Latest KFF Health News Stories
Presentation Highlights Contributions Of FBOs To Global Health
This post on the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ “Smart Global Health” blog reports on a presentation hosted by the Global Health Policy Center on Monday which “highlight[ed] the contributions faith-based-organizations (FBOs) make to global health, including the fight against HIV/AIDS.” The post highlights quotes from several speakers at the event, provides audio footage of the event, and links to podcast interviews with Kay Warren, founder of the HIV/AIDS Initiative at Saddleback Church, and Ken Hackett, president of Catholic Relief Services (1/31).
Knowledge, Resources Exist To Reach Maternal, Child Mortality MDGs In Africa With Unified Efforts
In this Global Health and Diplomacy opinion piece, Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete examines efforts to meet Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets on maternal and child mortality in Africa, noting, “Although Africa has just 12 percent of the global population, it accounts for half of all maternal deaths and half the deaths of children under five.” He writes, “Though global maternal deaths are in decline and women’s health has at last become a global priority, our goal of reducing maternal mortality by 75 percent in 2015 is still a long way off. … It is unacceptable to allow mothers and children to die when we have the knowledge and resources to save them.”
Ensure Future For Global Fund Or ‘Forfeit’ Chance At ‘AIDS-Free Generation’
In this New York Times opinion piece, Paul Farmer, chair of the department of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School and a co-founder of Partners in Health, examines the importance of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as it faces a “serious financial shortfall,” writing, “Beyond AIDS, the Global Fund is currently the largest donor in the world for tuberculosis and malaria programs. … The question is not whether the Global Fund works, but how to ensure it keeps working for years to come.”
Words From Daily Report Readers
Here’s today’s health policy haiku.
Health Policy Positions Offered By Romney, Santorum And Paul Draw Attention
In the midst of the GOP presidential primaries, Mitt Romney’s comments about the safety net trigger strong reactions, while Rick Santorum delivers a speech in Colorado on health policy themes, and The Washington Post fact checks Ron Paul’s comments about life before Medicare and Medicaid.
CSIS Report Examines Protection Of Health Care In Armed, Civil Conflict
This report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ Global Health Policy Center, titled “Protection of Health Care in Armed and Civil Conflict,” examines how “action [last year] at the U.N. Security Council, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Department of State, combined with a new campaign by the International Committee of the Red Cross and civil society mobilization, led to potential breakthroughs in three key dimensions of protection — documentation, prevention, and accountability.” The summary states, “The opportunity to better protect health services during conflict is palpable” (Rubenstein, 2/1).
Capitol Hill Briefing Examines PEPFAR Work
The Center for Global Health Policy’s “Science Speaks” blog describes a Capitol Hill briefing that was held Wednesday “to discuss the various evidence-based approaches to prevent HIV infection that the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program is implementing on the ground in the countries hardest hit by the AIDS pandemic.” According to the blog, “The briefing was the first in a series that will be hosted by the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator in the months leading up to the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., in July. This briefing was co-hosted by the Center, the Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and PEPFAR (Mazzotta, 2/1).
Opinion Pieces Discuss Bird Flu Research Controversy
In December 2011, the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) advised that two research teams that had genetically altered the H5N1 virus to be easily transmissible among ferrets redact some of the research details before publishing in the journals Science and Nature. The board’s primary concern was that the altered virus could possibly be used as a bioweapon. Scientists in January voluntarily suspended bird flu research for 60 days, and the WHO is expected to hold a summit later this month to discuss the issue. The following are summaries of two opinion pieces on the topic.
