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Advocates push for integration of HIV/TB funding, programming in Kenya

This post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports on a presentation at the Union World Conference on Lung Health in France on Saturday by Evelyne Kibuchi, a senior tuberculosis (TB) advocacy officer at the Kenya AIDS NGOs Consortium (KANCO), writing, "HIV stakeholders have been slow to embrace and adopt TB interventions, Kibuchi said, and resources for co-infection activities are modest.

2 Nov 2011

First Edition: November 2, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about Tuesday's super committee hearing and the message communicated by bipartisan budget hawks to the panel -- raise revenue and revamp health programs.

2 Nov 2011

Industry becoming more involved in ensuring food security, conference attendees hear

"Food security concerns as the world's population surpasses seven billion have prompted global companies to become more actively involved in ensuring future supplies, participants at an agricultural conference said on Monday," Reuters reports.

2 Nov 2011

World population reaches 7 billion amid warnings about health, natural resources

"Countries around the world marked the world's population reaching seven billion Monday with lavish ceremonies for newborn infants symbolizing the milestone and warnings that there may be too many humans for the planet's resources," the Associated Press/MSNBC.com reports.

2 Nov 2011

Hospitalized diabetic patients with acute kidney injury more likely to develop CKD

Findings from a recent University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center study show that multiple episodes of acute kidney injury during hospital stays for patients with diabetes are associated with a risk for developing chronic kidney disease.

2 Nov 2011

Congress questions IRS on oversight of nonprofit hospitals

In August, the Illinois Department of Revenue moved to revoke the property tax exemptions enjoyed by three major nonprofit hospitals after a court ruling determined that a fourth hospital in the state did not provide enough charity care to justify the tax benefit.

2 Nov 2011

Opinion pieces address world population of 7 billion

Though demographers do not know exactly when the world's population will hit seven billion, the U.N. symbolically marked the day on Monday with celebrations and warnings about safety, health and sustainability.

2 Nov 2011

Hospitals must improve tracking of serious errors, report finds

Medicare inspectors must do a better job of tracking reports of serious mistakes in care at the nation's hospitals, as well as of informing rating agencies of the errors, according to a report released Tuesday by the agency's inspector general.

2 Nov 2011

Congress should grant PEPFAR future security because program is 'desperately needed'

In this CNN opinion piece, Julian Zelizer, an author and professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, reports on how, "as the super-committee deliberates over how to reduce the deficit and other congressional committees struggle to cut spending, the fate of important programs," such as PEPFAR, "hangs in the balance."

2 Nov 2011

NIH-funded project to discover biomarkers for type 2 diabetes

Arizona State University will lead a four-year, $5 million expanded initiative sponsored by the National Institutes of Health to discover proteins, or biomarkers, to help predict cardiovascular disease and to assess potential new treatments in people with type 2 diabetes.

2 Nov 2011

Alliances form among super committee members

Reuters reports that three Republicans and three Democrats are joining together in an effort to develop the framework of a deal themselves. Meanwhile, an outside organization - the AFL-CIO - is launching a campaign to defeat any Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security cuts the panel may ultimately propose. And, according to Politico, Social Security is in play as the panel's deliberations continue.

2 Nov 2011

Zanzibar's Islamic leaders use Qur'an to shift attitudes about sex, contraception, HIV/AIDS

The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" examines how religious leaders on the island of Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, are using the Qur'an to shift attitudes about the issues of sex, contraception, and HIV/AIDS in an effort to reduce HIV infection, improve maternal health and curb rapid population growth. "Their aim is to shift deep-rooted views in their devout Islamic society that contraception is a sin," according to the blog.

2 Nov 2011

State roundup: Ga., Minn. move slowly on exchanges

The entire Massachusetts congressional delegation is asking CMS to preserve the level of safety net funding and provider payments as the state tries to renew its Medicaid waiver. "We are concerned that changes proposed by CMS could significantly threaten payments to Massachusetts health care providers providing care for the most vulnerable populations," Sens. John Kerry and Scott Brown and the 10 House members in the state's delegation wrote.

2 Nov 2011

Home health payments will fall 2.3% in 2012

The pay cut for home health agencies was announced in a regulation that was issued Monday. Although this reduction is less than initially proposed and will be phased in over two years, industry voices described it as "severe."

2 Nov 2011

Obama takes action to address drug shortages

President Barack Obama issued an executive order Monday directing the Food and Drug Administration to, among other steps, speed up reviews of manufacturers' applications to begin or alter production of a drug in potentially short supply.

2 Nov 2011

Early retirees' health insurance fund running out

A federal report predicts this $5 billion account created as part of the health law will be drained by 2012. In related news, one senator criticizes the program's handling. Also drawing criticism are exchange regulations, which advocates say could undermine the law's goal of expanding health insurance. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized standards - part of the administration's efforts to reduce health disparities - to track factors that affect people's health.

2 Nov 2011

Debating 'RomneyCare's' parenthood

The video is a lively - though civil - Republican-Democrat debate about whether it's fair to consider Massachusetts health reform as the "parent" of the federal health overhaul. As CommonWealth magazine executive editor Michael Jonas introduces it: Talking over the issue are Tim Murphy, who was Romney's secretary of health and human services and John McDonough, who was in the thick of the 2006 reform as director of Health Care for All.

2 Nov 2011

NYC settles Medicaid suit; Wis. officials face deadline for new plan for health care for poor

New York City will pay the federal government $70 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the city of overbilling Medicaid by improperly approving home care for frail and elderly clients, both parties said on Monday.

2 Nov 2011

Science Speaks reports results of Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction program study

This post in the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports the results of a Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) program study, released Monday, which "demonstrate that household counseling -- defined as the unpacking of concerns about TB and HIV within households and facilitating prompt diagnosis and treatment -- significantly reduced tuberculosis (TB) prevalence."

2 Nov 2011

E.U., UNICEF launch $430M fund in Zimbabwe to provide medical care to children, pregnant women

"A $430 million fund which will give Zimbabwean children and pregnant women free medical care at public hospitals was launched Monday with the help of the E.U. and UNICEF," Agence France-Presse reports.

2 Nov 2011

Health Care News and Research

Advocates push for integration of HIV/TB funding, programming in Kenya

First Edition: November 2, 2011

Industry becoming more involved in ensuring food security, conference attendees hear

World population reaches 7 billion amid warnings about health, natural resources

Hospitalized diabetic patients with acute kidney injury more likely to develop CKD

Congress questions IRS on oversight of nonprofit hospitals

Opinion pieces address world population of 7 billion

Hospitals must improve tracking of serious errors, report finds

Congress should grant PEPFAR future security because program is 'desperately needed'

NIH-funded project to discover biomarkers for type 2 diabetes

Alliances form among super committee members

Zanzibar's Islamic leaders use Qur'an to shift attitudes about sex, contraception, HIV/AIDS

State roundup: Ga., Minn. move slowly on exchanges

Home health payments will fall 2.3% in 2012

Obama takes action to address drug shortages

Early retirees' health insurance fund running out

Debating 'RomneyCare's' parenthood

NYC settles Medicaid suit; Wis. officials face deadline for new plan for health care for poor

Science Speaks reports results of Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction program study

E.U., UNICEF launch $430M fund in Zimbabwe to provide medical care to children, pregnant women

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