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IRIN examines 'dramatic plunge' in family planning international donor dunding

IRIN examines how a "dramatic plunge" in international donor funding for family planning could undermine other health- and humanitarian-related goals, including fighting poverty and hunger. About 200 million women do not have access to contraception, which could cause a surge in the world's population leading to a reversal of humanitarian gains, according to some experts.

13 Jul 2009

More than half of malaria drugs in west Africa 'sub-standard quality,' says UNODC

VOA News reports that fake pharmaceuticals pose a greater risk to stability and human security in West Africa than illegal drug trafficking, according to U.N. Office Against Drugs and Crime report. More than half of the malaria medication available in West Africa is of "sub-standard quality," according to U.N. estimates, VOA News writes, adding, "West Africa has the highest estimated rate of malaria on the continent, with nearly 98 million cases of malaria per year."

13 Jul 2009

Bath time a risky business for young children

A new study has found children are far more at risk of injury in the bath or shower from slips, trips and falls, than from scalding or drowning and most injuries occur to children under age 4.

13 Jul 2009

Medical use for waste television screens

Waste material from discarded televisions could be recycled and used in medicine, according to new research by scientists at the University of York.

13 Jul 2009

Making the difficult task of transporting a child with special needs safer

A new study by researchers from the Automotive Safety Program at Riley Hospital for Children and Indiana University School of Medicine published online July 13, 2009 in the journal Pediatrics reports that the parents of children with special health care needs are doing a good job with the selection of the appropriate child car seat but still need help in using it correctly.

13 Jul 2009

FDA issues draft guidance on drug anticounterfeiting

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a draft guidance on the use of inks, pigments, flavors, and other physical-chemical identifiers (PCIDs) by manufacturers to make drug products more difficult to duplicate by counterfeiters, and to make it easier to identify the genuine version of the drug.

13 Jul 2009

Novel drug discovery tool could bring new therapies for Parkinson’s

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have turned simple baker?s yeast into a virtual army of medicinal chemists capable of rapidly searching for drugs to treat Parkinson's disease.

13 Jul 2009

By manipulating oxygen, scientists coax bacteria into a wave

Bacteria know that they are too small to make an impact individually. So they wait, they multiply, and then they engage in behaviors that are only successful when all cells participate in unison. There are hundreds of behaviors that bacteria carry out in such communities. Now researchers at Rockefeller University have discovered one that has never been observed or described before in a living system.

13 Jul 2009

Happier, healthier, more productive hens on omega-3?

Most of us are aware of the potential health benefits of omega-3 found in fish oil and flax seed. Now researchers are looking at how omega-3 may help laying hens avoid bone damage.

13 Jul 2009

Controlling the fate of cells

A protein found in cells has been shown to play a pivotal role in determining whether a cell lives or dies.

13 Jul 2009

Pesticide levels in blood linked to Parkinson's disease

People with Parkinson's disease have significantly higher blood levels of a particular pesticide than healthy people or those with Alzheimer's disease, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.

13 Jul 2009

Too many Australians abusing prescription drugs

The demise of yet another pop icon from the use and abuse of pharmaceutical drugs has again put the spotlight on an increasing addiction to prescription medication among the general public.

13 Jul 2009

Poor families often targets for child protection departments

A new report by Australian researchers has found that parents experiencing poverty and domestic violence are often targeted for intervention by child protection departments and the researchers say in such cases child protection departments remove children when counselling and resource allocation would suffice.

13 Jul 2009

Australian national health system on the waiting list

Any hope of a truly national health system as promised by Kevin Rudd in the run up to the last election now appears to have stalled, at least for the time being.

13 Jul 2009

The latest news on swine flu

The latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that as of the 6th of July the worldwide total of H1N1 influenza A cases (swine flu) had reached 94,512 including 429 deaths.

13 Jul 2009

President Obama says health care doable but 'hard'

"President Barack Obama said Friday as he left an international summit in L'Aquila, Italy, that he believes a health-care bill will pass Congress this year, but said 'special interests who profit from the existing system' are actively 'scaring people,'" Politico reports.

12 Jul 2009

Administration faces challenges from Democrats on health proposals

President Obama has asked Congress to deliver a bill by October that would "cut healthcare costs and provide medical coverage to most of the 46 million uninsured Americans," a goal that may no longer be realistic as members of the president's own party move to stall efforts, the Reuters/The Washington Post reports (Allen, 7/9).

12 Jul 2009

Tales of health insurance plights highlight overhaul efforts

Analysts say many in America take jobs they otherwise wouldn't simply for the health insurance coverage, Reuters/Boston Globe reports.

12 Jul 2009

Senate weighs new taxes to fund reform

"Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) presented his members Thursday with more than a dozen ways to pay for health care legislation, ranging from new fees on industry to an income-tax hike on couples making more than $1 million a year," Politico reports.

12 Jul 2009

New Medicare data compare hospitals based on readmissions

New data regarding hospital readmission rates have emerged "amid a national debate over how to reduce" these numbers, "which cost the federal government billions of dollars a year in Medicare reimbursements," the New York Times reports.

12 Jul 2009