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PBS' NewsHour reports on Ukraine's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS

PBS' NewsHour on Wednesday featured a story on HIV/AIDS in the Ukraine, which has Europe's highest HIV/AIDS rate, increasing fears that the epidemic could spread to neighboring countries. The story focuses on attempts to implement drug substitution therapy programs for injecting drug users and prevent the virus from moving into the general population.

13 May 2011

Federal health law pushes insurers to retool

Major U.S. health insurers, including Aetna Inc., Humana Inc. and WellPoint Inc., are retooling to become more than just health plans, in the wake of the federal health-care overhaul that is changing the rules for the industry's core business.

13 May 2011

Spouse caregivers may have high risk of cognitive impairment or dementia

An older individual who cares for a spouse with dementia may be at an increased risk of developing cognitive problems because of the lifestyle that was shared with the spouse and because of the stress of caring for a loved one who is ill.

13 May 2011

Opinion: Ending female genital mutilation

"Is it cultural imperialism for Westerners to oppose [female] genital mutilation? Yes, perhaps, but it's also justified. But it is clear that the most effective efforts against genital mutilation are grass-roots initiatives by local women working for change from within a culture".

13 May 2011

Romney uses speech to take on his political vulnerability: Health reform

Mitt Romney, GOP presidential hopeful, delivered a speech today detailing what was right about the Massachusetts health reform plan that became law while he was governor, what is wrong with the federal health law that was enacted last year and what he would do to bring change to the health system. He spoke at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor.

13 May 2011

Opinion: Three-pronged approach needed to fight malaria

A closer look provides a valuable reminder that sustained gains against malaria must be built upon a three-legged 'stool'.

13 May 2011

Opinion: Haiti's cholera epidemic endures

"The United Nations' overall appeal to respond to the [Haiti cholera] epidemic, for $175 million, is 48 percent financed. Haiti's continuing health emergency may have been overlooked in a crush of world events, but while the sick and dying are waiting for the world to respond, the disease is not".

13 May 2011

Republicans feel heat over Medicare budget votes, seek to craft new message

GOP lawmakers hope to get back on the offensive in the Medicare debate. Ads will begin airing later this week that target a Democrat from Northern California, but some say the party needs to focus on a long-term strategy to regain its footing in this debate. Meanwhile, some House Democrats are pointing to a special congressional election in New York as proof that House Republican's Medicare vote is backfiring.

13 May 2011

Tips for fighting drug-resistant superbugs

Superbug CRKP is just the latest in emerging strains of drug-resistant bacteria. While new drugs to combat these stealthy microbes like MRSA and CRKP remain in development what can we do to prevent catching and spreading these dangerous bugs?.

13 May 2011

Boehner's support for budget cuts to Medicare, Medicaid draws criticism from Catholic U. faculty

The letter writers criticize Mr. Boehner's support for a budget that cut financing for Medicare, Medicaid and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, while granting tax cuts to the wealthy and corporations. They call such policies "anti-life," a particularly biting reference because the phrase is usually applied to politicians and others who support the right to abortion.

13 May 2011

Washington Governor signs health exchange bill; Texas House debates bills opposing federal overhaul

Gov. Chris Gregoire approved several proposals Wednesday to prepare the state for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul, even as Washington's attorney general challenges the law in court. The new bills include a plan to create a state health insurance exchange, making Washington the fourth in the nation to prepare such a system.

13 May 2011

House Appropriations Committee Chair releases FY12 budget plan proposing to cut $30B from current spending levels

House Appropriations Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers released a 2012 budget plan on Wednesday that would cut federal spending levels by $30 billion compared with current levels, the Wall Street Journal reports.

13 May 2011

TFAH applauds HHS for new strategic approach to prevent viral hepatitis

The Trust for America's Health applauds the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for unveiling a new strategic approach to dealing with the silent epidemic of viral hepatitis today.

13 May 2011

New circumcision treatment can reduce HIV

Promising study results published in the May issue of JAIDS show that a novel medical device has the potential to revolutionize how male circumcision services are offered in countries hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

13 May 2011

ACP wins excellence award for health care publishing

The American College of Physicians (ACP) is pleased to announce that ACP Internist, ACP Hospitalist, and ACP InternistWeekly have won awards for excellence in publishing.

13 May 2011

Longer looks: Conservatives vs. liberals on Medicare - who's winning?

What you really need to know is that Tuesday was a great day in court for supporters of the Care Act and a very tough one for its opponents. That dynamic could easily change within the next six weeks or so when the 11th Circuit, the 6th Circuit, and the 3rd Circuit also hold their oral arguments on Care Act appeals. Either way, we are one step closer to the end of all of this, and you can bet that the justices were paying attention up the road a bit from Richmond.

13 May 2011

Viewpoints: Romney on his health plan; Enthoven, Aaron on Medicare reforms; WSJ on 'millionaire' retirees

Health care is more than just one-sixth of the American economy. It is a source of well-being for individuals and families. We are blessed with much that is good in American health care. But we have taken a turn for the worse with ObamaCare, with its high taxes and vastly expanded federal control over our lives. I believe the better course is to empower the states to determine their own health care futures.

13 May 2011

Roundup: Maryland long term care costs examined; federal judge declines to bar implementation of abortion law

A controversial new Indiana law limiting access to abortion services remains in effect after a federal judge Wednesday denied a request for a restraining order from Planned Parenthood. The brief ruling from Judge Tanya Walton Pratt in Indianapolis means the law signed hours earlier by Gov. Mitch Daniels, a potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, can continue to be enforced.

13 May 2011

Florida plan to revamp Medicaid raises questions; Texas hospitals complain about Medicaid rate cuts

To visit the low-rise medical offices dotting the sun-bleached highways of Broward County is to meet doctors and patients who complain of being guinea pigs in a social experiment gone wrong.

12 May 2011

First Edition: May 12, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about the upcoming speech by GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, during which he is expected to confront what many say is his main vulnerability: his home state's health reform.

12 May 2011