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South Sudan facing chronic food shortages, U.N. agencies say

U.N. agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), are warning that South Sudan, the world's newest nation, "will face chronic food shortages next year due to internal and border insecurity, erratic rains and a huge influx of returnees from the North," IRIN reports.

29 Sep 2011

Photo essay of USAID's work with women suffering from fistula in Guinea

This post in USAID's "IMPACTblog" examines the agency's work with women suffering from obstetric fistula in Guinea, where "[t]he average ... woman will have six children during her lifetime" and "due to the lack of obstetric care," many develop the "painful injury that is especially traumatic due to the stigma associated with it."

29 Sep 2011

Philippines health officials warn of disease risk following Typhoon Nesat

"Philippines authorities are warning of possible water-borne disease outbreaks following Typhoon Nesat," which ripped through the country on Tuesday causing widespread damage including power outages, flooding and landslides, IRIN reports (9/28). According to Reuters, at least 21 people have been killed by the storm and its consequences (Mogato, 9/28).

29 Sep 2011

IRIN examines rise in new leprosy cases in remote region of Madagascar

IRIN examines an increase in new leprosy cases in Antalaha, a once-prosperous vanilla-exporting town in a remote region of Madagascar, where a 2009 military-supported coup brought the suspension of some foreign aid and trade benefits.

29 Sep 2011

Bill Gates arrives in Nigeria to discuss polio eradication efforts

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, arrived in Nigeria on Tuesday, where he held talks with government officials and traditional leaders to discuss polio eradication efforts in the country's worst-hit northwestern region, Agence France-Presse reports (9/27).

29 Sep 2011

Aborigines have higher STD rates than general Australian population

Aborigines in Australia have higher rates of sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia than the country's general population, according to research by the University of New South Wales' Kirby Institute and reported on Tuesday at a sexual health conference, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports.

29 Sep 2011

Large-scale study on cat intestinal cancer could ultimately benefit humans

A recent, large-scale study on cat intestinal cancer has provided new insight into a common pet disease and its causes; the findings could ultimately benefit humans.

29 Sep 2011

MU's program provides solutions for states with physician shortage

An innovative program at the University of Missouri School of Medicine could help states deal with a dilemma in Washington, D.C. If deficit-reduction measures cut billions of dollars for training physicians who are already in short supply, who will care for the more than 30 million newly insured patients entering the health care system?

29 Sep 2011

Think creatively to financially support global health and development goals

In this post in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog, Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, and Gro Brundtland, a board member of the Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, the former prime minister of Norway, and the director-general emeritus of the WHO, discuss the notion of "innovative financing for development" and how, "faced with impending fiscal constraints, the international community has devised several promising financing models to protect investments in global health."

29 Sep 2011

Thanks from Global Fund Executive Director Kazatchkine

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, "[a]long with our partners, both donors and implementers, is changing the story of scores of nations that were once devastated by three killer diseases -- diseases which seemed invincible," Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece, adding "we are now saving more than one million lives every year."

29 Sep 2011

Low-tech, inexpensive interventions for bedsores could benefit long-term care residents

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that low-tech, inexpensive interventions for bedsores could improve health for long-term care residents and reduce health-care costs for the facilities that house them.

29 Sep 2011

African leaders showing 'clear commitment' to fighting malaria

"The focused attention that malaria has received by African governments and international organizations has had a major impact, with the rates of mortality coming down dramatically in the continent," and the African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) has helped lead this campaign, an IPP Media editorial states.

29 Sep 2011

NFIB asks Supreme Court to strike down all of the 2010 health law

The National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business advocacy organization, will file an appeal today. In it, the group will ask the high court to move beyond the law's individual mandate and strike down the entire measure.

29 Sep 2011

Costs of premiums for employer-provided health insurance jump

A study released by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that the average annual premium for family coverage was 9 percent higher in 2011 than in the previous year. Although many benefit analysts say the federal health law's requirements played only a small part in the rise, the results could provide political fodder for the law's supporters and opponents.

29 Sep 2011

With ALMA scorecard, African leaders are taking responsibility in malaria fight

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA) is "spearheading the fight against malaria" in Africa, bringing together 40 heads of state and "offering a compelling example of what is possible through co-operation, leadership, commitment, and sound management of national and international funds," Tanzania President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete writes in a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog."

29 Sep 2011

ACOs: Will feds be ready for the start date?

Health care stakeholders and lobbyists are increasingly convinced that CMS will not make the Jan. 1 deadline for launching the flagship accountable care organization program mandated by the Affordable Care Act as release of the final rule slips later into the fall.

29 Sep 2011

National Partnership for Women & Families, ACP commend Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative

The American College of Physicians (ACP) and the National Partnership for Women & Families joined today to commend the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the announcement of the new Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative.

29 Sep 2011

HHS awards prevention funds with Community Transformation Grants

News outlets report on local winners, how they will use these new resources to promote healthy living and disease prevention and how the funding is sometimes at odds with their leaders' opposition to the health law.

29 Sep 2011

Hospitals fall short in efforts to curb readmissions

A Dartmouth Atlas report that studied Medicare beneficiaries concluded that hospital readmission rates are largely static. Facilities will face financial penalities next year if they do not improve their statistics.

29 Sep 2011

House GOP lawmakers launch new investigation into Planned Parenthood

House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., sent Planned Parenthood a six-page letter earlier this month requesting financial information and details on how the women's health organization keeps federal funds separate from abortion services.

29 Sep 2011