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Recent releases in Global Health

The Infectious Diseases Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog examines U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Eric Goosby's recent address to the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) where he reemphasized the Obama administration's commitment to "'maintaining, extending and increasing' the U.S. response to global AIDS." Goosby reflected on the lessons drawn from PEPFAR to date and presented components of the 5-year PEPFAR strategy, the blog notes.

20 Feb 2010

Physio-Control restarts unrestricted global shipments of LIFEPAK defibrillators following FDA approval

Physio-Control Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Medtronic, Inc., announced today it received notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that having successfully met requirements for improvements to the quality system, the company may resume unrestricted worldwide shipments of its external defibrillators.

20 Feb 2010

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour stops in Jackson, Mississippi

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour, a six month, 48 state national cross country HIV testing tour, will stop in Jackson, Mississippi on Friday, February 19th and will offer free HIV testing event on the campus of Hinds Community College from 8:00 AM until 12:00 Noon.

20 Feb 2010

Health groups call for cigarette manufacturers to pay for anti-smoking education campaigns and quit-smoking programs

Six public health groups today asked the U. S. Supreme Court to authorize a trial court to require major cigarette manufacturers to pay for a broad public education campaign against smoking, as well as programs to help smokers quit. The groups also asked that the trial court be empowered to require the tobacco companies to forfeit profits they made during decades of illegal activity.

20 Feb 2010

WSNA holds informational picket to highlight issues critical to public health and safety

Washington State Nurses Association, representing more than 300 registered nurses at Public Health - Seattle & King County, is holding an informational picket today to highlight issues critical to public health and safety. During stalled contract negotiations, public health nurses are deeply concerned that the administration's new limitations on work schedules will reduce the ability to meet the needs of patients and clients.

20 Feb 2010

Rockefeller Foundation to support implementation global e-Health training program in sub-Saharan Africa

The Rockefeller Foundation has awarded a $630,100 project support grant to the American Medical Informatics Association to support the initial implementation this year of a global e-Health training program in sub-Saharan Africa designed for primary care providers, technical staff and health policy-makers.

20 Feb 2010

National poll examines public health response to anthrax attack

In a national poll aimed at helping with planning efforts for a public health response to a possible bioterrorism attack, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have found that, in response to a fictional scenario describing a significant anthrax attack in their city or town, most Americans (89%) will likely follow public health recommendations to obtain prophylactic antibiotics.

20 Feb 2010

CMAJ study summarizes risk factors for severe outcome among patients admitted to hospital with H1N1

A new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/doi/10.1503/cmaj.091823 of all patients in Canada admitted to hospital for H1N1 in the first five months of the outbreak summarizes the risk factors for a severe outcome (www.cmaj.ca). The H1N1 pandemic presents important learnings for clinicians and researchers and data on severe outcomes can help inform future treatment and prevention guidelines.

19 Feb 2010

Guiding Stars storewide nutrition navigation system influences healthier food purchasing decisions

Guiding Stars, the world’s first storewide nutrition navigation system, today announced that new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows Guiding Stars had a positive influence on food purchasing decisions after the implementation of the zero-to-three star rating system and that these changes continue to be significant in achieving healthier food choices in the supermarket.

19 Feb 2010

State policy developments: Wisconsin's new 'public option,' Iowa's medical marijuana vote, and more

New Hampshire Public Radio: A bill in the state legislature would create an annual public report that details the causes of rising health spending by analyzing now-private information that doctors, hospitals and other health organizations would have to provide to the state's Department of Insurance. The move is partly in response to conflicting narratives: The state's health spending continues to rise, yet hospitals and doctors say they are struggling (Grant, 2/17).

19 Feb 2010

Permitting private health insurance may not obviously weaken public health system

A single payer, fully government funded health care system has often been equated with core Canadian values. It is often argued that a single insurer, the government, is critical to the integrity of the system. Permitting private health insurance, it is claimed, would weaken the public system.

19 Feb 2010

SRI International establishes new Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Program

SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development institute, announced today that a new Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Program has been established within its Center for Health Sciences. This new SRI group of neuroscientists and researchers working at the cutting edge of science brings $6.2 million of funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS).

