A recent conference at St. John´s Research Institute (SJRI) in Bangalore, India brought together for the first time more than 200 representatives from industry, government, donors, academia, civil society and the media to discuss what it takes to innovate in tuberculosis (TB) diagnostics in India and to move from importation and imitation to innovation. The goal was to stimulate industry interest and investments in TB innovations. Despite the enormous burden of TB in India, Indian industry and academics have not developed any new tools (diagnostics, drugs or vaccines) for TB. Why has India failed to innovate in TB R&D? The conference in Bangalore provided some clues.

Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, says HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis are still the main causes of death in South Africa.  He said the country needs more health care professionals and more medical schools. 

Homosexuality and congestion remain the main challenges that hinder the fight against TB and HIV/Aids in prisons. But the Kenya Prison Health Services director John Kibosia said yesterday that measures including screening and counseling of new inmates have played a big part in reducing the prevalence in Kenya's prisons. "The lifestyle in prisons including MSM (Men having Sex with Men) is a major contributor to the spread of HIV/Aids. But with the measures in place there will be a great reduction in the spread of the diseases," said Kibosia.

The Senate Appropriations Committee agreed to provide $7.9 billion for global health programs for the 2012 fiscal year beginning October 1 – $810 million below what President Obama requested for these programs and about $75 million above current funding levels – according to a committee press release.

20 September 2011 - New York - The Stop TB Partnership called for increased attention on tuberculosis (TB) and a bold collective effort to save one million people living with HIV from dying of TB at a high level event on maternal and child health.

The President of the United States, Barack Obama, has stressed his country’s commitment to continue supporting the AIDS response, tuberculosis and malaria. In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly he also underscored the US’ commitment to the health of women and children. The annual high-level debate is taking place in New York from 21 – 30 September.

PlusNews examines how health officials are addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in sub-Saharan Africa, where "[c]ountries grappling with HIV prevalence are now faced with rising epidemics of chronic diseases."

“Tuberculosis (TB) remains among the top ten killers of children worldwide, yet virtually no public or political attention is paid to TB as a children’s health issue,” and at least 1 million children became sick with TB in 2009. That’s according to a new issue brief released today by Advocacy to Control TB Internationally (ACTION), an internationally partnership of civil society advocates working to mobilize resources to treat and prevent the spread of TB, a global disease that kills one person every ten seconds.

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A toxic ladybird that threatens to wipe out native species could also prove deadly against bugs of another kind.