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New York Times examines DDT use in Uganda

"In the Apac region of Uganda, the United States focused on two conflicting agendas: developing organic farming and eradicating malaria, ultimately affecting the livelihoods of tens of thousands of farmers.

20 May 2011

AIDS mortality in China drops by nearly two thirds since 2002 when country began free treatment program

China's HIV/AIDS-related mortality has dropped from 39.3 per 100 person-years in 2002 to 14.2 in 2009, or 64 percent, since the nation began providing free antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 2002, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and published online Wednesday in Lancet Infectious Diseases, the New York Times reports (McNeil, 5/18).

20 May 2011

African LGBT advocates warn against cutting multilateral aid to Uganda

At a World Bank panel discussion in Washington, D.C., on homophobia in developing countries, LGBT advocates from Africa expressed concern that if multilateral development organizations cut aid to Uganda in protest of attempts to make homosexual acts crimes punishable by death, the human rights situation for them could worsen, the Washington Blade reports.

20 May 2011

9/11 Health fund administrator chosen

The Justice Department on Wednesday chose a special master to administer a multibillion-dollar fund created to provide compensation to rescue workers and others sickened from exposure to toxic fumes, dust and smoke from ground zero after the 2001 terrorist attack.

20 May 2011

Study: Costs get in way of cancer patients refilling their prescriptions

About 10 percent of cancer patients aren't taking the oral medicines they need either because of the cost or they feel they are already taking too many other drugs, according to a study released by health-care consulting company Avalere Health late Wednesday.

20 May 2011

HealthGrades identifies major flaws in hospital ratings study

The findings of a journal article published in the May issue of the Archives of Surgery are fundamentally flawed and could undermine patients ability to find high quality hospital care, according to HealthGrades. The article, Evaluating Popular Media and Internet-Based Hospital Quality Ratings for Cancer Surgery, compared outcomes for gastrointestinal cancer patients who underwent surgery at hospitals on HealthGrades' "America's 50 Best Hospitals" and US News and World Report's "America's Best Hospitals" lists.

20 May 2011

Longer looks: Tough health care questions for GOP presidential contenders; Robotics help spike use of prostate treatment

For my money, the most interesting thing about Mitt Romney's health-care speech last week wasn't his struggle to defend Romneycare and distance it from Obamacare, but the largely hostile reception of the speech from the right.

20 May 2011

OPINION: U.S. administration must address humanitarian situation in Haiti

Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Donald Payne (D-N.J.), and Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) write in a Huffington Post opinion piece that the "increasing gravity of the situation" of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Haiti "requires an urgent response.

20 May 2011

Viewpoints: Coburn on his dropout; Malpractice reform and states

For the past several months I have been meeting with a small group of senators from both parties, informally known as the Gang of Six, that was designed to force the idle — not gridlocked — Senate, and then the House and the president, to enact a long-term deficit-reduction package.

20 May 2011

OPINION: Economists helping to deliver reliable data about what development aid works

"[F]inally, we're getting some reliable data suggesting how to" help people in developing countries because of economists, who "provide answers that are rigorously field-tested, akin to the way drugs are tested in randomized controlled trials, yielding results that are particularly credible and persuasive," Nicholas Kristof writes in his New York Times column.

20 May 2011

Medical food resolves metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors

Researchers at the University of Florida and Metagenics Inc. today announced that a program consisting of a breakthrough medical food combined with a low-glycemic, Mediterranean-style diet is almost twice as effective as one of the best diets alone for lowering risk factors for cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S.

19 May 2011

First Edition: May 19, 2011

Today's headlines continue to analyze the impact of the departure of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., from the 'Gang of Six' on the efforts to address long-term budget issues such as Medicare spending.

19 May 2011

MAXIMUS wins Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance contract in Wisconsin

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services worldwide, announced today that its Human Services North America Division has won a renewal of its Title IV-E Foster Care and Adoption Assistance contract with the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families.

19 May 2011

Online program helps people to manage chronic pain

There is good news for the 76 million Americans who experience chronic pain including migraine, back pain, fibromyalgia and arthritis. A new study reveals that an online, self-paced chronic pain management program reduces the physical and psychological burdens of this debilitating condition.

19 May 2011

Caring Online offers comprehensive and informative website on adult eating disorders

Are you aware that eating disorders affect more than 10 million people in this country, and that bulimia, anorexia, binge eating and other destructive food behaviors are not exclusive to the youth? These serious and often deadly afflictions have become a growing problem with midlife adults and older, often more difficult to detect as adults are expected to have it "all together."

19 May 2011

Center for Companies That Care names UHC as 2011 Honor Roll

Center for Companies That Care has announced that University HealthSystem Consortium was named to its Honor Roll, a national list recognizing employers for outstanding workplace practices and active community involvement, for the eighth consecutive year.

19 May 2011

Latest development in Gingrich-Ryan Medicare dust-up: An apology

Newt Gingrich's presidential candidacy is only days old, and more than a decade after he last campaigned for public office, he's clearly shaking off some rust. On Tuesday, the former House speaker stepped up outreach to conservatives in an attempt to backtrack from comments he made Sunday calling Rep. Paul Ryan's proposed changes to Medicare "right-wing social engineering," as Democrats sought to use his remarks to attack the GOP.

19 May 2011

'Gang of six' budget talks hit wall as Sen. Coburn withdraws

The already weak prospects for a bipartisan debt-reduction deal this year dimmed further on Tuesday when a Republican member of the Senate's "Gang of Six," Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, withdrew after months of private negotiations amid differences over changes to Medicare.

19 May 2011

Health law faces legal challenges and political battles

Senate Republicans target the law's Independent Payment Advisory Board and issue a top-10 list of its biggest problems. Meanwhile, CQ HealthBeat reports on the merits of the "imminent injury" argument that is in play in at least one legal challenge to the law.

19 May 2011

Dementia experts call for new approach to support patients and carers

Dementia experts call for a new approach to supporting dementia patients and their carers, after identifying gaps in current health and social care provision. The findings are highlighted in a new report, written by a panel of some of England's leading experts in dementia care, launched in the House of Lords today.

19 May 2011