- A new report released by the Center for Disease Control says that the rate of annual new H.I.V. infections in the United States are 40 percent higher than previously thought.

The study concludes that the infection rate is 56,300 per year as opposed to the 40,000 a year that was thought to have been the average rate for the last several years. The new findings, experts say, are not necessarily due to more infections, but are a result of improved tests and a more accurate and new statistical methods

President George Bush on Wednesday approved $48 billion for fighting AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis around the world for next five years.

The amount authorized for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the successful U.S. global AIDS program, is $18 billion more than what Bush had requested. The measure will triple funding for these three diseases

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill authorizing $48 billion over the next five years to help treat and prevent AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world. The measure, which will triple funding for these three diseases, is now sent to President George W. Bush, who is expected to sign it into law.

The amount authorized for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the successful U.S. global AIDS program, is $18 billion more than what Bush had requested. It would replace and expand the current $15 billion program started by the President in 2003. That act expires at the end of September

Foreign-born immigrants account for more than half of new tuberculosis cases in the U.S. in recent years, according to a study in a major medical journal.

Researchers suggest that immigrants to the U.S. from Africa and Southeast Asia should be tested and treated for tuberculosis before they arrive to prevent importing the disease

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned of a multi-drug resistant tuberculosis or MDR-TB. It said that a majority of the world's population are vulnerable to the new strain.

The Manila, Philippines-based WHO told reporters that MDR-TB can cross borders and that an "uncontrolled local epidemic" can threaten the stability of health security across the globe