Latest KFF Health News Stories
G20 Must Uphold Previous Agriculture Pledges, Invest More
“In the last few years, funding of agriculture has slowly been increasing after a generation of decline in investment in the sector, but not fast enough. In the L’Aquila pledge, the G8 made commitments to food security in 2009 of $20 billion. The G8 accountability report 2011 states that the group has already disbursed 22% of the money it pledged, and a further 26% is on the way,” Lucy Muchoki, CEO of the Pan-African Agribusiness Consortium and a spokesperson for Farming First, writes in a Guardian “Poverty Matters Blog” post.
NCDs Responsible For Majority Of Deaths Worldwide And Cost Trillions, Report Says
Nearly two-thirds of deaths worldwide are caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart and lung disease, cancer, and diabetes, which are increasingly prevalent and cost the global economy trillions of dollars, according to a U.N. report and preliminary results from a new study announced Monday at a press conference to preview the September U.N. High Level Meeting on NCDs, the Associated Press/MSNBC.com reports
Fast Company Examines Matt Damon’s Efforts To Expand Clean Water Access In Africa
Fast Company reports on actor Matt Damon’s work to promote development and access to clean water in Africa.
Food Security And Development Lessons From Vietnam
In a post on the Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog,” Kenneth Quinn, president of the World Food Prize, discusses the impact of witnessing how road development influenced the introduction of “miracle rice” in Vietnam.
On Monday, representatives from 143 countries met in Geneva to discuss whether chrysotile asbestos “should be added to an international treaty regulating the trade in hazardous chemicals,” CBC Radio reports.
Results Of African Malaria Vaccine Trial Expected Later This Year
The final phase of testing for GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals’ malaria vaccine, RTS,S, is underway in seven sub-Saharan African countries, and “[i]f the results, due to be released later this, year confirm the vaccine’s efficacy in preventing malaria, it could be made available as early as 2015,” IRIN reports.
Scientists Apply Math Model To HIV To Discover Targets For Vaccines Or Drugs
Scientists at the Ragon Institute
Ghana’s Vice President Discusses Country’s Efforts To Fight HIV/AIDS
John Dramani Mahama, vice president of the Republic of Ghana, recently spoke with NPR’s “Tell Me More” about how Ghana has made significant gains against HIV/AIDS, bringing the prevalence rate down to 1.5 percent from nearly 4 percent.
Pace Picks Up In Budget Talks But ‘Big Ticket Items’ Still In Play
The key stumbling blocks in the ongoing negotiations being led by Vice President Joe Biden are Medicare changes and fresh revenue demands.
Doctors Stick With Support For Individual Mandate
The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates – after a lengthy debate – voted to maintain its support for the health law’s individual mandate.
State Roundup: N.J. Gov. Christie’s Big Health Care Changes
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Indiana Planned Parenthood To Stop Taking Medicaid Patients
The state cut funding in May but the clinics had been using $100,000 in contributions to help defray costs of seeing Medicaid patients.
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Anthem Blue Cross Agrees To Limit Rate Hikes
The Los Angeles Times reports that, in settling a class-action lawsuit, the California insurer agreed to limit rate incrases for 122,000 policy holders.
Supreme Court Accepts Case That Could Shape Field Of Personalized Medicine
Bloomberg reports that the Court has agreed to hear an appeal from the Mayo Clinic that concerns the types of diagnostic tests that can be patented.
State-Level Medicaid Cuts Could Have Impact Beyond Federal Reductions
In related news, Minnesota Public Radio reports on how the well-being of rural health providers is linked to Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement.
Controversy Surrounding McKinsey Insurance Survey Continues
Though the consulting firm released its methodology, its findings continue to draw debate and criticism. Meanwhile, Avalere released a study of its own, which seems to contradict the McKinsey report.
Obama Administration Launches Effort To Tout Medicare Preventive Benefits
The number of Medicare recipients who take advantage of these services has only increased slightly. The availability of these benefits was expanded by the health law.
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including the latest on the debt-reduction talks, the next chapter in the saga surrounding a McKinsey insurance survey and the details of the Obama administration’s effort to tout the health law’s prreventive care benefits.
Strengthen Monitoring And Surveillance Of Malaria In Pregnancy Interventions
“The time of neglecting malaria in pregnancy (MIP) should be over,” Bill Brieger, senior malaria specialist at JHPIEGO, writes in a Malaria Matters blog post summarizing a session on malaria and maternal health at the recently concluded Global Health Council annual conference. He adds that “moving forward, strengthened monitoring and surveillance is needed to fine tune, revise and better target MIP interventions to make a bigger impact on reducing maternal mortality in endemic countries” (6/18).
