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Obama, on campaign swing, says health law 'here to stay'

On a bus tour in Ohio, the president touts his health overhaul, adding he was willing to work with critics to improve the legislation that requires most Americans to purchase health care.

7 Jul 2012

New strategy to reduce or eliminate scars on the skin

Whether from surgery or battle wounds, ugly scars can affect body and mind. Now a new research report appearing online in the FASEB Journal offers a new strategy to reduce or eliminate scars on the skin.

7 Jul 2012

VOA News examines family planning efforts in Uganda

Ahead of July 11, World Population Day and the date of the London Summit on Family Planning, VOA News examines family planning efforts in Uganda, where the average woman will give birth to about seven children during her lifetime.

7 Jul 2012

New epigenetic path toward a cure for osteoarthritis

In what could be a breakthrough in the practical application of epigenetic science, U.K. scientists used human tissue samples to discover that those with osteoarthritis have a signature epigenetic change (DNA methylation) responsible for switching on and off a gene that produces a destructive enzyme called MMP13.

7 Jul 2012

State officials pursue divergent paths on health law

Missouri Republicans aim to bar the Democratic governor, or the federal goverment, from setting up an insurance exchange without approval of voters or state legislators, while in Massachusetts, which implemented the prototype of the federal law, 44,000 residents pay fines for not carrying insurance.

7 Jul 2012

Biological mechanisms behind appetite-suppressing effects of proteins

Frequently recommended in weight-loss diets, dietary proteins have proven effectiveness thanks to their appetite-suppressing effects. A team led by Gilles Mithieux, Director of Inserm's Unit 855 "Nutrition and the Brain" in Lyon, has managed to explain the biological mechanisms behind these properties.

7 Jul 2012

Obama assails Romney for shift on mandate

President Barack Obama questions whether Republican Mitt Romney's view that the mandate is a tax is "abandoning a principle" because of pressure from critics. Romney's campaign says he hasn't changed his views, and that the mandate is different on a federal level.

7 Jul 2012

Cystic fibrosis patient receives generous 'gift of life'

Meara Schmidt, 28, almost died a few weeks ago. Lying in her hospital bed at UCLA, the seriously ill cystic fibrosis patient felt herself slipping away and her life flashing by. But then the image of her husband appeared, and she knew she was not ready to go.

7 Jul 2012

International AIDS Conference a call for global solidarity

Noting the 2010 reversal of the HIV travel and immigration ban allowing the International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) to be held in the U.S. for the first time in more than 20 years, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) writes in a Huffington Post Blog opinion piece, "It is so exciting to host this conference at such a pivotal time in the history of the AIDS response," and adds, "At no other time in history has our global leadership been more important than it is right now."

7 Jul 2012

New vaccine candidate against leading cause of hospital-acquired infections

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have discovered a new vaccine candidate for the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa taking advantage of a new mechanism of immunity.

7 Jul 2012

Exclusion of reproductive rights from Rio+20 agreement 'backslide' on women's rights, former Ireland President Robinson says

"Women's rights are under the greatest attack for almost 20 years after a failure of world leaders to continue to support reproductive rights, according to Mary Robinson," former president of Ireland and a member of the Elders group, the Guardian reports in its series "The Politics of Family Planning."

7 Jul 2012

Powerful new drug to treat malaria

A powerful new drug to treat malaria - the invention of a University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Pharmacy researcher -- will help take the bite out of malaria. In the United States, a mosquito bite seems harmless, but in developing countries it means more than 655,000 deaths a year - mostly in children.

7 Jul 2012

Decreasing development aid to Afghanistan threatening NGO work in health, other areas

Decreasing foreign aid to Afghanistan, a "main point of discussion at an Afghan aid conference in Tokyo on Sunday," is hurting many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the country, forcing them to reduce services or shut down, Reuters reports in an article examining development funding "more than a decade after the Taliban were driven from power by U.S.-led forces."

7 Jul 2012

AHF calls for reasonable pricing of Gilead’s Quad AIDS drug

Today AIDS Healthcare Foundation, in response to recent press reports regarding drug manufacturer Gilead Sciences, Inc.'s new four-drug HIV/AIDS pill, known as the "Quad," renewed its call for company to price the drug reasonably, particularly in light of the fact that it represents only a marginal improvement over existing medications.

7 Jul 2012

Examining improvements in neonatal survival

This post in PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog reports on changes in newborn mortality over the last decade, writing, "Save the Children's Saving Newborn Lives program worked with over 150 contributors and 60 health experts to produce A Decade of Change for Newborn Survival, a supplement published by Health Policy and Planning."

7 Jul 2012

Safe optimal concentration of propolis against radiation-induced damage

Researchers determined the amount of propolis offering maximum protection against ionised radiations without being toxic to blood cells.

7 Jul 2012

Health gains in Rwanda illustrate value of universal health insurance

Noting that the Supreme Court last week upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, "mov[ing] the United States closer to the goal of health coverage for all," Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tina Rosenberg reports on health care coverage in Rwanda in this post in the New York Times' "Opinionator" blog.

7 Jul 2012

New Gateway-funded phase II ADAPT study for metastatic colorectal cancer

The Gateway for Cancer Research announces an exciting new Gateway-funded phase II study using ADAPT therapy for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer based on a 2010 AACR presentation by Dr. Lin and his collaborators.

7 Jul 2012

Haitian, U.S. governments sign Partnership Framework on health strategy

In this post on the State Department's DipNote blog, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten discusses the June 26 signing of the Partnership Framework to support Haiti's Health Strategy between the Government of Haiti (GOH) and the U.S. Government (USG).

7 Jul 2012

FDA approves KRAS gene mutation test for colorectal cancer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first genetic test that can help some colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and their doctors determine if the drug Erbitux (cetuximab) would be an effective treatment based on the absence of a gene mutation. The therascreen KRAS RGQ PCR Kit can provide information about the KRAS gene mutation in patients whose CRC has spread to other parts of their body (metastasized).

7 Jul 2012