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GOP Sen. Corker says party should accept tax hikes to get spending cuts

As pressure builds for a "fiscal cliff" deal, several key players talked about strategy on the Sunday morning news shows. Meanwhile, Politico reports that Republicans' hope of a big victory on cutting entitlement spending has dimmed while The Hill looks at Democrats' new willingness to consider means testing for Medicare.

9 Dec 2012

U.S. government's draft guidance on funding for H5N1 research receives 'mixed reception,' Science reports

"Researchers are giving a mixed reception to a draft U.S. government plan to do more stringent funding reviews of certain kinds of H5N1 avian influenza research -- and perhaps even require some studies to be kept secret," Science reports.

8 Dec 2012

Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality

The Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality, one of the Millennium Development Goals President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has identified as a national priority.

8 Dec 2012

New public-private partnership will allow Brazil to produce patented ARV for national treatment program

For the first time, Brazil in 2013 will enter into a new type of public-private partnership that allows the nation to produce a generic version of the antiretroviral (ARV) drug atazanavir sulphate, which will be under patent through its producer Bristol-Myers Squibb until 2017, Inter Press Service reports.

8 Dec 2012

International community should 'not forget' importance of treatment, care for children with HIV

The "progress and momentum" behind stopping mother-to-child HIV transmission is "reason to celebrate," Charles Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and Peter Twyman, CEO of Keep a Child Alive, write in The Hill's "Congress Blog."

8 Dec 2012

Lancet editorial examines possibility of 'AIDS-free generation,' PEPFAR blueprint

"After three decades of global emergency responses and a series of scientific breakthroughs in the fight against HIV/AIDS, it is now tempting to ask if we are marching towards the end of AIDS," an editorial in the Lancet states.

8 Dec 2012

Nokia to donate infant delivery kits to UNFPA

UNFPA and mobile phone company Nokia announced this week that the "company will donate the equivalent of 3,000 clean delivery kits to the fund," according to an UNFPA press release.

8 Dec 2012

WHO's decision to 'monitor' R&D 'deeply disappointing'

In this PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog post, Julien Potet and Katy Athersuch of Medecins Sans Frontieres' (MSF) Access Campaign say that the WHO's decision last week to "simply continue monitoring" the medical research and development (R&D) industry's ability to address the needs of people living in developing countries "by creating a global R&D 'observatory'" is "a deeply disappointing outcome that will not help re-shape priorities, increase funding or catalyze development of urgently needed new medical tools; at best it will only underscore further how badly these actions are needed."

8 Dec 2012

GlobalPost blog interviews reporter Joanne Silberner about PRI series on cancer in developing world

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog features an interview with freelance reporter and artist-in-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle Joanne Silberner, a former NPR correspondent, about her recent series for PRI's "The World," titled "Cancer's New Battleground -- The Developing World."

8 Dec 2012

FAO report calls for increased investments in global agriculture to eradicate hunger

"Excessive corruption, poor infrastructure and scarce government resources were deterring investment in agriculture and contributing to high levels of malnourishment around the world," Xinhua writes, noting the release on Thursday of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) annual report.

8 Dec 2012

Cost-benefit analysis of TasP compared with circumcision, ART

In a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Till Barnighausen, David Bloom, and Salal Humair of the Harvard School of Public Health examine "whether [HIV treatment as prevention (TasP)] is indeed a game changer or if comparable benefits are obtainable at similar or lower cost by increasing coverage of medical male circumcision (MMC) and antiretroviral treatment (ART)."

8 Dec 2012

States cut anti-tobacco efforts despite record revenue from taxes, national settlement

States spend less than 2 percent of what they collect from tobacco taxes and a national tobacco settlement on smoking cessation and prevention efforts, a new report says.

7 Dec 2012

Roundup: Ga. 'provider fee' defeat could mean $430M less for Medicaid; Minn. health programs in line for $37M cut over fiscal cliff; Calif. stem cell board criticized

Just weeks before the 2013 General Assembly convenes, the state's provider fee, called a "bed tax" by some, remains a high-profile wild card -- one that could deal Georgia's hospital industry a crippling blow. If the fee is not renewed -- and anti-tax forces will oppose it -- the Medicaid system may lose $430 million-plus that the assessment now generates. That loss would swell the state's Medicaid financial shortfall, which is already about $400 million (Miller, 12/6).

