Latest KFF Health News Stories
‘Gang Of Six’ Plan Includes Deep Health Care Cuts
The plan would repeal the health law’s long-term care provision and make deep reductions in Medicare and Medicaid that would impact hospital payments.
Financial Times Examines Product Development Partnerships Researching ‘Neglected’ Diseases
The Financial Times examines the rise of product development partnerships (PDPs), which are “non-governmental organizations that generate their own funding and build partnerships with universities, businesses, government and patients in low-income countries to develop new drugs, vaccines, prevention techniques and diagnostics for diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, cholera and meningitis.”
IAS Conference Concludes With Mostly Positive News On HIV Prevention
“Scientists on Wednesday wrapped up their biggest forum in the 30-year history of AIDS, unveiling stunning weapons to prevent the spread of HIV,” Agence France-Presse reports about the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Rome. The article summarizes study findings presented at the conference, including research on treatment as prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), male circumcision, and flushing out latent reservoirs of HIV in the “quest for a cure” (Ingham, 7/20).
U.N. Increases Humanitarian Aid Need To $7.9B For 2011
The U.N. on Wednesday said during a donor meeting in Geneva that “it needs $7.9 billion this year, $500 million more than it had originally sought, to fund relief operations in the face of spreading humanitarian crises in Africa and Asia,” Reuters reports (7/20).
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about some of the specific cuts included in the “Gang of Six” deficit-reduction plan.
AP Examines U.S. Focus On Branding Aid To Pakistan
The Associated Press examines recent U.S. efforts to more clearly brand aid to Pakistan.
Global Polio Eradication Efforts Unlikely To Meet 2012 Goal, Health Experts Say
An independent group of health experts, formed last year at the request of the WHO, on Wednesday warned that the world is not on track to eradicate polio by the end of 2012, the Associated Press reports.
Gates Foundation Announces Sanitation Grants, Calls For Toilet Innovation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Tuesday that it plans to invest millions of dollars in projects aimed at improving sanitation in the developing world, the Guardian reports (Ford, 7/19).
Obama Backs ‘Gang Of Six’ Plan That Includes Medicare Cuts
The group unveiled its 10-year, $3.7 trillion deficit reduction plan Tuesday and received a warm, bipartisan reception in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, House GOP lawmakers, in a largely symbolic vote, passed their “cut, cap and balance” measure.
Though Slim On Specifics, ‘Gang Of Six’ Plan Seeks Savings From Health Plans
The plan’s key health components include an overhaul of the Medicare physician payment system and a repeal of the health law’s long-term care insurance program.
Attention Must Be Paid To Famine Early Warning Systems
Early warnings about rising malnutrition, drought and possible famine in the Horn of Africa “went unheeded” for the past year, but “[w]hat is the point of an early warning system if nobody is listening?” a Globe and Mail editorial asks.
British PM Cameron Should Keep Development Aid Pledge
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s “pledge to increase development aid is something he is finding it harder and harder to defend” to colleagues and voters, because “[f]or more than half a century western nations have been spending on aid
European Commission Resumes Foreign Aid To Niger To Improve Education, Health
“The European Commission resumed aid to Niger on Tuesday, releasing 25 million euros ($35 million) after the west African nation returned to democracy this year following a coup,” Agence France-Presse reports.
Experts At IAS Conference Suggests Ways To Increase Funding For HIV/AIDS
“Scientists have now provided revolutionary tools to roll back HIV but only a major funding boost, supported especially by emerging giant economies, will determine the outcome,” according to experts speaking in Rome at the 6th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention, Agence France-Presse reports.
WHO Denounces TB Blood Tests In First-Ever ‘Negative’ Policy Recommendation
The WHO “called on Wednesday for an immediate halt to the use of blood tests to detect active tuberculosis [TB], saying they were faulty and leave millions of people at risk,” Reuters reports.
State Roundup: Fla. Medicaid Waiver Fight
News outlets report on a variety of state health policy developments.
U.N. Declares Famine In Two Regions Of Somalia; U.S. Pledges $28M In Additional Aid
Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mark Bowden, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said the U.N. had officially declared a famine in the southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of Somalia, VOA News reports (7/20).
