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Public health emergency declaration for North Dakota in response to floods affecting the state

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has declared a public health emergency for North Dakota in response to floods affecting the state. The action ensures beneficiaries of Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program receive benefits during this emergency time period.

20 Mar 2010

Influenza pandemic policies: WHO denies being improperly influenced by pharmaceutical industry

Providing independent advice to Member States is a very important function of the World Health Organization (WHO). We take this work seriously and guard against the influence of any improper interests. The WHO influenza pandemic policies and response have not been improperly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry.

20 Mar 2010

Panel: Management of ocean to enhance human health and reduce public health risks

On Monday, March 22, NOAA's Oceans and Human Health Initiative will host two briefings to key House and Senate staffers on NOAA's efforts to improve understanding and management of the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes to enhance benefits to human health and reduce public health risks.

20 Mar 2010

HHS awards more than $372M to 44 communities to support public health efforts

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced awards of more than $372 million to 44 communities, to support public health efforts to reduce obesity and smoking, increase physical activity and improve nutrition.

20 Mar 2010

Impact of plastics on human health and ecosystems

Plastics surround us. A vital manufacturing ingredient for nearly every existing industry, these materials appear in a high percentage of the products we use every day. Although modern life would be hard to imagine without this versatile chemistry, products composed of plastics also have a dark side, due in part to the very characteristics that make them so desirable-their durability and longevity.

20 Mar 2010

APHA urges U.S. House of Representatives to support health reform legislation

The American Public Health Association today urged members of the U.S. House of Representatives to support the health reform legislation and related reconciliation improvements that will come to the House floor for a vote in the coming days.

20 Mar 2010

Report highlights gains in malaria fight, documents need for more funding

Global funding for efforts to fight malaria, which stood at $2 billion at the end of 2009, have "helped to contain the disease," but is "far short of the estimated $6 billion required annually to expand" efforts to fight it, the Roll Back Malaria Partnership said on Thursday, Reuters reports. The statements came as the partnership released a report (.pdf) that examined a decade's worth of global funding for malaria and its impact on fighting the disease (Hardach, 3/18).

20 Mar 2010

Exposure to pesticide chlorpyrifos associated with early childhood developmental delays: Study

Exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos-which is banned for use in U.S. households but is still widely used throughout the agricultural industry-is associated with early childhood developmental delays, according to a study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

20 Mar 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

A Lancet study performed a systematic review of HIV prevention and treatment services targeting injecting drug users (IDUs) globally based on the availability of "core interventions for IDUs: needle and syringe programmes (NSPs), opioid substitution therapy (OST) and other drug treatment, HIV testing and counselling, antiretroviral therapy (ART), and condom programmes." The authors conclude, "although the number of countries with core HIV prevention services is growing … worldwide, there are few countries in which the level of intervention coverage is sufficient to prevent HIV transmission" (Mathers et al., 3/20).

20 Mar 2010

Bondi rescue? smoking ban coming

Bondi beach, a popular tourist hangout is under the scanner for smoking. The Waverly Council came up with a unanimous decision to ban smoking within 10 meters of the outdoor cafés in this popular tourist spot starting July this year.

19 Mar 2010

Comprehensive community-based solution to help achieve 'meaningful use'

Navigating the Challenges of Meaningful Use to Identify Benefits, March 31, 2010, 2 p.m. CT, a Webinar hosted by Informatics Corporation of America, will explore how to practically implement a community-wide solution that assists its healthcare participants to achieve the proposed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s criteria for meaningful use and bridge gaps in the adoption of electronic health records by its provider community.

19 Mar 2010

Pressure BioSciences announces presentations on advantages of PCT

Pressure BioSciences, Inc. today announced that five presentations on the advantages of pressure cycling technology (PCT) in the preparation, processing, identification, and quantification of proteins were made at last week's annual meeting of US HUPO (Human Proteomics Organization) in Denver, Colorado.

From Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. 19 Mar 2010

Global initiative for reducing time taken to introduce new combination TB treatments

Ahead of World TB Day, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg helped public and private sector partners launch a new collaboration to significantly accelerate the development of combination treatments for tuberculosis — and replace an almost 50-year-old drug regimen. Created by the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, the Critical Path Institute, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the initiative could potentially reduce the time it takes to introduce new combination TB treatments from as much as a quarter century to as few as six years.

19 Mar 2010

First Lady and HHS Secretary to announce new grants for supporting public health efforts

On Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will be joined by several high-ranking HHS officials to announce the release of new grants for communities to support public health efforts in preventing obesity and tobacco use while improving nutrition and increasing physical activity among the American people.

19 Mar 2010

Asian-language speakers actively use "quitlines", University of California study finds

Telephone counseling programs for smoking cessation, popularly known as "quitlines," are an increasingly common way for smokers to quit. Every state in the U.S. now has one. However, most of them provide counseling services in English and Spanish only. The only quitline so far to offer counseling in multiple Asian languages is the California Smokers' Helpline. Since 1993, the Helpline has been counseling smokers in Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese dialects), Korean and Vietnamese, in addition to English and Spanish.

19 Mar 2010

Predominantly white, insured and sick patients frequently use ER

Frequent users of the emergency department are predominantly white, insured and at greater risk for hospitalization due to serious illness, despite public perceptions of them as abusers of the healthcare system with minor complaints and no health insurance. This is the consensus of a systematic review of two dozen published studies of so-called "frequent flyers" ("Frequent Users of Emergency Departments: The Myths, the Data, and the Policy Implications").

19 Mar 2010

STOP Obesity Alliance: Adults lack information about effective weight loss methods and strategies

Primary care physicians agree they have a role in addressing obesity, but say they do not have the right weight management resources. Obese or heavier adults take responsibility for weight loss, but adults who need to lose weight may lack information about effective weight loss methods and strategies. These findings and others come from new research commissioned and released today by the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance.

19 Mar 2010

Stemedica files IND for trial using allogeneic mesenchymal bone marrow cells in patients with ischemic stroke

Stemedica Cell Technologies, Inc. (Stemedica), a world leader in stem cell research and manufacturing, announced that it has filed an Investigative New Drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a clinical trial. The trial will assess the safety, tolerability and efficacy of Stemedica's high potency proprietary allogeneic mesenchymal bone marrow-derived stem cells (adult human) as a treatment for ischemic stroke.

19 Mar 2010

Mars supports new national school nutrition standard

Mars, Incorporated today announced its support for improved school food nutrition standards so that more nutritious products are available to students nationwide. A key component of a comprehensive health and wellness campaign, the announcement was made in partnership with other industry leaders and public health organizations.

19 Mar 2010

Jail and fines for performing circumcision: Massachusetts Judiciary Committee rejects bill

A bill calling for prison time and fines for those who perform circumcision on any male under the age of 18 was rejected by the Judiciary Committee of the Massachusetts state legislature.

19 Mar 2010

Public Health News and Research

Public health emergency declaration for North Dakota in response to floods affecting the state

Influenza pandemic policies: WHO denies being improperly influenced by pharmaceutical industry

Panel: Management of ocean to enhance human health and reduce public health risks

HHS awards more than $372M to 44 communities to support public health efforts

Impact of plastics on human health and ecosystems

APHA urges U.S. House of Representatives to support health reform legislation

Report highlights gains in malaria fight, documents need for more funding

Exposure to pesticide chlorpyrifos associated with early childhood developmental delays: Study

Recent releases in Global Health

Bondi rescue? smoking ban coming

Comprehensive community-based solution to help achieve 'meaningful use'

Pressure BioSciences announces presentations on advantages of PCT

Global initiative for reducing time taken to introduce new combination TB treatments

First Lady and HHS Secretary to announce new grants for supporting public health efforts

Asian-language speakers actively use "quitlines", University of California study finds

Predominantly white, insured and sick patients frequently use ER

STOP Obesity Alliance: Adults lack information about effective weight loss methods and strategies

Stemedica files IND for trial using allogeneic mesenchymal bone marrow cells in patients with ischemic stroke

Mars supports new national school nutrition standard

Jail and fines for performing circumcision: Massachusetts Judiciary Committee rejects bill

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