TED Talks: Hans Rosling's View on HIV and AIDS

Hans Rosling reveals the beauty of statistics in unraveling the complex risk factors of one of the world's most misunderstood diseases: HIV/AIDS. He argues that preventing transmissions -- not drug treatments -- is the key to ending the epidemic.

Hans Rosling on HIV: New facts and stunning data visuals






Material reposted from TED.com under the Creative Commons License.

TED Blog: Hans Rosling and the world's most important trends

TEDBlog had a chat with Hans Rosling, the extraordinary global health professor that makes data come alive. He had his third TEDTalk and again wowed us all, explaining complex information with animated graphs and quite a humor. In this interview, he delves into his theories on concurrency and AIDS transmission, our ideological ruts, and developing the Obama-meter!

Q&A with Hans Rosling: A deeper look at AIDS transmission and disease stats

TED Talks: Seth Berkley on the smart vaccine strategy

In this TED Talk, Seth Berkley explains the genetic diversity of influenza and HIV, retrovaccinology, and smart vaccine design and delivery which will bring us closer than ever to eliminating a host of global threats -- from malaria to AIDS to flu pandemics.

TED Talk: Seth Berkley: HIV and flu - the vaccine strategy




Material reposted from TED.com under the Creative Commons License.

TED Blog: Seth Berkley and His Search for an AIDS Vaccine

TED Blog talked to epidemiologist and founder of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), Seth Berkley. He told the story of the beginnings of IAVI, exploring why different decisions have historically been made in response to the HIV pandemic and explaining why a vaccine makes sense today. Read on to understand how we've progressed in the way that we think about treating AIDS and other global-scale viruses.

Q&A with Seth Berkley: The search for an AIDS vaccineQ&A with Seth Berkley: The search for an AIDS vaccine

Studying psychological effects of toxoplasmosis in the 21st century

The Economist Magazine. 2010. Toxoplasmosis and psychology: A Game of Cat and Mouse

http://www.economist.com/sciencetechnology/displayStory.cfm?story_id=16271339

Compelling research on Toxoplasma gondii's genes for dopamine-synthesizing enzymes sparks creative speculation on the nature of toxoplasmosis. More pieces of evidence are presented from odd behaviors of infected mice and correlates between national mental state and burden of infection.

Plan of Action for NTD Control, Elimination

This PLoS NTD editorial article provides several arguments that the fight against NTDs can be forwarded more successfully. While more health products are made accessible, proper national leadership and strategic global efforts are ever more crucial for NTD control epecially in developing countries.

pdf: Hotez & Pecoul, 2010. manifesto for NTD control

Hotez PJ, Pecoul B (2010) ‘‘Manifesto’’ for Advancing the Control and Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 4(5): e718. doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000718

Which New Approaches to Tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases Show Promise?

This PLoS Medicine Debate examines the different approaches that can be taken to tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Some commentators, like Jerry Spiegel and colleagues from the University of British Columbia, feel there has been too much focus on the biomedical mechanisms and drug development for NTDs, at the expense of attention to the social determinants of disease. Burton Singer argues that this represents another example of the inappropriate “overmedicalization” of contemporary tropical disease control. Peter Hotez and colleagues, in contrast, argue that the best return on investment will continue to be mass drug administration for NTDs.

Spiegel, et al 2010. PLoS Medicine 7(5):e1000255

Spiegel JM, Dharamsi S, Wasan KM, Yassi A, Singer B, et al. 2010 Which New Approaches to Tackling Neglected Tropical Diseases Show Promise?. PLoS Med 7(5): e1000255. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000255