Latest KFF Health News Stories
Committed Action, Continued Funding Needed In Global Campaign Against TB
A Lancet editorial responds to the WHO’s sixteenth annual report on global tuberculosis (TB) control, released on Oct 11, which shows that the incidence of tuberculosis has been falling worldwide since 2002, writing, “Successes in disease control in China and other countries show what sustained political and economic support can achieve. Rather than waiting for the elixir of economic success to arrive in all high-burden countries, committed action by donors, agencies, and governments in the most challenging settings is needed in the global campaign against tuberculosis.”
U.N., U.S. Peace Corps Sign Agreement To Work Together To Tackle Food Insecurity In 76 Countries
“The United Nations and the United States Peace Corps signed an agreement today to cooperate in combating worldwide hunger by increasing food security in the 76 countries where the more than 8,600 U.S. volunteers currently work,” the U.N. News Centre reports. “The agreement, signed by the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN World Food Programme (WFP) at their Rome headquarters, builds on years of cooperation with the 50-year-old U.S. organization,” the news service writes.
“Representatives from more than 100 governments around the world, health experts, civil society organizations and other stakeholders are converging in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for three days” at the WHO-convened World Conference on Social Determinants of Health “to discuss how social, economic and environmental conditions could be improved to reduce the health gaps within and between countries,” a WHO press release states (10/19). “The conference is expected to produce a political declaration expressing the commitment of WHO Member States to address the social determinants of health through national action plans and strategies,” European Hospital writes (10/20).
Much Work Remains To Be Done In Fight Against Malaria
Positive results announced this week from a large clinical trial testing the efficacy of the RTS,S malaria vaccine are “encouraging,” but they are also “a reminder of how much work remains to be done,” an Economist editorial reports. The WHO abandoned its first efforts to eradicate the disease 14 years after setting out to do so in 1955, but “a new wave of enthusiasm,” beginning in 1998 with the establishment of the Roll Back Malaria partnership and culminating with Bill Gates’s call for malaria eradication four years ago, “has helped to lower the number of malaria deaths by 20 percent over the past decade,” the editorial states.
Brazil To Become World Supplier Of Chagas Disease Treatment
“Brazil is keen to take part in the international effort to expand access to medicines and to produce its own drugs, and will start by becoming the world supplier of medicines to treat Chagas disease,” Health Minister Alexandre Padilha announced “at the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, which opened Tuesday October 19 in Rio de Janeiro,” Inter Press Service reports. “Production of benznidazole, the drug in question, will reach 3.4 million tablets by the end of this year,” the news service writes.
HIV/AIDS Clinic In Pakistan Working To Fight Stigma, Provide Treatment
Inter Press Service reports on the Family Care Centre for people living with HIV/AIDS in Pakistan, which opened in Peshawar on September 1 “in the hope of breaking the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS” in a region where myths surrounding the disease and its transmission are prevalent. “The first of its kind in South Asia, the Centre will serve as a diagnostic and treatment facility for people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as offer counseling services to affected family members,” according to IPS. “The center already has 600 registered patients including 175 from neighboring Afghanistan, all of whom will receive free antiretroviral treatment (ART) imported from the WHO in India,” the news service writes (Yusufzai, 10/21).
UNICEF Calls For Additional Resources To Fight Hunger, Famine In Somalia
Though the humanitarian response to the food crisis in the Horn of Africa has lessened the suffering of thousands of people in the region, “more resources are needed to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in famine-hit areas of Somalia, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said” in a progress report released Thursday, the U.N. News Centre reports. Releasing the report, Elhadj As Sy, UNICEF regional director for Eastern and Southern Africa, “called for the scaling up of integrated interventions in health, nutrition, food security, water and sanitation, education and child protection,” according to the news service (10/20).
E-Voucher Program Providing Food To Malnourished Zimbabweans Living With HIV, TB
An electronic voucher system, introduced by the World Food Programme (WFP) and implemented by the health ministry and non-governmental organizations, is helping Zimbabweans living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) and their families obtain food and fight malnutrition, PlusNews reports. “The program supports about 5,000 patients and their families with essential food items and is operating at seven health facilities in the capital [Harare] and has been extended to the second-largest city, Bulawayo,” the news service writes.
U.N. Calls On International Community To Provide Food Aid To North Korea
“Wealthier countries need to put aside politics to help millions of North Koreans going hungry from food shortages, the U.N.’s top relief official said Friday, renewing an appeal for assistance that has largely gone unmet,” the Associated Press/CBS News reports. Following a five-day visit to North Korea, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos “said millions of North Koreans, particularly children, mothers and pregnant women, need help,” as they do not have access to protein- and nutrient-rich foods, according to the AP.
First Edition: October 21, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including more details about the Department of Health and Human Services’ revised rule for accountable care organizations.
Health Law: Both Sides Aim For Supreme Court Action In March
The Obama administration even filed its legal briefs early – one outlining its defense of the measure’s constitutionality in response to the 26-state challenge to the health law, the other responding to Liberty University’s lawsuit.
How’s The Super Committee Doing? Some Say Not So Well …
News outlets report that, although enough time still remains to reach a deal, the panel’s seeming lack of progress is raising alarm in some corners of Capitol Hill. Others, however, see signs of life.
“The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria will transfer management of a $28.77 million HIV/AIDS grant from Mali’s national AIDS council, the Haut Conseil de Lutte contre le Sida (the High Council for the Fight Against AIDS, or HCLNS), to a new principal recipient at the end of the year” after mismanagement of funds was discovered in the country, a Global Fund press release reports (10/19). “The Global Fund said in a statement that it will suspend funding all but essential services under the grant until a new structure can be found to manage the money,” the Associated Press writes (Vogl, 10/19).
Treating TB, HIV Co-Infections Early, Aggressively Can Save Lives, Multiple Studies Show
“Treating tuberculosis (TB) and HIV infections at the same time can be a challenge for patients and their doctors, but attacking both diseases early and aggressively isn’t harmful and could save the lives of those who are sickest,” according to a global study led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The study found that patients whose immune systems have been most damaged by HIV were 40 percent less likely to die or develop AIDS if they began antiretroviral treatment (ART) “two weeks after starting TB treatment, instead of waiting eight to 12 weeks, as is commonly done now,” the newspaper writes.
Ariz., Wis. Trying To Slow Medicaid Costs; Ala. Goes Electronic
Medicaid news pops up in Arizona, Alabama, Wisconsin and Florida.
State Roundup: Md. Program Poised For Health Reform; Calif. High-Risk Pool
A selection of health care news from Georgia, Wisconsin, California, Louisiana, Colorado, Florida, Oregon and Michigan.
Social Media Moves Into Medicine
The Mayo Clinic’s social media boss explains how the use of these high-tech tools has moved beyond marketing to find a place in medical education and research. Meanwhile, another news report showcases how doctors use email and Skype.
