Health and Safety

Safety Group Closely Echoes Rail Industry

Documents show that the nation's most influential rail-safety group is tightly bound to the railroad industry.

V.A. to Study Toxins' Effects From 1991 Gulf War

The government will spend $15 million over the next year for research on the illnesses of veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf war.

Fine Particle Pollution is Cutting European Life Expectancy, Says U.N.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe said fine particles inhaled from vehicle exhaust, power stations and large factories could reduce life expectancy by up to two years in some parts of Europe. Fine particles, UN experts said, are increasingly responsible for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, even leading to heart attacks in severe cases. Environmental News Network/Associated Press (11/30)

WHO calls for revolution in medical affairs

A report by WHO research director Dr. Tikki Pang advocates a much greater cooperation between national health systems, universities and pharmaceutical companies because as currently constituted, the world's health care infrastructure allows for the sharing of only a tiny percentage of medical research. The report proposes a number of ways by which pre-existing health research could be disseminated to needy countries at a minimum cost. Financial Times (London) (subscription required) (11/12)

Rotary’s goal to eradicate polio

Rotary's PolioPlus has been lauded by leaders and organizations worldwide for its efforts to inoculate the children of the world against the disease. "All of us at UNF look forward to working with Rotary's dedicated worldwide network of volunteers to mobilize the resources and international support needed to certify a polio-free world in 2005," United Nations Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth has said about Rotary's polio work. Delphos Daily Herald (Ohio) (11/11)

U.S. Diet Guide Puts Emphasis On Weight Loss

For the first time since the recommendations were introduced in 1980, the new guidelines emphasize weight loss as well as healthy eating and cardiovascular health.

South Africa's children suffer from high blood lead levels

Nearly one-third of the children in some of Cape Town's poorest areas are showing dangerously high levels of lead in their blood, says a recent report, and could suffer from learning disabilities, hyperactivity and hearing loss as a result. South Africa's Medical Research Council report said older paint containing high levels of lead and the ongoing use of leaded petrol were partly responsible for the problem, though leaded petrol is set to be phased out nationwide by 2006. AllAfrica Global Media/Cape Argus (Cape Town) (11/22)

Medical Journal Calls for a New Drug Watchdog

The United States needs a better system to detect harmful effects of drugs already on the market, and it should be independent of the Food and Drug Administration and the drug industry, medical researchers and journal editors said yesterday.

Despite Defect, G.M. Keeps Selling S.U.V.

General Motors has continued to sell 2004 models of the Saturn Vue, a small sport utility vehicle, even though its suspension system collapsed during rollover testing performed by the government.

Americans Relying More on Prescription Drugs, Report Says

More than 40 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug, the government said in a report on the nation's health.

Efforts to Hide Sensitive Data Pit 9/11 Concerns Against Safety

Federal officials will decide whether to remove signs from tank cars, fearing that terrorists could use them to identify targets.

Health Costs Absorb One-Quarter of Economic Growth, 2000-2005, Press Release

Health Costs Absorb One-Quarter of Economic Growth, 2000-2005, report and press release, 7 February 2005.

Oversight Is Lacking, F.D.A. Scientists Say

About two-thirds of Food and Drug Administration scientists are less than fully confident in the agency's monitoring of the safety of prescription drugs now being sold.

AIDS in India, China and Russia Nears 'Tipping Point,' U.N. Says

The head of the United Nations' AIDS program warned yesterday that India, China and Russia are "perilously close to a tipping point" that could turn their small, localized AIDS epidemics into gigantic ones capable of disrupting the world's response to the disease.

In China, an About-Face on AIDS Prevention

Once-Reluctant Government Increasingly Promoting Efforts to Battle Spread of Disease

Safety Isn't Optional

According to auto industry regulators and executives worldwide, new criteria for vehicle performance must include a car's or truck's ability to protect its occupants in a crash.

The Power To Say No To AIDS

Commentary: "The Power To Say No To AIDS" Kohar Jones, a student at the Yale School of Medicine, writes in The Washington Post about observations of the common sex-for-services trade in Central Africa. "Transactional sex. Consensual, but not really. Based on disenfranchisement rather than choice," writes Jones, and calls on the U.S. to give more than money to help empower women and girls in developing countries who are faced with the possibility of HIV/AIDS every time they are forced into one of these situations. The Washington Post (free registration) (12/5)

What Meat Means

What is most alarming at the slaughterhouse is not what happens to the animals, it is what happens to the humans who work there.

