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Massachusetts Connector sets rates for low-income health plans

The Massachusetts Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector on Friday voted 9-1 to approve health insurance rates for low-income residents under the state's new health insurance law, the Boston Globe reports (Kowalcyzk, Boston Globe, 9/1).

6 Sep 2006

Obstetric fistula: Guiding principles for clinical management and programme development

The World Health Organization (WHO) Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and supermodel Liya Kebede has highlighted the plight of millions of women and girls living with obstetric fistula.

1 Sep 2006

Studies examine effects of hospital closures, affordability of coverage

The authors recommend that low-cost, nonhospital-based preventive care be promoted to reduce patient deaths after hospital closures.

24 Aug 2006

Massachusetts Agency proposes health care premium levels for low-income residents

The Massachusetts Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector, which is tasked under the state's new health insurance law with determining what premiums are affordable for low-income state residents, is proposing that the state's lower-income uninsured residents spend up to 6.6% of their income to purchase health coverage, the Boston Globe reports.

20 Aug 2006

Global fund director Feachem, Rev. Warren partner to increase funding for faith-based groups

Richard Feachem, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Rev. Rick Warren on Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto announced that they will be partnering to increase funding for faith-based groups in Warren's global church network, USA Today reports.

17 Aug 2006

Significant increases in the number of HIV-positive people with access to antiretroviral drugs

Achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment was a major focus Wednesday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, and World Health Organization HIV/AIDS Director Kevin De Cock reported significant increases in the number of HIV-positive people with access to antiretroviral drugs.

17 Aug 2006

Rate of disabilities higher among U.S. residents with lower incomes

U.S. residents ages 55 and older with annual incomes less than the federal poverty level are more likely to have disabilities that limit routine physical activities than those with higher incomes, according to a study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, Bloomberg/Dallas Morning News reports.

17 Aug 2006

Black leaders call for urgent program to increase HIV testing

U.S. black leaders on Monday at the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto pledged to make efforts to increase access to care and treatment for black U.S. residents and called for an urgent campaign to increase HIV testing and awareness among blacks in the country, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

16 Aug 2006

AIDS spiraling out of control in Asia because of men's behaviour

South Asia's HIV and AIDS epidemic will continue to grow rapidly unless the eight countries in the region, especially India, can saturate high-risk groups such as sex workers and their clients, injecting drug users, and men having sex with men with better HIV prevention measures.

16 Aug 2006

Study examines children's exposure to neighborhood poverty

African-American, Hispanic and American Indian children "continue to be exposed to dramatically higher rates of neighborhood poverty than their white and Asian counterparts."

14 Aug 2006

Adherence by Africans to antiretroviral regimens

More HIV-infected Sub-Saharan Africans took their anti-HIV medications as directed than HIV-infected N. Americans did, according to the largest and most extensive review of adherence studies to date.

8 Aug 2006

Literacy at less than a ninth-grade level almost doubles the five-year risk of mortality among elderly people

The literacy and mortality study analyzed data on 2,512 participants in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study that was conducted by the National Institute on Aging from 1999 to 2004.

4 Aug 2006

Active transportation increases adherence to activity recommendations

Some California residents who walk or bike to work or errands may not be as inactive as previous studies - which focused on leisure-time physical activity - have suggested.

26 Jul 2006

Targeted interventions for those at risk for depression have greater effect than universal interventions

Depression among youth is a growing public health concern, affecting one to two percent of elementary school-aged children and three to eight percent of adolescents.

27 Jun 2006

New push to tackle priorities in sexual and reproductive health

Leaders of the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, are coordinating action to reverse the global trend of deteriorating levels of sexual and reproductive health and reduce the adverse impact on mothers, babies and young people.

20 Jun 2006