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Ness Technologies led consortium to provide Electronic Healthcare Services system for Slovak Republic

Ness Technologies, Inc., a global provider of information technology solutions and services, announced today that Ness, as the leader of a consortium with its partner Lynx, Ltd., has won a public tender with the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic to provide the first phase of an Electronic Healthcare Services system, valued at EUR32.4 million, or approximately $44 million, excluding VAT. The term of the initial phase is 24 months.

12 Apr 2010

FDA holds public meeting to obtain comments on PDUFA program

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hold a public meeting on April 12, 2010, to obtain comments on the Prescription Drug User Fee Act program. The program authorizes user fees for FDA product reviews, which currently fund more than half of new drug review costs.

12 Apr 2010

Johns Hopkins Hospital launches Meatless Monday campaign to encourage healthier

The Johns Hopkins Hospital will launch a campaign on Monday, April 12 to encourage healthier eating among patients, visitors and staff — Meatless Monday.

12 Apr 2010

IHME researchers advocate greater transparency in financial reporting

The commitment to health by country governments in the developing world has grown dramatically over the last two decades, according to a new study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington and Harvard Medical School.

12 Apr 2010

Replikin Counts of H5N1 and H1N1 strains on the rise

The most recent BioRadar analysis of the virus genomes of both H5N1, known for high lethality, and H1N1, known for high infectivity, indicates that the Replikin Counts of both strains are rising. Such Count increases in a specific strain have been invariably associated with clinical outbreaks of that strain.

12 Apr 2010

IMAGE project to be launched for prevention of type 2 diabetes

Researchers and clinicians from across the UK have been part of a pan-European team that has developed the first Europe wide strategy for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. The project received substantial funding of -1.2 million from the European Union.

9 Apr 2010

Obese adolescents sleep less

Obese adolescents go to bed later and sleep less than their lighter contemporaries. This is the finding of a study published in the April issue of Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

9 Apr 2010

Combination telaprevir treatment beneficial for retreatment of hepatitis C

A study co-authored by a Saint Louis University researcher found telaprevir, a protease inhibitor, combined with standard hepatitis C treatment, cures a significantly higher number of difficult-to-treat patients than standard treatment alone. The findings were published in the April issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

9 Apr 2010

Opinions: Preparing for next flu outbreak; Elections in Zimbabwe; U.S. response to Haiti

Now that concerns about swine flu have eased, "[o]ur fear is that the public and officials will get blase about the next flu outbreak," according to a New York Times editorial. "Efforts to rush vaccine into production did not go well. This dry run should lead health officials to push the vaccine makers even harder to adopt new technologies that can turn out vaccine more quickly.

9 Apr 2010

Political controversies surrounding healthcare reform law may continue

A comprehensive review of national opinion polls taken before and after Congressional voting and when President Obama signed into law a major healthcare reform bill last month has found that the law's signing did not lead the country to come together in support of this landmark legislation. Partisan differences are stark, according to researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) who analyzed 33 independent opinion polls in an effort to gauge public support for healthcare change.

8 Apr 2010

Obese patients may receive higher rate of recommended care than normal-weight patients, but not lower

Despite a concern that obese or overweight patients may receive lower quality of health care, an analysis of eight common outpatient quality measures from a sample of nearly 70,000 patients finds no evidence that obese or overweight patients receive inferior care when compared with normal-weight patients, and in fact may receive a higher rate of recommended care on several measures, according to a study in the April 7 issue of JAMA.

8 Apr 2010

World Health Day: Addressing health and quality of life for city dwellers

This year's World Health Day theme, "Urbanization and Health: Urban Health Matters," reminds us that many of those people most at risk of poor health around the world live in cities.

8 Apr 2010

NCKU signs Letter of Intent with Kinmen County for establishing branch hospital

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has signed Letter of Intent with Kinmen County Government on April 7th to help elevate the medical standard of the off-shore island. With the establishment of NCKU Hospital Kinmen branch, Kinmen medical treatment will improve and the local citizens will enjoy a complete set of medical service.

8 Apr 2010

Smoking may increase risk of MS in people who have established risk factors for MS

A new study shows that smoking may increase the risk of multiple sclerosis in people who also have specific established risk factors for MS. The research is found in the April 7, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

8 Apr 2010

Scientific evidence links high levels of copper and iron to age-related disorders

With scientific evidence linking high levels of copper and iron to Alzheimer's disease, heart disease, and other age-related disorders, a new report in ACS' Chemical Research in Toxicology suggests specific steps that older consumers can take to avoid build up of unhealthy amounts of these metals in their bodies.

8 Apr 2010

Common myths about teens dispelled

The new book, The Teen Years Explained: A Guide to Healthy Adolescent Development, dispels many common myths about adolescence with the latest scientific findings on the physical, emotional, cognitive, sexual and spiritual development of teens. Authors Clea McNeely and Jayne Blanchard from the Center for Adolescent Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, provide useful tips and strategies for real-life situations and experiences from bullying, to nutrition and sexuality.

8 Apr 2010

UTHealth awarded $15.3M for establishing HIT REC

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today that The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has been awarded $15.3 million to establish a Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (REC).

8 Apr 2010

UNC Charlotte researcher improves lives of families and children affected by birth defects

Birth defects remain a leading cause of death in the first year of life. According to the March of Dimes, every 3 to 4 minutes a baby is born with a birth defect in the United States. About 1 in every 33 infants is affected by birth defects.

8 Apr 2010

Educating individuals about healthcare costs could lead to efficient use of healthcare system

Educating individuals about the costs of healthcare could save money and lead to a more efficient use of the healthcare system, report policy researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and Boston University School of Public Health. The study is the first to assess the effect of knowledge and perceptions of cost-sharing levels (the percentage of cost borne by individuals out of total healthcare costs) on self-reported and actual behavior.

8 Apr 2010

L.A. Care Health Plan receives $15.6M federal grant to establish HITEC-LA

L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today that the organization has received a $15.6 million federal grant to establish the Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center, called HITEC-LA, that will help doctors in L.A. County adopt and use Electronic Health Records in a meaningful way.

8 Apr 2010