News
Conferences and Kaletra
Other recent news articles Something for Weekend Radio 13/12/2006 Tainted Blood 16/10/2006 Conferences and Kaletra 15/9/2006 Department of Wealth... 14/8/2006 On Tipranavir - be careful it might kill you! 12/7/2006
| Other recent news articles | |
| Something for Weekend Radio | 13/12/2006 |
| Tainted Blood | 16/10/2006 |
| Conferences and Kaletra | 15/9/2006 |
| Department of Wealth... | 14/8/2006 |
| On Tipranavir - be careful it might kill you! | 12/7/2006 |
Created: 16:01, 15/9/2006
Well it is the start of the political conference season, Tony Blair and what seemed like the entire metropolitan police force descended on my home town for the TUC bash to stop the traffic, tourists and sunbathers from getting to the sea front. Since half the audience left before he had even said a word it all seemed a bit silly to me but the sight of the police stopping and searching a Tuk-Tuk made me wish I had brought a camera.
A couple of other relevant conferences took place local to me as well, BHIVA was in Brighton in the Spring with the highlight a passionate talk on the criminalisation of HIV transmission by Dr Matthew Weait from the University of Keele. The other interesting talk of a non-medical nature was about the relationship between clinical medicine and the drug industry by Professor Patrick Vallence who was just about to start a job with Glaxo-Wellcome. No surprises he saw benefits in a strong relationship between the two! I must say I was rather sceptical in his belief that simply by admitting ones links with companies and withdrawing from discussions about their individual products everything would be okay - that seems a little naïve to me. His paranoia about patient groups being manipulated by nasty evil drug companies also sounded more like fear of losing money for medical junkets than justified concern. A few patient groups finally get their snouts into the corporate trough and a doctor complains that we are all going to be hypnotised by their propaganda, well no I think patients are probably far more cynical about pharmaceutical companies motives than medics. Certainly the ones who go to BHIVA are!
September was the time of the Haemophilia Society conference and agm at a hotel at Gatwick Airport. It had the slogan "A Bright Future?" as a backdrop to the event. Brian O'Mahony, former big-wig in the Irish Society and the World Federation was the keynote speaker and I felt pretty much covered everything there was to know about the future. Other speakers talked of gene therapy, longer lasting blood products and much of the discussion was about the future of the society and what members wanted it to focus on for the next 5 years.
Finally a new version of the HIV drug Kaletra (also called lopinavir) has become available. This is one of the most popularly used and successful Protease Inhibitors but had some rubbish requirements to go with it, having to be kept in a fridge taken with food and what felt like 7 billion horse tablets to be taken at a time. Not sure if the size has changed but there is now a new formulation that does not need to be stored in the fridge, is less tablets to take and is taken less often. Enjoy...