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VOA examines global polio eradication efforts

VOA News reports on global efforts to eradicate polio, writing, "Experts say with India now polio-free and the total number of cases at the lowest level ever, this is an opportunity to change history and eradicate the disease entirely."

5 Sep 2012

First Edition: September 5, 2012

Today's headlines include reports on how health reform is playing a role in presidential politics, both during the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., and in a new GOP campaign ad.

5 Sep 2012

Uncertainty in Kansas over essential health benefits ruling

Gov. Brownback has not said whether his administration will make a recommendation on what basic health benefits should be available to Kansans who seek health insurance through the new marketplaces to be set up under the health care law.

5 Sep 2012

NIH funded researchers identify and explore different aspects of anesthesia

Anesthesia helps many of us during our lives, whether we need a local painkiller at the dentist, numbing eye drops for laser vision correction or general anesthesia for major surgery. But even though anesthetics have been used in many procedures for more than 150 years, doctors and scientists still don't know exactly how these medicines work in the body.

5 Sep 2012

Roundup: Texas probes Xerox in Medicaid overbilling; Miss. abortion clinic fights to stay open

Texas authorities are investigating whether Xerox Corp. played a role in allowing dentists to allegedly overbill the state's Medicaid system by millions of dollars.

5 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: President Obama's Charlotte challenge; Action on vets' mental health; The Aetna arms race

Mr. Obama needs to explain how his actions eased the economic crisis and took on long-standing challenges such as extending health-care coverage to millions of uninsured Americans. ... Specifically, what would Mr. Obama do to restrain health care costs and entitlement spending? (9/3).

5 Sep 2012

Concise guide to treat children who have swallowed powerful neodymium magnets

Children who swallow powerful neodymium magnets are at risk of serious complications, requiring emergency evaluation and possible treatment. That's the message of a new clinical algorithm published in the September issue of The Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, official journal of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition and the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN).

5 Sep 2012

U.N. SG warns withdraw of aid groups from Haiti leaves country struggling with cholera epidemic

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "warned on Friday that Haiti was struggling to cope with a cholera epidemic that has killed thousands and deteriorating conditions in tent camps as aid groups withdraw from the impoverished country due to a lack of funding," Reuters reports.

5 Sep 2012

Educational program for parents helps reduce pressure on children to eat

An educational program for parents helps to reduce pressure on children to eat—which may reduce the child's risk of obesity, reports a study in the September Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

5 Sep 2012

Exposure to volcanic ash increases respiratory symptoms

Exposure to volcanic ash can increase respiratory symptoms such as an extreme cough, or phlegm, according to a new study.

5 Sep 2012

U.N. food agencies urge world leaders to take action on food prices

"World leaders must take swift, coordinated action to ensure that food price shocks do not turn into a catastrophe that could hurt tens of millions of people in coming months, the United Nations' food agencies said in a statement on Tuesday," Reuters reports.

5 Sep 2012

First global benchmarks for assessing lung function across entire life span

New research has established the first global benchmarks for assessing lung function across the entire life span. The lung growth charts will help healthcare professionals better understand lung disease progression and help raise awareness of lung disease, which is the world's leading cause of death.

5 Sep 2012

Presidential election could have major impact on Medicaid

The New York Times reports that though Medicare reforms get the headlines, Medicaid is more likely to be immediately affected by the presidential election.

5 Sep 2012

September issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The September issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on expanding HIV testing in Europe, a public health news roundup, a research article on male circumcision programs in Kenya.

5 Sep 2012

President orders additional mental health help for Vets

Obama signed an executive order on Friday, directing the Veterans Administration to hire 1,600 new mental health professionals and to expand the capacity of its crisis line so those who are in crisis can see a counselor within 24 hours. ... The White House says money for the additional mental health care will come from existing resources, though the president sought a 10-percent increase in overall VA funding next year.

5 Sep 2012

S. African, S. Korean research team developing smartphone HIV testing device, application

Researchers from South Africa and South Korea are developing a smartphone-based device and application able to "photograph and analyze blood samples in areas far from laboratories to diagnose HIV and even measure the health of [patients'] immune systems," Agence France-Presse reports.

5 Sep 2012

New MILLENNIUM VILLAGES PROJECT launched in northern Ghana

The Guardian examines a new Millennium Villages Project (MVP) -- "the integrated approach to rural development spearheaded by Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University's Earth Institute" -- that was launched last week in northern Uganda "by Ghana's new president John Dramani Mahama and U.K. international development secretary Andrew Mitchell."

5 Sep 2012

Medicare at center of tug-of-war between campaigns

Both parties are casting themselves as protectors of the program, leaving voters to decide which of their plans will best slow the program's cost growth while also protecting seniors.

5 Sep 2012

Longer resuscitation could be beneficial after in-hospital cardiac arrest

New research published Online First in The Lancet suggests that increasing the duration of resuscitation efforts could improve survival in patients who arrest in hospital, challenging the common belief that extending resuscitation in patients who do not respond immediately is often futile.

5 Sep 2012

Lawmakers in the Philippines working to negotiate compromise on reproductive health bill

"After 14 years in limbo," legislation being considered by the Philippines Congress would "requir[e] the government to provide contraceptives, information on modern family planning methods at public health centers, and comprehensive reproductive health curriculum in schools," CNN reports.

5 Sep 2012