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Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

The most politically charged feature of the health reform law is the mandate that legal residents have health insurance. Within weeks of the law's passage, twenty states had filed lawsuits charging that the mandate is unconstitutional because it gives the federal government more power than it actually has. The state lawsuits are widely expected to reach the Supreme Court next year. Legal scholar Lawrence O. Gostin writes that the health insurance mandate rests on firm legal ground.

15 Sep 2010

Aspirin can prevent stroke and heart attacks: Study

In a large scale Australian study, researchers have found that Aspirin can save lives and drastically reduce rates of stroke and heart attack.

15 Sep 2010

Opinions: Global nursing; U.S. funding of Global Fund; Global demands for water; Food security

"Almost every nation, regardless of its wealth and resources, faces a continuing shortage of nurses and an acute lack of nursing faculty available to educate more nurses. This dearth of practicing nurses and nurse educators is particularly critical in countries like Haiti and other developing high-risk, low-resourced nations," Martha Hill, dean of Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, writes in a Baltimore Sun opinion piece encouraging the expansion of global nursing.

15 Sep 2010

AMIA launches new online publication for health professionals in global informatics community

A new online publication, targeted to health professionals working in the global informatics community, has been launched by AMIA, the professional association for informatics professionals. The Standards Standard provides a single online destination for healthcare information, communications, and technology experts who require a reliable periodic update on the activities and initiatives of the world's major biomedical and healthcare standards- setting organizations.

14 Sep 2010

Experts warn dip in antibiotic R&D could lead to treatment challenges

The 50th annual meeting of the Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC) kicked off in Boston on Sunday with experts warning that a "slowdown" in research on antibiotic development could result in treatment challenges.

14 Sep 2010

Six California-based institutions collaborate to guide CDU

Six California-based institutions specializing in health, hospital, university and nonprofit health announced today the formation of a new and unprecedented collaboration effort to rescue, restructure, reinvigorate and guide Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) towards a new, resurgent and financially viable future.

13 Sep 2010

BPA detectable in saliva of children for up to three hours after completion of dental work

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that bisphenol A (BPA) released from some plastic resins used in pediatric dentistry is detectable in the saliva after placement in children's mouths. BPA is a widely used synthetic chemical that has been associated with changes in behavior, prostate and urinary tract development, and early onset of puberty. The findings are published in the current issue of Pediatrics.

10 Sep 2010

WHO regional meeting in South-East Asia addresses antimicrobial resistance, developing country access to medical devices

During the WHO's 63rd Regional Committee Session for South-East Asia in Bangkok on Wednesday the WHO called for enhanced "efforts at the national and international level to preserve the efficacy of antimicrobial agents through the rational use of antibiotics," Indian Express reports (Thacker, 9/9).

10 Sep 2010

Gates Foundation 2009 annual report released

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Tuesday released its 2009 annual report (.pdf) highlighting some of the foundation's work over the last year, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports (Holtzman, 9/7).

10 Sep 2010

People to gather for CUGH annual conference to discuss critical role of universities in global health

More than 600 people will gather for the Consortium of Universities for Global Health annual conference being held at the University of Washington in Seattle on September 19-21 to discuss the critical role of universities in global health. The conference is the largest university-based global health conference ever held.

10 Sep 2010

Opinions: U.S. commitment to Global Fund; Innovative financing; Global food security; Aid for Pakistan

A Times of Trenton editorial looks at the work of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which is "estimated to have already saved 5 million lives, enables programs that prevent and treat infections, eliminate the transmission of HIV from pregnant women to their unborn children, contain the threat of multidrug-resistant TB, and eliminate malaria as a public health problem."

9 Sep 2010

Experts gathered for UNAIDS, WHO meeting recommend follow-up studies of ARV-containing microbicide gel start soon

Experts gathered at a joint meeting of UNAIDS and the WHO last week called for two additional clinical trials to test the effectiveness and safety of a microbicide vaginal gel containing the antiretroviral tenofovir, which previous studies have shown reduces the risk of HIV transmission in women who used it before and after sex by 39 percent, PANA/Afrique en ligne reports (9/5).

