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Few U.S. medical schools provide effective training on how to address weight issues in obese patients

It's no secret that obesity is a major problem in America. More than one-third of adults and one-sixth of children are obese and it is one of the leading causes of preventable death. The costs associated with obesity are estimated at $99 million annually, comparable to the economic toll of cigarette smoking.

1 Nov 2012

Political will, funding needed for successful polio eradication initiative

While there is "much to be proud of" in the progress in the fight against polio, "there's still more work to be done," former Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin writes in a GlobalPost opinion piece. Martin, a polio survivor, notes that in 1988, when the Global Polio Eradication Initiative was launched, 350,000 cases in more than 125 countries were recorded annually, but "so far this year, we've seen just 171 cases, and only Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria have never stopped transmission."

1 Nov 2012

Calif. health system ends pursuit of Ore. hospital amid community concerns

A California health system formerly tied to the Roman Catholic Church has ended its bid to acquire a community hospital in Oregon amid concerns over access to abortion and assisted suicide services. Meanwhile, two of Michigan's largest hospital groups are expected to announce plans Wednesday to pursue a merger.

1 Nov 2012

Low literacy strongly predicts childbearing among US teens

New research released today at the American Public Health Association's 140th Annual Meeting in San Francisco builds on previous knowledge about the link between teen pregnancy and social inequities internationally and suggests that, independent of other factors, low literacy in pre-teen girls strongly predicts childbearing among US teens.

1 Nov 2012

Health must be recognized in future framework for fighting global poverty

Noting "we are just three years away from the target date for achieving the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed by all ... U.N. member states back in 2000 to eradicate global poverty," Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in this Independent opinion piece reflects "on the critical role of health in and beyond the Millennium Development Goals" ahead of the second meeting of the U.N. Secretary General's High-Level Panel on the future strategy to fight global poverty, set to take place in London on Wednesday.

1 Nov 2012

AP examines future of AMFm following conflicting reports on program's success

The Associated Press examines the debate over the future of the Affordable Medicines Facility-malaria (AMFm), after the recent release of two papers evaluating the program's effectiveness. AMFm was established in 2010 as "a pilot project to subsidize artemesinin combination drugs, the most effective malaria treatment," the AP writes, noting the $460 million program is managed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

1 Nov 2012

Study shows how NCH guidelines improve quality of life for extremely premature infants

For the last decade, prematurity has been the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States. As a result of prematurity many infants enter this world too early with a small chance of survival. In order to help treat these extremely premature infants, physicians at Nationwide Children's Hospital developed a set of guidelines tailored to meet the needs of these tiny infants, some born up to four months early.

1 Nov 2012

Implementation of food bill in India might be delayed, government adviser says

"The implementation of an ambitious bill that guarantees cheap food grains for India's poor could be pushed back to the next fiscal year, a top government adviser said," the Wall Street Journal reports.

1 Nov 2012

Proposing standards and guidelines for Rett syndrome research

There is an urgent need for new drugs to treat Rett syndrome, a rare and severe neurological disease mainly affecting girls. A bottleneck in drug development for this syndrome is a lack of clarity at the level of preclinical research. Key researchers in this field now tackle this issue, proposing standards and guidelines for Rett syndrome research, in an Open Access review article published on Oct. 31, 2012 in Disease Models & Mechanisms (DMM).

1 Nov 2012

PLoS NTDs celebrates 5th anniversary with special collection on 'Geopolitics of NTDs'

To commemorate its fifth anniversary PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) on Thursday "compiled editorials and research papers published over the last five years to create a collection called 'The Geopolitics of NTDs,'" the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases' "End the Neglect" blog reports.

1 Nov 2012

CDC report outlines international influenza activities

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday released a 268-page annual report that "profiles a wide range of CDC influenza-related projects around the world, from flu surveillance in Indonesia to vaccine effectiveness studies in El Salvador and epidemiology training in Ghana," CIDRAP News reports.

1 Nov 2012

Study finds how effective healthcare can reduce toll from major diseases like stroke, cancer

Wide differences in death rates from disease still persist throughout England - but effective healthcare can help to reduce these inequalities, a new study has discovered.

