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African countries see slow progress in reducing maternal mortality to achieve MDG 5

Inter Press Service examines what some experts are calling a lack of commitment from health care workers, which they say is "among the reasons why Africa may not succeed in achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 on improving maternal health by 2015 by reducing maternal mortality by three quarters."

9 Sep 2011

U.N. member states reach tentative agreement on NCD declaration

U.N. member state representatives recently reached an agreement "on a political declaration document for the 19 September U.N. high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)," although the document is "somewhat watered down from an original version," ScienceInsider reports (Reardon, 9/7).

9 Sep 2011

Duties, role of clinical laboratory microbiologists could change significantly in the future

With the increasing availability of sophisticated technologies to rapidly diagnose and treat infectious diseases, the duties and the role of clinical laboratory microbiologists, who traditionally perform these tests, could see significant changes in the next few years. That is one of the conclusions of a series of reports published in a special supplement to the September 2011 Journal of Clinical Microbiology.

9 Sep 2011

Global Fund facility offering subsidized malaria drugs 'could do more harm than good'

In this article in The American, a journal of the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Roger Bate, the Legatum Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting Malaria, write that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria "launched a $225 million facility that offers subsidized malaria drugs ...

9 Sep 2011

Washington Post examines conditions within Mogadishu hospital

The Washington Post looks at the conditions within Banadir Hospital in the Somali capital of Mogadishu. "The scenes ... reflect the immense challenge facing this Horn of Africa nation, already besieged by multiple woes, from civil war to radical Islamist militants to a weak transitional government incapable of governing effectively, despite massive support from the United States and its allies," the newspaper writes (Raghavan, 9/7).

9 Sep 2011

Health law subject to attack during GOP presidential debate

As candidates threw accusations at Democratic policies and each other, they didn't always get the specifics right. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney especially clashed on health policy issues. Meanwhile, Romney expressed his support for Medicaid block grants and Perry blamed the federal government for Texas' high number of people without health insurance.

9 Sep 2011

Cholera epidemics spread through West and Central Africa affecting tens of thousands, OCHA reports

"Cholera epidemics have hit tens of thousands of people and killed more than 1,400 others in seven West and Central African countries since the start of the year, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report on Tuesday," AlertNet reports.

9 Sep 2011

Studies find health care costs rose while providers profited

Research published in the journal Health Affairs details the impact of increasing health care costs and what factors are driving them. Also in the news, the Government Accountability Office released a report on states' oversight of health insurers' premium costs.

9 Sep 2011

Seniors, Medicare drug coverage and the doughnut hole

A Kaiser Family Foundation study finds that fewer Medicare drug plan enrollees are hitting the coverage gap. Those who are in it, however, bought fewer drugs.

9 Sep 2011

State roundup: Calif. hospitals fined for errors; Va. dental health concerns

Grady Memorial Hospital and Fresenius Medical Care have reached a basic agreement on providing dialysis services for 22 immigrants whose regular treatment ended last week. The Grady spokesman, Matt Gove, said that under the new deal, Grady will help cover the cost of dialysis for the patients, who up until two years ago were regularly treated at the hospital's outpatient facility.

9 Sep 2011

National Research Council releases new report on role of health impact assessment

The National Research Council released a report, "Improving Health in the United States: The Role of Health Impact Assessment." The publication states that "good health is determined by more than money spent on the healthcare system. In fact, a growing body of research indicates that living conditions-including such factors as housing quality, exposure to pollution, and access to healthy and affordable foods and safe places to exercise-have a greater effect on health."

9 Sep 2011

Longer looks: Unknowns in sports medicine; shackling pregnant prisoners

Medical experts say that multiple futile treatments is all too familiar and points to growing problems in sports medicine, a medical subspecialty that has been experiencing explosive growth. now researchers are questioning many of the procedures, including new ones that often have no rigorous studies to back them up. "Patients come in and say, 'I want the same thing that Tiger Woods had,' " said Dr. McDevitt, the sports medicine orthopedist in Maryland.

9 Sep 2011

Feds stop brain stent stroke study after failures

A promising but expensive device to prop open blocked arteries in the brain in the hope of preventing disabling or fatal strokes failed in a rigorous study, researchers reported on Wednesday. Those who got the device actually had so many more strokes than those assigned to control risk factors, like blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes, that the study was abruptly terminated.

9 Sep 2011

4th Circuit appeals court dismisses Virginia, Liberty University challenges to health law

The Virginia case, brought by state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, was considered one of the highest profile health law challenges to the health law. In its opinion, issued today, the court ruled that the state does not have standing to challenge the law's individual mandate because it lacks "a personal stake." The appellate court also concluded that Liberty University's challenge should be dismissed.

9 Sep 2011

UC research: Physicians report similar degrees of work intensity

Although society's perception might be that surgeons endure greater mental challenges and stress in their work duties than a primary care doctor, new research from experts at the University of Cincinnati (UC) shows that this isn't necessarily the case.

9 Sep 2011

Family planning, contraceptives a national priority for saving women's lives, U.N. meeting participants say

First ladies, health and finance ministers, and parliamentarians from 12 developing countries participating in the U.N. Population Fund's (UNFPA) Global Programme to Enhance Reproductive Health Commodity Security, which was launched in 2007, declared at a U.N. meeting held on Wednesday that "voluntary family planning, secured by a steady supply of contraceptives, is a national priority for saving women's lives," the U.N. News Centre reports.

9 Sep 2011