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CDC: Medical bills present hardship to many families

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on the financial stress caused by high medical costs.

9 Mar 2012

On the campaign trail, Santorum hits Romney on Mass. health law

GOP Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum continued to press the parallels between the state law signed by his rival, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and the federal measure, as well as to question Romney's explanation of his positions. Meanwhile, news outlets report on how the gender gap and social issues like contraception are playing in this election cycle.

9 Mar 2012

Two-part blog series details Haiti cholera outbreak, response

In the first part of a two-part series in the Center for Strategic & International Studies' (CSIS) "Smart Global Health" blog, Alisha Kramer, an intern with the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, and Matt Fisher, project coordinator of the CSIS Project on Global Water Policy and a research assistant at the Global Health Policy Center, provide a brief history of Haiti's cholera outbreak, noting, "Ultimately, by the end of 2011, the outbreak had resulted in over 500,000 infections and 7,000 deaths."

9 Mar 2012

Integration of HIV, family planning services will 'save women's lives'

"Women who are at risk of unplanned pregnancy are also at risk of HIV, and vice-versa so separation of these services no longer makes sense. The global health community must work to bring family planning and HIV services together -- and quickly -- to save women's lives," Dana Hovig, chief executive of Marie Stopes International, and Alvaro Bermejo, executive director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, write in this RH Reality Check blog post marking International Women's Day.

9 Mar 2012

IDRI receives $1 million RHSC grant to eliminate leprosy

Leprosy, otherwise referred to as Hansen's Disease, is one of the most ancient diseases known to humans. Although the World Health Organization declared leprosy to be under control in many previously endemic countries, most experts agree that current approaches to treating the disease are not sufficient to eliminate the disease as a public health problem. Currently, 1.6 billion people are considered at risk of exposure to leprosy, while over 800 new cases occur every day.

9 Mar 2012

Challenges to achieving an AIDS-free generation

In a plenary presentation at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle on Wednesday, Dorothy Mbori-Ngacha of UNICEF examined the challenges to reaching the goal of an AIDS-free generation, by "eliminating 90 percent of HIV infections among children by 2015," and "outlined the four pillars of achieving that goal," including preventing HIV among women, preventing unintended pregnancies, preventing mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT), and supporting HIV-positive women and their families, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" reports.

9 Mar 2012

Studies presented at CROI examine voluntary medical male circumcision

"HIV incidence among non-Muslim men has decreased with greater uptake of voluntary medical male circumcision (MMC) in Uganda, according to data presented Tuesday" by Ronald Gray of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Seattle, HIV Medicine Association Executive Director Andrea Weddle writes in this guest post on the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

9 Mar 2012

Va. Gov. signs pre-abortion ultrasound bill

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has signed a contentious bill mandating women who want an abortion get an ultrasound before the procedure.

9 Mar 2012

Contraception, abortion issues crop up in state legislatures, political races

The debate over the birth control mandate is seeping into West Virginia's governor race as reproductive-rights supporters assess their place amid losses in state legislatures.

9 Mar 2012

Critics raise alarms about downsizing of Calif. adult day health care program

Some say the state has predetermined how many people it can serve and is manipulating the process for assessing clients so the results fit within the new program's slimmer budget.

9 Mar 2012

PMI successfully generating 'value for money,' according to external evaluation

"While PEPFAR and the Global Health Initiative (GHI) have dominated the global health community's attention over the past few years, the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) has largely flown under the radar," Rachel Silverman, a research assistant for the Center for Global Development's (CGD) global health team, and Victoria Fan, a research fellow at CGD, write in this post in the CGD's "Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog."

9 Mar 2012

Some House GOP lawmakers threatening to walk away from last year's budget pact

Conservative Republicans are seeking deeper cuts in both discretionary and mandatory spending. The White House and Democratic lawmakers are "crying foul" and some GOP veterans caution it could produce gridlock. In the background, three key departures from the Senate Finance Committee could make that panel, which oversees Medicare and much of the health law, less centrist.

9 Mar 2012

VA honors women Veterans for courage and sacrifice

The Department of Veterans Affairs joins the Nation in observing Women's History Month in March by honoring women Veterans for their significant historical contributions and encouraging them to take advantage of the VA benefits they've earned.

9 Mar 2012

Longer looks: Santorum's pro-government record; Electronic health records and lawsuits

If elected president, Santorum vows, he will end the "tyranny" of President Obama's Affordable Care Act. Yet as an up-and-coming congressman in the early 1990s, Santorum took a much different line. Then - like now - health care was one of the nation's most divisive issues. In 1993, Republicans were up in arms about a health care reform bill spearheaded by Hillary Clinton and pushed by President Bill Clinton.

9 Mar 2012

CSIS report examines link between Palestinian bid for statehood, U.S. global health policy

A report published on Wednesday by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) -- titled "U.S. Global Health Policy in Palestinian Hands?" and written by J. Stephen Morrison, senior vice president and director of the Global Health Policy Center at CSIS, and Haim Malka, senior fellow and deputy director of the CSIS Middle East Program -- examines the relationship between Palestine's bid for statehood and potential membership in U.N. bodies -- including the WHO -- and U.S. global health policy, according to the report summary.

9 Mar 2012

Food assistance critical component of U.S. global development, national security strategies

"While only a small part of the Farm Bill, food assistance is a critical component of our nation's global development and national security strategies, reaching 50 million people a year," Ellen Levinson, executive director of Alliance for Global Food Security and president of Levinson & Associates, writes in the Hill's "Congress Blog."

9 Mar 2012

Inter Press Service publishes two-part series on toilets, sanitation in post-earthquake Haiti

Inter Press Service has published a two-part series, made possible with support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism in Haiti, examining sanitation services in Haiti since the earthquake in 2010.

9 Mar 2012

DC has highest prostate cancer incidence and death rate

Increased risk for African-Americans, medical distrust and negative attitudes toward testing contribute to high rates of prostate cancer in the District of Columbia. DC has the highest prostate cancer incidence rate and death rate in the country, according to data from North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

9 Mar 2012

Big hospital groups will get bigger and unlikely partnerships could emerge, according to Moody's

A new report by Moody's outlines how not-for-profit hospitals are being driven by reimbursement pressures and healthcare reform to join forces with health insurers and for-profit companies, among others.

9 Mar 2012

Enhanced linkage-to-care strategy helps HIV patients receive, remain in care, study shows

At the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) on Wednesday, Gabriel Chamie of the University of California, San Francisco "discussed outcomes in a routine linkage-to-care strategy versus and an enhanced strategy for accelerated antiretroviral therapy (ART) start in rural Uganda," the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

9 Mar 2012