Poverty News and Research

RSS

Public option, affordability issues central to health bill negotiations

Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports that House Democrats who favor a government-run public insurance plan on Tuesday signaled "they are willing to agree to a final health overhaul bill without a government-run health insurance option if other parts of the bill would fulfill the same goals."

7 Jan 2010

Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to higher risk of death among African-Americans compared to whites

Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to a higher number of heart and stroke-related deaths among black Americans compared to whites, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

6 Jan 2010

Water experts plan coordinated approach towards global water crisis

More than two dozen leading United Nations water experts will convene in Hamilton, Canada Feb. 2-4 to plan fresh strategy for a coordinated approach to the global water crisis that increasingly threatens both human health and international security.

5 Jan 2010

Children’s vaccination coverage rises substantially in U.S.

About three-quarters of U.S. children received recommended vaccinations in 2008, up from about half in 2000, reports a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

5 Jan 2010

Montana high court allows physician-assisted suicide

The Associated Press/NPR reports: "The Montana Supreme Court said Thursday that nothing in state law prevents patients from seeking physician-assisted suicide, making Montana the third state that will allow the procedure. Patients and doctors had been waiting for the state's high court to step in after a lower court decided a year ago that constitutional rights to privacy and dignity protect the right to die. The Montana Supreme Court opinion will now give doctors in the state the freedom to prescribe the necessary drugs to mentally competent, terminally ill patients without fear of being prosecuted, advocates said" (1/2).

5 Jan 2010

Providence Service comments on the landmark healthcare legislation passed by the Senate

The Providence Service Corporation today commented on the landmark healthcare legislation that was passed last week by the United States Senate. The Senate Bill, which still needs to be merged with the House Bill and therefore could still undergo substantial changes, has a number of features that are expected to add funding for many of the types of home and community based social services that Providence provides to Medicaid eligible populations.

29 Dec 2009

Children receiving dialysis treatments at Loma Linda University Medical Center receive gift cards

Children receiving dialysis treatments at Loma Linda University Medical Center are having happier Christmases, thanks to the generosity of the National Electrical Contractors Association and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

28 Dec 2009

PhRMA applauds Senate for passing health care reform

"We applaud the Senate for taking an important and historic step toward expanding high-quality, affordable health care coverage and services to tens of millions of Americans, many of whom are struggling today financially. While considerable work remains to be done in reconciling differences between the Senate and House bills, we remain convinced that comprehensive health care reform, if done in a smart way, will benefit patients, our economy and the future of our nation.

27 Dec 2009

National Council on Aging favors Senate health reform bill

The National Council on Aging supports the Senate for its Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), which, when passed, will bring America one giant step closer to the long-awaited goal of health care that is both accessible and affordable for Americans of all ages.

24 Dec 2009

Opinions: Doctors in developing nations; foreign aid

In a New York Times opinion piece that focuses on health reform in the U.S., Shannon Brownlee, a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation and David Goodman, a professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, discuss an amendment that teaching hospitals in the U.S. hope will make it into final health care legislation. The amendement would add 15,000 residency slots to the 100,000 residencies supported by the federal government.

24 Dec 2009

VOA News examines obstetric fistula in Africa

VOA News examines obstetric fistula in Africa and looks at health officials' efforts to prevent and treat the condition.

24 Dec 2009

IRIN series examines health, development issues in Kenya

In a special series, IRIN examines health and development in Kenya. "The vast arid lands of northern Kenya are generally drier, less fertile, poorer and rank lower in most humanitarian and development league tables than the rest of the country. ... Preventable and treatable diseases are often neither prevented nor treated for want of adequate healthcare. Attracting qualified doctors and nurses to the hinterland is a major challenge.

24 Dec 2009

Poverty and dropout rates as important as smoking problem in the U.S.

The average low-income person loses 8.2 years of perfect health, the average high school dropout loses 5.1 years, and the obese lose 4.2 years, according to researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Tobacco control has long been one of the most important public health policies, and rightly so; the average smoker loses 6.6 years of perfect health to their habit.

23 Dec 2009

Arab states need to address food security, other factors to meet MDGs by 2015, report says

Arab states must develop a plan to increase food security and create more jobs in order to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets by 2015, according to a report published Sunday by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Reuters reports.

22 Dec 2009

Projects In Knowledge provides support for local, national, and global organizations

The deep-rooted tradition of charitable giving at Projects In Knowledge (www.projectsinknowledge.com) is kicking into a higher gear during the 2009 holiday season.

22 Dec 2009

Majority of young adults support health reform legislation, says survey

An overwhelming majority-88 percent-of young adults across the political spectrum think it is important for Congress and the President to pass health reform legislation that would assure affordable health insurance for all and improve health care, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey released today.

19 Dec 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

A Scientific American article examines recent efforts to tackle neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The author writes "NTDs have plagued humankind for thousands of years. … What is new, however, is that donors, drugmakers, health ministries in low- and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization (WHO), and public-private partnerships are linking their efforts to combat the NTDs in a more coordinated and systematic way."

18 Dec 2009

Senate leaders in hot pursuit of the elusive 60th vote: Ben Nelson

The Associated Press: "With just days remaining to prove that they can meet a self-imposed Christmas deadline and pass President Barack Obama's signature initiative through the Senate, Democrats seeking a rendezvous with history instead detoured to an intraparty brawl. ... All eyes were on the only known Democratic holdout, moderate Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, whose primary concern is that abortion funding restrictions in the bill were too lax.

18 Dec 2009

GAIN reduces malnutrition in high-burden countries

GAIN - the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition released today its 2008-2009 Annual Report. The report confirms the effectiveness of GAIN's work in reducing malnutrition in high-burden countries.

18 Dec 2009

New WHO report shows considerable progress in malaria

According to the World Health organization’s World Malaria Report 2009 released earlier this week, more than one third of affected countries included in the study have witnessed reduction in malaria cases by more than 50 percent between 2000 and 2008.

18 Dec 2009