Latest KFF Health News Stories
Hospitals In Minn., Wis. Make Changes To Serve Overweight Patients
The Michigan program will track children’s body mass index through an anonymous health registry.
Obama Deficit-Reduction Plan Details Emerging
As President Barack Obama prepares to present to Congress his detailed plan to rein in the nation’s debt, changes to Social Security appear unlikely, but the outlook for Medicare is less certain.
PEPFAR Shows How Working Across ‘Political Spectrum’ Can Prove Successful
“Thirty years since the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in the United States, the world finds itself at a tipping point in the fight against this deadly disease,” U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby and George W. Bush Inaugural Global Health Fellow Ambassador Mark Dybul, who served as global AIDS coordinator from 2006 to 2009, write in a Huffington Post opinion piece. With the creation of PEPFAR, “President Bush and Congress responded with an effort that reflected … the compassion and generosity of the American people, [with an] insistence on impact,” they write, adding, “Since taking office, the Obama Administration has made building on the success of PEPFAR a priority.”
Experimental Malaria Vaccine Shows Positive Results Among Children In Small Burkina Faso Study
“An experimental malaria vaccine tested on children in Burkina Faso has shown ‘a high level of efficacy’ in protecting against the disease, a study published in” Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine said, according to Agence France-Presse. The research, which “was initially planned to study the safety and immune response of the vaccine, known by the name MSP3 … was led by scientists from the National Center for Research and Training on Malaria in Burkina Faso, the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Paris-based Pasteur Institute,” the news agency writes.
India Sees Increase In Malaria Deaths Despite Global Decline Reported By WHO
While the number of malaria deaths has fallen by one-fifth over the past decade globally, according to a report released by Roll Back Malaria on Monday, “India is still recording high numbers of deaths, which some experts say are underestimated,” Agence France-Presse reports. The WHO “says about 5,000 children and 10,000 adults die each year from malaria in India,” AFP reports, adding, “However a study published last year by the Lancet said there are more than 200,000 malaria deaths each year and that WHO’s reporting is flawed.”
Global Child Mortality Rate Is Shrinking, But Not Enough To Reach MDG, UNICEF/WHO Report Says
“The annual number of children who die before they reach age five is shrinking, falling to 7.6 million global deaths in 2010 from more than 12 million in 1990, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday” in their annual report (.pdf) on child mortality, Reuters reports. “Overall, 12,000 fewer children under age five die each day than a decade ago,” according to the report, the news agency notes. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said in a statement that “many factors are contributing to reductions in child mortality, including better access to health care for newborns, prevention and treatment of childhood diseases, access to vaccines, clean water and better nutrition,” the news agency writes (Steenhuysen, 9/14).
Number Of Breast, Cervical Cancer Cases Rose Significantly Over Past 30 Years, Global Study Says
“The number of cases and deaths from breast and cervical cancer is rising in most countries across the world, especially in poorer nations where more women are dying at younger ages, according to a global study of the diseases” by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Reuters reports. Between 1980 and 2010, breast cancer cases more than doubled worldwide, rising from 641,000 cases in 1980 to 1.6 million cases in 2010, while deaths from breast cancer rose from 250,000 a year to 425,000 a year, according to the study, which was published in the Lancet on Thursday, Reuters notes. The “number of cervical cancer cases rose from 378,000 cases in 1980 to 454,000 in 2010, and deaths from cervical cancer rose at almost the same pace as cases,” the news service writes (Kelland, 9/15). The majority of new cases occurred among women under age 50 in low-income nations, BBC News writes (Briggs, 9/14).
IRIN examines how community health workers and international aid organizations, such as Medecins Sans Frontieres and the International Rescue Committee, are working to provide safe and adequate health facilities in refugee camps on the Kenya-Somalia border where women can give birth.
Follow-Up Study Of HIV Vaccine Trial Provides Clues For Continued Research
“After two years of analyzing the results of the largest AIDS vaccine clinical trial ever held — called RV144 — researchers say they have found two ways the immune system can respond, which could predict whether those inoculated will be protected or are more likely to become infected with HIV,” CNN’s health blog “The Chart” reports. The results were presented at the AIDS Vaccine 2011 conference being held this week in Bangkok, Thailand (Young, 9/13).
First Edition: September 15, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about what might be included in President Obama’s detailed plan to tame the federal federal budget. Here’s a hint: Social Security changes are unlikely, but what about Medicare?
Census Data Trigger Discussion About Nation’s Uninsured
The data, released yesterday, also focus attention on issues of poverty in the United States, on the role of government programs and on the future of employer-sponsored insurance.
Debt Panel Sets To Work Amidst Challenging Economic Picture
As the CBO director spoke at the panel’s Tuesday hearing and provided a bleak impression of the economic forces the 12 members will confront, Republicans and Democrats on the ‘super committee’ appear to be toeing the usual party lines, with GOP members focusing on entitlement programs and government health care spending, and Democrats pressing for higher tax revenue.
WHO Releases Global Status Report On NCDs Calling Chronic Diseases World’s Leading Killer
The WHO “published a report Wednesday showing the prevalence of chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular illness around the world, along with countries’ abilities to cope with the growing number of people affected by them,” the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (9/13). In the report, “the WHO said 36 million people died of chronic diseases in 2008, the most recent year for which data is available,” VOA News writes, adding, “More than a quarter of those people were less than 60 years old” (9/13). The report’s release coincides with the first U.N. summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which is scheduled to take place in New York September 19-20, the AP notes (9/13).
Administration Steps Up Focus On Improper Health Care Payments
The effort, part of a government-wide initiative to reduce wasteful spending, will get a high-profile boost today from Vice President Joe Biden when the entire Cabinet meets today on the subject.
Survey: State Medicaid Programs Increasingly Reliant On Managed Care
The survey, conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that states are turning to managed care programs to control their Medicaid costs.