8 Sep 2010

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

"The health ministry has formed a committee to frame a policy for antibiotic use, following an uproar over a Lancet study that traced a drug-resistant bacterial superbug's origins to India," LiveMint.com reports. The panel will also look into the "excessive use of antibiotics among Indians," partly fueled by self-medication, that has increased resistance to the drugs. The article notes that the Indian government "rejected the findings of the report" but has "taken note of a lack of policy on antibiotics" (Pandeya, 9/3).

7 Sep 2010

VOA News examines U.S. Global Health Initiative

VOA News examines President Barack Obama's $63 billion Global Health Initiative (GHI), noting the initiative's emphasis on cost-effective strategies to improve child- and maternal-health as well as programs to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. The article includes recent comments by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the role the GHI will play in strengthening health systems and the administration's on-going commitment to global HIV/AIDS programs.

4 Sep 2010

AVAC calls for economic and political support for CAPRISA 004 microbicide trial's critical follow-up studies

AVAC today issues a call to action to donors, policy-makers, researchers and advocates to ensure that critical follow-up studies to the landmark CAPRISA 004 microbicide trial receive the economic and political support needed to move forward as quickly as possible. The call comes as a group of microbicide and public health experts have agreed upon a plan for further studies, which are expected to cost $100 million over three years, of which only $58 million has been committed.

4 Sep 2010

Governments called upon to recognize that access to pain management is a fundamental human right

Health care providers and researchers in the field of pain management are calling for governments worldwide to recognize the rights of people to the access of reasonable care for acute and chronic pain.

3 Sep 2010

U.N.-NGO meeting concludes with participants calling on world leaders to do more for MDGs

A group of more than 350 non-governmental organizations concluded a U.N. forum in Melbourne, Australia, on Wednesday with a call for world leaders to step up their commitments to achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, the Australian Associated Press/Sydney Morning Herald reports (Rose, 9/1).

3 Sep 2010

WHO revises treatment protocols for HIV patients

Prompted by clinical research into the early initiation of antiretroviral therapies for HIV performed at the GHESKIO clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised its treatment protocols for HIV patients.

3 Sep 2010

Commitments to global HIV/AIDS programs falter for 'first time in 15 years,' UNAIDS chief says

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe "said Thursday that global contributions to fighting [HIV/AIDS] are dropping off for the first time in 15 years amid tough economic times," Agence France-Presse reports.

3 Sep 2010

AMIA launches non-profit Global Health Informatics Partnership

AMIA, the U.S.-based association for informatics professionals, has launched a non-profit, wholly owned subsidiary organization called the Global Health Informatics Partnership (GHIP) to serve as an international center for collaborative initiatives on health informatics. With generous operational support from AMIA, GHIP, aims to build grassroots networks of health informatics advocates and professionals that will result in strengthened health informatics capacity in low-resource settings, primarily in South America, Africa, and Asia.

3 Sep 2010

Global Health News and Research

Health insurance mandate essential for expanding access of health care reform

Aspirin can prevent stroke and heart attacks: Study

Opinions: Global nursing; U.S. funding of Global Fund; Global demands for water; Food security

AMIA launches new online publication for health professionals in global informatics community

Experts warn dip in antibiotic R&D could lead to treatment challenges

Six California-based institutions collaborate to guide CDU

BPA detectable in saliva of children for up to three hours after completion of dental work

WHO regional meeting in South-East Asia addresses antimicrobial resistance, developing country access to medical devices

Gates Foundation 2009 annual report released

People to gather for CUGH annual conference to discuss critical role of universities in global health

Opinions: U.S. commitment to Global Fund; Innovative financing; Global food security; Aid for Pakistan

Experts gathered for UNAIDS, WHO meeting recommend follow-up studies of ARV-containing microbicide gel start soon

Also in Global Health News: India's antibiotic use; Abstinence curriculum in China; Child, maternal health in India; Plumpy'nut; PEPFAR funds to Uganda

VOA News examines U.S. Global Health Initiative

AVAC calls for economic and political support for CAPRISA 004 microbicide trial's critical follow-up studies

Governments called upon to recognize that access to pain management is a fundamental human right

U.N.-NGO meeting concludes with participants calling on world leaders to do more for MDGs

WHO revises treatment protocols for HIV patients

Commitments to global HIV/AIDS programs falter for 'first time in 15 years,' UNAIDS chief says

AMIA launches non-profit Global Health Informatics Partnership

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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