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Action needed to reach ambitious targets set forth in President's World AIDS Day speech

President Barack Obama's December 1 World AIDS Day speech "could be pivotal, but only if it is followed by changes in how we tackle global AIDS," Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, writes in this Huffington Post "Global Motherhood" opinion piece.

8 Feb 2012

USAID provides testing equipment to Vietnam to help speed diagnoses of drug-resistant TB

USAID on Monday said it has "delivered the first two of 17 planned laboratory devices" to help quickly diagnose drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis (TB), VOA's "Breaking News" blog reports.

8 Feb 2012

Pointing to health care, contraception policies, Mitt Romney goes on offense against Obama

Romney and GOP presidential primary rival Rick Santorum also trade barbs, while the Associated Press takes a look at Newt Gingrich's ties to lobbying.

8 Feb 2012

President's budget plan to include Medicare and Medicaid spending cuts but no structural changes

The president will propose cutting spending on Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly, and Medicaid, the joint federal-state program for the poor and disabled. However, he isn't proposing the structural changes that experts say are needed to control spending in these programs over the long term.

8 Feb 2012

Opponents argue the health law 'went too far'

Briefs filed by 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business argue that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority when it mandated that individuals buy health insurance or pay a penalty.

8 Feb 2012

Negotiations at impasse on efforts to prevent a scheduled cut to Medicare physician payments

The gridlock is over how to pay for the fix and could threaten the broader legislative package, which includes the payroll tax break extension. Meanwhile, lawmakers examine familiar offset possibilities, as well as some ideas from the private sector.

8 Feb 2012

U.N. says Asia Pacific region making strides against HIV/AIDS, must address social and legal barriers to treatment, prevention

The U.N. Economic and Social Commission for the Asia Pacific (ESCAP) on Monday in Bangkok "opened a three-day meeting lauding impressive gains in recent years in the fight against HIV/AIDS," but the body cautioned "there are still legal and social barriers that significantly set back eradication efforts," VOA News reports.

8 Feb 2012

New smartphone can help people with mental health problems

Brooding in your apartment on Saturday afternoon? A new smart phone intuits when you're depressed and will nudge you to call or go out with friends. It's the future of therapy at a new Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine center where scientists are inventing web-based, mobile and virtual technologies to treat depression and other mood disorders. The phone and similar projects bypass traditional weekly therapy sessions for novel approaches that provide immediate support and access to a much larger population.

8 Feb 2012

Calling for greater protection of health care workers in conflict settings

In this post in IntraHealth International's "Global Health" blog, editorial manager Susanna Smith examines how health care workers operating in areas of conflict are "being used as pawns of warfare."

8 Feb 2012

Lawson Health Research Institute receives new hybrid imaging scanner

Imagine being able to detect Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stage and prescribe the proper medication to halt its progress. Imagine being able to evaluate the health of heart muscles and tissues after an attack and accurately prescribe treatment to prevent future heart failure. London is close to making these possibilities a reality with the installation of Canada's first whole body PET/MRI scanner at St. Joseph's Hospital, part of St. Joseph's Health Care London.

8 Feb 2012

Study highlights benefits of TKR in elderly patients with osteoarthritis

New research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) highlights the benefits of total knee replacement (TKR) in elderly patients with osteoarthritis, including a lower probability of heart failure and mortality.

7 Feb 2012

Viewpoints: GOP dragging heels on payroll tax, doc fix plan; Opinions still heated on contraception rule

Republicans in Congress seem to have forgotten the embarrassment they suffered late last year for trying to block a payroll tax cut for millions of wage-earners.

7 Feb 2012

NQF endorses two surgical outcomes-based measures from ACS NSQIP

Two outcomes-based measures from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) were recently endorsed by the National Quality Forum.

