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New method to improve accuracy of estimated blood loss

Determining blood loss at the scene of trauma can be critical to successful patient treatment. Health care workers such as emergency medical technicians have used visual estimation, which can be highly inaccurate, as their only means of determining volumes of blood loss. A new, simple method developed by UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School may drastically improve their accuracy.

16 Dec 2009

Prostate cancer tests promised but not delivered

Men's Health Network calls on Congress to ensure that healthcare reform does not override the prostate cancer testing benefit currently required of insurance companies in 37 states.

16 Dec 2009

CPA introduces 10 resolutions and rules to help people live healthy life

With rates of obesity and inactivity at alarming levels in Canada there has never been a more urgent time for our country's citizens to take control of their health. Members of the Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA) are calling on Canadians and their families to make 2010 the year they make meaningful and long lasting changes to their physical care and fitness habits.

16 Dec 2009

University of Florida obtains stimulus grant to establish ataxia consortium

University of Florida neurologists are trying to change that with the help of a $1 million Challenge grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to establish a nationwide network of physician-scientists with expertise in clinical ataxia research.

16 Dec 2009

Routine tests to patients in community health centers increase HIV screening: UCSF researchers

UCSF researchers have found that routinely offering rapid HIV tests to patients in community health centers can significantly increase the number of patients screened for HIV.

16 Dec 2009

MU researcher says older American women face unique barriers in healthcare

For Americans living in rural areas, obtaining and maintaining health care can be challenging. Aside from common barriers, including shortages of care providers and facilities, older women face additional challenges, according to Kay Libbus, a public health researcher at the University of Missouri. Libbus says that women ages 50-65 living in rural areas are at-risk for inadequate health care coverage and limited access to health information.

16 Dec 2009

Vangent to implement SSO and Context Management capability in Military Health System

Vangent, Inc., a leading global provider of information management and strategic business process solutions, announced today it was awarded a $20 million contract by the Department of Defense (DoD) to implement an integrated Single Sign-On (SSO) and Context Management capability throughout the Military Health System.

15 Dec 2009

Lieberman ready to support health bill without Medicare buy-in or public option

CNN: "Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman said Tuesday he is prepared to back a comprehensive health care reform bill if it excludes both a public health insurance option and a provision allowing 55- to 64-year-olds to buy into Medicare."

15 Dec 2009

Hoyer: House could pass health bill without public option

"Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday the House can pass a healthcare bill without a public option," The Hill reports.

15 Dec 2009

UNITAID to launch patent pool for HIV/AIDS drugs by mid-2010

The international drug procurement agency UNITAID on Monday unveiled plans to create a patent pool for HIV/AIDS medications to help increase access to generic versions of newer drugs at lower prices for low- and middle-income countries, Agence France-Presse reports. The patent pool "will create a common space for patent holders to license their technology in exchange for royalties" and is "scheduled to begin operating in mid-2010," AFP reports (12/14).

15 Dec 2009

White House report says health reform will cut cost growth

The New York Times: The chair of the White House Council of Economics Advisers said Monday that the Senate health care reform bill would slow the grown of spending by 1 percent each year. "I want to tell you that what's going on on the floor of the Senate right now is probably the most important thing we can do for the long run fiscal health of this country," said Christina Romer, according to the Times.

15 Dec 2009

U.S. questions California's CHIP program; Milwaukee schools face rising retiree health care costs

News outlets report on California's children's health program, health care costs for Milwaukee's schools and indigent care in Minnesota.

15 Dec 2009

News outlets check the facts and explain health care reform

MarketWatch/The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on "the five biggest myths about health reform" -- that reform would lead to a government takeover of health care, that it would ration care, that it wouldn't address "out-of-control" growth, that you could keep your insurance if you like it, and that changes would be better suited piecemeal instead of by one large bill.

15 Dec 2009

Increased funds lead to 'significant progress' in global malaria fight, WHO report says

WHO's World Malaria Report 2009, which was released on Tuesday, found "increased funding is starting to pay off in the battle against malaria but prevention and treatment must be increased to try to halt the killer disease," Reuters reports (Kelland, 12/15). According to the Associated Press, there were more than 240 million cases of malaria and an estimated 863,000 people, mostly in Africa, died of the disease in 2008 (Cheng, 12/15).

15 Dec 2009

Data shows drop in natural disaster-related deaths, growing economic losses; Sen. Murkowski moves to halt EPA greenhouse gas regulation

New data from the WHO and the Belgian Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters Deaths and released at the U.N. climate conference show the number of people dying in climate-related disasters has decreased, and that economic losses from natural disasters are growing, Reuters AlertNet reports.

15 Dec 2009

Wild poliovirus reaches more African countries in 2009, WHO official says

Cases of polio have been reported in some African countries that have eradicated the disease, Luis Gomes Sambo, the WHO's Africa regional director, said Monday at the opening of a child immunisation conference in Zimbabwe, Agence France-Presse reports (12/14). It is the WHO's first annual regional conference on immunization, according to VOA News. Sambo said the conference will review the status of immunization in the 46-country sub-Saharan region (Mafundikwa, 12/14).

15 Dec 2009

A selection of opinions and editorials

In the Senate debate over health care reform, our priority should be to lower costs for American families and small businesses (Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, 12/14).

15 Dec 2009

Also in Global Health news: Drug trafficking in Kenya; violence in S. Sudan; Uganda bill; sleeping sickness

Drug trafficking and use are fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS in Kenya, according to a recent report by the U.N. Security Council, the Nation reports. "A statement from the council's Presidency currently … states that Afghan heroin was being imported, causing a dramatic increase in heroin addiction and spreading HIV/AIDS in the slums of Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya's two main cities," the newspaper writes.

15 Dec 2009

Questions raised on health bills' affordability, cost savings

The Wall Street Journal: "The health-care bills moving through Congress contain little to reward consumers for lowering their health costs, an omission prompting some lawmakers to press for more such incentives. Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) is proposing amendments to the Senate bill that would give people who are eligible for coverage through their employer the option of buying cheaper coverage from the new insurance exchanges -- and pocketing the difference."

15 Dec 2009

Obama urgently pushes lawmakers to pass reform bill

President Barack Obama will meet with Senate Democrats at the White House today and urge them pass legislation as a last chance opportunity for comprehensive health care reform.

15 Dec 2009