Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

UNICEF Publishes Vaccine Costs In Effort To Promote Price Competition

Morning Briefing

UNICEF for the first time on Friday published the prices it pays pharmaceutical companies for vaccines, “as the world’s biggest buyer of lifesaving immunizations aims to spark price competition in the face of rising costs,” the Associated Press/Washington Post reports (5/28).

Oxfam Report Warns About Steep Increases In Food Costs, Demand

Morning Briefing

With food costs rising for the second time in three years, Oxfam released a report on Tuesday predicting “the price of some staples such as corn will double in the next 20 years amid a permanent crisis caused by rising demand, flat crop yields and climate change,” Forbes reports (Max, 5/31).

Lax Tax Rules In Developing Countries Hinder Aid, Clinton Says

Morning Briefing

In a speech to the OECD last week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said that foreign aid is undermined by lax tax enforcement systems in developing countries and their wealthy citizens who avoid paying taxes, Agence France-Presse reports.

Advocates Express Aid Concerns After G8 Summit Ends

Morning Briefing

After the conclusion of the G8 summit in Deauville, France, last week, development experts expressed concern that the G8’s aid package, aimed at encouraging democracy mostly in North Africa, would result in less aid for the rest of the continent, Inter Press Service reports.

USAID Report Questions Haitian Quake Death Toll

Morning Briefing

The death toll from the January 2010 earthquake that struck Haiti was significantly lower than the toll claimed by Haitian leaders, according to the draft of a report prepared for USAID not yet publicly released, the Associated Press/Herald Sun reports.

As Work Changes, Docs And Nurses Changing Too

Morning Briefing

The New York Times examines how the shifts in doctors’ professional lives have changed their political leanings. Also, other outlets report on some changes in medical practice that affect patients too.