Morning Breakouts

Latest KFF Health News Stories

U.N. Report Highlights Gaps In Global Social Security Programs, Including Health Care

Morning Briefing

“Though basic social security is critical for mitigating the dire consequences of economic crises, it remains out of reach for most people across the world, above all in poorer countries,” according to a report (.pdf) released by the U.N. International Labour Organization (ILO) on Tuesday, IDN-InDepthNews reports. The report documents “gaps in access to social security programmes in vital areas such as health care, pensions, social assistance, and unemployment benefits,” according to the news service (Johnson, 11/16).

Cholera Case Confirmed In Dominican Republic; Haitian Protestors Blame U.N. Peacekeeping Troops For Cholera Outbreak

Morning Briefing

Officials on Tuesday said they had confirmed the first case of cholera in Haiti’s neighbor, the Dominican Republic, the Associated Press/Forbes reports (11/16). Bautista Rojas, the Dominican health minister, said the patient is a 32-year-old Haitian construction worker who recently returned from Haiti, the BBC reports. The patient is receiving treatment in isolation in the eastern town of Higuey, Rojas said (11/16).

First Edition: November 17, 2010

Morning Briefing

Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about the recommendations from a second deficit reduction panel and about the unveiling of new Medicare and Medicaid projects aimed at improving the quality of care.

Reuters Reports On PLoS Medicine Series On Water, Sanitation

Morning Briefing

“Nearly 20 percent of the world’s population still defecates in the open, and action to improve hygiene, sanitation and water supply could prevent more than 2 million child deaths a year, health experts said” on Monday, following the release of a series of papers on water and sanitation published in the journal PLoS Medicine, Reuters reports (Kelland, 11/15).

Berwick To Testify For First Time As Medicare/Medicaid Chief

Morning Briefing

Donald Berwick will testify before a congressional committee Wednesday for the first time since President Obama avoided the Senate confirmation process – to Republican protest – by using a recess appointment to install Berwick as CMS administrator.

Health Officials Gather In Uruguay To Discuss WHO Anti-Smoking Treaty

Morning Briefing

“As sales to developing nations become ever more important to giant tobacco companies, they are stepping up efforts around the world to fight tough restrictions on the marketing of cigarettes,” the New York Times reports in an article ahead of a conference in Punta del Este, Uruguay, that started on Monday. There, health officials are debating guidelines to enforce a global anti-smoking treaty known as the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) (Wilson, 11/13).

Regional U.N. Meeting Explores African Development

Morning Briefing

Africa has the potential to expand development with the help of international support and stability, Asha-Rose Migiro, U.N. deputy secretary general, said on Sunday at the opening of the 11th Regional Coordination Mechanism (RCM) meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Next reports.