Poverty News and Research

RSS

Gender disparities in developing countries relatively small at birth but grow in adolescence, UNICEF report says

A UNICEF report released on Tuesday suggests that gender disparities between boys and girls in developing countries are relatively small in children's early years, but as children approach adolescence, gaps widen in areas such as education, health, nutrition and protection, Xinhua reports.

15 Sep 2011

First Edition: September 14, 2011

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including lots of talk about the 'super committee' and about the new census numbers regarding the uninsured as well as the second-day analysis regarding some of the controversial comments made during Monday night's GOP presidential primary debate.

14 Sep 2011

Eli Lilly announces $30M commitment to fight NCDs in developing nations

Eli Lilly and Company announced today a $30 million commitment over five years to fight the rising burden of non-communicable diseases in developing nations.

14 Sep 2011

AP: Working-age people losing ground on health coverage

Hurt by high unemployment, working-age Americans are expected to lose ground when new census figures on poverty and the uninsured are released.

14 Sep 2011

Experts gather in London to propose appropriate medical devices for developing world

The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" reports on a one-day conference held in London this week that brought together engineers, health workers, donors and charities to look at devices specifically designed for the developing world.

12 Sep 2011

Non-communicable disease epidemic a global problem

Later this month the United Nations will convene a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases. The world's global health news has been so dominated by infectious culprits - HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, influenza - that it's easy to forget just how big a toll conditions like diabetes, cancer and heart and lung disease take say experts.

9 Sep 2011

Roundup: Scott's plan stalls to outsource Fla. prison health care; Calif. Blue Shield begins issuing credits after profit cap

Florida's plan to outsource health care in the third-largest U.S. prison system to save $30 million has stalled, hindering efforts by Governor Rick Scott and lawmakers to hire private operators for state services. Requests for proposals on the prison work were withdrawn last month less than a week after they were issued.

9 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Unknowns in sports medicine; shackling pregnant prisoners

Medical experts say that multiple futile treatments is all too familiar and points to growing problems in sports medicine, a medical subspecialty that has been experiencing explosive growth. now researchers are questioning many of the procedures, including new ones that often have no rigorous studies to back them up. "Patients come in and say, 'I want the same thing that Tiger Woods had,' " said Dr. McDevitt, the sports medicine orthopedist in Maryland.

9 Sep 2011

Number of underinsured adults increases from 16 million to 29 million between 2003 - 2010

The number of underinsured adults-those with health insurance all year, but also with very high medical expenses relative to their incomes-rose by 80 percent between 2003-2010, from 16 million to 29 million, according to a new Commonwealth Fund study published in the September issue of Health Affairs.

8 Sep 2011

Donald Danforth Center receives $11.9M funding for Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa project

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center announced today that it has received additional funding totaling $11.9 million for the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa (VIRCA) project to advance its work to improve the health and wellbeing of farmers, their families, and other consumers of cassava living in Sub Saharan Africa.

8 Sep 2011

Family planning should be 'cornerstone' of U.S. policy in Afghanistan

"Without attention to population, countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan stand a good chance of staying mired in poverty, conflict, and corrupt, repressive government. That is why sustained investment in family planning by the United States and other countries would do more to stabilize the political climate there than any other foreign-policy initiative," Jennifer Dabbs Sciubba, former Defense Department consultant and the Mellon Environmental Fellow in the department of international studies at Rhodes College, writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece.

3 Sep 2011

Natural environment linked to reduced obesity

New research from North Carolina finds that people who live in counties with better weather and more natural features like hills and lakes are more active and thinner than their counterparts, even when researchers take other factors into consideration.

3 Sep 2011

UNICEF, NGOs in West Africa work to encourage better sanitation in rural areas

UNICEF and non-governmental organizations "operating in West Africa say the main barrier to more pit latrines in rural areas is not poverty or lack of resources, but a lack of understanding about costs and benefits," IRIN reports.

2 Sep 2011

Medicaid changes plaguing some recipients

State Medicaid program cutbacks are having an effect on care for low-income Americans.

2 Sep 2011

HPV vaccination drives to prevent cervical cancers

Mexico plans to administer the vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer, to all girls beginning next year, the country's health ministry said Tuesday.

31 Aug 2011

Erratic weather exacerbates food insecurity in Indonesia's eastern province

"Erratic weather has exacerbated food insecurity in one of Indonesia's driest regions," including the districts of West Timor (TTS), Nusa Tengarra Timor (NTT), and North Central Timor (TTU), "leaving farmers and families hoping for the best as October's planting season approaches," IRIN reports.

31 Aug 2011

Racial, ethnic and poverty disparities in human papillomavirus vaccination completion

Barriers that hinder young African-American, Hispanic and poor women from completing a series of three vaccinations to prevent human papillomavirus infection (HPV) also leave them at higher risk for cervical cancer and death.

30 Aug 2011

World Water Week seminar examined Integrating Water and Health Initiatives

In this "End The Neglect" blog post, Ann Kelly, representative of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation's Global Water Initiative and co-founder of Partner at Global Philanthropy Group, provides an overview of a Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases co-hosted seminar at World Water Week in Stockholm, Sweden.

30 Aug 2011

Perry takes on Romney's Massachusetts health reforms

GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry criticized the Massachusetts health overhaul that became law while fellow candidate Mitt Romney was governor. Meanwhile, news outlets are fact-checking statements about related reform initiatives - such as Texas' tort reform law, and members of Congress appear to be taking a less-is-more approach to August town hall meetings.

26 Aug 2011

On health exchanges, states may get a second chance to create their own

So far, 11 states have accepted federal money to set up their own state-run insurance exchange. Meanwhile, the Basic Health Program, another health law initiative, is drawing attention.

25 Aug 2011