Cholera understanding 'improved'

Researchers from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Harvard Medical School have released the findings of a three-year study on the spread of cholera, revealing insight into the role that so-called "phages" play as indicators of the intestinal virus. Scientists found that by monitoring phages, health experts may be able to more accurately predict when outbreaks are likely to begin and end. BBC (1/16)

60 Companies Plan to Sponsor Health Coverage for Uninsured

In an attempt to extend health coverage to uninsured workers, 60 large employers are joining together to sponsor an array of low-cost health insurance options.

Hillarycare, Anyone?

Maybe privatizing Social Security and banning gay marriage really are more important than United States' most serious moral and fiscal problem: the lack of affordable healthcare. If so, there's a lot we have to concentrate on ignoring.

Leavitt Won't Rule Out Medicaid Budget Cuts

President Bush's choice to take over the Department of Health and Human Services steadfastly refused yesterday to rule out budget cuts for Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor.

Medicaid in the Cross Hairs

Without a broad plan for long-term care, it would make little sense to cut deeply into Medicaid, the default funder of services needed by our aging society.

Bird Flu to Stay in Asia for `Years,' May Worsen, Agencies Say

The United Nations and a veterinary health watchdog warned the disease is likely to remain active in countries that experienced outbreaks last year and may spread in tsunami-affected coastal areas because of large movements of poultry that carry the virus. The WHO has reported 41 humans have died from the avian influence virus since Jan. 28, 2004, and a 10-year-old girl died as recently as Sunday. Bloomberg (2/1)

Healthcare Costs Take Big Bite From Economy

WASHINGTON-Increased spending for healthcare is gobbling up about one-quarter of the growth in the economy, and health-related items now amount to more than three times the defense budget and twice what the nation devotes to education.

Fear Lingers After Cloud Clears

GRANITEVILLE, S.C.-People evacuated after a train crash caused a deadly chlorine spill express unease about the homes they are beginning to return to.

Measles Initiative Partnership

The Measles Initiative is a long-term commitment to control measles deaths in Africa by vaccinating 200 million children through both mass and follow-up campaigns in up to 36 Sub-Saharan African countries. By the year 2005, it is estimated that 1.2 million deaths will have been prevented, bringing measles deaths in Africa to near zero. This goal is achievable but will require sustained effort to increase awareness, build capacity, and raise the necessary funds.

Health Costs Absorb One-Quarter of Economic Growth, 2000-2005 Report

Health Costs Absorb One-Quarter of Economic Growth, 2000-2005, report and press release, 7 February 2005.

When Marriage Kills

President Bush's abstinence program in Africa is misplaced, since it is marriage, more than promiscuity, that kills young women here.

Gas Explosion in China Coal Mine Kills 203

BEIJING-A gas explosion ripped through a shaft 800 feet below the surface Monday in Liaoning province, killing 203 men in China's deadliest coal mine accident in half a century. Hope dims for 13 trapped men.

A Malaria Success

The Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative in Africa is an example of how to fight malaria in very poor countries on a large scale.

Effort targets polio in South Asia

Washington Times recently spoke with the World Health Organization's special envoy on polio, Dr. David Heymann, on the fight against the disease in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Heymann discussed where the crippling disease has the worst infections rates and how health officials have overcome cultural problems with their vaccination campaigns in places such as Pakistan. The Washington Times (2/28)

Central African Republic: Last Chance to Eradicate Polio, Who Official Says

Last week, 22 African countries started a new, coordinated effort to eliminate the disease from their regions after years of failed attempts in a land plagued by security, communications and infrastructure problems. The World Health Organization's representative to the Central African Republic, Leodegal Bazira, expressed concern that if this new program does not work out, donors may not fund vaccination efforts again. AllAfrica Global Media/IRIN (2/28)

Study of Breast Cancer Patients Finds Benefit in Low-Fat Diets

It was the first time that a large, rigorous study showed that diet could have any impact on any cancer, scientists said.

Brazil's Right to Save Lives

The American trade representative should make a public statement that the United States will not retaliate against Brazil for exercising its right to save lives.

