Latest KFF Health News Stories
Alleviating World Hunger, Malnutrition Essential For Sustainable Development, FAO Report Says
“Sustainable development cannot be realized unless hunger and malnutrition are eradicated, the [Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)] said in a policy document prepared for the Rio+20 Summit to be held in June in Rio de Janeiro,” an FAO press release reports. “At the Rio Summit, we have the golden opportunity to explore the convergence between the agendas of food security and sustainability to ensure that happens,” FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva said, according to the press release. The report says, “Improving agricultural and food systems is essential for a world with both healthier people and healthier ecosystems,” the release notes (5/30). According to Reuters, “The governments attending the Rio+20 summit in June should commit themselves to speed up efforts to reduce hunger and malnutrition and use the U.N.’s voluntary guidelines on the right to food, the FAO said” (5/30).
U.N. Releases Annual Central Emergency Response Fund Report
The United Nations humanitarian office on Tuesday released its 2011 Annual Report of the Central Emergency Response Fund, which highlights the contributions of the U.N. Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to humanitarian partners in 45 countries in 2011, the U.N. News Center reports. “Financed by voluntary contributions from Member States, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local governments, the private sector and individual donors, the CERF is a humanitarian fund established by the United Nations to enable more timely and reliable humanitarian assistance to those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts, helping agencies to pre-position funding for humanitarian action,” the news service notes (5/29).
Judge Denies Injunction Seeking To Change What Washington Attorney General Argues On Health Law
A judge denied requests that would have made Attorney General Rob McKenna tell the Supreme Court what he’s said publicly, that parts of the federal health care law should stand minus the individual mandate.
Some elderly residents of North Carolina are exploring co-housing options to avoid having to leave their homes. Meanwhile, in a few spots, health leaders are instituting the “hospital at home” concept.
House To Vote On Bill Banning Abortions Based On Sex Of Fetus
According to rules governing the vote, the GOP will have to pick up about 50 Democrat votes to pass the bill. The vote may not be the end of abortion controversies on the Hill this year, however, as several measures have been inserted into national security bills, Politico Pro reports.
Hospital Debt-Collection Practices To Be Examined At Wednesday Hearing
Sen. Al Franken, D- Minn., convened the hearing to find out whether aggressive efforts to collect debt from patients in hospitals broke any federal laws.
A selection of health policy headlines from Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, California and Kansas.
State Exchanges And Health IT Could Be Hurdles To Health Law Implementation
News outlets report on the challenges posed by various provisions of the health law.
With Adderall Shortage, Drug Counterfeiters Try To Seize A Market Opportunity
NPR reports that counterfeiters are trying to take advantage of this market, but are demonstrating clumsiness.
U.S. House Poised For A Series Of Health-Related Votes
Included on the list is a bill to repeal the health law’s medical device tax and another to repeal the OTC ban. The device-tax issue has already emerged as a hot topic in many congressional races.
Caterpillar Union, Florida Unions Fight Plans That Would Affect Health Care
The contract proposal from Caterpillar would have a number of changes for workers, including requirements that they pay more for health care. In Florida, unions are seeking to stop a plan to save money by privatizing health care for prison inmates.
Viewpoints: Ryan Plan’s ‘Fiscal Cliff;’ Does The FDA Have An App For That?
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
Ill. Lawmakers Race To Approve Cuts, Tax Increases To Fill Medicaid Budget Hole
A $1-per-pack cigarette tax increase moves along in that state’s legislature. It would help fill a budget gap in the Illinois Medicaid program. Lawmakers also approve a bill that further defines nonprofit eligibility for hospitals. In the meantime, lawmakers there also consider changes to retiree pensions and health care.
Romney Clinches GOP Nomination With Texas Vote
As GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney steps up his political attacks on President Barack Obama, the health law will be one of his frequent themes. Also in the news, an aide says Romney will soon offer details on his health policy proposals.
Health Care, Women’s Health Issues Split Midwest Voters Ahead Of Elections
In Ohio, working class voters are divided on whether Mitt Romney or President Barak Obama more closely aligns with their views on health care.
Today’s early morning highlights from major news organizations, including reports about the slow uptake on the health law’s small-business health care tax credit and about how some conservatives are working against health insurance exchanges.
Officials At 65th World Health Assembly Adopt Resolutions On Broad Range Of Health Issues
“The 65th World Health Assembly concluded Saturday after adopting 21 resolutions and three decisions on a broad range of health issues,” a WHO press release reports (5/26). “Several resolutions were adopted,
USAID Announces Food Security Open Data Challenge
Following President Barack Obama’s announcement of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition at a food security summit last week, “USAID launched a Food Security Open Data Challenge that invites technologists, agriculture stakeholders, entrepreneurs, academics, and others to determine the most creative and wide-reaching use of open data for food security solutions and better, cheaper, and faster results,” Maura O’Neill, chief innovation officer at USAID, and Kat Townsend, special assistant for engagement at USAID, write in a post in the agency’s “DipNote” blog (5/27). “Over the next few months, the Food Security Open Data Challenge will have three key components,” including “an Ideation Jam where technologists and agriculture stakeholders will identify key innovation opportunities by focusing on the overlap of food security priorities and the potential of available data”; “a Codeathon to create and finalize solutions that are available for investment”; and “a Datapalooza, hosted by USAID Administrator Raj Shah, to announce challenge winners and showcase some of the best ideas for data-based solutions to food security,” Hillary Chen, a senior adviser to the deputy director of global development at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, writes in this post in the White House Blog (5/25).
Outcomes Of Next Month’s Rio+20 Summit Will Have ‘Deep Repercussions’ For Future Generations
In this post in the Guardian’s “Poverty Matters Blog,” Gro Harlem Brundtland and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, both of whom are involved in Elders+Youngers, an inter-generational dialogue on the future of the planet initiated by the Elders, a group of eminent global leaders working together for peace and human rights, comment on a “lack of urgency in the run-up to the Rio+20 summit next month,” writing, “The meeting provides a historic opportunity to chart a sustainable future for the world,” but “at the moment, there is a real chance the opportunity will be thrown away.”
G8 Summit ‘Missed Opportunity’ To Make Real Commitment To Long-Term Food Security
“This G8 summit was, yet again, a missed opportunity for international leaders to make a real commitment to long-term food security and support for African and developing world farmers,” Eva Clayton (D-N.C.), a former Congresswoman and former assistant director general of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), writes in this post in the Huffington Post’s “The World” blog. “In the realm of food security, the G8 had an ideal opportunity to provide a clear solution that embraces trade and opportunity, a new paradigm if you will, in international development and food security,” she continues, adding, “Unfortunately, G8 leaders emerging from Camp David still spoke of the same old aid commitments without any backbone, all the while ignoring the impact that trade barriers and U.S. and European multi-billion dollar subsidies have on food production in those countries most in need of development.”
