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Viewpoints: Doctors, nurses not reaping same health care 'bonanzas' as other providers; House GOP spending plan doesn't solve budget problems

When I followed the money trail in Time magazine's story "A Bitter Pill" behind the drugs, medical devices or CT scan equipment that the patients or their insurance companies were billed for, the profit margins for the hospitals that supplied them, as high as they were, were eclipsed by the margins of the manufacturers that sold them to the hospitals.

6 Mar 2013

UK’s health performance declining compared with 14 EU countries over past 20 years

Six decades of universal free health care, the introduction of widespread public health initiatives (eg, tobacco control, cancer screening, and immunisation), and substantial increases in health expenditure have failed to improve the UK’s health outcomes or longevity ranking against the average of 14 other original members of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Norway, and the USA (EU15+) over the past 20 years.

6 Mar 2013

After sequester, what comes next?

News outlets report that the next step for some GOP lawmakers will revolve around a budget plan that will end deficits by 2023. Along those lines, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has suggested a change in his Medicare plan.

6 Mar 2013

IRIN series examines concept of 'resilience'

"No one working in the aid community in recent years could have avoided the buzzword 'resilience' -- but what does the term mean practically and how has it helped shape action on the ground?" IRIN asks in one of a "series of articles exploring what resilience means for vulnerable communities, and its impact on the architecture of aid."

6 Mar 2013

'End The Neglect' blog interviews NTD expert

The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End The Neglect" blog briefly interviews Ellen Agler, CEO of the END Fund, about neglected tropical diseases (NTD), noting the conversation took place at a recent event titled, "Uniting to Combat NTDs: Translating the London Declaration into Action."

6 Mar 2013

Minn. House passes bill to create a health exchange

An amendment restricting abortion coverage was also approved. In Connecticut, the state awarded a contract to handle its exchange to a company that has come under fire in the state before.

6 Mar 2013

Across the nation, C-section rates show wide variation

C-sections, a very common operating room procedure, can boost the cost of delivery from about $9,000 for a vaginal birth to $13,000.

6 Mar 2013

USAID addressing GBV in humanitarian response to disasters

Anita Malley, acting senior displacement and protection policy adviser for USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog" about the office's commitment "to finding solutions to address gender-based violence (GBV) as a part of our humanitarian response to disasters."

6 Mar 2013

Empowering women will improve food security, U.N. expert says

"Governments must adopt food security strategies that empower women as this is an effective way to reduce hunger and malnutrition, a United Nations expert said" Monday, the U.N. News Centre reports.

6 Mar 2013

USAID working with non-profit partners to improve health systems worldwide

"It takes only a fraction of a single penny per American taxpayer dollar to train a global health workforce -- a workforce that will reach millions through treatment, prevention and counseling services," Ariel Pablos-Mendez, assistant administrator for global health at USAID, and Pape Gaye, president and CEO of IntraHealth International, write in USAID's "IMPACTblog."

6 Mar 2013

Obama administration could revolutionize aid, save billions with food aid reform

In a Foreign Policy opinion piece, John Norris, executive director of the Sustainable Security program at the Center for American Progress, examines how "the Obama administration could revolutionize aid and save billions ... with fairly minor changes to how we deliver food assistance abroad."

6 Mar 2013

Media examine reaction to, potential implications of 'functional cure' of infant born with HIV

"The remarkable case of a baby being cured of HIV infection in the United States using readily available drugs has raised new hope for eradicating the infection in infants worldwide, but scientists say it will take a lot more research and much more sensitive diagnostics before this hope becomes a reality," Reuters reports.

6 Mar 2013

Texas clergy asks lawmakers to boost women's health funding -- particularly for birth control

Elsewhere, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo links the fight for women's rights to his proposed abortion legislation, and Arkansas' governor vetoes a bill that would ban most abortions at 12 weeks, setting up another override fight in that state.

6 Mar 2013

AHRQ releases Making Health Care Safer II report

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a new report, Making Health Care Safer II, which identifies the top 10, evidence-based patient safety strategies available to clinicians.

6 Mar 2013

Prevention remains best method to stop mother-to-child HIV transmission

"If confirmed by further analysis," the case of a Mississippi infant being cured of HIV "would be the first time a person has been cured with simple drug treatments, making a lifetime of antiviral therapy unnecessary," a New York Times editorial states.

6 Mar 2013

Activists, lawmakers wrestle with Medicaid expansion

This aspect of the health law is a hot topic in Texas, Florida, California and Missouri -- among other places.

6 Mar 2013

Orlando Health takes quality and patient care initiative to next level

Orlando Health is taking its quality and patient care initiative to the next level, bringing medical outcomes data directly to its patients and their families.

6 Mar 2013

Reform in food aid distribution could lead to more lives saved, study suggests

"International development agencies may be able to save the lives of a greater number of undernourished children by changing how they allocate food aid in developing countries, suggests a study published [Monday] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences," SciDev.Net reports.

6 Mar 2013

'Information overload' of electronic health records can mean doctors overlook key test results

Researchers report that nearly 30 percent of doctors responding to a survey say they have failed to notice important test results because of the deluge of information available with electronic records.

6 Mar 2013

New report shows nurse migration strengthens health systems in North and Central America

International nurse migration is a multibillion-dollar global phenomenon. Historically, Mexicans and Central Americans have not played a significant part in the migration of nurses to the United States.

6 Mar 2013