Public Health News and Research

RSS

Pushing 14 years for Philippines reproductive health bill took 'courage'

Jose "Oying" Rimon, deputy director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Ben de Leon, president of the Forum for Family Planning and Development, Inc., write in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog that the many people who worked for 14 years to pass a reproductive health bill in the Philippines are "profiles in courage."

4 Jan 2013

Researchers uncover new way that some bacteria survive when under siege by antibiotics

Researchers have uncovered a new way that some bacteria survive when under siege by antibiotics.

4 Jan 2013

Killing of polio workers in Pakistan is major setback for global elimination drive

"The brutal assassination of nine grassroots level health workers in Pakistan, who were involved in a door-to-door immunization campaign in an attempt to secure children from crippling polio, adds an unprecedentedly grave dimension to the ongoing carnage in Pakistan," Sania Nishtar, founder of Heartfile, Heartfile Health Financing, and the recently launched Sania Nishtar Health Fund, writes in an opinion piece in the Huffington Post U.K.'s "Impact" blog.

4 Jan 2013

Thai health advocates work to protect special provisions on medicines under E.U. free trade agreement

Thailand and the European Union (E.U.) are expected to begin talks on a free trade agreement early this year, and Thai public health advocates have sent a letter to Joao Aguiar Machado, deputy director general for trade at the European Commission, "calling for the bloc to respect global trade rules' special provisions for developing countries," Inter Press Service reports.

4 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: McConnell says spending cuts are coming; Plea to Kan. governor to rethink insurance exchange

Predictably, the President is already claiming that his tax hike on the "rich" isn't enough. I have news for him: the moment that he and virtually every elected Democrat in Washington signed off on the terms of the current arrangement, it was the last word on taxes.

4 Jan 2013

Workers with low wages more likely to develop hypertension

Workers earning the lowest wages have a higher risk of hypertension than workers with the highest wages, according to new research from UC Davis.

4 Jan 2013

March of Dimes book offers scientifically-based advice for pregnant women, tips for new parents

Taking a daily multivitamin containing the B vitamin folic acid is one of the best ways to prevent birth defects and an important step toward having a healthy baby, yet only about one-third of women know about it.

4 Jan 2013

A little extra fat could be protective

A review of almost 100 studies found that people who were overweight or slightly obese had a lower risk of dying compared to those considered "normal" weight.

3 Jan 2013

Opinion pieces, editorial address murders of polio workers in Pakistan

Several newspapers published opinion pieces regarding the recent murders of polio vaccination workers in Pakistan.

3 Jan 2013

Treatment of maternal sleep-disordered breathing with CPAP therapy improves fetal activity levels

A new study suggests that treatment of mild sleep-disordered breathing with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy in pregnant women with preeclampsia improves fetal activity levels, a marker of fetal well-being.

3 Jan 2013

Bisexual men more likely to conceal their sexual orientation

Bisexual men are less likely to disclose and more likely to conceal their sexual orientation than gay men. In the first study to look at the mental health of this population, researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health found that greater concealment of homosexual behavior was associated with more symptoms of depression and anxiety.

3 Jan 2013

Sexual revolution effect may be hiding true extent of HPV prevalence

Human papillomavirus infection in older women is commonly due to reactivation of latent disease rather than new infection, research indicates.

2 Jan 2013

Pediatric caustic ingestion injuries ‘much lower than believed’

The public health burden associated with children swallowing caustic chemicals is less than widely believed, US researchers report in the Archives of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

2 Jan 2013

Soligenix's OrbeShield granted FDA oral BDP orphan drug designation

Soligenix, Inc., a development stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to OrbeShield (oral beclomethasone 17,21-dipropionate or oral BDP) for the prevention of death following a potentially lethal dose of total body irradiation during or after a radiation disaster.

2 Jan 2013

Domestic cleaning sprays linked to increased asthma risk in women

Study findings suggest that women who use at least two types of cleaning spray on a weekly basis to clean their homes may be putting themselves at an increased risk for asthma.

31 Dec 2012

Weight gain after adolescence has repercussions for hypertension

Individuals who gain weight in adulthood as well as those who are overweight in adolescence and adulthood are at increased risk for hypertension, research suggests.

31 Dec 2012

Females students drink more intensively in shorter periods of time

Researchers from the HealthyFit group at the University of Vigo have studied university students' lifestyles; their analysis, which includes alcohol and illegal drug consumption habits, sport and food, concludes that most students indulge in unhealthy behaviour. One of the main results of the study is the high consumption of alcohol.

29 Dec 2012