Latest KFF Health News Stories
WHO Releases Guidance On Couples Testing, Counseling, Including ART For Discordant Couples
The WHO on Wednesday released its new 54-page “Guidance on couples HIV testing and counselling, including antiretroviral therapy (ART) for treatment and prevention in serodiscordant couples: Recommendations for a public health approach,” according to the Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog. “Intended for national policymakers and relevant health program managers in low- and middle-income countries with generalized HIV epidemics, the guidelines were set to be released at the International AIDS Conference in Rome last July, but delayed in order to consider results from two clinical trials looking at ART use as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that showed a strong prevention benefit, as well as the relevance of couples counseling and testing among pairs who are men who have sex with men (MSM) and/or inject drugs,” the blog notes. The guidance “also touches on recent evidence that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) with some antiretrovirals taken in discordant couples can help to prevent sexual acquisition of HIV, and notes that the WHO is reviewing this data and hopes to have a ‘rapid advice’ document on PrEP available sometime this year to help guide programs in discordant couples and in MSM communities,” the blog states (Mazzotta, 4/18).
Access To Family Planning Services Important For Adolescent Women
In a Huffington Post “Global Motherhood” opinion piece, UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin writes, “[I]t warms my heart to see that safe motherhood and women’s reproductive health are finally being recognized as important development issues,” but “millions of women in developing countries still lack even the most basic care during pregnancy,” leading to maternal death and injury and hundreds of millions of women lack access to family planning services, including modern contraceptives. “It is inexcusable that in the 21st century motherhood remains so dangerous for so many. It is not only morally wrong but also hampers economic development and the survival and well-being of families, communities and nations,” he writes.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about how a one-year experiment on Medicare competitive bidding showed positive results in terms of saving money as well as reducing waste and fraud.
Blog Posts Respond To Selection Of Jim Yong Kim To Lead World Bank
The World Bank on Monday selected U.S.-nominated Jim Yong Kim, a Korean-American physician and anthropologist, as its new president. The following is a summary of blog posts and commentary published in response to his election.
“More than three years after reporting the primary results of HPTN 035, one of the last trials of the so-called first generation microbicides, researchers from the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) reported two new sets of findings gleaned” from the study data at the International Microbicides Conference in Sydney on Tuesday, an MTN press release states. According to a retrospective analysis of HPTN 035 data, researchers found that women who use hormonal contraception are not at an increased risk of HIV infection, but another study showed some women are more biologically susceptible to HIV infection than other women, the release notes. The press release details a number of other findings and highlights some of the “[m]ore than 40 oral and poster presentations by MTN investigators [that] have or will be presented at” the conference (4/17).
Health Law Part Of Budget Machinations Taking Place On Both Sides Of The Capitol
In the Senate, Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is rolling out the final budget blueprint of his career — which takes a different position on the health law than the measure advanced by House Republicans.
Post-SCOTUS Scenario: Could Health Law-Created Jobs Go Away?
If the high court overturns the sweeping health overhaul, much of its funding — and many of the jobs created as part of its implementation — would be in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers “slammed” the number of bureaucrats that have been added to the federal payroll as part of this effort.
CSIS Report Examines Future Of Global Health Agenda
In a new report examining the future of the global health agenda, published by the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) on Tuesday, J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Center on Global Health Policy and a senior vice president at CSIS, writes, “The naught decade (2000
Poor ART Adherence, Understanding Threatening To Undermine Gains Against HIV/AIDS In Nepal
Though HIV prevalence in Nepal has dropped from 0.45 percent in 2005 to 0.3 percent in 2012, “[p]oor understanding of antiretroviral therapy (ART) amongst health officials, clinicians and patients in Nepal could undermine [those] gains … and threaten future progress in lowering the number of new infections,” PlusNews reports. The news service interviews several Nepalese HIV/AIDS specialists about the importance of patients’ adherence to ART, how difficult travel to clinics can inhibit patients from returning for medication refills or counseling, and how “[p]olicies that neglect the comprehensive nutritional, financial, educational, and pharmaceutical needs of people living with HIV/AIDS amount to treatment illiteracy at the policy level.” PlusNews writes, “Observers fear the positive results from national HIV efforts could be diluted if tensions over the administration of HIV programs continue, and adherence issues hamper implementation” (4/17).
