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Closing Speech Of The World Health Assembly
Mister President, honourable ministers, excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,
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California HIV Services Center Forced To Close
Declining private and public financial support has forced Vital Life Services, an Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit that provided support, case management, mental health counseling and other services to roughly 400 low-income and homeless clients with HIV, to shut down, the Oakland Tribune reports. According to the Tribune, the 25-year-old center -- which also provided "unique" services such as daily meals and emergency housing assistance -- "has become a victim of the recession" (Burt, Oakland Tribune, 5/30).
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U.S. Recommits To Improving Health, Education In Nigeria
The Guardian examines the recent U.S. commitment to continue support for the development of Nigeria"s health and education sector by Anne Fleuret, Nigeria"s acting mission director of USAID. At the conclusion of two USAID-funded projects in Nigeria, Fleuret said the HIV/AIDS programs were created six years ago "to empower communities." She added, "We envisioned so many things and we have substantially achieved that vision. We have provided support from the community level to the legislative level."
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Deet, The Popular Insect Repellent, Found To Be Neurotoxic

The active ingredient in many insect repellents, deet, has been found to be toxic to the central nervous system. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Biology say that more investigations are urgently needed to confirm or dismiss any potential neurotoxicity to humans, especially when deet-based repellents are used in combination with other neurotoxic insecticides. Vincent Corbel from the Institut de Recherche pour le Dç©veloppement in Montpellier, and Bruno Lapied from the University of Angers, France, led a team of researchers who investigated the mode of action and toxicity of deet (N,N-Diethyl-3-methylbenzamide). Corbel said, "We"ve found that deet is not simply a behavior-modifying chemical but also inhibits the activity of a key central nervous system enzyme, acetycholinesterase, in both insects and mammals". Discovered in 1953, deet is still the most common ingredient in insect repellent preparations. It is effective against a broad spectrum of medically important pests, including mosquitoes. Despite its widespread use, controversies remain concerning both the identification of its target sites at the molecular level and its mechanism of action in insects. In a series of experiments, Corbel and his colleagues found that deet inhibits the acetylcholinesterase enzyme - the same mode of action used by organophosphate and carbamate insecticides. These insecticides are often used in combination with deet, and the researchers also found that deet interacts with carbamate insecticides to increase their toxicity. Corbel concludes, "These findings question the safety of deet, particularly in combination with other chemicals, and they highlight the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to the development of safer insect repellents for use in public health". Notes: Evidence for inhibition of cholinesterases in insect and mammalian nervous systems by the insect repellent deet Vincent Corbel, Maria Stankiewicz, Cedric Pennetier, Didier Fournier, Jure Stojan, Emmanuelle Girard, Mitko Dimitrov, Jordi Molgo, Jean Marc Hougard and Bruno Lapied BMC Biology (in press) Article available at journal website: http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcbiol/ Graeme Baldwin BioMed Central


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