7 Dec 2012

Women's Health: Advocates seek new Plan B consideration; Texas lawmakers find Planned Parenthood decision is costly

NPR notes that some backers of the "morning after" pill hope to get HHS Secretary Sebelius to review age restrictions on the drug. And, The Texas Tribune examines the costs to the state because of the lack of subsidized birth control.

7 Dec 2012

More compounding pharmacies closed as new infections are reported

Massachusetts orders the closing of three more pharmacies, while health officials in at least two states report additional infections from contaminated steroids, although the latest cases are not life-threatening.

7 Dec 2012

Over three million American workers diagnosed with cancer each year, reports study

Each year, more than three million American workers are diagnosed with cancer, leading to high productivity losses that mainly affect smaller companies, reports a study in the December Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

7 Dec 2012

Minn. review finds HMOs working in Medicaid and state health programs are 'generally sound'

A state review finds Minnesota HMOs providing services to public programs such as Medicaid and MinnesotaCare have generally sound financial practices. But the report did raise concerns about the plans' charitable donations and other uses of public dollars.

7 Dec 2012

Viewpoints: Considering baby boomers' future burden on Medicare; Holtz-Eakin endorses state exchanges; The value (or not) of mammograms

The Congressional Budget Office projects that if current policies continue, total federal spending will rise to 24 percent of gross domestic product in 2022. [Republicans and Washington deficit hawks'] proposed solution is a cap on government spending.

7 Dec 2012

Research Roundup: Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries may get more appropriate use of services; CHIP participation grows; College students' flu vaccination rates weak

Analysis Of Medicare Advantage HMOs Compared With Traditional Medicare Shows Lower Use of Many Services During 2003-09 – Researchers compared the utilization rates of Medicare Advantage health maintenance organizations (HMOs) with those of traditional Medicare beneficiaries, 2003-09, "to ascertain whether the HMO enrollees demonstrated different levels of use of services, which can be a hallmark of more integrated care."

7 Dec 2012

Medicare advisory group recommends 1% increase in hospital rates

The head of the group that advises Congress on Medicare issued the draft recommendation, which will be voted on by the full board in January.

7 Dec 2012

Healthcare News

GOP Sen. Corker says party should accept tax hikes to get spending cuts

U.S. government's draft guidance on funding for H5N1 research receives 'mixed reception,' Science reports

Lancet examines Indonesia's efforts to reduce maternal mortality

New public-private partnership will allow Brazil to produce patented ARV for national treatment program

International community should 'not forget' importance of treatment, care for children with HIV

Lancet editorial examines possibility of 'AIDS-free generation,' PEPFAR blueprint

Nokia to donate infant delivery kits to UNFPA

WHO's decision to 'monitor' R&D 'deeply disappointing'

GlobalPost blog interviews reporter Joanne Silberner about PRI series on cancer in developing world

FAO report calls for increased investments in global agriculture to eradicate hunger

Cost-benefit analysis of TasP compared with circumcision, ART

States cut anti-tobacco efforts despite record revenue from taxes, national settlement

Roundup: Ga. 'provider fee' defeat could mean $430M less for Medicaid; Minn. health programs in line for $37M cut over fiscal cliff; Calif. stem cell board criticized

Women's Health: Advocates seek new Plan B consideration; Texas lawmakers find Planned Parenthood decision is costly

More compounding pharmacies closed as new infections are reported

Over three million American workers diagnosed with cancer each year, reports study

Minn. review finds HMOs working in Medicaid and state health programs are 'generally sound'

Viewpoints: Considering baby boomers' future burden on Medicare; Holtz-Eakin endorses state exchanges; The value (or not) of mammograms

Research Roundup: Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries may get more appropriate use of services; CHIP participation grows; College students' flu vaccination rates weak

Medicare advisory group recommends 1% increase in hospital rates

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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