U.S. Delegation Expresses Support For Two Vaccination Campaigns While In Haiti
“A campaign to introduce new childhood vaccines to Haiti will save tens of thousands of lives over the next decade, [CDC Director] Dr. Thomas Frieden told [NPR’s health blog ‘Shots’] at the end of a two-day tour of the beleaguered country,” the blog reports. “Frieden was part of a delegation to Haiti that included his boss, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius,” according to the blog, which notes, “When the U.S. delegation arrived, a different vaccination campaign had just gotten started — a pilot project to immunize against cholera” (Knox, 4/17). According to another article in “Shots,” “U.S. health officials have been cool to that pilot project behind the scenes,” but Sebelius expressed support for the project.
In this article in PLoS Medicine’s “Policy Forum,” Peter Bloland of the Division of Public Health Systems and Workforce Development at the CDC Center for Global Health, and colleagues “set out the U.S. CDC’s perspective on the role of public health institutions in global health system strengthening efforts,” according to the article summary. “To guide its support of public health in low- and middle-income countries around the world, the [CDC] proposes to prioritize its investments on strengthening six key public health functions that would contribute the most towards health systems strengthening efforts as a whole and have the greatest impact on improving the public’s health,” the summary states (4/3).
Researchers, Advocates Meet In Sydney To Discuss State Of Microbicide, HIV Prevention Research
“Three decades after the full onset of the global HIV tragedy, science appears to finally be developing preventative measures, including microbicides that would thwart infections in the first place, according to individuals at” the biennial International Microbicides Conference in Sydney, the Asia Sentinel writes. “Now, however, the challenge is to put the solution into the hands of those most susceptible to the disease,” the news service adds (Ramakant, 4/17). Researchers, advocates and funders met this week at the conference “to discuss the state of HIV prevention research,” a conference press release states.
G8 Foreign Ministers Highlight Global Health, Agriculture, Nutrition In Statement
The ONE blog examines how G8 foreign ministers “will additionally prioritize smart and effective global health, agriculture and nutrition plans at this year’s [s]ummit.” According to a statement from the G8 ministers, they reaffirmed their commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, called for an AIDS-free generation, and stated investments in agricultural development show progress, particularly when focused on nutrition and women, the blog notes (4/17).
Trust, Invest In African Ministries Of Health To Create Sustainable Health Care Solutions
“During the 1990s it had taken a while for the rest of the world to wake up to the tragedy of AIDS in Africa, but belatedly the alarm call had come,” John Wright, a consultant in clinical epidemiology at Bradford Royal Infirmary in England, writes in a BMJ opinion piece. “Global funding and international action achieved something quite miraculous, bringing the most expensive and innovative drugs in the world to the poorest people on the planet; a triumph of science and health policy that made the discovery of penicillin look quaint,” he says. “The new health colonialists have come from across the globe with admirable intentions and boundless energy in a new scramble for Africa. Dozens of well meaning health providers are falling over each other to help — but crucially also to justify their efforts to their sponsors back home,” he writes.
White House Science Adviser Responds To Inquiry Regarding Handling Of H5N1 Research Controversy
“White House science adviser John Holdren has replied [.pdf] to questions asked last month by Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.) about how the Obama Administration has handled the controversy surrounding two studies that showed how to make the H5N1 avian influenza virus transmissible between mammals,” ScienceInsider reports. On March 1, “Sensenbrenner — a former head of the House of Representatives committees on science and the judiciary, and currently vice chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, sent a ‘fact-finding letter’ [.pdf] to Holdren” asking a “number of questions about how the government reviews potential ‘dual-use research of concern’ (DURC) that might be used for good or evil,” the news service writes.
State Roundup: Mass. Seeks To Improve Medical Malpractice System
News outlets also report on health policy developments from a number of states including Nebraska, Florida, Minnesota, Kansas and California.
Report: More Patients Turning To Social Media For Medical Advice
According to a new report, a third of consumers use social media to seek medical information, leading some to say that providers and insurers should utilize the media more to better interact with patients about their conditions.
Texas Asks Feds To Fund Women’s Health Program Through October
Texas is asking the federal government to continue funding its Women’s Health Program for five more months — through October — to allow the state to better prepare to fully take over the program.
Supreme Court Ruling Gives Generic Drug Makers A Victory
The Supreme Court handed generic drug companies a victory with its Tuesday decision.
Poll Explores Women’s Presidential Election Concerns
A new Reuters/Ipsos Poll found that 52 percent of women surveyed viewed President Barack Obama as stronger on health care, which was the second most pressing election concern. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama makes a pitch to women at a fundraiser.