Texas Official Admits Missteps That Helped Railroads in Suits

The official said that he misrepresented what he knew about warning signs at railroad crossings in about 100 sworn statements.

New Vaccine Said to Offer Hope Against Bacterium

A vaccine tested in West Africa could save thousands of children who die each year from bacterial infections, scientists reported.

China Has Not Shared Crucial Data On Bird Flu Outbreaks, Officials Say

World Health Organization and other international health groups have lashed out at China for failing to provide data critical to preventing the spread of avian flu following three outbreaks in Qinghai and Xinjiang. Access to affected areas and samples of the bird flu virus have not been forthcoming, said Hitoshi Oshitani, the top WHO influenza expert for East Asia, adding that the virus could be mutating and impacting previously resistant birds. The Washington Post (free registration) (7/19)

Botswana's Gains Against AIDS Put U.S. Claims to Test

Although the Bush program had promised millions of dollars of support, no money had yet arrived, they said.

The Medical Money Pit

Why does health care in the United States cost so much?

E.P.A. Halts Florida Test on Pesticides

Stephen L. Johnson is canceling a study of the effects of pesticides on infants, a day after two senators said they would block his confirmation if the research continued.

Poor nations feel pressure to save AIDS drugs for the elite, report says

A Council on Foreign Relations report suggests countries devastated by AIDS are feeling pressure to restrict available drugs to the country's political and military elites, rather than distribute them to the general population. A United Nations official suggested the Security Council should declare AIDS a worldwide emergency, allowing local governments to produce generic versions of AIDS drugs if no agreement can be reached with drugmakers holding patents. Houston Chronicle/Reuters (7/23)

Nuclear Hubris in Idaho

What NASA can teach the Energy Department.

AIDS: Africa's doctors

In Malawi, where circa 1 million of the country's 12 million people are HIV positive, a huge obstacle to treating people is the severe lack of doctors and nurses, the country's health minister writes in the International Herald Tribune. Not only has AIDS killed many health workers, but every year hundreds are leaving for higher-paying jobs in Western countries -- a situation that can be reversed with financial aid from richer countries, Hetherwick Ntaba argues. International Herald Tribune (7/8)

AIDS strikes at some countries' ability to govern

Executive Director of UNAIDS Peter Piot and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke urged the UN Security Council to declare AIDS a global emergency following the release of a report examining the impact the pandemic has had on some countries' leaders' ability to govern effectively. The report, published by the Council on Foreign Relations, says in a number of mostly poor countries, HIV/AIDS drugs are available only for political and military elites, a strategy the authors say will eventually backfire as the workforce and armed services are depleted by the disease. AlertNet.org/Reuters (7/19)

Bush deserves credit for stepping up AIDS fight

President George W. Bush has taken a lot of flack for allegedly doing little to help ease the world's AIDS crisis, but in fact he and Congress deserve praise for greatly increasing funding for overseas efforts to battle that disease as well as tuberculosis and malaria, the Des Moines Register writes. However, the dollars often come with strings attached and would be better spent if they were shifted from U.S.-led AIDS programs to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the newspaper argues. The Des Moines Register (Iowa) (7/6)

10 more cases of polio in Indonesia -WHO

World Health Organization officials in Indonesia are seeking to immunize 6.4 million children following the discovery of 10 new cases of polio in the Western Java and Banten provinces. The WHO also released a statement warning the paralyzing virus could be occurring in other regions following its reemergence in Indonesia last month. AlertNet.org/Reuters (6/28)

Bush Pledges $1.2 Billion For Africa to Fight Malaria

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Thursday called for a $1.2 billion U.S. effort to cut deaths from malaria in Africa in half over five years, part of a range of new initiatives targeted at the continent's problems.

Bristol-Myers, Baylor Plan AIDS Initiative

Bristol-Myers Squibb plans to lower the price of two pediatric HIV drugs for developing countries as part of its role in a project to combat AIDS in Africa and other regions. The $40 million project involves a partnership with Baylor College of Medicine and includes plans to send more doctors to Africa to treat some 80,000 children over the next five years. The Washington Post (free registration) (6/27)

Private-Sector Mercy

There should be a way for people from the world's most successful companies to contribute their expertise to advance global health.

