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Report applauds U.S. government agencies for food security leadership, highlights areas of concern

"A new report from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs applauds U.S. government agencies for food security leadership but calls on them to up the game in the face of rising global challenges and shrinking aid budgets," Connie Veillette, director of the Center for Global Development's rethinking U.S. foreign assistance initiative, writes in the center's "Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Blog,"

30 Apr 2012

U.S. government is largest funder of global health R&D, report shows

"The U.S. government is the largest funder of global health research and development [R&D] in the world, spending $12.7 billion over the past 10 years," according to a report (.pdf) released on Friday by the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) and Policy Cures, United Press International reports.

30 Apr 2012

State roundup: Mass. may vote on assisted suicide; Colo. to try medical homes

Heather Clish has become a leading advocate for affording terminally ill patients in Massachusetts the same choice her father had. Clish and other supporters are pushing a ballot initiative to legalize the practice they call Death with Dignity, more commonly known as physician-assisted suicide.

30 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Entitlement 'train wrecks' approaching; Collecting for health bills at the hospital

The evidence has been clear for a long time now regarding the future of those twin financial train wrecks known as Social Security and Medicare. We have known for decades that without significant reform both are on a path toward insolvency.

30 Apr 2012

Without sustained investment in malaria fight, world faces resurgence of disease

"If we needed more evidence that the funding cuts at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria were going to be detrimental to people's lives, a new study ... makes it clear: Providing funding to fight malaria makes malaria go away," Kolleen Bouchane, director of ACTION, a global partnership of health advocacy organizations, writes in the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

30 Apr 2012

Parenthood does not lead to healthier diets

It is often thought that starting a family will lead parents to healthier eating habits, as they try to set a good example for their children. Few studies, however, have evaluated how the addition of children into the home may affect parents' eating habits.

30 Apr 2012

Farm Bill could do more to improve food aid

"The policy changes in the [Senate's draft Farm Bill] represent improvements to U.S. food aid policy, but we think Congress could do more," Kelley Hauser, a policy analyst with ONE, writes in this post on the Care2 blog.

30 Apr 2012

Humana reports drop in first quarter profits

The insurer attributed the decrease to paying out more in claims, as well as additional investment as it anticipates strong growth in its Medicare Advantage plans.

30 Apr 2012

Airborne drones could provide innovative method of delivering food, medicines

In a Foreign Policy opinion piece, former U.S. Ambassador Jack Chow, who served as a special representative for HIV/AIDS under former Secretary of State Colin Powell and currently is a professor at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz College of Public Policy, examines the challenges of delivering humanitarian aid and how "[t]he technological versatility of airborne drones, the flying robots that are already transforming warfare, ... has the potential to revolutionize how humanitarian aid is delivered worldwide."

30 Apr 2012

Feds approve Wisconsin Medicaid cuts

Meanwhile, Kansas applies for waiver to shift Medicaid beneficiaries into managed care plans and Medicaid costs in Kentucky weigh on one insurer.

30 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 30, 2012

In today's headlines, a variety of health policy headlines ranging from reports about state-level health law implementation progress to marketplace news.

30 Apr 2012

Single mothers with depression more likely to add cereal to bottles

Efforts to prevent obesity among low-income infants should focus not only on what babies are being fed but also the reasons behind unhealthy feeding practices, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 28, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012

Family presence does not hinder trauma teams' ability to treat injured children

Contrary to what many trauma teams believe, the presence of family members does not impede the care of injured children in the emergency department, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 28, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012

Dangers of texting while driving

Some people have questioned whether a ban on texting while driving will actually lead to more crashes because drivers will conceal their cell phones, making it more dangerous to read and type messages. Research led by high school students, however, shows that texting while driving is unsafe regardless of where the phone is positioned.

30 Apr 2012

MDGHA, CHAI and Mylan partner to fight childhood deaths caused by diarrhea

Mylan Laboratories Limited, the Indian subsidiary of Mylan Inc., today announced that it has entered into a partnership with the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals Health Alliance (MDGHA) and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to fight childhood deaths caused by diarrhea.

30 Apr 2012

Parents with poor math skills more likely to make dosing errors

Many parents cringe when their child asks for help with math homework. New research shows that poor math skills can cause another difficulty for caregivers - measuring the right amount of medicine.

30 Apr 2012

Hispanic children less likely to receive medication for abdominal pain in ED

Black children are less likely than white children to receive medication for abdominal pain in the emergency department (ED) even when they report severe pain, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 28, at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Boston.

30 Apr 2012

Paper identifies essential practical components of Michigan Model

For just over a decade, the University of Michigan Health System has been a leader in demonstrating a new way to handle patient safety and malpractice concerns. The approach has simultaneously promoted safer care; helped patients, their families and clinical staff deal with unanticipated outcomes in a non-adversarial way; and saved UMHS money at the same time.

30 Apr 2012

Kauffman Foundation sponsors National Conference on Value-driven Engineering

Researchers, health care engineers and medical device experts gathered this week for the inaugural National Conference on Value-driven Engineering to Improve Medical Innovation for U.S. Global Competitiveness assembled by the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA) and sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

30 Apr 2012

Mount Sinai experts to share skin cancer prevention tips on May 7

Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States, with one in five Americans developing it over the course of their lives. It's also one of the most preventable types of cancers. Since May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and Melanoma Monday is May 7, Mount Sinai experts are sharing tips on prevention and insight on the new FDA labeling requirements on sunscreen.

30 Apr 2012