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Media outlets examine mobile phones' effect on health, development in Africa

PBS NewsHour examines how the Canadian organization MEDA is using text messages to track malaria supplies in local clinics and retailers in Tanzania. The piece includes a related video featuring a MEDA employee giving a tour of the program (Cheers, 7/22).

25 Jul 2011

Haitian cholera epidemic worsening with start of rainy season

According to the Haitian government, more than 5,800 people have died of cholera since the epidemic began in October, and health care workers have seen an increase in cases "[w]ith the rainy season now in progress," the Los Angeles Times reports (Gaestel, 7/24).

25 Jul 2011

Safety tips to avoid backpack injuries

Backpacks are a common ingredient on back-to-school lists. Unfortunately, they are a leading cause of back and shoulder pain for millions of school children across the nation. As students gear up for back-to-school this fall, Minnesota chiropractors would like to offer parents ways to help children avoid backpack injuries.

25 Jul 2011

Male contraceptive research gaining attention from scientists

The New York Times on Saturday examined research into several different methods of male contraception. "Male contraceptives are attracting growing interest from scientists, who believe they hold promise for being safe, effective and, also important, reversible," the newspaper writes.

25 Jul 2011

Guidance needed on recent HIV prevention findings

"In the absence of the anticipated guidance from WHO, the euphoria felt by participants at Rome that the latest science can allow us for the first time to consider eliminating HIV was tempered by utter confusion among program managers as to what to do next," Nathan Ford, medical coordinator for Medecins Sans Frontiere's International Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines, writes in the PLoS "Speaking of Medicine" blog.

25 Jul 2011

African leaders must invest in malaria prevention

In a Daily Caller opinion piece, Richard Tren, director of Africa Fighting Malaria, highlights a finding in a recent malaria report that the U.S. government and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation "were responsible for 85% of the steep increase in malaria funding between 2007 and 2009." But "[i]f 30 African heads of state were to give up their private jets, a fund of well over $500 million could be generated," Tren writes.

25 Jul 2011

Talks between automakers, UAW focus on health care costs

One big target for the three U.S. automakers in talks beginning this week with the United Auto Workers for new labor agreements will be the $1.54 billion collectively spent by the companies last year on health care for union members and their families.

25 Jul 2011

Health providers embrace the potential of ACOs

News outlets report on some health care providers' views of the potential of accountable care organizations to improve quality and reduce costs.

25 Jul 2011

Iowa, Kentucky get extra time to comply with MLR rule

But North Dakota became the first state to have the Department of Health and Human Services deny a waiver request regarding the health law's medical loss ratio provision, which requires health plans in the individual and small-group markets to spend no more than 20 percent of premiums on administrative costs.

25 Jul 2011

Some hospitals face hard times

Walter Reed Army Medical Center will close its doors after nearly a century. By month's end, the Shriners Hospitals will stop its tradition of providing free care to children. And, lastly, hospital bonds maybe vulnerable to downgrades because of potential reduction in Medicare reimbursements and Medicaid cuts.

25 Jul 2011

Swaziland government, Vantage plan to construct pharmaceutical manufacturing facility

Vantage Health, announced today that it has been invited by the Ministry of Health for the Kingdom of Swaziland to plan the construction of a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in that country.

25 Jul 2011

First Edition: July 25, 2011

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Joanne Silberner writes about her recent conversation with George Halvorson, who offers his take on the future of health care under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, including the role ACOs are likely to play.

25 Jul 2011

Federal government to enhance regulations overseeing research on human subjects

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today that the federal government is contemplating various ways of enhancing the regulations overseeing research on human subjects.

25 Jul 2011

Computer models could fundamentally change the world's healthcare

A massive network of computer programs co-created by University of Manchester scientists could revolutionise healthcare around the world, saving countless lives and billions of pounds.

25 Jul 2011

A Step Ahead Pediatric Therapy partners with The Eisen Agency

A Step Ahead Pediatric Therapy, a comprehensive pediatric rehabilitation practice based in Northern Kentucky, has partnered with premier Cincinnati public relations firm The Eisen Agency. The leading firm will create and implement a campaign designed to build awareness regarding the unique story of A Step Ahead and the importance and value of pediatric therapy.

25 Jul 2011

Home healthcare community praises Ohio Governer's PASSPORT program

While policymakers in Washington debate cuts to the nation's Medicare program as a way to reduce the federal budget deficit, a group of national home healthcare providers is applauding Governor John Kasich's (R-OH) innovative program to keep seniors in their homes when possible, thereby reducing institutional healthcare for aging Ohioans and harnessing rising Medicaid costs.

25 Jul 2011

National Institute of General Medical Sciences now offers range of online products

As the heat index rises, one thing remains at zero—the cost of the engaging and informative educational materials produced by the National Institutes of Health.

25 Jul 2011

Officials stake out positions as debt deadline looms

As lawmakers pushed on Sunday to devise a plan to raise the debt limit and keep the government from risking default, Democrats and Republicans spent the morning offering reassurances and staking out their positions. Administration officials and lawmakers are expected to meet throughout the day to consider plans for reducing the deficit ahead of the Aug.

25 Jul 2011

NAACP, AHF offer free HIV and STD testing at Los Angeles Convention Center

On Saturday, July 23, 2011 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, please join AIDS Healthcare Foundation and the NAACP with free HIV rapid testing and testing for other STDs, including gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis.

25 Jul 2011

China's new leadership should end one-child policy

"Chinese officials are fiercely attached to the one-child policy. They attribute to it almost every drop in fertility and every averted birth: some 400m more people, they claim, would have been born without it," an Economist editorial states, adding, "This is patent nonsense.

25 Jul 2011