Getting close to victory in polio war

India has made great strides in its efforts to eradicate polio, with the number of those infected dropping dramatically since 2002 through a strict program of immunization and education on hygiene and sanitation. Spearheaded by UNICEF and bolstered by government health workers, activists and volunteers, the three-year campaign has overcome significant challenges in reducing cases and providing education about the disease. Navhind Times (India)/United Press International (7/21)

Remarks by Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D.

We are unprepared for rampant epidemics. And even worse, we haven’t taken sufficient note of the fact that though individually each might be devastating, they are susceptible of either purposeful or accidental combination, in which case they could be devastating almost beyond imagination.

Budget to Hurt Poor People on Medicaid, Report Says

A budget bill worked out by Congress gives states sweeping new authority to charge premiums and co-payments under Medicaid.

Curing Health Costs: Let the Sick Suffer

Tennessee is dumping nearly 200,000 residents, some of them desperately ill, from the state's Medicaid program.

India on the verge of becoming polio-free country

Former Rotary International chief Kalyan Banerjee said the hope is to maintain a level of no cases of the disease for three years and then declare India polio-free. He said officials hope new cases of the disease will be considered at "zero level" in India by the end of 2005. NewKerala.com (India) (8/2)

Adwaitya

Today we pause to note the death of Adwaitya, an Aldabran tortoise who died at what is believed to be the age of 250.

Pipe Maker Will Admit to Violations of Safety Law

McWane Inc., a major pipe manufacturer based in Birmingham, Ala., has agreed to plead guilty to federal safety and environmental crimes, the third successful prosecution against McWane this year.

The Health Factory

Companies like Toyota manage complex processes that require a great deal of problem solving - and they have something important to teach health care.

The threat of avian flu

Commentary: Avian flu's enormous threat: Bird flu "poses an immense potential threat to American civilization," and the U.S. remains "dangerously unprepared" to defend against it, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., a physician, argues in this Washington Times commentary. The Washington Times (free registration) (9/29)

Bird Flu Could Hit U.S. Next Year

Scientists monitoring migratory bird routes in Asia and Europe say it is possible migratory birds could bring the avian flu across the Pacific via the Bering Strait and mingle with birds in Alaska by next fall. But bird researchers caution a more dangerous route involves the commercial poultry trade and illegal bird trade. The New York Times/Associated Press (free registration) (10/25)

Record Sales of Sleeping Pills Are Causing Worries

Advertising promises safe slumber with minimal side effects, but some experts believe the drugs are being overprescribed.

Panel Urges Lowering of Allowable Fluoride

Fluoride occurs naturally in water in areas where 10 million people live, and the E.P.A. should reduce the maximum concentration that it considers safe, a committee said.

Academies unveil health projects in developing world

A global network of scientific academies has announced a set of projects to tackle health problems in the developing world.

Nanotech Raises Worker-Safety Questions

RENO, Nev. -- To tour the gleaming offices of Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. is to see why the U.S. Commerce Department calls nanotech "the next industrial revolution" -- a revolution not of smelters and smokestacks but of precision-engineered carbon "buckyballs" one-ten-thousandth the size of the... (By Rick Weiss, The Washington Post)

In the Nile Delta, Bird Flu Preys on Ignorance and Poverty

As the bird flu has started taking human lives in Egypt, government authorities trying to curb the spread of the virus are facing plenty of obstacles, The New York Times reports. In addition to unclear policies and not enough vaccine, it is socially very difficult to tell poor countryside Egyptians they cannot raise ducks and other poultry at home. The New York Times (free registration) (4/14)

Raising Money to Treat the World's Sickest People Isn't the Problem: Spending It Is

Analysis: What model is best for delivering medical aid?: This Knowledge@Wharton analysis focuses on for-profit and nonprofit organizations and their impact on bringing health care solutions to developing countries. Knowledge@Wharton (free registration) (4/6)

Nets for Africa: A practical way to defeat despair

 

Medical Views of 9/11’s Dust Show Big Gaps

The debate about the relationship between toxic particles and disease will be a central issue in a flood of Sept. 11-related lawsuits.

The Massachusetts Model

The state’s plan to provide universal health coverage is heartening evidence that national health care reform may be possible if a political consensus can be forged.

Japan, Seeking Trim Waists, Measures Millions

Japan, a country not known for its overweight people, has undertaken one of the most ambitious campaigns ever by a nation to slim down its citizenry.