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Black women are three times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy

Black women are three times more likely than white women to die during pregnancy, and twice as many black babies as white babies die in infancy. Yet researchers know little about why pregnancy and infant health differ by race, despite massive efforts to address this persistent problem.

10 Oct 2004

Africa is fighting back against vitamin and mineral deficiencies

A report released yesterday says that Africa is fighting back against vitamin and mineral deficiencies, saving millions of women and children from death and debilitation through simple, cost effective strategies such as fortifying staple foods. But millions of children can still be helped if current strategies and partnerships are extended to reach every country and every child.

8 Oct 2004

Global under-five death rate far below targets agreed to by world leaders

New country-by-country data reveals alarmingly slow progress on reducing child deaths despite the availability of proven, low-cost interventions, a UNICEF survey revealed today.

8 Oct 2004

Health reform in Chile is "absolutely necessary" and is based on the principles of equity and solidarity

Dr. García gave his talk at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) in Washington, DC, where he is participating as chief of the Chilean delegation to the 45th Directing Council, the annual meeting of the hemispheric organization where policies on critical health problems of the continent are being discussed.

30 Sep 2004

Men more than women favor paternity testing at birth

Substantially more men than women favor routine paternity testing when a baby is born, according to a recent University of Washington survey, but the surprise to researchers is that the percentage of men favoring such testing wasn't higher.

28 Sep 2004

Elderly African American men are less likely to get tested for prostate cancer

Elderly African American men are less likely to get tested for prostate cancer than elderly white men, according to an article in the September 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Sep 2004

Having an infant in poor health decreases the chances a couple living together 12 to 18 months later

A study of mainly unwed, U.S. urban parents finds that fathers of infants in poor health are less likely to be living with the child's mother following the child's first birthday than fathers of healthy children.

23 Sep 2004

So far only 4,000 of 50,000 slots have been filled in new demonstration prescription drug assistance program

The Chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging is encouraging those on Medicare who have cancer and other serious diseases to consider signing up for a new demonstration prescription drug assistance program.

18 Sep 2004

Poverty not linked to winter deaths in elderly

Although Britain has a large burden of excess winter deaths, this study suggests that policies to relieve fuel poverty alone may only be partially successful.

17 Sep 2004

Current methods of delivering health care to kids are woefully unable to cope with a pediatric disease pendulum

"There's a growing gap between where child health is moving and how we're attempting to deliver health care to kids," said pediatrician and health policy researcher Paul Wise, MD, MPH.

15 Sep 2004

Health Affairs study examines 25 years of children’s health coverage

In recent years, rising health insurance costs have likely played a key role in the decline of American children with private health coverage, according to a study by researchers at the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published in the September/October edition of the journal Health Affairs.

14 Sep 2004

Chronic illnesses among children not adequately addressed

Current methods of delivering health care to kids are woefully unable to cope with a pediatric disease pendulum that has swung from acute to chronic illnesses, says a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

13 Sep 2004

Unacceptable weakness of research in the field of primary care

A Viewpoint in this week’s issue of THE LANCET addresses the state of primary-care research worldwide. Primary care includes the medical services provided by general practitioners (family physicians) and internists, with the aims of providing patients with a broad range of health care over a period of time and coordinating the care the patient receives.

9 Sep 2004

Many low-income countries are unlikely to reach the health targets set for 2015

Many low-income countries are unlikely to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) health targets set for 2015; the main reasons for this are fragile health systems and insufficient investments in understanding how to strengthen them, suggest authors of a Public Health article in this week’s issue of THE LANCET.

2 Sep 2004

Are Latin America and the Caribbean ready to meet the health challenges of the coming senior boom?

Advances in medicine and public health have dramatically increased life expectancy in Latin America and the Caribbean.But is the region ready to meet the challenges of the coming "senior boom"?

31 Aug 2004

1 in 7 Americans in 2003 faced problems getting needed medical care

Despite sluggish economic growth and rapidly rising health care costs, Americans' access to needed medical care improved slightly between 2001 and 2003, especially among low-income children and adults, according to a national study released today by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC).

31 Aug 2004

One billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water

More than 2.6 billion people - over 40 per cent of the world's population - do not have access to basic sanitation, and more than one billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water, warns a report released today by the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

26 Aug 2004

Two more drugs added to Medicare demonstration program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced it is adding two more drugs to the list of drugs covered under a Medicare demonstration program providing substantial savings to beneficiaries with serious diseases, including cancer, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

17 Aug 2004

Kids who grow up with poor single mothers are more likely to get into trouble

Kids who grow up with poor single mothers are less likely to expect to go to college and more likely to get into trouble in school and to perform poorly academically, according to a study by a Rice University sociologist