Archives: Morning Breakouts

According to a new survey, 11 percent of doctors acknowledge they lied to patients in the previous year. Jessica Marcy has the story.

Phil Galewitz reports that the Obama administration launched a $40 million effort to reduce premature births, but it has no plans to stop Medicaid from paying for elective deliveries before 39 weeks.

In this post in USAID's "IMPACTblog," Ed Scholl, AIDSTAR-One project director, writes about HIV and tuberculosis (TB) care in Brazil, where "USAID has partnered with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to improve early TB detection, increase HIV counseling and testing, and provide medical treatment for both infections." He continues, "AIDSTAR-One, a USAID-funded project, is also conducting outreach in Brazilian prisons, which are often at high risk of TB and HIV epidemics." He concludes, "Through partnerships like USAID and AIDSTAR-One, we can effectively fight TB and HIV across Brazil and Latin America, to improve the health of countless people and ultimately save lives" (2/7).

In this post on KPLU's "Humanosphere" blog, journalist Tom Paulson describes "five reasons why you should not panic" about the recent news that two research teams have created bird flu strains that are easily transmissible among ferrets, which are used as a lab model for humans. Fears that terrorists possibly could use the information prompted the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to request the scientists redact some information prior to publishing their study results and investigators worldwide to institute a 60-day moratorium on bird flu research, he notes. Paulson writes "that the scientific research community is already well on its way to improving our knowledge of H5N1," and concludes, "Even if these two papers are censored, the traditional approach of unfettered and open exploration appears likely to continue" (2/7).

While a focus on HIV prevention and treatment among women and children has reduced infection rates among these populations, "men have received considerably less attention in the epidemic and receive less targeted HIV prevention and treatment programs," Edward Mills of the University of Ottawa and colleagues write in a PLoS Medicine essay, adding "Targeting men in prevention and treatment ... may have a large impact on mortality, new infections, and the economic impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa." They note that in Africa, fewer men than women access antiretroviral therapy (ART), and men "typically have higher mortality," seek care later in the disease, and "are more likely to be lost to follow-up."

Delegates and officials from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Thailand representing their health and medical research councils on Tuesday in New Delhi concluded a three-day South Asian Forum for Health Research (SAHFer) hosted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Pharmabiz.com reports. "India has asked the members of [SAFHer] to explore ways for strengthening collaboration by sharing innovative methods for tackling the problems faced by the countries," Pharmabiz.com writes. According to the news service, the regional meeting discussed a wide range of subject areas, including vector-borne diseases, drug resistance, influenza, and non-communicable diseases, among other topics, an official release said (2/7).

"The key to India's success" in going a full year without recording a case of polio "was to take ownership of the problem and the solution, allowing for locals to learn from the expertise of the international community while not becoming dependent" on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international donors, William Thomson, a research assistant at the U.S. Naval War College, writes in The Diplomat's "India Decade."

In this post in the Global Health Technologies Coalition's (GHTC) "Breakthroughs" blog, Danielle Doughman, program manager for global health research and development (R&D) advocacy at Research!America, shares the organization's findings about the state of Maryland from an analysis conducted in target states to measure the health and economic impact of global health R&D. "The robust federal investment and presence in Maryland reflects the fact that more than three-quarters of Marylanders say Americans should be concerned about global diseases like malaria, cholera, and other infectious diseases that mostly affect poorer countries," Doughman writes (2/7).