Latest KFF Health News Stories
Census Bureau: Americans On Medicaid Steady As Poverty Rises
In an annual report released today, Census Bureau data indicated that the number of Americans without health insurance coverage rose to 49.9 million in 2010 from 49 million in 2009.
Rwanda To Treat HIV-Positive People In Discordant Relationships As Soon As They Test Positive
After a landmark study published in May “showed major reductions in HIV transmission among discordant couples due to early treatment,” Rwanda has decided to begin treating people in discordant relationships with antiretroviral therapy as soon as they test HIV-positive “as part of a plan to boost national HIV prevention and treatment efforts,” PlusNews reports. “According to the government, an estimated 7.1 percent of cohabiting couples seeking voluntary counseling and testing services in the capital, Kigali, are HIV discordant,” and “[i]nfections within stable relationships have been identified as one of the main sources of new cases in Rwanda,” according to the news agency.
In Debate, GOP Hopefuls Clash On Health Reform, Medicare
One of the questions emerging in this primary contest is whether entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security will continue to be a political “third rail,” or if public concerns about government spending have overcome this conventional wisdom.
Number Of Global Malaria Deaths Fell By One-Fifth Over Past Decade, RBM Report Says
Worldwide, the number of malaria deaths has “fallen by a fifth over the past decade, reflecting an influx of funds to fight the disease with better drugs and mosquito nets, Roll Back Malaria (RBM) said” in a report (.pdf) released on Monday, Agence France-Presse reports. “In a press release, [RBM] claimed a 38 percent reduction in deaths over the decade, a figure based on world population growth and what would have happened if the mortality trend in 2000 had been maintained to 2009 without anti-malaria intervention,” according to the news agency (9/12).”The WHO, which helped set up the RBM partnership, has also said the world can stop malaria deaths by 2015 if massive investment is made to ramp up control measures, but this is seen by some experts as an ambitious target,” Reuters writes (Kelland, 9/12).
U.S. Support To Haiti In Wake Of Ongoing Cholera Epidemic ‘Remains Unfailing’
A VOA News editorial says U.S. support to Haiti since the early days of an outbreak of cholera, which has affected more than 439,600 people since it was first detected almost a year ago, “remains unfailing.” The editorial continues, “To date, the U.S. government has spent more than $75 million on improved water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, … has established and operated treatment centers and trained Haitian health care workers in preventing, diagnosing and treating cholera,” among other treatment, prevention and monitoring initiatives. “While some humanitarian groups are gradually reducing their operations in Haiti, the U.S. remains focused on giving the Haitian government the aid and tools needed to prevent and treat this potentially deadly disease,” the editorial says, adding, “The medical and public health response has been effective in limiting deaths associated with the disease” (9/12).
Viewpoints: Medicare Bigger Problem Than Social Security; N.Y.’s Long Term Care ‘Bad Grade’
A selection of opinions and editorials.
Real-Life Health Risks Of Outbreak Portrayed In The Movie ‘Contagion’
Two opinion pieces published on Monday examine the real-life health risks of an outbreak portrayed in “Contagion,” a movie that opened this weekend in which a mysterious airborne virus kills thousands of people.
Opinion Pieces, Editorial Address Ongoing Hunger Crisis In Horn Of Africa
Several news sources have published opinion pieces regarding the ongoing famine in Somalia and hunger situation in the Horn of Africa, some of which are summarized below:
Researchers At South Korean Lab Make Advance In Fight Against Neglected Tropical Diseases
VOA News reports on a scientific breakthrough, which researchers call a “game changer” for developing new drugs, developed at Institut Pasteur Korea [IPK], a South Korean branch of the 124-year-old French research institute that is developing new drugs to combat diseases mainly affecting developing countries, including neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). “Combining imaging technology and biotechnology, scientists are now able to witness infections as they occur, in real time,” VOA writes.
Feds Use Doctrine To Pursue Federal Food and Drug Law Violations
Use of the “responsible corporate officer doctrine” allows federal officials to hold health care executives personally and criminally responsible for corporate violations. Meanwhile, in other news related to health care fraud and abuse, a number of states have reached settlements with firms accused of defrauding the Medicaid program.
State Roundup: N.J. Governor Opts Not To Cut Medicaid Rolls
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy issues.
Intrauterine Devices May Lower Risk Of Cervical Cancer Among Users, Study Shows
Contraceptive intrauterine devices (IUDs), also called coils, “might actually protect women against developing cervical cancer even though they don’t stop the infection that commonly leads to the disease,” according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Lancet Oncology, Reuters reports. “The results show that coil use did not affect the risk of [human papillomavirus (HPV)] infection, but was linked to a markedly lower risk of cervix cancer for both major types of the disease — reducing the likelihood of developing squamous-cell carcinoma by 44 percent and adenocarcinoma or adenosquamous carcinoma by 54 percent,” the news agency writes.
U.N. Report Highlights Innovations Aimed At Improving Maternal And Child Health
PBS NewsHour’s blog “The Rundown” examines a “report from the U.N.’s Every Woman, Every Child Innovation Working Group, out in the Lancet Monday, [which] looks at some of the promising and innovative projects” aimed at improving maternal and child health. “More than 350,000 women die each year around the globe from complications of childbirth, and three million children die in the first month of life,” according to the blog (Miller, 9/12). The report “was prepared as part of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s ‘Every Woman Every Child’ Initiative, a global strategy for improving women and children’s health, launched last year,” according to a U.N. Foundation press release (9/12).
Famine In Somalia Testing Advancements In Coordination Of Care, Food Aid
The Washington Post examines how high rates of malnutrition among Somali children — approximately 36 percent under age five are malnourished and almost 16 percent are severely malnourished, according to Somalia’s Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit — are “the biggest test yet of recent improvements in assessing and treating malnutrition, changes that range from the coordination of care to the ingredients of food aid.”
Ghana Health Official Urges Media To Help Change Negative Perceptions About Pregnancy
Speaking at a workshop on maternal morbidity and mortality in Korofidua, Ghana on Thursday, which was organized for journalists in the region, acting Eastern Regional Director of Health Services Larbi Addo challenged the media to help change negative perceptions about pregnancy and child-bearing in an effort to reduce maternal and infant mortality in the country, GhanaWeb reports. “He said the campaign to reduce maternal mortality was a shared responsibility and asked the media to support the health sector in educating the public on the subject,” the news service reports.
Mandated Update Expands Diagnostic Codes Used By Health Care Providers
The Wall Street Journal reports that the updated set of codes will be more exact and could improve payment strategies and care guidelines.
Ariz. Abortion Curbs Go Into Effect
Planned Parenthood of Arizona will not appeal a state-court ruling that allows this 2009 measure to take effect.
Heavy Rains, Flooding Exacerbating Cholera Epidemic In West And Central African Countries
A cholera epidemic in West and Central Africa, which is being worsened by heavy rains and flooding, has already caused nearly 40,000 cases this year in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, killing almost 1,200 people in the countries adjacent to the Lake Chad Basin, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), VOA News reports.
