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Obama backs 'Gang of Six' plan that includes Medicare cuts

The Senate's "Gang of Six" unveiled its 10-year, $3.7 trillion deficit reduction plan Tuesday and received a warm, bipartisan reception in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, in the House, GOP lawmakers, in a largely symbolic vote, passed their "cut, cap and balance" measure, which the White House has called "unacceptable."

21 Jul 2011

AP examines U.S. focus on branding aid to Pakistan

The Associated Press examines recent U.S. efforts to more clearly brand aid to Pakistan.

21 Jul 2011

Diabetes trends in Alberta

The Alberta Diabetes Surveillance System was created in 2006 in partnership between Alberta Health and Wellness and the Institute of Health Economics. Led by Jeff Johnson in the University of Alberta's School of Public Health, the group has been identifying trends in diabetes, its associated health conditions and monitoring trends in accessing health-care services and has published a comprehensive report called a Diabetes Atlas every two years.

21 Jul 2011

Proposed Medicaid cuts draw warnings, unexpected requests

As debt talks proceed, the request by California Governor Jerry Brown, a liberal Democrat, to cut Medicaid spending by 10 percent, is reportedly awkward for congressional Democrats and the White House. Meanwhile, some advocates warn that Latinos will be hit hard by proposals to cut the health insurance program for the poor.

21 Jul 2011

Global polio eradication efforts unlikely to meet 2012 goal, health experts say

An independent group of health experts, formed last year at the request of the WHO, on Wednesday warned that the world is not on track to eradicate polio by the end of 2012, the Associated Press reports.

21 Jul 2011

British PM Cameron should keep development aid pledge

The Millennium Development Goals program "looked for too quick a fix. Above all, it neglected the problem of fragile societies, putting the cart of poverty reduction, disease eradication and the like before the horse of good governance. And it failed to recognize that adding to the sum of resources in conflict-prone societies can have the effect of increasing internal conflicts rather than reducing them," a Guardian editorial states.

21 Jul 2011

Older Americans with low health literacy may face higher risk of death

Low health literacy in older Americans is linked to poorer health status and a higher risk of death, according to a new evidence review by researchers at RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center.

21 Jul 2011

Dealing with chronic pain

For people with severe chronic pain like Kelly Young and Teresa Shaffer—both of whom have become patient advocates —coping with agony is a fact of life. Young suffers from rheumatoid arthritis while Shaffer's pain is linked primarily to another degenerative bone disease.

21 Jul 2011

IAS, UIPHP to launch VKC for injecting drug users living with HIV

As a part of its new initiative, Expanding Access to Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) for People Who Inject Drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), the International AIDS Society (IAS) will launch a Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy.

21 Jul 2011

Study: Access to outpatient psychiatric care in Boston is severely limited

A new study by Harvard Medical School researchers published today in the Annals of Emergency Medicine finds that access to outpatient psychiatric care in the greater Boston area is severely limited, even for people with reputedly excellent private health insurance.

21 Jul 2011

WHO denounces TB blood tests in first-ever 'negative' policy recommendation

The WHO "called on Wednesday for an immediate halt to the use of blood tests to detect active tuberculosis, saying they were faulty and leave millions of people at risk," Reuters reports.

21 Jul 2011

Though slim on specifics, 'Gang of Six' plan seeks savings from health plans

The plan's key health components include an overhaul of the Medicare physician payment system and a repeal of the health law's long-term care insurance program. Kaiser Health News provides the executive summary of the plan.

21 Jul 2011

New poll: Majority of Canadians need changes to health care system

According to a new poll conducted for the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) and the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), an overwhelming majority of Canadians say the country's health care system must be transformed to better meet patient needs.

21 Jul 2011

European Commission resumes foreign aid to Niger to improve education, health

"The European Commission resumed aid to Niger on Tuesday, releasing 25 million euros ($35 million) after the west African nation returned to democracy this year following a coup," Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Jul 2011

Experts at IAS conference suggest ways to increase funding for HIV/AIDS

"Scientists have now provided revolutionary tools to roll back HIV but only a major funding boost, supported especially by emerging giant economies, will determine the outcome," according to experts speaking in Rome at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Agence France-Presse reports.

21 Jul 2011

AACN invites clinicians and researchers to apply for research grants

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) invites clinicians and researchers to apply for its grants, with awards ranging from $1,500 to $50,000.

21 Jul 2011

U.S. News ranks University of Texas MD Anderson as leading hospital for cancer care

For the fifth straight year, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is the leading hospital in the nation for cancer care, according to the "Best Hospitals" survey published annually by U.S. News & World Report magazine.

21 Jul 2011

Texas Tribune reviews new anti-abortion law; health debate

An amendment that conservative state lawmakers hoped would wipe out the only taxpayer-funded elective abortions in Texas ultimately might not do much at all. One of many tacked onto an omnibus health care bill during the Legislature's special session in June, the amendment by Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, aims to remove state funding from any hospital district — a health care system financed by city or county tax dollars - that provides elective abortions.

21 Jul 2011

IOM panel recommends insurance coverage for contraception

The recommendation by the Institute of Medicine advises that contraceptives for women be treated as one of the several preventive services provided free of charge under the new health law.

21 Jul 2011

U.S. News ranks UC San Diego Health System among America's Best Hospitals for 2011-2012

UC San Diego Health System ranks #1 among San Diego's adult hospitals and among "America's Best Hospitals" according to U.S. News & World Report's "2011 - 2012 Best Hospitals" issue online at www.usnews.com/besthospitals and available on newsstands August 30.

21 Jul 2011