Latest KFF Health News Stories
CLASS Act Repeal Vote Will Test Dems’ Unity
Legislation to repeal the program, which is no longer being implemented by the Obama administration, will be marked up on Tuesday by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
A selection of editorials and opinions on health policy from around the country.
Super Committee May Delay Tax Details
As the panel’s Nov. 23 deadline approaches and doubts about its ability for success persist, a new approach is emerging in which the panel may opt to postpone politically difficult decisions by deciding the amount of new revenue their deficit-reduction plan would require, but leaving specifics to Congress’ tax-writing committees to fill in next year.
State Roundup: Md.’s Medical Home; N.Y. Malpractice Action; Texas Nursing Homes
A variety of stories from around the country about health care.
Obama Administration Unveils Plan To Expand Health Care Work Force
The initiative, which is part of the White House’s “We Can’t Wait” agenda, will release funds to hire and train health workers as part of its effort to give the U.S. economy a boost.
Survey Of Health Opinion Leaders Finds ‘Unflagging’ Health Overhaul Support
In this survey, conducted by the Commonwealth Fund and Modern Healthcare, 89 percent of respondents supported moving forward with the measure’s implementation. In related news, the National Committee for Quality Assurance plans this month to begin accrediting accountable care organizations. Meanwhile, in local coverage, North Carolina’s health exchange grant remains unspent and a rural California county has its own health reform calculus.
VOA News Examines Foundation’s Efforts To Treat MDR-TB Patients In North Korea
VOA News examines the Eugene Bell Foundation’s work in North Korea to detect and treat patients with multiple-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The foundation is treating about 600 patients in North Korea, where “[c]onditions … are ideal for the spread of TB. The climate is cold. Most citizens live and work in small spaces, and lack proper nutrition to maintain a strong immune system,” VOA writes (Herman, 11/11).
Ethiopia Reduced Child Mortality Rate By More Than Half Over Past 20 Years
Ethiopia has reduced its child mortality rates by more than half since 1990, from about 20 percent to 8.8 percent, “through campaigns to increase the number of health workers and clinics throughout the country, government and aid officials said on Friday,” Reuters reports. “Reducing malnutrition, which is an underlying factor in at least half of all under-five deaths, has had a profound impact on the survival rates of children,” Ethiopia State Minister of Health Keseteberhan Admassu “told a gathering of representatives of United Nations agencies,” according to the news agency. “Keseteberhan said the nationwide malnutrition rate has been slashed by 32 percent, with prevalence to being underweight dropping to 28.7 percent in 2010 from 42.1 percent in 2000,” Reuters writes (Maasho, 11/11).
Study Identifies Five Areas Of Global Health On Which Canada Can Focus
A “year-long assessment done by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences concluded there is a strong rationale for Canada to play a more strategic role in global health, while recognizing the scale of humanitarian needs,” and to “focu[s] on five areas where its research is strongest, including indigenous health,” the Globe and Mail reports. “The report, released at the Global Health conference in Montreal on Sunday, identified five areas where Canada could have significant impact on global health, including public health programs, community-based primary health care, partnerships with developing countries in research/education and global health innovation,” the newspaper writes (Priest, 11/13).
Cambodia Set To Distribute More Than 2.5M Mosquito Nets By End Of Year
“Millions of Cambodians are set to receive insecticide-treated mosquito nets as part of a government-led effort to mitigate the risk of malaria and dengue fever,” IRIN reports. “The nets will be distributed by the National Malaria Control Centre with technical assistance from WHO” and funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, according to IRIN. “The project aims to distribute 785,000 insecticide-treated nets in six provinces this month, including three of those hit hardest by the worst flooding in more than a decade, and “[i]n December, 1,915,000 insecticide-treated nets will be distributed in 13 provinces, the health ministry said,” IRIN writes. In 2010, Cambodia recorded 56,217 malaria cases and 135 deaths from the disease, according to the news service, which adds “Prime Minister Hun Sen [has] set a target for eliminating deaths from malaria by 2015, and infections by 2025” (11/14).
First Edition: November 14, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the Supreme Court’s expected health law announcement; about where things stand with the super committee and its fast-approaching deadline; and other health policy news.
Rep. Hensarling Say Super Committee May Use 2-Step Process To Increase Revenues
One of the co-chairs of the congressional panel seeking a deficit plan said if the group doesn’t reach a full accord, it could set a goal for tax reform and leave it for other committees to implement.
Federal Health Officials Recommend Cholesterol Testing For Children
NIH and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest the testing be done between the ages of 9 and 11 and then again between 17 and 21.
Medicaid Update: Wis. Approves Big Cuts; Wash. State Lawsuit On ER Visits
Medicaid news from Wisconsin, a Washington state courtroom and Kansas.
World Pneumonia Day Has Grown From Idea To Global Movement
In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University, reports on how World Pneumonia Day, inaugurated in 2009 by financier Lance Laifer, has grown from an idea into a movement, writing, “World Pneumonia Day 2010 is engaging governments, child health organizations and advocates in an effort to spotlight the leading killer of children” and “perhaps even more exciting is the way this movement has grown in just one year, engaging everyday citizens in the effort to raise awareness in creative ways.”
Kenya Launches 5-Year Strategic Plan To Fight NTDs
“The Kenyan government launched a five-year national master-plan on Thursday to address neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) that have become a public health challenge in remote parts of the country,” making Kenya “the first country in Africa to launch a broad-based strategic plan on combating neglected tropical ailments that include bilharzia, trachoma, kalaazar, intestinal worms, elephantiasis and Hydatid disease,” Africa Science News reports. “Minister for Public Health and Sanitation Beth Mugo said this strategic plan dovetails with her ministry’s ‘vision of transforming Kenya into a nation free from preventable diseases and ill health,'” the news service writes (Mwaura, 11/11).
Third Annual World Pneumonia Day To Be Observed On Saturday
The third annual World Pneumonia Day will be observed on Saturday. The following is a summary of several pieces published in recognition of the day.
Rapid Expansion Of Global Vaccine Campaign Against Pneumonia ‘Unprecedented’
“A global push to bring a vaccine against the bacterial cause of pneumonia to communities that need it most is ramping up quickly, expanding to nearly 60 countries in the next five years,” PBS NewsHour’s “The Rundown” reports. “At least three million child deaths could be prevented in the next decade through the global vaccine rollout, according to a new analysis published Thursday in the journal of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene by health experts from Children’s Hospital Boston and Johns Hopkins University, among others,” the blog states, adding, “More new research released this week by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health called the rate of the rollout and its quick expansion ‘unprecedented.'”
