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Experts look to India to develop accurate, affordable TB diagnostics

SciDev.Net examines tuberculosis (TB) in India, which has the world's highest TB burden, and some experts' hopes that researchers in the country can develop accurate and affordable diagnostic test kits.

4 Nov 2011

Global Fund releases additional audits as part of internal investigation

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Tuesday posted the results of several internal audits, showing "that 12 more probes had turned up an additional $20 million of mismanagement, alleged fraud and misspending," the Associated Press/CBSNews.com reports.

4 Nov 2011

100 House lawmakers urge super committee to consider 'all options'

A letter from this bipartisan group of House members to the deficit panel asked that the super committee strive for a larger, $4 trillion deal. Meanwhile, Politico offers four possible scenarios that could play out.

4 Nov 2011

First Edition: November 4, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the super committee's apparent impasse, and details on Mitt Romney's plan to cut the deficit.

4 Nov 2011

Stimulus funds will help build health IT systems, but not sustain them

iWatch News reports on how this finding is raising concern among state officials about how they will keep paying for these systems when the federal money is gone. Meanwhile, KHN - in partnership with NPR and Oregon Public Radio - takes a look at how electronic medical records can be used.

4 Nov 2011

Plans for insurance exchanges in Conn. and Kansas hit some roadblocks

The board developing the state's health insurance exchange--a key piece of federal health reform--is already at work. But consumer advocates unhappy with the composition of the board are still trying to change its make-up, and Democratic lawmakers are open to the idea.

4 Nov 2011

Health law's reproductive health provisions continue to draw criticism

At a Wednesday subcommittee hearing, faith-based providers and some House Republicans lamented new federal rules that they say could erode long-standing "conscience clauses."

4 Nov 2011

UofL intervention program for caregivers of people with IDD

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in family or group homes are less likely to receive routine dental care than those living in institutions, according to University of Louisville School of Dentistry associate professor Catherine Binkley, D.D.S., Ph.D.

4 Nov 2011

Gates to address G20 leaders about foreign aid, Robin Hood tax

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to tell G20 leaders on Thursday that tightening foreign aid budgets amid the current economic crisis "is counterproductive and pointless," the Toronto Star reports.

4 Nov 2011

Kenyan company receives WHO prequalification for generic ARV

"The cost of HIV/AIDS medicine is expected to drop by 30 percent in Kenya, enabling more people to access life-prolonging drugs, after the World Health Organization (WHO) gave the green light to a local company manufacturing generics, The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday," AlertNet reports.

4 Nov 2011

Parsing the health law's winners and losers, and its chances for survival

The AP reports on some of the measure's unexpected beneficiaries and The Christian Science Monitor details how it could be dismantled. Also, California Healthline follows the money that is lobbying to preserve the measure.

4 Nov 2011

LMG project to strengthen global health care delivery

The Yale Global Health Leadership Institute announces a new partnership with Management Science for Health, as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Leadership, Management and Governance Project.

4 Nov 2011

Nicaragua's abortion law becomes issue in presidential election

"Nicaragua is heading for presidential elections, and among the issues dividing people in this mostly Catholic country is abortion," with advocates marching in the streets of the capital Managua to show support for overturning a ban on therapeutic abortions that was instituted five years ago, Al Jazeera reports.

4 Nov 2011

Roundup: Mental health hospital woes; N.Y. Medicare scam bust

A Miami Herald series "Neglected to Death," focused this spring on critical breakdowns in Florida's enforcement system, including failures by the state's Agency on Health Care Administration to fully investigate deaths or to shut down some of the worst offenders among Florida's 2,850 assisted-living facilities. Although more states are using Medicaid money to pay for some portion of assisted living care for the poor, the federal government has a limited role in the facilities their oversight has been and will likely continue to be a state duty.

4 Nov 2011

Calif. Hospital Association sues over Medi-Cal provider cuts

The trade group for California's hospitals has sued state and federal officials to block a 10 percent cut in government reimbursements for health care providers who treat low-income patients. The California Hospital Association said in its suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, that cuts to the Medi-Cal insurance program will threaten the ability of many hospitals to continue operating skilled nursing facilities.

4 Nov 2011

Commercial disease management models do not reduce Medicare costs in America

At a time when everyone is looking for ways to reduce health care costs in America, using commercial disease management programs to reduce the fee-for-service Medicare costs associated with chronic conditions among senior citizens seems like a practical approach.

4 Nov 2011

Investment in USAID has saved millions of lives, is critical for U.S. security

In this Politico opinion piece, Brian Atwood and colleagues, all former USAID administrators in previous Democratic or Republican administrations and current advisers to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, write, "Over the last half-century, USAID has had an extraordinary record of accomplishment. Using less than one percent of the U.S. budget annually, the American people have demonstrated their deepest values through USAID programs, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide with immunization programs, oral rehydration therapy, treatment for HIV/AIDS and work on other diseases."

4 Nov 2011