Latest KFF Health News Stories
Viewpoints: Spotlight On Insurance Industry; Local Health Costs Rising; Obesity Debate
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Disappearance Of Mosquitoes From Some Parts Of Africa Puzzles Researchers
“Malaria-carrying mosquitoes are disappearing in some parts of Africa, … indicat[ing] controls such as anti-mosquito bed nets are having a significant impact on the incidence of malaria in some sub-Saharan countries,” researchers report in a paper published in Malaria Journal, according to BBC News. But the team of Danish and Tanzanian “researchers say mosquitoes are also disappearing from areas with few controls,” and “[t]hey are uncertain if mosquitoes are being eradicated or whether they will return with renewed vigor,” the news agency writes (McGrath, 8/26).
Smarter Health Care Spending Key, According To Harvard Study
Economists take on health care spending issues in presentations before the Fed’s August meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Few Treatment Options For Growing Population Of Drug Users In Afghanistan
The New York Times examines the “growing drug addiction problem” in Afghanistan, where, in 2010, about 900,000 people, or seven percent of the adult population, were using drugs, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The newspaper notes “a recent report by the Ministry of Public Health in partnership with Johns Hopkins University … found HIV present in about seven percent of drug users, double the figure just three years ago, said Dr. Fahim Paigham, who until recently directed the Ministry of Public Health’s AIDS control program.”
Money Alone Cannot Fix Russia’s ‘Demographic Crisis’
Russia “is in a demographic crisis, shedding 2.2 million people (or 1.6 percent of the population) since 2002, and the government is trying to encourage more women to bring Russian citizens into the world,” journalist Natalia Antonova writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece, in which she describes her experience with the Russian medical system after “unexpectedly” becoming pregnant shortly after receiving her visa to work in Moscow.
Iranian HIV Physician Released From Tehran Prison
“Iranian HIV doctor Arash Alaei has been released from jail in Tehran after spending more than three years behind bars for allegedly conspiring against the regime, his U.S.-based brother said Monday,” Agence France-Presse reports (Sheridan, 8/29).
FAO Warns Mutant Form Of H5N1 Bird Flu Poses Threat To Asia
“The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on Monday warned about a new mutant strain of the deadly bird flu H5N1 virus in China and Vietnam, saying there could be a ‘major resurgence’ of the disease,” Agence France-Presse reports. In a statement, FAO “said it was concerned about ‘the appearance in China and Vietnam of a variant virus able to sidestep the defenses provided by existing vaccines,’ adding that the new strain was known as H5N1 – 2.3.2.1,” the news agency notes. The organization said the virus, which can be spread by wild bird migration, “poses a direct threat to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia as well as endangering the Korean peninsula and Japan” (8/29).
First Edition: August 29, 2011
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including more coverage of GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry’s thoughts on health policy and politics.
States Experimenting With Medicaid Managed Care
Some states are seeing managed care as a way to save money on their Medicaid programs.
GOP Trying To Turn Medicare, Health Reform Law Into Political Gain
News outlets are covering some of the congressional and presidential politics of health care.
Perry Takes On Romney’s Massachusetts Health Reforms
GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry criticized the Massachusetts health overhaul that became law while fellow candidate Mitt Romney was governor. Meanwhile, news outlets are fact-checking statements about related reform initiatives – such as Texas’ tort reform law, and members of Congress appear to be taking a less-is-more approach to August town hall meetings.
Health Law Funding Creates Dilemma For GOP Governors
Even as many Republican state executives oppose the health law, many are moving forward in creating state-run exchanges. Meanwhile, the availability of public health funding as a result of the law also is a politically challenging windfall.
State News: Virginia’s Abortion Rules; Calif. Rate Regulation Bill
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
States Put More Kids In CHIP, But Some Medicaid Programs Squeezed
Thirty states increased the number of children under the program, Stateline reports. Also news outlets report that Medicaid advocates are urging federal officials to deny California’s request to cut the program, and in Georgia, officials are looking for more funding.
Improving Global Health, Food Security Among Top 10 Things To Know About State Department, USAID
In this Huffington Post editorial piece, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides writes about “10 things you should know about the State Department and USAID” and what the department does “on behalf of the American people.”
Hospitals, Health Care Facilities Feeling Effects Of Economic Downturn
New Atlanta jobs numbers show little change in health jobs, while several prominent hospitals report cutting the number of workers.
Rotavirus Vaccine Still Effective In Reducing Diarrhea-Related Deaths In Mexico, Researchers Say
“The rotavirus vaccine introduced in Mexico in 2007 still appears to be preventing diarrhea-related deaths in children, despite speculation that years later the vaccine may not be as effective,” according to the Los Angeles Times’ “Booster Shots” blog. “In a letter released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report that the vaccine still seems to be successful in reducing mortality rates among children,” the blog writes, adding that rotavirus “is responsible for 527,000 childhood deaths per year” worldwide.
IOM Report: Vaccines Generally Safe, No Link To Autism
The new report, which is more than 600 pages long, will still probably not put to rest the contentious debate that surround vaccine safety.
“The number of people living with HIV in South Africa has dropped slightly to 5.38 million, and the number of AIDS deaths is finally starting to fall, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe said Thursday … in a written reply to a question from parliament, where lawmakers had asked for an update on the success of the anti-AIDS fight,” Agence France-Presse reports. “South Africa has more HIV infections than any country in the world, previously estimated at 5.6 million by the United Nations in its global report on HIV in 2009, released late last year,” the news agency writes (8/25).
