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Health workforce exodus will push health systems to the brink of collapse

What will happen if the Western Pacific's health workforce, seeking better-paying jobs and professional advancement abroad, continue to migrate as the region's population ages, the burden of chronic disease rises and new health threats emerge?

21 Sep 2006

Countries urged to prepare for a worst-case scenario such as an influenza pandemic

The increasing threat from emerging infectious diseases makes it imperative that countries prepare for rapid response and containment activities and for a worst-case scenario such as an influenza pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has advised.

21 Sep 2006

Study compares delivery methods of schizophrenia medicines

More than half of schizophrenia patients don't take their medication as directed and a new study will determine whether biweekly physician visits and injectable drugs can change that.

12 Sep 2006

Increasing helmet use promoted as an effective method of reducing road injuries and deaths

Each year about 1.2 million people die as a result of road traffic crashes, and millions more are injured or disabled.

28 Aug 2006

Diverting nonemergency cases from EDs in Canada does little to improve care quality for other patients

Diverting nonemergency cases from emergency departments in Canada does not have much impact on the efficiency or timeliness of care given to sicker patients, according to a study published Wednesday on the Annals of Emergency Medicine Web site, the Houston Chronicle reports.

24 Aug 2006

AIDS 2006 new studies and developments

As part of its expanded coverage of the XVI International AIDS Conference, held through Aug. 18 in Toronto, the Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report will feature studies and initiatives released during the conference.

20 Aug 2006

Medicines, money and motivated health workers are key to universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention

Dr Anders Nordstrom, Acting Director-General of the World Health Organization told delegates at the XVIth International AIDS Conference that "drastic measures" were required to ensure there are enough health workers available to deliver universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.

20 Aug 2006

About 4 million additional health workers needed worldwide to fight HIV/AIDS, WHO says

More than four million additional health workers will be needed in 60 countries to fight HIV/AIDS, according to a strategy the World Health Organization released Tuesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Aug 2006

HIV treatment access reaches over 1 million in sub-Saharan Africa

WHO HIV/AIDS Director Dr Kevin De Cock reported that the number of people receiving HIV antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa has surpassed 1 million for the first time, a ten-fold increase in treatment access in the region since December 2003.

16 Aug 2006

New plan to confront HIV-related health worker shortages

Launch of a coordinated global plan to address a major and often overlooked barrier to preventing and treating HIV/AIDS: the severe shortage of health workers, particularly in developing nations.

15 Aug 2006

Bird flu doing the rounds in Cambodia again

According to officials in Cambodia a second outbreak of bird flu has occurred there this year in southeast Prey Veng, the same province where the H5N1 virus killed a boy in April, about 20 km from the Cambodia-Vietnam border.

14 Aug 2006

Effectiveness of Hib vaccine introduction into routine childhood immunization in Kenya

Three years after introduction, routine vaccination of infants in Kenya against H. influenzae Type b (Hib) significantly reduced invasive Hib disease rates by 88%.

8 Aug 2006

Poorer countries better at health grant implementation

Low-income countries with less-developed health systems are more likely to have a higher rate of grant implementation than nations with higher incomes and more developed health systems, according to a study in this week's Lancet.

3 Aug 2006

PATH to pave the way for cervical cancer vaccines in the developing world

The global health nonprofit PATH has launched a five-year effort to make sure that new cervical cancer vaccines - the first vaccines developed and approved just for women's health - reach women in the developing world.

9 Jun 2006

Bill Gates puts his money where his mouth is again

Once again Microsoft founder Bill Gates is putting his money where his mouth is and the world's poorest women will benefit.

6 Jun 2006

Urgent changes are needed at the World Health Organization

Urgent changes are needed at the World Health Organization (WHO) to revitalise its role as global public-health agency

30 May 2006

Patients more satisfied if they have more contact with pharmacist

Getting hospital-based pharmacists out from "behind the counter" to work directly with inpatients and health care teams reduces medication errors and problems, according to a University of Iowa and Department of Veterans Affairs review of previously published studies.

23 May 2006

Commonwealth Ministers discuss human resources for health

Commonwealth Ministers of Health held their 2006 Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Sunday, 21 May. The theme of the Meeting was 'Human Resources for Health'.

22 May 2006

EU court says Brits who seek treatment abroad should be reimbursed by NHS

A European Court has ruled that National Health Service (NHS) patients who seek treatment abroad because they face "undue delay" in Britain, must be reimbursed by the NHS.

16 May 2006

Patients have high expectations about breast cancer screening mammography

A substantial proportion of women have beliefs about their personal risk of breast cancer, and expectations about the performance of mammography that are abnormally high or unrealistic, according to a survey conducted at University of Michigan Health Systems in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

4 May 2006