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To achieve MDGs, economic policies must help poor, UNDP head says

Economic policies that help the poor will bring the world closer to meeting the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] - "[g]lobal targets to halve poverty and improve basic health by 2015," Helen Clark, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) administrator, said Friday at the end of a four-nation tour of Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

17 May 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

As the 193 WHO member states gather at next week's World Health Assembly (WHA) "a draft global code of practice on the international recruitment of health personnel will be on the agenda. Negotiation and adoption of a WHO code of practice is an unprecedented opportunity to advance global consensus to address the critical challenges of migration of health workers and its effect on health systems worldwide," the authors of a Lancet Comment write.

15 May 2010

CSL Behring donates life-saving medicines to assist earthquake victims in Haiti

Direct Relief International announced today that CSL Behring has donated life-saving medicines valued at more than $100,000 to assist earthquake victims in Haiti who are at risk of tetanus or hepatitis B infections. The products will be used in clinics at Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles.

14 May 2010

Local ordinances in Appalachian states do not offer protection against second-hand smoke: Study

Local ordinances in Appalachian states with weak statewide smoking regulations do not offer most residents adequate protection against second-hand smoke, according to a new study.

14 May 2010

Two LSU researchers tackle incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults in the U.S.

In a paper published in the May 2010 issue of the scholarly journal Annals of Epidemiology, two LSU researchers tackle a problem seldom acknowledged in the United States - the incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults

13 May 2010

World Bank announces five-year plan to reduce maternal deaths, fertility rates in 58 low-income countries

During the release of its five-year plan to help drive down high maternal death and fertility rates in low-income countries, the World Bank on Tuesday said "that family planning and other reproductive health services have fallen off the radar of many governments, donors and aid agencies," Reuters reports.

13 May 2010

Opinions: Abortion in Canada's G8 initiative; Security of Afghan women; U.S. global development strategy; Mother's Day; U.S. food security initiative; Polio eradication

National Post columnist Jonathan Kay examines the ongoing debate over whether Canada's G8 child and maternal health initiative should include abortions, which according to a 2006 Oxford University Press-World Bank report, are "one small chunk of a bigger puzzle. A much larger problem, in terms of the number of female lives affected, is the decidedly less headline-grabbing subject of hemorrhages - which include antepartun hemorrhages … and primary postpartum hemorrhages.

12 May 2010

Minimum-wage employees more likely to be obese than those who earn higher wages: UC Davis study

A new UC Davis study has found that minimum-wage employees are more likely to be obese than those who earn higher wages, adding to growing evidence that being poor is a risk factor for unhealthy weight.

12 May 2010

Minn. negotiators seek compromise to expand Medicaid while a nursing home tax and cuts to a screening program grab headlines in other states

The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: Members of a legislative conference committee in Minnesota "agreed Sunday that expanding Medicaid should be part of the eventual compromise they will take to the House and Senate as early as Monday in a package of health and human service measures to cut the state's budget deficit. Gov. Tim Pawlenty has strongly opposed expanding Medicaid to cover health care for childless adults earning less than 75 percent of the poverty guideline.

11 May 2010

Globe and Mail special issue examines Africa, includes look ahead at G20 meeting, interview with Pres. Obama

The Globe and Mail examines Ethiopia and Malawi's role in next month's G20 talks in Toronto, Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has invited both countries to participate in the meeting, which could significantly affect Africa because it has become the "premier forum for confronting global economic problems and for co-ordinating solutions," according to the Globe and Mail.

11 May 2010

Hospitals' financial woes cause shake-ups in three cities

"Some doctors from St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan fear they won't be covered for malpractice insurance for care they provided while on staff before the hospital's demise. They believe the failed institution has a legal obligation to continue to provide the coverage. The doctors fear they may have to buy their own medical malpractice coverage for the next several years, policies they say can cost $40,000 a year when purchased individually" (Sataline, 5/7).

7 May 2010

SAMHSA highlights importance of promoting children's mental health from birth

To highlight the importance of promoting children's mental health from birth, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and more than 80 public and private collaborating organizations and federal programs and agencies - including new supporters, such as the Office of Head Start at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Legion Auxiliary - today joined in a nationwide celebration of National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day (May 6).