19 Feb 2010

Group B streptococcus may have significant public health implications: Study

A common bacteria found in many healthy adult females that can cause life-threatening infections when passed to newborns could be introduced to some women through frequent contact with cows, according to a research team led by a Michigan State University pediatrician.

19 Feb 2010

Efficient healthcare system in sub-Saharan Africa can reduce maternal deaths

More than 500,000 women die each year worldwide due to complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth. Half of these women live in sub-Saharan Africa. A research team from the King Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Madrid says these women are not dying as a result of any illness, but rather from a lack of basic healthcare measures.

19 Feb 2010

Socioeconomic status can affect life expectancy, says VCU researcher

People who live in areas with lower household incomes are much more likely to die because of their personal and household characteristics and their community surroundings, according to Steven H. Woolf, M.D., M.P.H., director of the VCU Center on Human Needs, professor in the Department of Family Medicine and lead author of the study.

19 Feb 2010

Six states to study sickle cell disease and thalassemias in national pilot project

Medical researchers are developing a new surveillance system to determine the number of patients diagnosed with a family of inherited blood disorders known as hemoglobinopathies, including sickle cell disease, thalassemias, and hemoglobin E disease.

19 Feb 2010

ScienceWorksForUS reveals how Recovery Act science funding benefits their campuses and communities

On the first anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) - the economic stimulus - the nation's research universities today provided nearly 100 examples of how a relatively small element of the measure is paying outsize short- and long-term dividends for the nation. Of the $787 billion contained in the ARRA, $21.5 billion is allocated for research and science infrastructure.

18 Feb 2010

UCSF receives $1.15M grant to integrate family planning into HIV treatment and care

UCSF has received a $1.15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to determine if integrating family planning into HIV treatment and care will increase contraceptive use and decrease unintended pregnancy among HIV-positive women. UCSF will partner with the Kenya Medical Research Institute and Ibis Reproductive Health to conduct the research.

18 Feb 2010

Norwegian government task force suggests formation of single company to commercialise biomaterial assets

Having studied the ethical, judicial and political arguments, the Norwegian government task force has suggested that a single nationwide company should be formed to commercialise biomaterials assets from the country’s various sources. The task force has also recommended HUNT Biosciences be a model for the national company.

18 Feb 2010

Training in newborn care and resuscitation to birth attendants increases likelihood of baby's survival

In developing countries, where millions of babies die in the womb or soon after birth, research has shown that providing training in newborn care and resuscitation to birth attendants significantly increases the likelihood of a baby's survival.

18 Feb 2010

Public Health News and Research

Recent releases in Global Health

Physio-Control restarts unrestricted global shipments of LIFEPAK defibrillators following FDA approval

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour stops in Jackson, Mississippi

Health groups call for cigarette manufacturers to pay for anti-smoking education campaigns and quit-smoking programs

WSNA holds informational picket to highlight issues critical to public health and safety

Rockefeller Foundation to support implementation global e-Health training program in sub-Saharan Africa

National poll examines public health response to anthrax attack

CMAJ study summarizes risk factors for severe outcome among patients admitted to hospital with H1N1

Guiding Stars storewide nutrition navigation system influences healthier food purchasing decisions

State policy developments: Wisconsin's new 'public option,' Iowa's medical marijuana vote, and more

Permitting private health insurance may not obviously weaken public health system

SRI International establishes new Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Program

Group B streptococcus may have significant public health implications: Study

Efficient healthcare system in sub-Saharan Africa can reduce maternal deaths

Socioeconomic status can affect life expectancy, says VCU researcher

Six states to study sickle cell disease and thalassemias in national pilot project

ScienceWorksForUS reveals how Recovery Act science funding benefits their campuses and communities

UCSF receives $1.15M grant to integrate family planning into HIV treatment and care

Norwegian government task force suggests formation of single company to commercialise biomaterial assets

Training in newborn care and resuscitation to birth attendants increases likelihood of baby's survival

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Why use light scattering to analyze proteins and viral vectors?

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