Latest KFF Health News Stories
Five Food Security Priorities For The G20
Olivier De Schutter, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, outlines five priorities for G20 leaders to endorse at the upcoming summit in a Guardian “Poverty Matters Blog” post.
Global Health Council Conference Panel Discusses Country Ownership
“The Global Health Initiative [GHI] will focus more heavily on countries’ own goals for development, explained Amie Batson, deputy assistant administrator for Global Health at USAID at a panel at the Global Health Council Conference on Thursday,” GlobalPost’s “Global Pulse” blog reports.
Additional Funding Announced For PEPFAR Programs In Africa
In a post on State’s “DipNote” blog, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Ambassador Eric Goosby describes accompanying Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on her trip to Africa.
Report Outlines Lessons From AIDS Advocates
A new report from the consulting firm HCM Strategists and the nonprofit group FasterCures “analyzes the factors that helped patient advocates drive research into and drug development for [HIV/AIDS], and tries to figure out whether there are lessons to be learned for other disease advocates,” the Wall Street Journal’s “Health Blog” writes.
Important To Fund The GAFSP Now
In a Guardian opinion piece, Lael Brainard, under-secretary for international affairs at the U.S. Treasury, writes about the importance of funding the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) and investing in small farmers in the developing world.
Cooperation Needed To Fight NCDs, U.N. Officials Note
Speaking Thursday at an informal civil society hearing that is a precursor to the first-ever high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), top U.N. officials “stressed the need for governments, the private sector and civil society to work together and more effectively to address cancers, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases, which account for nearly two thirds of global deaths each year,” the U.N. News Centre reports (6/16).
Food Prices Projected To Rise Over Next Decade, FAO/OECD Report Says
Food prices are likely to continue to rise over the next decade, “putting the poor at an increasing risk of malnutrition and hunger,” according to a joint report from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (6/17).
HPV Vaccine Shows Success In Young Australian Women, Study Says
“A vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, triggered by the human papillomavirus (HPV), has helped reduce the number of teenage girls developing abnormalities in their cervix by as much as 50 percent in a study in Australia,” according to a report published Friday in the Lancet, Reuters reports.
Economist Examines Decade Of Changes In Vaccine Field
The Economist examines how “the past decade has seen changes in how vaccines are developed, financed and delivered
House Passes Agriculture Spending Bill
“The House on Thursday afternoon approved the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration and Related Agencies Appropriations Act by a 217-203 vote,” The Hill’s “Floor Action Blog” reports. A day earlier, the House “rejected several amendments from Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) to cut the Food for Peace program, the International Food for Education and Child Nutrition program, and make further cuts to [the Women, Infants and Children program],” the blog notes (Kasperowicz, 6/16).
UNICEF Calls On Governments To Improve Status Of Children On Day Of The African Child
“African governments need to provide ‘more protective environments’ to keep children safe and free from harm and exploitation,” UNICEF said in a statement marking the 2011 Day of the African Child on Thursday, the U.N. News Centre reports.
Civil Society Must Have Voice In Future Of MDGs
There are three main options on the table” about what to do after the Millennium Development Goals expire in 2015, Leo Williams, chair of Beyond 2015, an international campaign that aims to “ensur[e] that the process of developing a [development] framework is participatory, inclusive and responsive to those directly affected by poverty and injustice,” writes in a post on the Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog.”
Integrating AIDS Fight With Other Global Health Efforts Is Next Step
An “invisible turning point” in the fight against HIV/AIDS recently occurred: “the realisation that simply strengthening the vertical programme that is AIDS has to end. The new opportunity is integration,” a Lancet editorial states.
Biden: Budget Talks Now Focus On ‘The Hard Stuff’
Partisan differences on core issues such as taxes and Medicare spending continue to be a part of the deficit-reduction negotiations being led by Vice President Joe Biden, who says the talks will go on “around the clock” next week as lawmakers work to resolve the stand-off over raising the nation’s debt limit.
Baucus Challenges McKinsey & Company On Insurance Survey
The survey concluded that an estimated 30 percent or more of businesses would drop employer-sponsored health coverage after 2014 because of the health law. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., is demanding that the consulting firm release its methodology.
A selection of opinions and editorials from around the country.
Technology Aids In Maintaining Quality Of Life In Aging
The Los Angeles Times reports on trends in high-tech aging.
White House Focuses On Prevention With Release Of National Strategy
Described as a way to improve the nation’s prosperity, the Obama administration announced a sweeping plan to emphasize health promotion and disease prevention for all walks of life.
Justice Department Sides With Planned Parenthood In Indiana Case
The group is seeking to block a new law that would bar Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, the N.C. legislature has overturned a veto by the governor of a measure that would also cut state payments to Planned Parenthood.
Pawlenty Aims Verbal Barb At Romney
On Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty called rival Mitt Romney a “co-conspirator” in the federal health overhaul. He also repeated his call for repealing the measure, and maintained that, when he was governor, he handled health reform “the right way.”