7 May 2010

First Edition: May 7, 2010

Today's health policy headlines explore a range of issues -- from how health reform politics are playing in midterm election campaigns to hospital action in the marketplace.

7 May 2010

Over 22% of non-elderly Americans may be denied coverage due to pre-existing health conditions

Approximately 57.2 million people under the age of 65—more than one in five (22.4 percent) of America's non-elderly population—have a diagnosed pre-existing condition that could lead to a denial of coverage in the individual health insurance market, according to a report released today by the consumer health organization Families USA.

7 May 2010

APA president highlights challenges faced in child healthcare

Whether you live in Haiti or in Harlem, the impact of poverty is the same. Children suffer from poor nutrition, environmental degradation, violence and poor development in the U.S. just as they do in less developed nations, and the consequences can be equally profound, according to Dr. Danielle Laraque, MD, president of the Academic Pediatric Association (APA).

7 May 2010

LSTM launches European Union funded adolescent reproductive health programme in Africa

LSTM has launched a four year programme to improve the delivery of reproductive health services in Tanzania and Niger. The programme, funded by the European Union, has been designed by LSTM and the seven project partners to highlight and address the cultural barriers which reduce the reach and effectiveness of existing adolescent reproductive health (ARH) services in partner countries.

7 May 2010

ALMA launches malaria drive on opening day of WEF on Africa

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance, comprised of the heads of 26 countries, on Wednesday at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa "launched a fresh drive to eliminate malaria using a combination of bed nets, insecticides and medication," Reuters reports (Nyambura-Mwaura, 5/5).

7 May 2010

Advocates ask donor nations, African Governments to maintain health commitments as WEF on Africa starts

As the 2010 World Economic Forum on Africa begins Wednesday in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, advocates from more than 10 African countries plan to "stage a demonstration" highlighting the need for funding for HIV/AIDS and other diseases, health-e reports (Thom, 5/5).

6 May 2010

Parents shoulder burden of launching their children into adulthood: Study

Despite living in an age of iPads and hybrid cars, young Americans are more like the young adults of the early 1900s than the baby boom generation: They are living at home longer, are financially insecure and are making lower wages.

5 May 2010

AU chair discusses proposed food security compact ahead of World Economic Forum on Africa

Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika "said he planned to work with other African leaders to devise a programme on food security that was sustainable 'regardless of who is looking at it,' and set up what he called an African compact on food security to act as an independent advisory body to the African Union on agriculture and food issues," the Guardian's "Katine" blog reports.

5 May 2010

Poverty News and Research

To achieve MDGs, economic policies must help poor, UNDP head says

Recent releases in Global Health

CSL Behring donates life-saving medicines to assist earthquake victims in Haiti

Local ordinances in Appalachian states do not offer protection against second-hand smoke: Study

Two LSU researchers tackle incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults in the U.S.

World Bank announces five-year plan to reduce maternal deaths, fertility rates in 58 low-income countries

Opinions: Abortion in Canada's G8 initiative; Security of Afghan women; U.S. global development strategy; Mother's Day; U.S. food security initiative; Polio eradication

Minimum-wage employees more likely to be obese than those who earn higher wages: UC Davis study

Minn. negotiators seek compromise to expand Medicaid while a nursing home tax and cuts to a screening program grab headlines in other states

Globe and Mail special issue examines Africa, includes look ahead at G20 meeting, interview with Pres. Obama

Hospitals' financial woes cause shake-ups in three cities

SAMHSA highlights importance of promoting children's mental health from birth

First Edition: May 7, 2010

Over 22% of non-elderly Americans may be denied coverage due to pre-existing health conditions

APA president highlights challenges faced in child healthcare

LSTM launches European Union funded adolescent reproductive health programme in Africa

ALMA launches malaria drive on opening day of WEF on Africa

Advocates ask donor nations, African Governments to maintain health commitments as WEF on Africa starts

Parents shoulder burden of launching their children into adulthood: Study

AU chair discusses proposed food security compact ahead of World Economic Forum on Africa

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

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