Gates Announces Huge Vaccine Pledge

Staff / Truthdig Jan 30, 2010 Bill Gates made a big announcement at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Friday. The Microsoft entrepreneur-turned-philanthropist revealed that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will donate $10 billion over the next 10 years to the cause of fighting disease around the globe through vaccines and immunizations. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Daily Show’: Bill Gates, Twitter-er

Staff / Truthdig Jan 27, 2010 Now that Bill Gates doesn't have to run one of the world's biggest companies, he has more time to devote to a few of his favorite causes including, say, trying to revamp the school system at home and fight hunger abroad -- you know, just hobby material. Here, he tells Jon Stewart about his post-Microsoft life, as well as how he learned to tweet just last week. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Goldman Sachs Becomes ‘SNL’ Punchline

Staff / Truthdig Nov 10, 2009 Those entitled Wall Street types at Goldman Sachs are apparently oblivious to the fact that they're having some PR issues of late -- either that, or they don't really care. Either way, "SNL" stars Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers make them the brunt of their jokes in this clip from last weekend's show. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Massive Malaria Vaccine Trial Begins

Staff / Truthdig Nov 7, 2009 A new vaccine trial is underway in Africa in an attempt to control malaria, a disease that not only kills 1 million people every year, but also makes 300 million seriously sick. If the trial results come back positive, a worldwide vaccine could be available as soon as 2012. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Vaccine

Mike Luckovich / Truthdig Oct 25, 2009 Dig deeper

HIV Vaccine May Cut Infection Rate

Staff / Truthdig Sep 24, 2009 After almost 30 years since HIV surfaced in the United States, researchers in Thailand and the U.S. have created an experimental vaccine that has, over a seven-year study, been found to reduce the risk of contracting HIV by one-third. The vaccine is a combination of two existing vaccinations that were not successful in reducing infection. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

New Hope in the Fight Against AIDS

Staff / Truthdig Dec 1, 2008 World AIDS Day turns 20 today, and while we still don't have a vaccine, researchers continue to make lifesaving breakthroughs. A team at the World Health Organization in Geneva recently came up with a "thought experiment" that, according to a mathematical model, could end the AIDS epidemic in Africa in only a decade. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Scientist: HIV Vaccine at Square One

Staff / Truthdig Feb 15, 2008 Nobel Prize-winning biologist David Baltimore has told his peers that researchers are no closer to discovering an HIV vaccine after decades of study. He called for new approaches and said the challenge was difficult because "to control HIV immunologically the scientific community has to beat out nature, do something that nature, with its advantage of four billion years of evolution, has not been able to do." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

AIDS Vaccine Disappoints

Staff / Truthdig Sep 22, 2007 A promising AIDS vaccine developed by Merck has proven unsuccessful in a major international trial. It's a huge setback, not just because this particular vaccine was further along than others, but because it used a new strategy shared by a number of alternatives. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Texas Governor’s Order for Cancer Vaccine Blocked

Staff / Truthdig Apr 27, 2007 Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has been rebuked by the state Legislature for ordering Texan girls to be vaccinated against HPV, the leading cause of cervical cancer. Lawmakers passed a bill by a comfortable margin that would block the governor's order for four years. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Texas Governor Ignores the Zealots

Staff / Truthdig Feb 3, 2007 Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) has issued an executive order mandating the use of the HPV vaccine, which can help prevent cervical cancer. The conservative Christian's decree trumps opposition in the Legislature and elsewhere from opponents who feel the treatment encourages premarital sex. Texas will be the first state to require that schoolgirls receive the vaccine. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Ellen Goodman: Putting a Wedge Between the Right and Loony Right

Ellen Goodman / Truthdig Jul 20, 2006 The columnist says Bush's veto of the stem cell bill has set him apart from his colleagues in the GOP and put him squarely in the ranks of the loony right. She also takes on a range of other "wedge issues" that have proved so divisive as to end up dividing even the staunchest conservatives. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )