As we commemorate the 20th annual World AIDS Day today, it's a sad reminder the global AIDS epidemic is still with us in 2008. Last year, an estimated 2 million people succumbed to AIDS/HIV worldwide, while 33 million people were living with the virus, according to a July 2008 report...

The headline in the LA Times said it all: "Charities Can't Keep Up with Deepening Poverty."

America is facing a vicious charity Catch-22: the harsher the downturn, the more people in need of help but the fewer stepping up with donations. "As resources vanish," wrote the Times, "the threads...

Barack Obama's popularity in Egypt reaches a new high -- with the introduction of a narcotic to the market bearing the President-elect's name.

According to Egyptian blogger...

A little more than a year ago, my mother, Martha Kostyra, or Big Martha, as my family called her, passed away. She was 93 years old and lived a robust and active life almost until the end. She read The New York Times everyday and enjoyed cooking and traveling. And...

The story of the guy getting trampled at the New York Wal-Mart lasted about 48 hours in the news cycle.

There are a few "ongoing investigation" clean-up pieces, but the big media wave, like the crush of shoppers busting down the doors for bargains one store employee was anonymously...

In the early 90s, the progress of the AIDS pandemic looked bleak worldwide. Oh, we knew what the disease was, how it spread, and had some theories on how to manage it, but overall the picture was less than appealing.

Imagine, in the face of the despair, a young pastor...

The associations made in medicine can be quite amazing. I just read an article online that summarizes the possible links between a common sleep disorder and eye disease. Plenty has been written about the connections between sleep and conditions like heart disease and obesity, but eye disorders? It doesn't...

This year's World AIDS Day theme is leadership. Why is leadership important in the fight against pediatric AIDS?

World AIDS Day (December 1) was first observed 20 years ago in 1988, and we've made tremendous progress in those two decades. We now know how to prevent babies from contracting...

image: Breeding Zombie Consumers by Sam Sebren

I've tried to put myself in the shoes of the Long Island lemmings who stomped the life out of Jdimytai "Jimbo" Damour in their rampage to ring up a bargain, but I just can't seem to...

For some, today is a day of reflection, to remember a loved one or friends lost to AIDS. For others, today is a day to acknowledge the progress we've made fighting this pandemic, and the tens of thousands of lives that have been saved thanks to the availability of life-saving...

In July 2008, Dr. Julius B. Richmond passed away at age 91 at his home outside Boston. Dr. Richmond served as U.S. Surgeon General under President Jimmy Carter. He was a pediatrician, professor of medicine, a child development specialist, and a co-creator and the first director of Head Start. He...