Latest KFF Health News Stories
Low-Cost Meningitis Vaccine Cuts Cases In African Countries, Data Show
Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger recorded the lowest number of meningitis A cases in an epidemic season this year after the MenAfriVac vaccine was introduced, data from the WHO show, the nonprofit that helped develop the shot, Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), said on Thursday, Reuters reports.
UNAIDS, PEPFAR Announce Campaign To Eliminate MTCT Of HIV By 2015
A team led by UNAIDS and PEPFAR on Thursday at the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS announced a plan to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015 by “ensur[ing] that all women, especially pregnant ones, have access to quality life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services
The Perils Of Aid Group Overexaggeration
“The problem is that U.N. agencies, USAID, its European counterparts (90 percent of relief funding still comes from the OECD countries), and NGOs almost all think that to get attention for a given crisis, they must use apocalyptic language and err on the side of overestimating the death, damage, and displacement that has been caused,” author David Rieff writes in a Foreign Policy opinion piece. When organizations exaggerate, “they up the rhetorical ante that much more,” he writes, adding, “In the name of mobilizing compassion, we are raising the bar to impossible heights” (6/9).
Huffington Post AIDS Commentaries
The Huffington Post has several commentaries about the 30th anniversary of AIDS and other issues surrounding the epidemic.
Climate Change To Reduce Water Available For Agriculture, Report Says
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) “on Thursday warned climate change will restrict the availability of water for farming in decades to come, including in the Mediterranean region, and urged governments to take action,” Agence France-Presse reports (6/9).
Dominican Republic Health Workers Strike Over Sanitary Conditions In Hospital
Medical workers at a hospital in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, went on strike Thursday after a nurse was suspected of contracting cholera, the Associated Press/Kansas City Star reports.
Secretary Of State Clinton Travels To Sub-Saharan Africa
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is embarking on a weeklong trip to sub-Saharan Africa, CNN reports.
German Officials Again Claim Sprouts As Source Of E. Coli Outbreak
“After days of confusion, German authorities finally concluded on Friday that an E. coli infection, which has claimed at least 29 lives, unsettled the nation and thrown European agriculture into disarray, had been caused by contaminated bean sprouts and not, as first was feared, by other produce,” the New York Times reports.
National, Continental Health Center Coordination Lacking In E. Coli Outbreak Response
During the handling of the E. coli outbreak in Germany, “[c]oordination of the German public health response seems to have been utterly absent,” a Lancet editorial states, adding, “But one should also ask: where was the European Centres of Disease Prevention and Control?
Senate Dems Pledge To Fight Big Medicaid Cuts
Meanwhile, a left-leaning advocacy group released a report on how GOP budget plans to change the program would impact New Hampshire — a clear step designed to bring Medicaid into the realm of presidential politics.
GOP Senators Ask HHS To Let Indiana Cut Planned Parenthood Funding
The letter, spearheaded by Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, was signed by 28 senators.
For Docs, Quality Bonuses Are Few And Far Between
A physician recruiter report finds that efforts to pay doctors for keeping patients healthy still lag.
States Make Progress Setting Up Exchanges
Even governors who are opposed to the federal health law appear to be taking steps to comply with the health overhaul’s exchanges provision. Meanwhile, in Oregon, the governor is expected to sign the exchange legislation passed by the legislature earlier this week.
IPAB Under Attack From All Sides
From the left, fears persist that this independent payment advisory board will make the Medicare program a cost-control scapegoat. On the right, opponents say the panel will lead to health care rationing and usurp congressional authority.
Large Medical Groups Urge OMB To Be Careful With ACO Budget Expectations
The American Group Management Association asked the Obama administration to scale back the anticipated savings that are expected from the creation of accountable care organizations.
Research Roundup: Depression Disparities; Parents’ Views Of Vaccines
This week’s studies come from Health Affairs, The Archives Of Pediatrics And Adolescent Medicine, The Archives Of General Psychiatry, Ohio State University/National Institute Of Child Health And Human Development, The Kaiser Family Foundation and The Commonwealth Fund.
State News: Mass. Immigrant Care; Pension Benefit Changes In Calif. Cities
News outlets report on state health policy issues.