Mexico Sees Spike In Swine Flu After Two Years Of Low Transmission
“There have been 1,623 cases of all strains of flu in Mexico recorded so far for January, 90 percent of them H1N1 [swine flu],” compared to “about 1,000 flu cases in Mexico during all of last year,” of which roughly 250 cases were swine flu, Health Secretary Salomon Chertorivski Woldenberg told reporters on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. The news service notes, “Despite the spike, the number of cases is well within a normal flu season for Mexico, which can see from 5,000 to 11,000 incidents of all strains,” Woldenberg said. “The low appearance of the H1N1 virus the past two years is one reason it’s drawing so much media attention in Mexico,” the AP writes, adding, “Public nervousness about H1N1 has been high since the first outbreak in spring 2009, when the virus initially appeared to have a high mortality rate and Mexican authorities closed restaurants, schools, museums, libraries, and theaters to stop its spread” (2/1).
VA Purchase Of $1.2 Billion In Pharmaceutics Termed A ‘Team Failure’
These comments came during a Wednesday House Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing. Meanwhile, in other news related to veterans’ health, USA Today reports that the return of combat troops is driving a medical-care backlog.
Uproar Follows Komen-Planned Parenthood Rift
Anti-abortion activists applaud the move, but many other women’s health advocates are angered the well-known breast cancer advocacy group has opted against helping another prominent women’s health organization.
Medicaid Managed Care Takes Hold In Louisiana
The first-stage of Gov. Jindal’s Medicaid restructing begins today. In Florida, the legislative report casts doubt on some efforts there to revamp the system. Meanwhile, Illinois’ governor is urging changes to Medicaid to help fix the state’s budget.
More Fallout Over Obama Administration Birth-Control Coverage Rule
President Barack Obama’s decision on this issue may offer insights into his approach to policy making. Meanwhile, kudos and criticism come from different sides of the issue.
Media Outlets Examine Global Fund’s Future As It Enters Second Decade
The Guardian examines the future of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria as it enters its second decade, writing, “Despite its staggering successes — including helping put 3.3 million people on AIDS treatment, 8.6 million on anti-tuberculosis treatment and providing 230 million insecticide-treated nets for the prevention of malaria — the fund’s recent troubles had threatened to overshadow its accomplishments as it prepared to mark a decade as the world’s main financier of programs to fight these three global epidemics.” The news service highlights a $750 million pledge to the Fund by Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, discusses recent managerial changes within the Fund, and quotes a number of experts about future challenges (Kelly, 2/2).
As Demand For Health Professionals Grows, Strategies Emerge To Meet It
News outlets report on efforts to meet the nation’s demand for health professionals — whether in rural areas or in primary care specialties.
Medicare Advantage Enrollment Climbs, Premiums Fall
The increase in enrollment was larger than expected.
India Has Worst Child Mortality Gender Differential Worldwide, New U.N. Data Show
An Indian girl between the ages of one and five years old is 75 percent more likely to die than an Indian boy, giving the country the worst gender differential in child mortality in the world, according to new data released by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Times of India reports. The “data for 150 countries over 40 years show that India and China are the only two countries in the world where female infant mortality is higher than male infant mortality in the 2000s,” the newspaper writes (Shrinivasan, 2/1). In India, for every 100 deaths among females one to five years old, 56 males of the same age group die, whereas the global average is 111 male child deaths to every 100 female children, India Today notes. “Higher mortality among girls is a powerful warning that differential treatment or access to resources is putting girls at a disadvantage,” the report said, according to the news service (2/1).
HHS Essential Benefits ‘Bulletin’ Draws Tide Of Comments
As the official window of time allowed for groups to react to the Department of Health and Human Services essential benefits proposal closed, a variety of objections, concerns and common themes became clear.
Setting The Scene For The Supreme Court’s Consideration Of The Health Law
Two state attorneys general will face off at the National Press Club on the constitutionality of the health overhaul. In other news, a Mississippi district court judge has agreed to hear a different legal challenge to the measure.
Insurance News: Sen. Feinstein Supports State Review Of Rate Increases
Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced she is supporting a ballot measure to give California regulators the power to approve health insurance rates. In other news, Blue Shield in California says it will cover an autism behavioral therapy and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Colorado and Connecticut announce plans to pay doctors for coordinating care.
