Latest KFF Health News Stories
In this post in the Global Post’s “Global Pulse” blog, Janet Fleischman, a senior associate at the Global Health Policy Center of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), reports on the “Saving Mothers, Giving Life” initiative, launched by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday. She describes the project as “an ambitious, dynamic effort by the U.S. government to increase efficiency, spur innovation, and ensure impact in a fundamental area of global health” and writes, “If successful, ‘Saving Mothers’ will be an important dimension of Clinton’s legacy as Secretary, lifting the lives of women, families, and communities around the world.”
Today’s Headlines – June 4, 2012
Good Monday morning! Here are your headlines: Reuters/Chicago Tribune: Looming Court Ruling Worries Some With Health Woes PCIP is a temporary government program set up to run until 2014, when the Obama healthcare law is due to take full effect and prevent insurance companies from the common practice of denying people coverage due to pre-existing […]
USAID Administrator Shah Addresses Fight Against HIV In Children
In this post in the AIDS.gov blog, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah discusses global efforts to end HIV infections in children. “Together with PEPFAR, our efforts have made a significant difference in promoting access to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services, helping to cut new pediatric infections in half in the past decade,” Shah writes, adding “We’ve also helped support 9.8 million pregnant women with HIV testing and counseling and provided PMTCT services to more than 660,000 HIV-positive women. As a result, approximately 200,000 infants were born free of HIV” (6/1).
June Issue Of WHO Bulletin Available Online
The June issue of the WHO Bulletin includes an editorial on the management of non-communicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries; a public health round-up; an article on anti-smoking measures and tobacco consumption in Turkey; and a research paper on mortality in women in Burkina Faso in the years following obstetric complications (June 2012).
Bangladesh May Be Facing HIV Epidemic, Inter Press Service Reports
“Bangladesh has shown low HIV prevalence rates so far but may be silently moving towards an epidemic, say experts pointing to underreporting and poor monitoring for the virus in the general population,” Inter Press Service reports. “Professionals and volunteers working in the HIV/AIDS field say there is no room for complacency and that Bangladesh may well be on the brink of an epidemic, going by continuing high levels of STDs alone,” the news service writes.
IRIN Examines Next Steps In Global Fight Against NCDs
IRIN examines the next steps in fighting non-communicable diseases (NCDs), “the leading cause of death worldwide,” noting, “The World Health Assembly, the decision-making body of the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), aims to reduce preventable deaths from [NCDs] like diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancers, by 25 percent by 2025.” According to IRIN, “WHO is coordinating negotiations on the surveillance, indicators and voluntary targets that will form an eventual global plan to fight NCDs, and is drafting recommendations to be considered by member governments in October 2012.” IRIN provides a link to a WHO summary of “recent discussions [.pdf] with civil society and government representatives on the best ways to rein in NCDs, and how to measure progress.”
Blog Reports On USAID’s New Global Health Strategic Framework
“USAID’s new Global Health Strategic Framework, ‘Better Health for Development,’ lays out the agency’s major health priorities for the next five years,” the Environmental Change and Security Program’s “New Security Beat” blog reports. “‘Core global health priorities’ include reducing maternal mortality, ensuring child survival and nutrition, fostering an ‘AIDS free generation,’ and fighting infectious diseases,” the blog notes, adding, “Family planning and reproductive health is listed as a key area for bilateral engagement” (Kent, 6/1).
Speaking at a health conference in Norway on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the U.S. would provide $75 million toward a new public-private effort, dubbed “Saving Mothers, Giving Life,” which aims “to improve the health of mothers and their babies in developing countries,” Agence France-Presse reports (Mannion, 6/2). “At the same conference, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr said Norway would devote up to about $80 million to the effort, whose partners include drug maker Merck & Co. and nonprofit Every Mother Counts,” Reuters writes (Mohammed, 6/1). “Starting in Uganda and Zambia, [the initiative] is focusing on helping mothers during labor, delivery, and during the first 24 hours after a birth, when two of every three maternal deaths occur and 45 percent of newborn deaths occur,” VOA News reports (Stearns, 6/1).
