Health Care News and Research

RSS

Ghana's Justice Minster calls for workplace HIV, tuberculosis policies

Ghana's minister of justice and attorney general, Betty Mould-Iddrisu, recently called on private and public employers to create policies that would provide comprehensive care to employees living with HIV or tuberculosis, as well as their families, GNA/GhanaWeb.com reports.

6 May 2009

Australia's harm reduction strategies serve as model for other countries, UNAIDS official says

The Australian government's efforts to curb the spread of HIV by advocating harm-reduction initiatives, such as needle-exchange programs and drug substitution therapy, for injection drug users serve as a model for other countries throughout the region, UNAIDS Asia Pacific Director Prasada Rao said recently, the AAP/Sydney Morning Herald reports.

6 May 2009

Stigma preventing some HIV-positive women in Kenya from following recommended infant feeding practices

Some HIV-positive women in Kenya are following cultural infant feeding practices, such as starting solid foods at an early age, instead of World Health Organization recommendations that infants born to HIV-positive women be exclusively breastfed for the first six months to improve their chances of survival, IRIN/PlusNews reports.

6 May 2009

Lesotho, UNICEF, European Union launch pilot program to provide financial support to AIDS orphans

The Lesotho government in partnership with the European Union and UNICEF has begun a pilot project to provide monetary assistance to children whose parents have died of AIDS-related causes, Inter Press Service reports. The pilot project -- called the Lesotho Child Grants Program -- will be rolled out in 1,200 households in the Mafeteng, Maseru and Qacha's Nek districts.

6 May 2009

Obama proposes $63 billion global health initiative over six years

President Obama has proposed a $63 billion, six-year global health initiative as part of his fiscal year 2010budget, Reuters reports (Bohan, Reuters, 5/5).

6 May 2009

Self-management programs for asthma improve drug adherence, disease control

Asthma patients who spend as little as 30 minutes with a health care professional to develop a personalized self-management plan show improved adherence to medications and better disease control, according to a new study by a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

6 May 2009

Countries move toward more sustainable ways to roll back malaria

The United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, in partnership with the Global Environment Facility, today announced a rejuvenated international effort to combat malaria with an incremental reduction of reliance on the synthetic pesticide DDT.

6 May 2009

Asthma coaching can reduce hospitalizations in some children

Working with an asthma coach helps to significantly reduce hospitalizations of low-income, African-American children with asthma, results of a new, two-year study show.

5 May 2009

Blacks, Hispanics more concerned about Alzheimer's than whites, but less informed

Blacks and Hispanics are more concerned than whites about Alzheimer's disease but less knowledgeable about means to delay its onset, according to a new survey, United Press International reports.

5 May 2009

International community should ensure access to diagnostic, treatment services to control tuberculosis in Africa, blog entry says

Tuberculosis "remains the most common cause of adult death in some countries" even though the global health community knows "what causes" the disease, "how it spreads" and "how to treat it," Ruth McNerney of the TARGETS Consortium at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine writes in the Guardian's "Katine Chronicles" blog.

5 May 2009

Off-label uses of drugs should be approved for very ill patients, opinion piece states

FDA and Congress "should protect physicians' and patients' right" to use FDA-approved drugs for off-label uses "and for the first time allow drugmakers to promote off-label uses that prove beneficial," Richard Epstein, a law professor at the University of Chicago and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. He continues, "Right now these drugs provide immense lifesaving opportunities for many sick patients, particularly those threatened by cancer."

5 May 2009

United Auto Workers planning to sell Chrysler stock obtained from bankruptcy deal to fund VEBA

United Auto Workers will sell its 55% stake in the reorganized Chrysler as soon as possible to fund a trust that will cover retirees' health care costs, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger said Monday, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

5 May 2009

Mental health prescriptions increased by 73% among adults, 50% among children from 1996-2006

From 1996 to 2006, prescriptions for mental health medications increased by 73% among U.S. adults and by 50% among children, according to a study published on Tuesday in the journal Health Affairs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 May 2009

AP/Miami Herald examines potential use of H1N1 vaccine

A strain-specific vaccine for the H1N1 flu virus, also known as the swine flu, that potentially could be developed by researchers might not be as beneficial as some might hope because uninsured U.S. residents are unlikely to purchase the vaccine, the AP/Miami Herald reports.

5 May 2009

High health care costs affecting insured U.S. residents

Across the country, 64 million people younger than age 65 are part of families spending more than 10% of their pretax income on health care, according to a Families USA study, the Boston Globe reports.

5 May 2009

Obama to release budget proposal details on Thursday, including plans for 'integrity' initiatives for Medicaid, Medicare

President Obama on Thursday is scheduled to release additional details of his fiscal year 2010 budget proposal, which will include $13.7 billion over five years for "program integrity" initiatives to increase oversight and eliminate fraud and errors in federal programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 May 2009

Medicare will not pay for genetic tests to determine best Warfarin dosage, according to proposed decision

CMS will not provide Medicare coverage for a genetic test that physicians can use to determine the proper dosage of the blood thinner drug warfarin, the New York Times reports.

5 May 2009

Senate HELP Committee moves up FDA Commissioner-Designate Hamburg's confirmation hearing due to H1N1 outbreak

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee has moved to Thursday the confirmation hearing for Margaret Hamburg, President Obama's pick for FDA commissioner, citing the need to address the H1N1 influenza outbreak, the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 May 2009

Congress not likely to pass permanent Medicare physician payment fix this year

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Monday said that comprehensive health reform legislation likely will not include a permanent solution to the Medicare physician payment system, CQ Today reports.

5 May 2009

Sen. Schumer proposes holding public health insurance option to same standards, rules as private insurers

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday proposed that any public health insurance option developed as part of comprehensive health care reform legislation be subject to the same rules and standards as private insurance, the New York Times reports.

5 May 2009

Health Care News and Research

Ghana's Justice Minster calls for workplace HIV, tuberculosis policies

Australia's harm reduction strategies serve as model for other countries, UNAIDS official says

Stigma preventing some HIV-positive women in Kenya from following recommended infant feeding practices

Lesotho, UNICEF, European Union launch pilot program to provide financial support to AIDS orphans

Obama proposes $63 billion global health initiative over six years

Self-management programs for asthma improve drug adherence, disease control

Countries move toward more sustainable ways to roll back malaria

Asthma coaching can reduce hospitalizations in some children

Blacks, Hispanics more concerned about Alzheimer's than whites, but less informed

International community should ensure access to diagnostic, treatment services to control tuberculosis in Africa, blog entry says

Off-label uses of drugs should be approved for very ill patients, opinion piece states

United Auto Workers planning to sell Chrysler stock obtained from bankruptcy deal to fund VEBA

Mental health prescriptions increased by 73% among adults, 50% among children from 1996-2006

AP/Miami Herald examines potential use of H1N1 vaccine

High health care costs affecting insured U.S. residents

Obama to release budget proposal details on Thursday, including plans for 'integrity' initiatives for Medicaid, Medicare

Medicare will not pay for genetic tests to determine best Warfarin dosage, according to proposed decision

Senate HELP Committee moves up FDA Commissioner-Designate Hamburg's confirmation hearing due to H1N1 outbreak

Congress not likely to pass permanent Medicare physician payment fix this year

Sen. Schumer proposes holding public health insurance option to same standards, rules as private insurers

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

How microplastics and bacteria interact to drive antibiotic resistance

Single-cell proteomics: Revealing proteome diversity from cellular heterogeneity to non-canonical biology

Latest News