Latest KFF Health News Stories
UNICEF To Ramp Up Global Vaccination Program
“UNICEF is preparing ambitious plans to update, strengthen and vastly expand its global vaccination program,” and “is gearing up to triple its capacity over the next five years,” according to a UNICEF news story. “A more effective and wide-reaching vaccination program will also help UNICEF fulfill its commitment to reaching the most vulnerable,” the story reports (Niles, 1/3).
Sri Lankan Presidential Task Force Against Dengue Seeing Success
“Sri Lanka is making progress in the battle against mosquito-borne dengue fever, say health officials,” IRIN reports. According to the health ministry, 26,722 dengue cases were reported in 2011, down from 34,105 cases in 2010, and the number of dengue-related deaths dropped from 246 to 172, IRIN notes. Officials credit the establishment in May 2010 of an “anti-dengue Presidential Task Force — involving the ministries of health, defense, the environment, education, and local government, and headed by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa” — for the drop in cases, IRIN writes. The agencies worked together to launch widespread education campaigns, “clea[n] up areas suspected of being mosquito breeding grounds,” and impose fines for illegal dumping, according to the news agency (12/29).
Ethiopia’s PMTCT Plan Needs Men To Participate In Order To Reach Goal, Experts Say
“Ethiopia’s new plan to eliminate mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015 cannot be attained unless men are more meaningfully involved in reproductive health, experts say,” PlusNews reports. Ethiopia launched an accelerated prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) program in December with “three objectives: reaching 90 percent of pregnant women with access to antenatal care services; ensuring universal access by pregnant women to a skilled attendant during delivery; and providing ARVs to at least 80 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women,” according to the news service.
Increased Number Of Somali Women Reporting Being Raped, Sexually Abused
In the wake of “decades of conflict” and famine, Somalia “face[s] yet another widespread terror: an alarming increase in rapes and sexual abuse of women and girls,” the New York Times reports. “The famine and mass displacement, which began over the summer, have made women and girls more vulnerable. Many Somali communities have been disbanded,” leaving many women alone and vulnerable to al-Shabab militants, “rogue militiamen and even government soldiers [who] rape, rob and kill with impunity,” the article states, adding, “Often, the women are left wounded or pregnant, forced to seek help” (Gettleman, 12/27).
BBC Examines Eastern DRC’s Battle With Malaria
A BBC News article and related video examine the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s battle with malaria. “‘Malaria is the main killer here in Congo, especially for pregnant women and children,’ says Dr. Vincker Lushombo, from Save the Children,” BBC writes. “Two decades of conflict and chaos have destroyed key infrastructure and left many families in the east living in makeshift camps, often exposed to malarial swamps,” according to the news service.
January Issue Of WHO Bulletin Available Online
The January issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on non-communicable diseases and post-conflict countries; a public health round-up; an article on Arab health professionals; a research paper on caesarean section rates in China; and a series of round table articles on the Global Fund and the interaction of public and private interests (January 2011).
U.S. Addressing Short-, Long-Term Needs In Horn Of Africa
“As the United States entered the traditional season of giving and renewal last month, President Barack Obama announced that the United States was increasing its emergency aid to the [Horn of Africa] region by $113 million,” a VOA editorial states, adding, “The new monies will be used for food, health, shelter, water and other needs.”
New FAO Head Says Agency Will Increase Support To Countries Experiencing Prolonged Food Crises
The new head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Director-General Jos
First Edition: January 4, 2012
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about Mitt Romney’s historically close win in the Iowa caucuses. Also in the news, Wall Street Journal readers favor televising the Supreme Court arguments regarding the health law.
Big Picture: ACO Progress Report; Grading New Laws On Job Creation
Modern Healthcare takes a look at the 32 medical groups that were named late last year to be the accountable care organization “pioneers” and how their planning is taking shape. Meanwhile, The New York Times examines how job creation has become the buzz word for lobbyists.
States Find Flexibility With Essential Benefits
Stateline offers an explanation of how the Obama administration’s approach to the health law’s essential benefits package will work. In California, a push to extend health coverage to people with preexisting medical conditions has led to more than 6,000 patients gaining insurance. Also, some new health regulations take effect. And, in Wisconsin, a decision last month by Gov. Scott Walker to halt work on a state health exchange until after the Supreme Court rules on the measure’s consitutionality has triggered industry concerns.
