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Florida’s health centers filling critical gaps

Since its establishment, National Health Center Week has celebrated the work of community health centers that provide health services to the working poor, the uninsured, the medically underserved, and many high risk and vulnerable populations. This year’s National Health Center Week takes place from August 9 – 15.

13 Aug 2009

Building a comprehensive child vision care system

Even though universal comprehensive eye exams for children prior to starting school would result in more children being diagnosed and successfully treated for vision problems and eye diseases, requirements vary widely from state to state and only three states require eye examinations for school-age children, according to a new report from the National Commission on Vision and Health.

13 Aug 2009

UNICEF issues $1.5 million urgent appeal for malnourished children in Central African Republic

UNICEF on Tuesday issued an urgent appeal for $1.5 million to provide thousands of acutely malnourished children in the Central African Republic (CAR) with "life-saving therapeutic foods, drugs and other supplies" over the next six months, VOA News reports (Schlein, 8/11).

12 Aug 2009

Nurses harnessing the power of wireless technologies and online communities

The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing (JHUSON) is harnessing the power of wireless technologies and online communities to help nurses throughout the world “connect for health.” Under the direction of Associate Professor Patricia A. Abbott, PhD, RN, FAAN, the School’s Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery Community of Practice (GANM) has become a teacher for the 21st century, speeding new health information and know-how to nurses around the globe—from the most urbanized, high-tech cities to the most remote villages, using low bandwidth telecommunication technologies.

11 Aug 2009

Democrats, Republicans dispute meanings and motivations behind angry Town Hall meetings

"Angry crowds have put many lawmakers on the defensive as they try to talk about health care with their constituents, leading some to replace public forums with teleconferences or stepping up security to keep protesters at bay," The Associated Press reports.

11 Aug 2009

U.S. Food Stamp Program may help contribute to obesity among its users

Researchers found that the average user of food stamps had a Body Mass Index (BMI) 1.15 points higher than non-users. The link between food stamps and higher weight was almost entirely based on women users, who averaged 1.24 points higher BMI than those not in the program, the study found. For an average American woman, this would mean an increase in weight of 5.8 pounds.

10 Aug 2009

Clinton signs new $10 million agreement on HIV/AIDS with Angola, says U.S. 'stands ready' to work with South Africa on HIV/AIDS

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed a new agreement with Angola aimed at controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS, the Associated Press reports. "The Obama administration will more than double funding for Angola to combat the disease, from $7 million to $17 million," the news service writes (Lee, 8/10).

10 Aug 2009

Zara's Center at Bulawayo provides relief to AIDS orphaned children

Rachael Plutzik seems like an ordinary teenager and student growing up in New York City. She likes hanging out with her friends and family, singing in her a cappella group, playing the guitar, and reading Harry Potter books.

10 Aug 2009

Governors nervous about proposed Medicaid expansion

Governors from both parties are concerned that health reform will leave them with expensive new Medicaid obligations.

7 Aug 2009

Hillary Clinton to meet with South African leaders

After arriving in South Africa on Thursday as part of her 11-day African tour, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has "encouraged South Africa to take a leadership role on the political crisis in neighboring Zimbabwe," Bloomberg reports.

7 Aug 2009

Reform could strain community health centers

While the health care reform debate rages on Capitol Hill, sitting just a mile away is the Walker-Jones Health Center in Northeast Washington, one of about 1,200 federally-qualified community health centers across the country that provide free and reduced-cost care to millions of Americans.

7 Aug 2009

Cooperation between faith-based organizations and UNFPA critical to maternal health, say groups

Partnerships between faith-based organizations and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are critical to enhancing efforts to reduce maternal deaths and end violence against women.

7 Aug 2009

TB alliance appoints Marshall Burke as the organization's Head of External Affairs

The Global Alliance for TB Drug Development (TB Alliance), a not-for-profit product development partnership accelerating the discovery and development of new drugs to fight tuberculosis (TB), today announced the appointment of Marshall Burke, Ph.D. as the organization's Head of External Affairs.

7 Aug 2009

Senators move closer to centrist health reform bill

Lawmakers working on a bipartisan health care reform bill in the Senate Wednesday signed on some centrist Democrats who believe they could support the reform and sell it to constituents back home over the recess, The New York Times reports.

6 Aug 2009

Big business group urges cost cutting to pay for health overhaul

John Castellani, the president of the Business Roundtable, told reporters today that health reform legislation should include mechanisms to finance coverage expansions largely through cost savings inside the health care system and should preserve ERISA, the 1974 federal law that regulates most private employee health plans.

6 Aug 2009

CQ examines House Foreign Affairs Committee outline to overhaul U.S. foreign aid

Congressional Quarterly examines a "three-page concept paper" issued by the House Foreign Affairs Committee that lays out a plan to overhaul U.S. foreign aid.

4 Aug 2009

For struggling single mothers, 3-generation households better than 2

Living in a three-generation household can significantly enhance the economic well-being of children, according to a new study from researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

3 Aug 2009

Jubilant Democrats move ahead, but still face many obstacles on reform

After weeks of painstaking talks, Democrats celebrated breakthroughs on health care overhaul on both sides of the Capitol. Yet many lawmakers and health care experts said that yesterday's events marked only one step on the very bumpy road to a final deal that President Barack Obama might sign into law.

30 Jul 2009

Legislation to overhaul U.S. foreign aid introduced

Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and ranking member, Senator Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), on Tuesday "introduced a bill to overhaul the U.S. system for providing global development aid," the Boston Globe reports (Smith, 7/29). The legislation was also introduced by Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), according to a release from Menendez's office (7/28).

29 Jul 2009