Experts Respond To PLoS Editorial Comparing Chagas Disease To HIV/AIDS
“Chagas disease, a parasitic infection spread to humans by insects, is not the new HIV/AIDS of the Americas, according to infectious disease experts who called the comparison,” made in an editorial published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases last week, “‘unrealistic’ and ‘unfortunate,'” ABC News’ “Medical Unit” blog reports. “Rick Tarleton, president of the Chagas Disease Foundation, said the diseases have little in common beyond disproportionately affecting poor people,” the blog notes (Moisse, 6/1).
Senate Passes Preventing Child Marriage Act
In this post in Management Sciences For Health’s (MSH) “Global Health Impact” blog, Chanell Hasty, policy and advocacy coordinator of MSH’s Office of Strategic Development and Communications, reports on the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act (S. 414), writing, “Key tenets of the Senate bill include expanding investments at the community level to empower girls, promoting community understanding about the harmful impact of marriage, and requiring the U.S. government to develop a strategy to prevent child marriage.” Noting the bill passed on the Senate floor by way of voice vote on May 24, Hasty adds, “If passed by both chambers of Congress, the U.S. government will be committed to policy that protects girls from marriage on a global scale” (6/1).
GOP Schedules Repeal Votes To Bring Attention To Health Law
One of the highest profile efforts involves the repeal of the health law’s medical device tax, and one proposal also includes language that would trim the measure’s insurance subsidies for low- and middle-income taxpayers.
Fate Of Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Pools, Health Exchanges May Hinge On High Court Ruling
News outlets report on what might become of programs such as high risk pools and health exchanges if some or all of the health law is overturned by the Supreme Court.
“Zimbabwe is one of the key countries to watch in the drive to eliminate pediatric AIDS in Africa,” Chip Lyons, president and CEO of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, writes in this post in the Huffington Post’s “Global Motherhood” blog, adding, “Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health and Child Welfare and its international partners — including the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the U.K. Department for International Development (DfID), and most recently the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) — have helped turn the tide of the pandemic in children.” He writes, “In June 2011 at the United Nations, a Global Plan was introduced to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015,” and notes, “Zimbabwe was among the first of many countries to answer the call.”
Joint UNAIDS/UNDP Brief Highlights Potential Impacts Of Free Trade Agreements On Public Health
“A new UNAIDS/UNDP joint issues brief [.pdf] highlights the potential impacts of free trade agreements on public health,” UNAIDS reports in a feature story on its website. “The brief concludes that ‘to retain the benefits of [flexibilities in the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)], countries at a minimum should avoid entering into free trade agreements that contain obligations that can impact on pharmaceutical price or availability,'” the article states. It adds that “the potential impact of a number of current or planned free trade agreement negotiations taking place across the world — particularly affecting countries in the Asia and the Pacific region — can hinder countries’ rights to implement such flexibilities” (6/1).
CMS Turns To Contractors To Help Fight Health Care Fraud
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will rely on local contractors as part of a two-pronged effort to uncover fraudulent claims. Meanwhile, the dean of the University of Missouri’s medical school steps down amid a federal investigation into potential Medicare billing fraud by two radiology professors.
High-Deductible Health Plans Pick Up Steam
Seventy percent of large companies participating in a recent survey said they’ll offer high-deductible insurance by 2013 combined with accounts that let patients buy medical services with pre-tax dollars.
Medicaid News: Ga. Working On Reshaping Program
News outlets look at a variety of Medicaid issues in California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas and Wisconsin.
$25 Million Grant Announced To Improve States’ Care For Frail Elderly
Stateline reports on a new HHS grant to help low-income adults with mental and physical disabilities remain in their communities. Meanwhile, California submits a plan to federal officials for the transition of dual eligibles to managed care.
Mass., Calif. Insurers Will Pay Millions In Rebates To Their Customers
Nationally, insurers are expected to return about $1.3 billion.
Mo. Gov. Faces Defining Choice On Abortion Bills
Missouri’s governor faces tough choices on a pair of abortion bills awaiting his signature or veto — moves that could have national implications. In the meantime, Louisiana lawmakers have approved a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.