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Contradictions among member state, donor priorities must be resolved for current WHO reform to be successful

In a BMJ analysis examining the future of the WHO, David Legge, scholar emeritus at Australia's La Trobe University, notes "[a] substantial shortfall in the funds available for basic administrative functions led WHO's director general, Margaret Chan, to initiate another reform of the WHO in 2010," and "outlines the problems and what the reforms are trying to achieve."

29 Oct 2012

Negative effects of global health initiatives on developing countries' health systems exaggerated, review shows

"An evaluation of the scientific evidence on the effects of global health initiatives on the health systems of developing countries concludes that the harmful effects have been exaggerated," according to a press release from the Royal Society of Medicine.

29 Oct 2012

U.N. refugee agency prepared to send emergency aid into previously unreachable Syrian communities if cease fire holds

The U.N. refugee agency "said Thursday it is ready to send emergency aid to thousands of Syrian families in previously unreachable areas" if a four-day U.N. Security Council-backed ceasefire set to begin Friday holds, Agence France-Presse reports.

29 Oct 2012

Research roundup: Patients' unrealistic expectations for chemo; Neighborhood may affect CPR rates; Rate hike reviews working

"To make informed decisions about whether to receive chemotherapy, patients with advanced lung or colorectal cancer need a realistic understanding of its likely benefits," the authors write. Researchers conducted comprehensive reviews of records.

29 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Washington Post endorses Obama; GOP Senate candidates hurting party's reach to women; 'Too much choice' in Medicare?

Mr. Obama is committed to the only approach that can succeed: a balance of entitlement reform and revenue increases. Mr. Romney, by contrast, has embraced his party's reality-defying ideology that taxes can always go down but may never go up. Along that road lies a future in which interest payments crowd out everything else a government should do, from defending the nation to caring for its poor and sick to investing in its children.

29 Oct 2012

Flu shot might also prevent heart disease

Getting a flu shot may not only protect you from getting sick, it might also prevent heart disease.

29 Oct 2012

State roundup: Surging number of high-deductible health plans; Mass. contemplates physician-assisted 'suicide'; Costs slowing in Colo.

High-deductible health insurance plans are catching on in states struggling to contain escalating costs among their own employees, according to a brief the National Governors Association released Thursday. Nationally, insurance industry figures show that 13.5 million workers -- public and private -- are enrolled in high-deductible plans, which have soared in popularity in recent years among private sector employers trying to cope with high costs. The idea is that health costs will decline because workers will have more of an incentive to look for the best value in health care.

29 Oct 2012

Contaminated drug passed lab test

Products from the Massachusetts pharmacy linked to the deadly meningitis outbreak passed a lab test in May, reports The Wall Street Journal. In addition, the pharmacy dodged a reprimand by Massachusetts regulators in 2004 after protesting it would be "fatal to the business." The company's founders come under scrutiny by media outlets as more people file lawsuits.

26 Oct 2012

Health law, costs confusing for consumers

About 15,000 physicians and medical students from around the country, working through the grassroots advocacy group Doctors for America, haven taken on the challenge of explaining the health law to patients and providers.

26 Oct 2012

Allergies and hygiene: an interview with Sally Bloomfield

Allergies occur when the body overreacts to substances in our environment, such as pollen, dust mites and so forth. What happens is that when we are exposed to these potential threats, the immune system should react, deal with it, and then shut down.

26 Oct 2012

WFP infographic provides data on operations

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) on Tuesday posted an infographic that answers such questions as "how many people does WFP feed each year?" and "how much does that cost and where does it get the money?"

26 Oct 2012

Obama says he'll pursue 'grand bargain' after election

In an interview with the Des Moines Register, President Barack Obama said he'll begin sequester talks right after the election, offering a package of spending cuts and tax increases as well as plans to reduce the costs of health care programs. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that leaders of some of the nation's largest companies plan to pressure Congress to make a deal that would include tax increases as well as spending cuts.

26 Oct 2012

Opinion pieces published in recognition of World Polio Day

The following opinion pieces were published on Wednesday in recognition of World Polio Day, observed annually on October 24.

26 Oct 2012

New treatments show promise for people with food allergies

New treatments are offering the prospect of eating without fear for the 15 million people in the United States with food allergies, according to the cover story in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News.

26 Oct 2012

Presidential support for global health critical in next administration

"It's not much of a surprise that Monday night's presidential debate, which focused on foreign policy, was consumed by a discussion of defense spending, and security and trade policies," but "it's still disappointing that both President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Gov. Mitt Romney were relatively silent on issues like global health, research, and international aid," Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) Communications Officer Kim Lufkin writes in the GHTC's "Breakthroughs" blog.

26 Oct 2012

Malawi needs donor support to maintain HIV/AIDS treatment program

In the last of a series of posts on the U.K. Department for International Development's (DfID) blog examining the department's work in Malawi, Neil Squires, DfID head of profession for health, looks at the sustainability of the country's HIV/AIDS program.

26 Oct 2012

Associated Press examines access to antiretroviral treatment in Myanmar

The Associated Press examines access to antiretroviral treatment in Myanmar, which "ranks among the world's hardest places to get HIV care, and health experts warn it will take years to prop up a broken health system hobbled by decades of neglect."

26 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare provider cuts 'won't work'; A 'pamphlet isn't a plan'

Once the presidential election is over, Congress will try to address the Medicare cost shortfall one way or another. They will almost certainly consider a method that is guaranteed to fail: Medicare rate cuts for doctors and hospitals. It's been tried before, most notably as part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Not once since the BBA required annual physician rate cuts have those cuts been implemented, leading every year to the predictable and depressing final-hours "doc fix" vote.

26 Oct 2012

Blog reports on efforts to deliver medicines to conflict-stricken region of DRC

Management Sciences for Health's "Global Health Impact" blog reports on USAID-funded efforts to deliver medicines to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's Sud Kivu province, which "has been an area of armed conflict for many years, with various rebel factions fighting for control over the resource-rich region."

26 Oct 2012

Study finds pollution as dangerous to health in developing world as malaria, TB

"Industrial pollution is putting the health of 125 million people at risk worldwide and is as dangerous in the developing world as malaria or tuberculosis, according to a new report," titled "2012 World's Worst Pollution Problems," Reuters/ABC Science reports.

26 Oct 2012