a goal to eradicate the virus in the United States by 2030, abandon vulnerable Americans and retreat from its longstanding global H.I.V. response. Eventually, I convinced my patient that taking PrEP was the best way to protect himself from infection, and was all the more important amid this administration's eroding support for H.I.V. care. H.I.V. prevention is something all health care providers need to integrate into their practice. Despite being one of the best tools at our disposal for preventing the spread of H.I.V., PrEP continues to be especially under-prescribed to those populations most burdened by the disease. Health care providers can start by educating themselves on PrEP and imploring their practices to make prescribing easier. It's a disservice to delay or withhold it from those for whom prevention may be a matter of life and death. The disparities in diagnosis and care are grim. The incidence of H.I.V. in the United States is about 0.4 percent. But studies have estimated that 14 percent to 42 percent of transgender women are living with H.I.V. Compared to other women with H.I.V., transgender women are less likely to receive care that suppresses the virus to undetectable levels in the blood or to have adequate medical care at all. Men who have sex with men represent 67 percent of new infections, and yet Black and Latino men in this group are the least likely to be virally suppressed. Overall, Black and Latino people account for 70 percent of new diagnoses and 61 percent of deaths among individuals with H.I.V. That's why health care providers should make PrEP screening and prescribing a routine part of their work, akin to checking for high blood pressure and cervical cancer. For some, this won't be difficult; others may need help working through their own biases. Studies suggest that even many clinicians buy into stereotypes that PrEP encourages people of color to engage in unprotected sexual activity, or that they do not take their medications as instructed, which could allow drug-resistant H.I.V. strains to flourish. Those assumptions contribute to PrEP being prescribed at inequitably low rates. But research suggests these risks are overstated, and they are far outweighed by the ability of PrEP to reduce H.I.V. infections. For each patient who discloses fears about what will happen under this administration, I wonder how many others are too afraid to seek the care they need altogether. As health care providers, we have committed ourselves to protecting our patients from harm. Words of support are not enough to combat policies and rhetoric that could worsen public health inequities for marginalized groups. Estimates suggest that there could be 2,000 daily new H.I.V. infections globally, and 10 times more related deaths if American funding remains frozen or is not replaced. My colleagues and I certainly cannot avert mass death on that scale. But to continue with business as usual is to surrender the future. Intensifying PrEP prescribing is one of the best forces at our disposal to prevent a new H.I.V. crisis.
New York Times
01-04-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Major Layoffs Begin at Health Agencies That Track Disease and Regulate Food
Hundreds of federal health workers, including doctors in senior leadership positions, began hearing early Tuesday morning that they are losing their jobs, part of a vast restructuring that will winnow down the agencies charged with regulating food and drugs, protecting Americans from disease and researching new treatments and cures. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced last week that he is shrinking his department from 82,000 to 62,000 employees. Some senior leaders based in the Washington, D.C., area received notices that they were being reassigned to Indian Health Service territories, a tactic to force people out, employees said, because it would entail moving to other parts of the country. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Notices began arriving at 5 a.m., workers said, affecting offices responsible for everything from global health to medical devices to communications. Some knew the layoffs were coming; at the department headquarters in Washington, officials responsible for minority health and infectious disease prevention were told Friday that their offices were being eliminated, according to employees. Others were caught off guard. At the Food and Drug Administration, senior leaders were pushed out and offices focused on food, drug and medical device policy were hit with deep staff reductions amounting to about 3,500 agency staff members. Some workers said that they discovered they were fired when they attempted to scan their badge to get into the building early Tuesday. The top tobacco regulator, Brian King, was offered a job with a regional office of the Indian Health Service that includes Alaska, according to Mitch Zeller, his predecessor at the division. Other staff who oversee veterinary medicine and coordinate the complex work of reviewing new drug applications that can run for thousands of pages were let go. Some leaders at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, including Kayla Laserson, who led the global health center, received similar notices of reassignment or were placed on administrative leave. At the agency, the reorganization, with cuts totaling 2,400, seemed aimed at narrowing its focus to infectious diseases. Entire departments studying chronic diseases and environmental problems were cut. Employees laid off at the agency included those studying injuries, asthma, lead poisoning, smoking and radiation damage, as well as those that assess the health effects of extreme heat and wildfires. But some infectious disease teams were also laid off. A group focused on improving access to vaccines among underserved communities was cut, as was a group of global health researchers who were working on preventing mother to child transmission of H.I.V. H.I.V. prevention was a big target overall. Jonathan Mermin, director of the center for H.I.V. and sexually transmitted diseases, was placed on administrative leave. The Trump administration had been weighing moving the C.D.C.'s division of H.I.V. prevention to a different agency within the health department. But on Tuesday, teams leading H.I.V. surveillance and research within that division were laid off. It was unclear whether some of those functions would be recreated elsewhere. At the National Institutes of Health, several directors of institutes were given notices of reassignment to Indian Health Service territories, and were told that they would need to report back on Wednesday on whether they would accept the move. Among them were Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, who succeeded Dr. Anthony S. Fauci as the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Shannon Zenk, who leads the National Institute of Nursing Research. Communications offices were hit particularly hard across agencies including N.I.H., C.D.C. and F.D.A. Renate Myles, the communications director at the National Institutes of Health, received a notice of reassignment. Mr. Kennedy, who promised 'radical transparency,' has said he wants to consolidate communications under his purview. The H.H.S. 'is centralizing communications across the department to ensure a more coordinated and effective response to public health challenges, ultimately benefiting the American taxpayer,' Emily Hilliard, deputy press secretary for the department, said in an email on Friday.
