Latest KFF Health News Stories
WHO’s Chan Urges New Approach To Preventing, Fighting NCDs At Executive Board Meeting
“Countries need to change their current mindset to successfully tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the head of the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said [Monday], adding that governments will need to explore new approaches to prevent and treat these diseases, which have quickly become one of the most pressing issues in public health,” the U.N. News Centre reports (1/16). “In an opening speech to the annual WHO Executive Board meeting, Director-General Margaret Chan … urged the 34-member board to tackle the root causes of non-communicable diseases,” VOA News writes (Schlein, 1/16).
U.N.’s Somalia Official Says ‘Tens Of Thousands’ Of Somalis Died From Malnutrition Over Last Year
Mark Bowden, the U.N.’s official in Somalia, on Sunday said “tens of thousands of people will have died over the last year” in the country’s famine, adding that the rates of malnutrition are “amazingly high,” BBC News reports. “He said a quarter of a million Somalis were still suffering from the famine,” and he “said malnutrition rates have begun to drop but the crisis was likely to continue for the next six or seven months,” the news service notes (1/15).
Chan Faces Financing Challenges In Second Term As WHO Director-General
The expected re-appointment of Margaret Chan as the WHO’s director-general “comes at a perilous moment for WHO,” a Lancet editorial states. Although “WHO is in crisis” and “[r]escue is needed,” the situation is not “a fair reflection of the director-general’s performance,” the editorial adds, noting several successes of her first term, including initiatives on women’s and children’s health and non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
“Hopes of controlling malaria in Africa could be wrecked by criminals who are circulating counterfeit and substandard drugs, threatening millions of lives, scientists” said in a study published in the Malaria Journal last month, the Guardian reports. “They are calling for public health authorities to take urgent action to preserve the efficacy of the antimalarials now being used in the worst-hit areas of the continent,” the newspaper adds (Boseley, 1/16). “The counterfeit medicines could harm patients and promote drug resistance among malaria parasites, warns the study, funded by the Wellcome Trust,” BBC News writes (1/16).
Indian, WHO Officials To Meet To Discuss Managing Cases Of Highly Drug-Resistant TB
Health officials from India and the WHO are scheduled to meet in Mumbai on Tuesday to discuss how to manage the cases of at least 12 patients infected with a highly drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) strain, Bloomberg reports (Narayan, 1/17). “The ‘totally drug-resistant’ tuberculosis (TDR-TB) reportedly emerging in India is actually an advanced stage of drug-resistant TB, which researchers called totally drug-resistant for lack of a better term,” IRIN notes (1/17).
Congressional Delegation Visits U.S.-Funded Development Projects In Tanzania
A Congressional delegation traveling in Africa visited Arusha, Tanzania, on Wednesday “to see first-hand the impact of development projects” funded by the U.S., IPP Media reports, noting that the delegation included Senators Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), and Rep. Kay Granger (R-Tex.). The delegation met with farmers who have used drought- and disease-resistant maize varieties, as well as “visited Ngarenaro Health Centre in Arusha, which receives support from private and U.S. government organizations,” including USAID, the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), and PEPFAR, the news service writes. According to a press statement, “the delegation also visited Ghana and South Africa, and would meet with the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) officials in Stuttgart, Germany, following their trip to Africa,” IPP notes (1/14).
California Single-Payer System Has Another Go Before Senate Committee
A proposal to institute a single-payer health care system in California has found its way to a key state Senate committee. The proposal, which would cover all Californians through a state-run health insurance program, died in the Senate Appropriations Committee in California last year.
State Roundup: State Lawmakers, Governors Planning Health Legislation
A selection of stories from Maryland, Iowa, Florida, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, California, New Jersey, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Ore. Governor Proposes ‘Coordinated Care’ For State’s Medicaid Program
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber is proposing to change the state’s Medicaid program by ending its fee-for-service model and instituting “coordinated care organizations” to manage patients’ chronic care to keep them out of hospital rooms.
Making Doctor Notes More Accessible To Patients
The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas physicians are leading this trend. Meanwhile, KHN offers advice to help patients better understand what they might be reading.
U.S. Readies Plan To Fight Alzheimer’s
Government health officials are meeting this week to develop a national strategy for treating and preventing the disease.
Appeals Court OKs Immediate Enforcement Of Texas Abortion Law
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a new Texas abortion law that requires doctors to perform a sonogram and play a sound of the fetal heartbeat 24 hours before an abortion procedure can be immediately enforced while the law is appealed. Opponents hoped to delay the enforcement a few weeks.
Wis. Company Helps Lead The Way To Digitizing Health Records
The New York Times examines the work of Epic Systems, which supplies electronic records for large health care providers.
Study Finds Medicare Doesn’t Pay Adequately For Clot-Busting Stroke Treatment
Reuters reports on a study that finds the powerful drugs cost U.S. hospitals substantially more than Medicare will pay.
Obama’s Plans For SOTU Address
The Washington Post reports that President Barack Obama hopes to “strike a balance” in the upcoming speech, which will include listing accomplishments and actions such as enacting the health law.
GOP Presidential Hopefuls Clash In S.C. Debate, On Airwaves
Republican candidate Rick Santorum is unveiling a new ad that will compare rival Mitt Romney to President Barack Obama, citing the Massachusetts health law Romney signed while governor.
Viewpoints: Health Care Is A Civil Right; A Medicare Strategy Based On Lenin
A selection of editorials and opinions on health care policy from around the country.
S.D., Wis. Wrestle With Health Exchange Implementation
While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker faces a dilemma regarding his state’s Early Innovator Grant, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced his state wouldn’t try to pass health exchange legislation because “there is too much uncertainty.”
Will The Health Law’s Future Be Decided By The High Court Or The Election?
Media outlets weigh the various scenarios that could play out and where the ultimate muscle exists to advance or undo the health law.
Insurance In The States: New York Retailers Often Don’t Cover Employees
In New York City, a new study has found only three of 10 retail workers get health insurance through their job. In the meantime, the federal government is stepping up scrutiny of health insurers in Arizona, and Connecticut considers changes to appeal insurance company coverage denials.
