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Ala. lawmakers approve controversial new abortion clinic regulations

The measure, which still must be signed by the governor, would make abortion clinics use doctors with admitting privileges at local hospitals, a move opponents say could force the state's five clinics to close.

5 Apr 2013

Walgreens' Take Care Clinics expand access to health care services

Access to health care services is an ongoing challenge to the U.S. health care system. With a physician shortage, aging population, a growing prevalence of chronic diseases and up to 30 million people projected to gain insurance coverage in 2014 through the Affordable Care Act, the issue will become even more critical - and may further impact both patients and the health care system at large.

4 Apr 2013

Study: Glycated hemoglobin levels of children with type 1 diabetes are correlated negatively with household income

Researchers at the University of Montreal have found that the glycated hemoglobin levels of children with type 1 diabetes followed at its affiliated Sainte-Justine Mother and Child University Hospital (CHU Sainte-Justine) is correlated linearly and negatively with household income.

4 Apr 2013

Vermont's health care can serve as roadmap for other states

Vermont's aggressive health care reform initiatives can serve as a roadmap for other states, according to a Master of Public Health candidate at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

4 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 4, 2013

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby, working in collaboration with USA Today, reports: "It's not just sore throats and flu shots anymore. Walgreens today became the first retail store chain to expand its health care services to include diagnosing and treating patients for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol. The move is the retail industry's boldest push yet into an area long controlled by physicians, and comes amid continuing concerns about health care costs and a potential shortage of primary care doctors" (Appleby, 4/4).

4 Apr 2013

Molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients

The emergence of molecular diagnostic testing in lung cancer offers new hope for patients battling the number one cancer killer in the United States and abroad.

4 Apr 2013

To meet TB treatment goals, latent TB cases must be diagnosed

"If everyone in the world were tested for latent infection with tuberculosis (a status that predisposes people to develop active disease) today, at least one billion people would be positive," Ray Chambers, U.N. special envoy for health financing, writes in the Huffington Post's "The Big Push" blog.

4 Apr 2013

GWCI receives support from Susan G. Komen for the Cure to care for D.C.-area breast cancer survivors

The GW Cancer Institute is in its second year of funding from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help increase the quality of survivorship care for D.C.-area breast cancer survivors.

4 Apr 2013

New report describes facts, trends on global health funding

Writing in Humanosphere, development blogger Tom Murphy describes a report from Population Services International and Devex that shows "some of the facts and trends on global health giving in a special edition of Impact Magazine."

4 Apr 2013

New study examines consumer-directed health plans

Consumer-directed health plans offer low premiums but high deductibles on the premise that patients who are faced with deductibles of $1,000 or more for individual coverage (or twice that for family coverage) will shop around for the best price for the health care.

4 Apr 2013

Information technology can improve TB screening, treatment programs

In a Center for Health Market Innovations blog post, Arjun Vasan of the Results for Development Institute uses preliminary research and analysis data collected by CHMI and the University of Toronto to examine "innovative ways to improve privately delivered TB care."

4 Apr 2013

Guardian's development podcast focuses on access to water

The Guardian's Global Development Podcast this month examined the issue of access to water and how it relates to development, human rights, and health, according to the transcript.

4 Apr 2013

Reuters examines implications of India's Novartis patent ruling for big pharma

Reuters examines the implications of India's Supreme Court ruling to reject drug maker Novartis's request for a new patent on an updated version of the cancer treatment Glivec on the pharmaceutical industry in India and across the developing world.

4 Apr 2013

More must be done to find balance between drug innovation, affordable health care

"The decision by India's Supreme Court to overturn the patent on Novartis's cancer treatment Glivec is good news for more affordable health care and bad news for drug innovation," a Financial Times editorial states, adding, "It fails fundamentally to address either issue, both of which need wide-ranging reform.

4 Apr 2013

More flexible food aid plan would allow better use of taxpayer dollars

"When it comes to providing hunger relief to needy people around the world, the United States has been a leader since World War II. And if early reports about the Obama administration's 2014 budget are true, then the U.S. will have a golden opportunity to provide even more food to the hungry while spending less taxpayer dollars in the years ahead," Catherine Bertini and Dan Glickman, co-chairs of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs' Global Agricultural Development Initiative, write in a Politico opinion piece.

4 Apr 2013

GPEI announces 'endgame' plan to eradicate polio by 2018

"A new global plan aims to end most cases of polio by late next year, and essentially eradicate the paralyzing disease by 2018 -- if authorities can raise the $5.5 billion needed to do the work, health officials said Tuesday," the Associated Press reports (Neergaard, 4/2).

4 Apr 2013

Ending extreme poverty by 2030 is possible, World Bank President says

"World Bank President Jim Kim has unveiled a series of new institutional goals aimed at ending extreme poverty by 2030 and focusing on the promotion of 'shared prosperity' -- increasing the incomes of the poorest 40 percent in each country while placing increased focus on dealing with climate change," Inter Press Service reports.

4 Apr 2013

China reports 4 more cases of H7N9 bird flu virus; Officials investigating route of transmission

"On Tuesday, China reported four more cases of infection with the H7N9 influenza virus, a type of bird flu, in the eastern Jiangsu province," Time reports.

4 Apr 2013

Despite discovery of sight-saving drugs, AMD still causes severe vision loss in older Americans

Age-related macular degeneration continues to be the leading cause of visual impairment in the United States for people over age 65, according to a study recently published online in Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

4 Apr 2013

Viewpoints: Obama's brain initiative is 'modest but welcome start;' Disability insurance facing 'immediate crisis'

President Obama officially announced his new brain research initiative on Tuesday, with a pledge to put $100 million in his 2014 budget to support work at three federal agencies.

4 Apr 2013