7 Feb 2012

State roundup: Mental health problems complicate immigrant detention hearings; Penn. hospital replacing nursing assistants with all RNs

Immigrant advocates say there are hundreds of mentally ill immigration defendants such as [Ever Martinez Rivas], left to fend for themselves without any meaningful protections in court. As with Martinez, their cases are delayed repeatedly while immigration judges struggle to deal with them fairly. A recently certified federal class action suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Los Angeles-based pro bono law firm Public Counsel and other advocacy groups, seeks to address the issue by compelling the government to provide competency hearings, lawyers and bond hearings for defendants such as Martinez.

7 Feb 2012

Vending machine to dispense “morning after pills” at college sparks debate

Now students at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania can get the “morning after” pill by sliding $25 into a vending machine, an idea that has drawn the attention of federal regulators and raised questions about how accessible emergency contraception should be.

7 Feb 2012

New guidelines for travellers to avoid DVT on long flights

New guidelines for travellers have been issued. Experts warn that those with a higher risk of serious blood clots who opt for the window seat on flights longer than four hours are potentially putting themselves in danger. People who should be most concerned are those who have recently had surgery, cancer patients, those with limited mobility, the severely obese, and travellers over 70. However, healthy women on the pill and those who are pregnant should also be careful, according to the guidelines by the American College of Chest Physicians.

7 Feb 2012

Bread to blame for too much salt in American diet: CDC report

According to the latest figures released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this Tuesday, nine out of 10 American adults consume too much salt.

7 Feb 2012

ECNP expresses deep concern at withdrawal by AstraZeneca from neuroscience drug research

The European College of Neuropsychopharmacology expresses its deep concern at the recently announced withdrawal by AstraZeneca from neuroscience drug research. AstraZeneca's pull-out is especially disturbing given that it follows a series of similar withdrawals in the last two years by major pharmaceutical companies. There is a growing sense that neuroscience in Europe is now facing a severe crisis.

7 Feb 2012

State roundup: Legislatures, govs juggling costs and health programs

Medicaid spending is a matter of urgency almost everywhere in the country right now, but in few places is the urgency as palpable as it is here, where the governor refers to the federal-state health insurance program for the poor as "welfare," says it's necessary to eliminate coverage for 65,000 adults, and wants to stop paying room and board for some 2,000 elders who live in group homes. All these ideas are part of Republican Governor Paul LePage's plan to close a $220 million hole in the state's biennial Medicaid budget.

7 Feb 2012

U.N. supporting yellow fever vaccination campaigns in Cameroon, Ghana

Following an outbreak of the mosquito-borne yellow fever virus in Cameroon that has infected at least 23 people and killed at least seven people, U.N. and local officials are working to vaccinate "1.2 million people considered at high risk of contracting yellow fever, which has no cure," the U.N. News Centre reports.

7 Feb 2012

Health Care News and Research

Action needed to reach ambitious targets set forth in President's World AIDS Day speech

USAID provides testing equipment to Vietnam to help speed diagnoses of drug-resistant TB

Pointing to health care, contraception policies, Mitt Romney goes on offense against Obama

President's budget plan to include Medicare and Medicaid spending cuts but no structural changes

Opponents argue the health law 'went too far'

Negotiations at impasse on efforts to prevent a scheduled cut to Medicare physician payments

U.N. says Asia Pacific region making strides against HIV/AIDS, must address social and legal barriers to treatment, prevention

New smartphone can help people with mental health problems

Calling for greater protection of health care workers in conflict settings

Lawson Health Research Institute receives new hybrid imaging scanner

Study highlights benefits of TKR in elderly patients with osteoarthritis

Viewpoints: GOP dragging heels on payroll tax, doc fix plan; Opinions still heated on contraception rule

NQF endorses two surgical outcomes-based measures from ACS NSQIP

State roundup: Mental health problems complicate immigrant detention hearings; Penn. hospital replacing nursing assistants with all RNs

Vending machine to dispense “morning after pills” at college sparks debate

New guidelines for travellers to avoid DVT on long flights

Bread to blame for too much salt in American diet: CDC report

ECNP expresses deep concern at withdrawal by AstraZeneca from neuroscience drug research

State roundup: Legislatures, govs juggling costs and health programs

U.N. supporting yellow fever vaccination campaigns in Cameroon, Ghana

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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