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Male contraceptive research gaining attention from scientists

The New York Times on Saturday examined research into several different methods of male contraception. "Male contraceptives are attracting growing interest from scientists, who believe they hold promise for being safe, effective and, also important, reversible," the newspaper writes.

25 Jul 2011

Guidance needed on recent HIV prevention findings

"In the absence of the anticipated guidance from WHO, the euphoria felt by participants at Rome that the latest science can allow us for the first time to consider eliminating HIV was tempered by utter confusion among program managers as to what to do next," Nathan Ford, medical coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontiere's International Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, writes in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog.

25 Jul 2011

African leaders must invest in malaria prevention

In a Daily Caller opinion piece, Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting Malaria, highlights a finding in a recent malaria report that the U.S. government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "were responsible for 85% of the steep increase in malaria funding between 2007 and 2009." But "[i]f 30 African heads of state were to give up their private jets, a fund of well over $500 million could be generated," Tren writes.

25 Jul 2011

Talks between automakers, UAW focus on health care costs

One big target for the three U.S. automakers in talks beginning this week with the United Auto Workers for new labor agreements will be the $1.54 billion collectively spent by the companies last year on health care for union members and their families.

25 Jul 2011

Health providers embrace the potential of ACOs

News outlets report on some health care providers' views of the potential of accountable care organizations to improve quality and reduce costs.

25 Jul 2011

Iowa, Kentucky get extra time to comply with MLR rule

But North Dakota became the first state to have the Department of Health and Human Services deny a waiver request regarding the health law's medical loss ratio provision, which requires health plans in the individual and small-group markets to spend no more than 20 percent of premiums on administrative costs.

25 Jul 2011

Some hospitals face hard times

Walter Reed Army Medical Center will close its doors after nearly a century. By month's end, the Shriners Hospitals will stop its tradition of providing free care to children. And, lastly, hospital bonds maybe vulnerable to downgrades because of potential reduction in Medicare reimbursements and Medicaid cuts.

25 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 25, 2011

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Joanne Silberner writes about her recent conversation with George Halvorson, who offers his take on the future of health care under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, including the role ACOs are likely to play.

25 Jul 2011

Better targeting of pharmaceuticals to patient's genetic profile could save around $110B annually

Genetic testing made possible by the mapping of the human genome can help the US cut costs and create jobs while at the same time improving survival rates for such diseases as cancer, HIV, and heart disease.

25 Jul 2011

Home healthcare community praises Ohio Governer's PASSPORT program

While policymakers in Washington debate cuts to the nation's Medicare program as a way to reduce the federal budget deficit, a group of national home healthcare providers is applauding Governor John Kasich's (R-OH) innovative program to keep seniors in their homes when possible, thereby reducing institutional healthcare for aging Ohioans and harnessing rising Medicaid costs.

25 Jul 2011

Study: Mail-order pharmacy use linked to improved cardiovascular risk factor outcomes

Kaiser Permanente Northern California patients who obtained new statin prescriptions via a mail-order pharmacy achieved better cholesterol control in the first 3-15 months following the initiation of therapy -- compared to those patients who only obtained their statin prescription from their local Kaiser Permanente Northern California pharmacy.

25 Jul 2011

Intravenous fluids appear to lower severity of kidney failure in children with E. coli infection

Infection with E. coli bacteria can wreak havoc in children, leading to bloody diarrhea, fever and kidney failure. But giving children intravenous fluids early in the course of an E. coli O157:H7 infection appears to lower the odds of developing severe kidney failure, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and other institutions.

25 Jul 2011

Officials stake out positions as debt deadline looms

As lawmakers pushed on Sunday to devise a plan to raise the debt limit and keep the government from risking default, Democrats and Republicans spent the morning offering reassurances and staking out their positions. Administration officials and lawmakers are expected to meet throughout the day to consider plans for reducing the deficit ahead of the Aug.

25 Jul 2011

China's new leadership should end one-child policy

"Chinese officials are fiercely attached to the one-child policy. They attribute to it almost every drop in fertility and every averted birth: some 400m more people, they claim, would have been born without it," an Economist editorial states, adding, "This is patent nonsense.

25 Jul 2011

Institutional donor aid and costs highest ever in 2010, report says

"Institutional donor aid in 2010 was at its highest-ever level - US$16.7 billion - but so were aid costs," according to preliminary estimates in the annual report of the international aid watchdog Development Initiatives released on Wednesday, IRIN reports.

25 Jul 2011

IRIN examines Cote d'Ivoire's temporary policy of free health care

While Cote d'Ivoire studies several options for financing public health services, its temporary policy of providing free care - "which the government said was aimed to help people after the post-election crisis - is causing grief for doctors and patients alike," IRIN reports.

25 Jul 2011

House committee votes to reinstate 'global gag rule' on abortion

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday voted to "reinstate a ban on providing foreign aid to groups that perform abortions or provide advice about the procedure," The Hill's "HealthWatch" blog reports on the "so-called 'global gag rule'".

25 Jul 2011

Infanticide and attempted infanticide common crimes among inmates in Malian capital's women's prison

"Infanticide or attempted infanticide has become the most common crime after theft and assault among inmates at the prison for women and girls" in Mali's capital city Bamako, the Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle reports.

25 Jul 2011

Medicines Patent Pool can help many but has potential limitations for AIDS drug access in middle-income countries

In a post on the New York Times' "Opinionator" blog, author and journalist Tina Rosenberg writes about the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) and describes how it can help purchase AIDS drugs for "vast numbers of people."

25 Jul 2011

Al-Shabab says ban on aid groups in Somalia remains in place; WFP announces resumption of airlifts

Two weeks after lifting a ban on certain aid groups providing assistance in Somalia, the militant Islamist group al-Shabab "has announced that the ban remains in place" and said that the U.N.'s declaration of famine in two regions of the country was being used as "propaganda," Al Jazeera reports.

25 Jul 2011