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India will continue to produce generic HIV drugs, Commerce and Industry Minister says

"India will not compromise on drug licensing norms and [will] continue to produce generic drugs for free treatment to HIV-positive patients, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said" on Wednesday, the IANS/Times of India reports.

8 Jul 2011

EU countries should pool funding to create 'prize' for bringing new antibiotics to market, report says

"European policy makers were urged Wednesday to find viable financial incentives to get drug companies to discover new antibiotics, because the lack of fresh supplies poses acute dangers to health care and efforts against infectious diseases," according to a report by the Office of Health Economics and funded by GlaxoSmithKline, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports.

8 Jul 2011

UNHCR says African drought threatens 'Human tragedy of unimaginable proportions'

"High levels of malnutrition, combined with violence in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, are threatening 'a human tragedy of unimaginable proportions,' the UNHCR warned" on Wednesday, the AFP/Daily Telegraph/Vancouver Sun reports.

8 Jul 2011

Next phase of HIV programming must focus on sustainable health systems response

"Now, we are in the Third-Generation of AIDS programming, in which the focus must be on a sustainable, health systems response, especially in the countries most affected by HIV & AIDS," Jonathan Quick, president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health, writes on the organization's "Global Health Impact" blog.

8 Jul 2011

Obama defends U.S. foreign aid spending during Twitter Town Hall meeting

"President Barack Obama on Wednesday held his first-ever 'Town Hall' meeting using the social media network Twitter, focusing on the U.S. economy and jobs," VOA News reports (Robinson, 6/7).

8 Jul 2011

Emergency aid will ease East African hunger, but it's not the solution

In a Guardian opinion piece, Nicholas Young, chief executive of the British Red Cross, writes about ongoing hunger in East Africa and how it ideally should be addressed. "Today's situation is so dire that in many cases emergency food aid is the only realistic option.

8 Jul 2011

Cash incentives for vaccination are ethical and economical

Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center, and Amanda Glassman, director of global health policy and a research fellow at the Center for Global Development, in this CGD "Global Health Policy" blog post present their reasons as to why cash transfers for vaccinations are economically and ethically sound.

8 Jul 2011

California lawmakers advance effort to review premium increases

A bill that would allow California officials to review health insurance premium increases advances as consumer groups and doctors in Connecticut lament the governor's veto of a rate review bill. Politico also reports that the federal government is preparing to step in for rate reviews in 10 states.

8 Jul 2011

Budget talks show movement; Changes to Medicare, Medicaid on the table

Touching these safety net programs would raise the ire of some Democrats, but the concept is being advanced by President Barack Obama as a trade-off for new tax revenues.

8 Jul 2011

Exploring trends in the doctor-patient relationship

News outlets report on recent developments — such as patients billing physicians for the time they spend waiting and how doctors are seeking help in dealing with difficult patients.

8 Jul 2011

Computer scientists use Twitter to identify public health trends

Two Johns Hopkins University computer scientists have found a way to use Twitter to track public health trends, according to a Johns Hopkins University press release.

8 Jul 2011

State exchanges get mixed progress reports, reviews

The health care law will disappoint many Americans if its health insurance exchanges don't deliver decent coverage at affordable rates for consumers, including those with serious illnesses like cancer.

8 Jul 2011

ACMG presents new guideline on genetic counseling, testing for AD

When is it appropriate to perform genetic testing for Alzheimer disease, and what information do patients need to understand their risk? The June issue of Genetics in Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics presents a new practice guideline on genetic counseling and testing for AD.

8 Jul 2011

Study finds that Medicaid coverage makes a 'big difference'

The study, considered the first of its kind, was conducted by researchers from MIT, Harvard and the state of Oregon and examined the impact of randomly assigning Medicaid insurance to poor Oregonians as part of the state's expansion of health coverage.

8 Jul 2011

New NIH program to identify nutritional status measures

The NIH in a press release said it will begin work on a "new program to discover, develop and distribute measures of nutritional status."

8 Jul 2011

Health law provisions draw compliments, complaints

Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is urging young voters to support the measure during the upcoming presidential campaign and former President Bill Clinton said Democrats should have done better defending it in the mid-term election season.

8 Jul 2011