Archives: Morning Breakouts

The use of mobile phones for medical purposes, or mHealth, holds "promising implications," but "there are still some challenges to overcome," PBS NewsHour reports. Additional research is necessary to determine whether people act on health-related text messages and whether the messages have value for a user, to "questions ... around whether applications can be used across all mobile devices, and how to charge cell phones in areas where electricity is spotty or nonexistent," the news service writes. "Despite all of the challenges, there is progress, especially in the area of collecting health information," NewsHour notes (Epatko, 10/5).

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the latest from Capitol Hill and the campaign trail, as well as findings from new research related to health care quality issues.

In a KQED interview, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins discussed a range of topics, including the state of medical research funding.

"At a press briefing in London on Wednesday, British officials are expected to pledge 20 million pounds ($31 million) over four years to" a campaign led by the Carter Center, the WHO, and the CDC to eradicate guinea worm, a parasitic disease that now exists only in four African countries, by 2015, the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports. Former President Jimmy Carter and British officials are urging other donors to come forward with additional funding, the news service writes (10/4). The WHO "reports it is very close to eradicating guinea worm" and that "it needs $350 million to finish the job," VOA News notes (Schlein, 10/4).

During a visit to Ethiopia's capital on Tuesday, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah announced new grant programs to help the nation address food insecurity, the Associated Press reports. Shah said the U.S. will provide $110 million to a food security program that will benefit 1.5 million people, $10 million for a nutrition program and $1.2 million for loans to farmers, the news agency notes (10/4).

In this Guardian opinion piece, Jill Filipovic, a freelance writer and blogger at Feministe, reports on how Unitaid, an organization "largely funded through innovating financing methods, including a tax on airplane tickets," is working to increase access to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis treatments in developing countries through "patent pools" and urges pharmaceutical companies to "get on board."