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Smoking prevention and cessation campaigns: an interview with Dr DePinho, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Dr Mohar, National Cancer Institute of Mexico

There are more than 94 million former and current smokers in the United States, and more than 21 million in Mexico, according to the 2009 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) Fact Sheet.

27 Feb 2013

HCCI analysis suggests jump in spending on mental health-substance use admissions

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 increased access to mental health and substance use services in hospitals, yet consumers continued to pay more out-of-pocket for substance use admissions than for other types of hospital admissions, finds a new Health Care Cost Institute report.

27 Feb 2013

Rwanda to roll out combined measles-rubella vaccination campaign

"Rwanda has been so successful at fighting measles that next month it will be the first country to get donor support to move to the next stage -- fighting rubella too," the New York Times reports.

27 Feb 2013

Small business leaders say federally funded basic research important to private sector innovation

More than two-thirds (67%) of small business leaders say basic research funded by the federal government is important to private sector innovation, according to a new nationwide survey of small business owners/operators commissioned by Research!America.

27 Feb 2013

Heterosexual couples healthier than same-sex couples, study finds

Same-sex couples that live together report worse health than people of the same socioeconomic status who are in heterosexual marriages, according to a national study that could have implications for the gay marriage debate.

27 Feb 2013

Police escort of polio workers killed in northern Pakistan

"Health workers administering polio vaccinations to children came under attack in northern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing their police escort, authorities said," CNN reports.

27 Feb 2013

Using smart phones to manage HIV treatment in rural Virginia

An innovative plan developed at the University of Virginia School of Medicine will use smart phones to improve care for people recently diagnosed with HIV in rural Virginia.

27 Feb 2013

Research shows many cancers can be prevented with healthy lifestyle choices

Each year more individuals worldwide die from cancer than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined. With research showing that many cancers can be prevented with healthy lifestyle choices, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is working to raise awareness of preventive tactics in honor of National Cancer Prevention Month.

27 Feb 2013

PEPFAR has helped millions, but 'hard work' lies ahead to sustain gains

PEPFAR, initiated in 2003, is "the largest global health initiative ever undertaken focused on a single disease," a Washington Post editorial writes, noting, "Now, after four years of work, some 400 interviews and visits to 13 nations, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences has provided [an] examination of this incredibly ambitious program."

27 Feb 2013

New research reveals special face masks prevent clinical respiratory and bacterial infections

Health care workers who consistently wear special fitted face masks while on duty are much less likely to get clinical respiratory and bacterial infections, according to new research led by University of New South Wales academics.

27 Feb 2013

Study shows free online weight loss program improves outcomes

An analysis of a free online weight loss program revealed that members who were more active on the website lost more weight than members who were less active, report researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School.

27 Feb 2013

Twenty doctors suspected of embezzling funds from GAVI arrested in Niger

"Niger arrested about 20 doctors suspected of embezzling funds from a charity promoting vaccination in poor countries, ... judicial and police sources said on Monday," Reuters reports.

27 Feb 2013

Advanced breast cancer increasing among younger women, study finds

An analysis of breast cancer trends in the U.S. finds a small but statistically significant increase in the incidence of advanced breast cancer for women 25 to 39 years of age, without a corresponding increase in older women, according to a study appearing in the February 27 issue of JAMA.

27 Feb 2013

Study opens possibility for creating animal models of memory disorders

If you ask a rat whether it knows how it came to acquire a certain coveted piece of chocolate, Indiana University neuroscientists conclude, the answer is a resounding, "Yes." A study newly published in the journal Current Biology offers the first evidence of source memory in a nonhuman animal.

27 Feb 2013

Private sector helps advance health, well-being of women, children

"Every pregnant girl or woman, wherever she lives, is connected to all of the other mothers-to-be around the world through the hope that their babies will be born strong and healthy," but "[t]he sad truth is that for millions of these girls and women, their own survival and that of their unborn babies cannot be taken for granted," Sharon D'Agostino, vice president of corporate citizenship at Johnson & Johnson, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

27 Feb 2013

Study shows people of high socioeconomic status more likely to get access to primary care

People of high socioeconomic status are more likely to be able to access primary care than those of low socioeconomic status, even within a universal health care system in which physicians are reimbursed equally for each patient, found an article published in CMAJ.

27 Feb 2013

Capitol Hill hot topics: Mental health, abortion and entitlement cuts

Roll Call explores how some lawmakers have strong personal connections to issues related to mental health and gun violence.

27 Feb 2013

UCSF researchers: Lower-income patients often lack electronic health-related communication

Lower-income patients want to communicate electronically with their doctors, but the revolution in health care technology often is not accessible to them, due to inadequate health information services within the health care clinics they frequent, according to a survey by UC San Francisco researchers.

27 Feb 2013

Groups expect White House to propose new global food aid approach

"The White House may soon propose the biggest change in U.S. food aid since the programs were created during the Cold War -- donating cash for hunger relief instead of shipping American-grown food thousands of miles to global trouble spots, say farm groups and charities," Reuters reports.

27 Feb 2013

Individual countries can eliminate malaria: Research

A researcher at the University of Southampton, working as part of a team from the UK and USA, believes the global eradication of malaria could be achieved by individual countries eliminating the disease within their own borders and coordinating efforts regionally.

27 Feb 2013