1 Nov 2012

New track-and-trace proposal advanced to combat drug counterfeiting, gray market

The bipartisan track and trace draft legislation released last week would allow drugs to be authenticated throughout the supply chain, which could help combat counterfeiting as well as the so-called gray market that's been highlighted in the drug shortage crisis, Democratic staffers who worked on the draft said.

1 Nov 2012

Campaign trail issues and answers: Medicare reform, health law repeal still part of the mix

How is Medicare playing among the ever-important bloc of Florida senior citizens as the two presidential candidates vie for their votes? Similarly, it's also a hot topic in the Montana Senate race, which is one of the most intensely watched in the country.

1 Nov 2012

Chinese government think tank recommends leaders reform country's family planning policies

The China Development Research Foundation, a Chinese government think tank close to the country's central leadership, "is urging the country's leaders to start phasing out its [so-called] one-child policy immediately and allow two children for every family by 2015," the Associated Press reports.

1 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Dukakis on keeping 'Obamacare'; Are Medicare patients being pressured into concierge medicine?

The United States is the only industrialized nation that doesn't guarantee access to health care for all its citizens. ... That's what Obamacare is designed to fix. ... That's why the next president – whether it is Barack Obama or Mitt Romney - should defend Obamacare and make sure it's fully implemented. Despite what he's said on the campaign trail, Gov. Romney knows this is the responsible thing to do because of what has happened in Massachusetts since the passage of "Romneycare."

1 Nov 2012

New index can help clinicians assess patients' prosthetic arm progress

Amputees with a new prosthetic arm must learn how to use their device to perform everyday tasks that were once second nature. Taking off a shirt becomes a conscious, multistep effort: grasp the shirt, lift the shirt over the head, pull arms through the sleeves, place the shirt on the table, let go of the shirt.

1 Nov 2012

Swing state highlights: Ohio's provisional ballots; Last-minute ad buys; Mega-storm Sandy's impact on voting

KHN's Sarah Barr samples campaign news coverage each week from swing states to see how health policy developments, and other political issues, are playing.

1 Nov 2012

Roundup: Dallas approves stipend for gay, unmarried employees; Federal judge says Milwaukee can raise retiree contribution

Dallas County will give a stipend to unmarried and gay employees who provide health care benefits to their partners. County commissioners approved the new program in a narrow 3-2 vote, which was split along party lines. Democratic commissioners hailed the move as a way to attract and retain talent, embrace the county's diversity and compete against private companies who already provide domestic partner benefits.

1 Nov 2012

Video can effectively reduce anxiety in children undergoing inhaled induction

Research by Dalhousie University student Katherine Mifflin has found that having children watch a video immediately prior to surgery can reduce their anxiety during anesthesia induction, the most stressful time for children throughout the perioperative process.

1 Nov 2012

Healthcare News

Few U.S. medical schools provide effective training on how to address weight issues in obese patients

Political will, funding needed for successful polio eradication initiative

Calif. health system ends pursuit of Ore. hospital amid community concerns

Low literacy strongly predicts childbearing among US teens

Health must be recognized in future framework for fighting global poverty

AP examines future of AMFm following conflicting reports on program's success

Study shows how NCH guidelines improve quality of life for extremely premature infants

Implementation of food bill in India might be delayed, government adviser says

Proposing standards and guidelines for Rett syndrome research

PLoS NTDs celebrates 5th anniversary with special collection on 'Geopolitics of NTDs'

CDC report outlines international influenza activities

Study finds how effective healthcare can reduce toll from major diseases like stroke, cancer

New track-and-trace proposal advanced to combat drug counterfeiting, gray market

Campaign trail issues and answers: Medicare reform, health law repeal still part of the mix

Chinese government think tank recommends leaders reform country's family planning policies

Viewpoints: Dukakis on keeping 'Obamacare'; Are Medicare patients being pressured into concierge medicine?

New index can help clinicians assess patients' prosthetic arm progress

Swing state highlights: Ohio's provisional ballots; Last-minute ad buys; Mega-storm Sandy's impact on voting

Roundup: Dallas approves stipend for gay, unmarried employees; Federal judge says Milwaukee can raise retiree contribution

Video can effectively reduce anxiety in children undergoing inhaled induction

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

A new method to measure intracellular water in biological systems

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