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Contra Costa County considering health services cuts for undocumented immigrants, inmates

This month, the Contra Costa County, Calif., Board of Supervisors will consider a plan to prohibit undocumented adult immigrants from receiving nonurgent, county-funded care, the Contra Costa Times reports.

4 Mar 2009

Southern African health officials develop cross-border initiative for malaria elimination

Health ministers from eight countries in the Southern African Development Community this week held a Malaria Elimination Ministerial Meeting in the Namibian capital of Windhoek to develop a cross-border approach for eliminating malaria in the region, New Era reports.

4 Mar 2009

Zambia launches effort to improve tuberculosis diagnosis

Zambia recently launched a four-year project to improve tuberculosis diagnosis and ensure early treatment for the disease, the Daily Mail reports.

4 Mar 2009

Maine medical residents receive dental care training to address state dentist shortage

The New York Times on Tuesday examined how "[d]entists are in such short supply in Maine that primary care doctors who do their medical residency in the state are learning to lance abscesses, pull teeth and perform other basic dental skills through a program that began in 2005."

4 Mar 2009

Bill would limit Federal funding for Florida Medicaid pilot program

Florida Rep. Elaine Schwartz (D) has proposed a bill that seeks to limit the funding of a Medicaid pilot program that some say has led to delays in access to care, the AP/Miami Herald reports (AP/Miami Herald, 3/2).

4 Mar 2009

Some physicians asking patients to sign 'gag orders'

Some physicians have begun to ask patients "to agree to what amounts to a gag order that bars them from posting negative comments" on Web sites where patients can rate their doctors anonymously because of concerns about the fairness of such reviews, the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.

4 Mar 2009

Poll finds high support for Obama, hesitation for plans

U.S. residents have more confidence in President Obama than in some of his initiatives, such as the recently enacted economic stimulus plan and a proposal to raise taxes in order to expand health care coverage, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, the Journal reports.

4 Mar 2009

Grassley to introduce bill modifying how 'not-for-profit' hospitals set executive pay

Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday said that he intends to introduce legislation that would increase pressure on the boards of directors at not-for-profit hospitals to ensure pay for the facilities' presidents is reasonable, the Boston Globe reports.

4 Mar 2009

Advocates in Mexico call for greater effort against HIV/AIDS

AIDS-related mortality rates in Mexico have remained somewhat steady over the past 12 years, despite increased access to antiretroviral drugs in the country, officials at the National Institute of Public Health, or INSP, said recently, The News/Individual.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

World Food Program expands program for HIV-positive people in Rwanda

The World Food Programme recently expanded a project in Rwanda that provides food to HIV-positive people taking antiretroviral drugs, adding 10,000 participants and increasing the number of project sites from 61 to 138 across 18 districts in the country, the New Times/AllAfrica.com reports.

4 Mar 2009

Scientists create HIV strain that can infect monkeys

Scientists have created a strain of HIV that is able to infect and multiply in monkeys, leading to the possibility that researchers would be able to test HIV/AIDS drugs and vaccines in monkeys before testing them in humans, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Texas Senate Committee approves bill to protect needle-exchange programs

The Texas Senate's Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve a bill (S.B. 188) that would protect needle-exchange programs run by local health departments, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

4 Mar 2009

Increasing risk of HIV among seniors

People ages 50 and older are more likely to have unprotected sex than younger groups, increasing their risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, according to a recently released World Health Organization study, Reuters UK reports.

4 Mar 2009

Generic biologics face 'tough, long road to realization'

The development of new generic versions of expensive biologic drugs "faces a long, tough road to realization" because the complex generics "will likely face tough regulatory scrutiny, as well as high development and marketing costs," the Wall Street Journal reports.

4 Mar 2009

Sen. Baucus hopes to introduce comprehensive health reform legislation this summer

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday said enacting comprehensive health reform this year is his "top priority," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

4 Mar 2009

Obama administration officials defend health care, other provisions in FY 2010 budget proposal

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday during a House Budget Committee hearing defended health care and other provisions included in the $3.6 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget proposed by President Obama last week, the Washington Post reports (Montgomery, Washington Post, 3/4).

4 Mar 2009

Rhode Island Governor drops Medicaid consultant plans

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri (R) has canceled plans to hire a private consulting firm to lead the state's massive Medicaid overhaul under the so-called "global Medicaid waiver," and instead will use a team of state employees to provide oversight, the Providence Journal reports (Peoples, Providence Journal, 3/3).

4 Mar 2009