State Department Fact Sheets Examine Cholera, Food Security, Health Progress In Haiti
The State Department has released a series of fact sheets examining the U.S. government’s two-year progress in Haiti. One fact sheet examines government efforts to “lessen the severity of the [cholera] outbreak” in Haiti. Another fact sheet looks at the challenges of food security in Haiti, stating, “Even before the January 12, 2010 earthquake, Haiti faced significant challenges to food security.
Working In Kazakhstan To End HIV Stigma, Discrimination
In this post on USAID’s “IMPACTblog,” Erin McKee, USAID mission director for the Central Asian Republics, recounts a discussion roundtable with people “on the front lines” in the battle against HIV/AIDS in Kazakhstan. She writes, “I was honored to share a morning with people in Kazakhstan who are bold advocates for HIV-positive groups in their country, and I look forward to a renewed partnership with them in the fight to end stigma and discrimination toward people living with HIV in Central Asia” (12/27).
Top 10 Global Health Achievements Of 2011
In this Huffington Post “Impact” blog post, Karl Hofmann, president and CEO of PSI, outlines 10 “milestones for the global health community” that occurred in 2011. Among the achievements, Hofmann says governments avoided making major cuts to foreign aid budgets despite a global economic downturn; studies supported “treatment as prevention” as an HIV prevention strategy; the number of malaria cases and deaths worldwide continued to decline; research showed a promising vaccine candidate to prevent malaria among children; and more women gained access to long-acting, reversible contraceptives. Hofmann also lists advances in social franchising; maternal health; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights; pneumonia prevention and treatment; and sanitation, hygiene and access to clean water (12/29).
Foreign Aid To MICs Needs ‘More Sophisticated Approach’ Instead Of Cuts
“[T]he E.U., the Global Fund [to Fight] AIDS, TB and Malaria, and the World Bank’s International Development Association … want to save money during a fiscal crunch by cutting off aid to middle-income countries (MIC),” Andy Sumner and Amanda Glassman of the Center for Global Development write in the Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog.” However, doing so “means disconnecting foreign aid from most of the world’s poor and sick,” they write, adding, “At least three factors support the development of a more sophisticated approach.”
J&J Will Not Join Medicines Patent Pool; Company’s Pharma Head Says Mechanism Could ‘Cause Disaster’
Pharmaceutical company “Johnson & Johnson has rejected calls to offer patent rights on its HIV medicines to generic drug companies through a” Medicines Patent Pool, created to promote low-cost antiretroviral drugs in low-income countries and the development of new drug combinations and formulations, the Financial Times reports. “Paul Stoffels, worldwide head of pharmaceuticals at J&J, … cautioned that the pool could trigger a ‘mixing and matching’ of medicines that would cause a rapid surge in patient resistance to innovative HIV drugs” that could “cause a huge disaster,” according to the newspaper.
Global Health Issues Allow For Reporting On Broad Spectrum Of Challenges, Journalists Say At Seminar
GlobalPost’s “Global Pulse” blog describes a December seminar, titled “Global Health and Story Telling in the Digital Age” and sponsored by GlobalPost and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, at which “journalists discussed challenges they faced in covering global health during a time of shrinking budgets and within an industry struggling to balance hard-hitting coverage with the need to continually update websites and attract readers.” According to the blog, “Global health reporting can and should be a ‘window’ into addressing the spectrum of challenges facing the world, from political to economic and scientific, journalists said” (Kriel, 12/28).
WHO Issues Warning About Risks Of Research On Human Engineered Bird Flu
“The World Health Organization issued a stern warning on Friday to scientists who have engineered a highly pathogenic form of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, saying their work carries significant risks and must be tightly controlled,” Reuters reports (Kelland, 12/30). The agency “warned … that while such studies were important, they could have deadly consequences,” the New York Times writes (McNeil/Grady, 1/2).
PlusNews Highlights 10 Major HIV Headlines Of 2011
In a year-end recap of major HIV-related headlines, IRIN/PlusNews writes, “It’s been a roller coaster of a year in HIV and AIDS. AIDS turned 30 in 2011, and with new evidence of the effectiveness of HIV treatment as prevention, experts are increasingly talking about ‘the end of AIDS.’ At the same time, however, funding for HIV has become ever more uncertain, jeopardizing efforts to put new, life-saving science into action.”
In-Your-Face Advertisements Target Childhood Obesity
The ads have drawn strong criticism, but Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta is standing by the effort.
