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Blood collection professionals honored as part of the 5th Annual Blood Collectors Week

Blood collection professionals will be recognized in communities worldwide September 13-19, 2009, as part of the 5th Annual Blood Collectors Week, sponsored jointly by Fenwal, Inc. and AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks). During the week, blood centers across the country will host celebrations, often with local government officials, to recognize their staffs and donors.

11 Sep 2009

Obama highlights new uninsured census numbers during meeting with nurses

Almost 6 million more Americans were uninsured during the last year when the economy worsened, President Obama, citing new census data, told a group of nurses at the White House on Thursday, the New York Times reports.

11 Sep 2009

Today's editorials and opinions

At Last, Firing Back On Health Reform The Washington Post [T]he most striking aspect of the address may have been its call to battle: The days of taking incoming fire without any return volleys are over (E.J. Dionne, Jr., 9/10).

10 Sep 2009

Labs grumble over co-pays, new fees for Medicare lab work

Roll Call reports that big labs — including ones like Quest Diagnostics — are unhappy with a Senate Finance Committee proposal to increase taxes for labs that perform Medicare services.

10 Sep 2009

Fact checks on Obama's health care speech

Several news organizations offered fact checks of President Obama's health care speech to Congress and the nation.

10 Sep 2009

UNICEF data shows global child mortality now below 9m, progress not enough to achieve MDG in most regions

The annual number of deaths among children younger than five worldwide "has fallen below nine million" compared with 12.5 million in 1990, according to new data from UNICEF, the New York Times reports. "That's 10,000 less children dying per day," Ann Veneman, UNICEF's executive director, said.

10 Sep 2009

For young adults, health care not political priority

"Young voters helped put Barack Obama in the White House, but they're not proving to be much help when it comes to the biggest push of his presidency," Politico reports. Voters aged 18 to 29 say "they're likely to support health care reform by wider margins than those in any other age range," but polling numbers and other evidence indicate "health care reform just isn't a particularly high priority for the younger crowd."

10 Sep 2009

Early news reports suggest those with entrenched views were not swayed by speech

A new poll, conducted before President Barack Obama's speech Wednesday night, finds rising unhappiness with his handling of health care.

10 Sep 2009

Improving childhood immunization campaigns could reduce sickle-cell deaths in Africa, Study finds

By offering all children in Africa vaccines that protect against bacterial infections, researchers say the number of deaths among children living with sickle-cell anemia could be reduced, Reuters reports. An estimated 200,000 children in Africa annually are born with sickle-cell anemia, a genetic disease "in which red blood cells deform into a sickle shape and cluster, blocking blood flow and causing pain, vulnerability to infections and organ damage."

10 Sep 2009

Analyses of Obama speech generally agree: He reframed the debate without specifics

President Obama used his speech to highlight the major themes of his push at health care reform, but in reframing the debate, he also left out the specifics of his preferences according to a number of news stories analyzing the event.

10 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: PEPFAR in Swaziland; GSK HIV patent pool; Pediatric ARVs in Uganda; PNG declares health emergency; Israeli, ECOWAS agreement; Somali children

PEPFAR on Wednesday donated eight computers to Swaziland's Ministry of Health to aid in the country's ability to track the progress of the nation's HIV/AIDS programs, the Swazi Observer reports. According to the newspaper, the computers will be distributed to regional clinics across the country (Masilela, 9/10).

10 Sep 2009

Democrats praise president's speech

The Hill reports: "Despite months on intraparty bickering -- for one night at least -- Obama allowed nearly all congressional Democrats to believe he was speaking directly to them. Whether that solves one of the biggest problems Obama came before Congress to fix -- a Democratic Caucus in the House split passionately between those who believe that no healthcare bill is worth the trouble without a public plan and those who believe that such a public option is bad policy and worse politics -- remains to be seen."

10 Sep 2009

Analysis: Marketing research sheds light low vaccination rates in some developing countries

Despite progress in raising the vaccination rates in the world's poorest countries, some countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia and Nigeria continue to have vaccination rates "below 50% in certain regions, compared with the 80% or more needed to achieve a low risk of the disease spreading," Douglas Holt, Oxford University professor of marketing, and Jacob McKnight, also of Oxford University, write in a Livemint.com analysis piece.

10 Sep 2009

Drought, food shortages lead Guatemala to declare 'state of public calamity'

"Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared 'a state of public calamity' late Tuesday to help mobilize funds and resources to confront a food shortage that will affect thousands of families," the Associated Press reports (9/9).

10 Sep 2009

"You lie," GOP lawmaker shouts during president's speech

Partisan tensions at President Obama's address to Congress on Wednesday "went beyond the usual theatrics," with one Republican congressman shouting, "You lie," in the midst of the speech when the president promised his reform proposal would not pay for insurance for illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal reports.

10 Sep 2009

Some insurers still back Obama after speech

"President Obama had few nice things to say about insurance companies in his speech on health care last night, but leaders of two of this region's largest private insurers -- Independence Blue Cross and Aetna Inc. -- gave him generally high marks anyway," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. He did draw one line in the sand that insurers hoped for: a mandate for all Americans to have health insurance.

10 Sep 2009

Retail clinics offer more treatments for chronic diseases

Retail health clinics are reevaluating their offerings. The Wall Street Journal reports: "Retail health clinics are adding treatments for chronic diseases such as asthma to their repertoire, hoping to find steadier revenue, but putting the clinics into greater competition with doctors' groups and hospitals."

10 Sep 2009

Number of uninsured may jump to 50 million

"The number of people in the U.S. lacking health insurance may have grown as much as 9 percent to 50 million people last year, adding fuel to President Barack Obama's push for overhauling the system," Bloomberg reports. "The likely increase was driven by a jump in U.S. unemployment, said Ana Gupte, a Sanford Bernstein & Co. Inc. analyst in New York who follows UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc., the top two U.S. health insurers.

10 Sep 2009

Harkin moves to Health Committee chair after Dodd opts against it

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., wrestled hard with the question of whether to take the Senate Health Committee chair once held by his good friend, the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. But when he passed on it, Sen. Tom Harkin got the job in an arrangement that gives the Iowa Democrat a huge say in government health policy.

10 Sep 2009

U.S. public health officials recommend early flu vaccination

With increased influenza activity anticipated this fall, U.S. public health officials and other leading medical experts today urged Americans to be vigilant and get immunized early for protection against seasonal influenza - a threat to Americans' health each and every year.

10 Sep 2009