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Using public health approach to address unsafe abortion

"The global maternal mortality has dropped dramatically during the last decade," but "too many women continue to die from pregnancy-related causes," Sharon Camp, president and CEO of the Guttmacher Institute, writes in the BMJ Group Blogs.

15 Oct 2012

Capsules: Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP all targets for fraud

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Alvin Tran reports: When it comes to health care fraud, medical facilities and hospitals are the top two offenders.

15 Oct 2012

PEPFAR releases FY13 Country Operational Plan Guidance

PEPFAR has released its "Fiscal Year 2013 Country Operational Plan (COP) Guidance" on its website.

15 Oct 2012

Blog examines contraceptive coverage in sub-Saharan Africa

"Between 1970 and 2010, most emerging countries achieved impressive gains in contraceptive coverage," but, "[b]y contrast, many sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries ... have started their contraceptive revolution very late and progress to date has been minimal," John May, a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Jean-Pierre Guengant, researcher emeritus at the Research Institute for Development (IRD) in Marseille, France, write in CGD's "Global Health Policy" blog.

15 Oct 2012

Wal-Mart expanding program for no-cost employee surgeries

Wal-Mart announced this week that it will expand a program that ends out-of-pocket procedure and travel costs for employees seeking some heart and spine surgeries if they go to hospitals across the country that have agreements with the retailer.

15 Oct 2012

Sitting for longer periods doubles risk of heart disease, diabetes and death

A new study led by the University of Leicester, in association with colleagues at Loughborough University, has discovered that sitting for long periods increases your risk of diabetes, heart disease and death.

15 Oct 2012

Capitol Hill fights over health law, EHR doc payments continue

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill sound off on the Obama administration's "meaningful use" payments to doctors as the fight over parts of the health law -- its oversight and D.C's insurance exchange -- continue.

15 Oct 2012

Romney's clues on pre-existing conditions, lack of health coverage

During a meeting with the Columbus Dispatch, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney offered a comment about people who lack insurance which is being characterized by some news outlets as "controversial." Romney plans to repeal the health law but says uninsured people could still visit an emergency room and that people with preexisting conditions could keep their insurance. On this point, however, he has yet to provide specifics, news outlets report.

15 Oct 2012

Indonesia issues order to override patents on 7 HIV, hepatitis drugs

"Indonesia's government has quietly issued an order to override the patents on seven important medicines used to treat people with HIV and hepatitis B and allow cheap versions to be made by local drug companies," Guardian Health Editor Sarah Boseley reports in her "Global Health Blog."

15 Oct 2012

Walmart, Humana to help Medicare beneficiaries afford their prescriptions

Annual enrollment begins today for 2013 Medicare plans and Humana Inc. and Walmart will once again help beneficiaries afford their prescriptions.

15 Oct 2012

GlaxoSmithKline to make clinical trial data available to other researchers

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) CEO Andrew Witty "said on Thursday detailed data from its clinical trials would be made available to other researchers," Reuters reports, adding, "That would include anonymized patient-level results that sit behind clinical trials of approved and failed drugs."

15 Oct 2012

PEPFAR launches training initiative for HIV/AIDS organizations in Bahamas

"On Wednesday, October 10, U.S. and Bahamian officials attended the official launch of 'The Caribbean Grant Solicitation and Management Program,' a new PEPFAR initiative that will be executed locally by the U.S.-based nonprofit World Learning through USAID," a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Nassau, Bahamas, reports.

15 Oct 2012

Maternal, child health programs must reach poorest families to be successful

"Worldwide, evidence-based interventions are being implemented in an effort to drive down child mortality and there are some signs that they are working," a Lancet editorial states. "However, few countries are on course to meet the targets set by Millennium Development Goal 4," the editorial notes.

15 Oct 2012

S. African National AIDS Council CEO speaks to PlusNews about reform, funding

Fareed Abdullah, CEO of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), who took office in July, spoke with PlusNews regarding the body's reform, the revival of provincial AIDS councils, resource mobilization, and the appointment of a new board that allows SANAC to operate independently.

15 Oct 2012

DoD's global health efforts 'difficult to ignore' given department's budget, reach

A report released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation outlines the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) global health work, "presenting the first comprehensive analysis of DoD's activities and budget in this area" and "aiming to contribute to discussions about DoD's role in global health, understandably regarded as controversial by many observers," a Lancet editorial states.

15 Oct 2012

Tanzania investigating circulation of fake HIV drugs, stops local ARV production

BBC News reports on an investigation into the circulation of fake HIV drugs in Tanzania, writing, "Analysts say there is concern about the quality of locally made drugs given widespread corruption in political circles in the East Africa nation."

15 Oct 2012

Women's health, Medicare and the health law mark tight races in various states

Asked where he would cut the government, Mr. Brown cited President Obama's health care law, which, he said, was crushing Massachusetts businesses. He said the law would remove $700 billion from Medicare, an assertion that Mr. Romney made in last week's presidential debate. "That's the same playbook that Mitt Romney used a week ago tonight," Ms. Warren said. "It was wrong then, it's wrong tonight."

15 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Debate provided 'meaty' political conversation; Looking for Obama's plan on Medicare

Thursday night's vice-presidential debate was one of the best and meatiest political conversations in many years, showing that real differences on public policy can be discussed with fervor, anger, laughter and real substance. In contrast to the dismal meeting last week between President Obama and Mitt Romney, this debate gave voters a chance to evaluate the positions of the two tickets, in part because Representative Paul Ryan's nonanswers were accurate reflections of his campaign.

15 Oct 2012

Global Fund, Churches Health Association of Zambia sign grant agreement worth $102M

"The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria signed a grant agreement worth $102 million with the Churches Health Association of Zambia [CHAZ] Wednesday," Devex's "Development Newswire" reports.

13 Oct 2012

Vice Presidential candidates debate Medicare plan specifics

During last night's face off, Vice President Joe Biden and GOP vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan offered different plans, visions and, sometimes, even numbers for Medicare's future.

13 Oct 2012