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New federal funding enables researchers to unravel how humans develop cancers

A Simon Fraser University scientist working at one of Canada's first epigenomics mapping centres says new federal funding will accelerate researchers' ability to unravel how we develop some of the most common life threatening cancers.

26 Oct 2012

UNICEF calls for 'finishing' global polio eradication; Rotary International warns of funding shortfall in India

UNICEF on Wednesday "called for continued dedication in 'finishing the job' in eradicating polio, while also applauding India for being 'declared polio free' for the first time in history," Xinhua reports. "UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said in a statement released … on World Polio Day, which falls on Oct. 24, that 'fewer children than ever before suffer the debilitating effects of this cruel disease,'" the news service writes.

26 Oct 2012

Global Health Service Partnership 'could be the start of something big'

Writing in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, Claire Panosian Dunavan, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, reflects on the Global Health Service Partnership, a new public-private partnership launched by Vanessa Kerry, daughter of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) "to boost the education of doctors and nurses in sub-Saharan Africa."

25 Oct 2012

U.K. aid system exploits sub-Saharan Africa, disregards impact on poor

Noting a recent U.N. study showed that, despite progress on tackling child mortality globally, sub-Saharan Africa "is trailing far behind," David Dominic, a consultant for non-governmental organizations, writes in this Huffington Post U.K. opinion piece, "The more we look, the more it seems that the U.K. aid system, with regards to sub-Saharan Africa, is carefully designed to control and exploit the region, with scant regard for the impacts upon the poor. That is, aid seems to be used as a tool of modern imperialism."

25 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Obama seeking 'to preserve' new spending; Medicare rule change for disabled is 'humane thing to do'

On Tuesday Mr. Obama finally tried to give the future more definition with a new plan, except it isn't new and barely qualifies as a plan. ... The pamphlet's sections on health care and entitlements show that his real budget priority is to preserve all of the government he expanded in the first term. He promises to protect the Affordable Care Act from repeal or Republican amendments.

25 Oct 2012

Solutions to world's problems generate more 'buzz' than days of international observance

"From World Food Day to Anti-Poverty Day, October is a busy month when it comes to calls to make the world a better place," Astrid Zweynert, deputy editor of AlertNet, writes in the news service's "Insight" blog.

24 Oct 2012

ECOWAS, Germany, FAO launch Hunger-Free Initiative for West Africa

"A new project with the objective of eliminating hunger in West Africa has been launched by West African countries, Germany, and the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)," BusinessDay reports.

23 Oct 2012

Bipartisan support for foreign assistance improves, saves lives abroad

Briefly recapping a history of foreign aid policy since 1920, former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) write in a Politico opinion piece, "Credit for America's global leadership role belongs to both major political parties and Americans of all stripes" who "have always been guided by the notion that all lives have equal value, regardless of where someone was born."

22 Oct 2012

Poverty, collective violence affect mental health of children in the U.S./Mexican border

Collective violence attributed to organized crime and poverty are adversely affecting the mental health of children living near the Texas-Mexico border, according to a poster presented Oct. 19 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans.

22 Oct 2012

GAPA empowers grandmothers to care for their families affected by HIV/AIDS

New research presented today at the first Africa Regional Conference on Gerontology and Geriatrics concluded that Grandmothers Against Poverty & AIDS, a nonprofit grantee of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation's SECURE THE FUTURE- programme, has been a driving force in empowering grandmothers whose families have been affected by HIV/AIDS to cope with the emotional and economic demands of caring for their families.

20 Oct 2012

Issa pressing ahead in effort to obtain HHS materials on Medicare Advantage

The chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is accusing HHS of not fully complying with repeated requests.

20 Oct 2012

Canadian journal examines HIV in Swaziland

The Canadian Medical Association Journal reports on HIV in the Kingdom of Swaziland, writing the country "now has the dubious distinction of having the world's highest rate of both HIV and tuberculosis (TB)."

20 Oct 2012

Childhood poverty, demographics associated with DNA methylation patterns

A University of British Columbia and Centre for Molecular Medicine and Therapeutics (CMMT) study has revealed that childhood poverty, stress as an adult, and demographics such as age, sex and ethnicity, all leave an imprint on a person's genes. And, that this imprint could play a role in our immune response.

20 Oct 2012

Governments should focus 'scant resources' on food security before biofuels

"The latest calculations show that U.S. ethanol policies have increased the food bills of poor food-importing countries by more than $9 billion (£5.6 billion) since 2006," Olivier De Schutter, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, writes in the Guardian's "Poverty Matters" blog.

19 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: NYT's Kristof on the death of his friend; Obama, Romney fight for women

I wrote in my last column about my uninsured college roommate, Scott Androes, and his battle with Stage 4 prostate cancer - and a dysfunctional American health care system. I was taken aback by how many readers were savagely unsympathetic. "Your friend made a foolish choice, and actions have consequences," one reader said in a Twitter message.

19 Oct 2012

Political will, humanitarian effort, funding all needed to eradicate polio

Though "conflict and insecurity problems in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Nigeria have presented challenges to polio immunization, ... these are surmountable obstacles," Siddharth Chatterjee, chief diplomat and head of strategic partnerships and international relations at the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, writes in the International Peace Institute's Global Observatory.

19 Oct 2012

Aging population's demand for care soars in Calif. while Oregon puts in place new long-term care insurance rules

News outlets report on the growing need for long-term care and offer insights into the home care workforce.

18 Oct 2012

Trauma in infancy and childhood shapes the brain, learning and behavior

Trauma in infancy and childhood shapes the brain, learning, and behavior, and fuels changes that can last a lifetime, according to new human and animal research released today. The studies delve into the effects of early physical abuse, socioeconomic status (SES), and maternal treatment.

17 Oct 2012

World must 'pull together' to end hunger, stunting among children

Noting "around 170 million children under the age of five are stunted" globally, actor and UNICEF ambassador Mia Farrow writes in a CNN opinion piece, "For too long, stunting has been a silent crisis -- a personal tragedy for each family," but "the suffering of some 170 million children constitutes a global catastrophe that calls for an urgent response." Traveling with UNICEF for more than a decade, Farrow says, "Wherever there is poverty, it is the children who pay the highest price."

17 Oct 2012

U.N. SG says eliminating discrimination, providing nutrition, health care will help women care for families

"Highlighting the role in women in producing much of the world's food and caring for the environment, [U.N.] Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in his message marking the International Day of Rural Women, Monday said that eliminating discrimination that prevents rural women from realizing their full potential is crucial to ending global hunger and poverty," the U.N. News Centre reports.

17 Oct 2012