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Global Vaccine Initiative Wins Support From Italian, Canadian, Russian Finance Ministers
Finance ministers from Italy, Canada and Russia Friday voiced their support for a program aimed at lowering the prices of vaccines for developing countries, the AFP/Google.com reports. "The Advanced Market Commitment (AMC) programme was first outlined in 2007 and will encourage pharmaceutical companies to invest in research for vaccines against deadly diseases by promising to buy the vaccines at a fixed price," the AFP/Google.com writes (AFP/Google.com, 6/12).
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Healthy Teen Weight Behaviors Linked To Regular Self-Weighing
In a study of 130 overweight adolescents, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine found that frequent self-weighing is associated with positive behaviors and may prove to be a useful weight-control tool.
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Blogs Comment On Supreme Court Pregnancy Leave Ruling, Obama's Notre Dame Speech, Other Topics
The following summarizes selected women"s health-related blog entries. ~ "Peaceful Revolution: Another Blow to Women," Debra Ness, Huffington Post blogs: The Supreme Court"s ruling this week in AT&T Corp. v. Hulteen "dealt a serious and painful blow to working women and the families who rely on their retirement benefits," Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, writes. The ruling "affects a limited number of people," and it "would be easy to ignore them -- easy, but terribly wrong," Ness continues. "This ruling sends a terrible message about whether discrimination will bring penalties and costs, and whether the courts will address the ongoing effects of prior discrimination," she writes. Ness notes that the ruling "couldn"t come at a worse time," adding, "In today"s grim economic climate, women and their families cannot afford to see their retirement benefits kept lower by discriminatory workplace policies that should have been remedied decades ago." Ness writes that it is "sobering that, at a time when negative stereotypes about pregnant women clearly persist, we have a Supreme Court that doesn"t stand firm for equal rights and equal opportunity." She concludes, "It"s a good reminder of what"s at stake with the Supreme Court nomination President Obama is about to make" (Ness, Huffington Post blogs, 5/21).~ "This Week in Religion and Politics," Sarah Posner, American Prospect"s "The FundamentaList": When "viewed in the context of Obama"s entire faith-based outreach project, the events" surrounding the University of Notre Dame"s commencement ceremony "highlighted how he has embraced traditionalist, conservative religion -- to the detriment of sexual and reproductive justice," Posner writes. President Obama has "focused his outreach efforts" to reduce the need for abortion "on more conservative religious groups" and "claims to honor their position on moral issues," Posner writes. However, "when the dust settles on the Notre Dame controversy, he"ll have to figure out what to do with the policy advice he has sought" from the White House Office on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, she continues. Posner adds, "How Obama reacts to that advice will demonstrate whether the council is mere window dressing to shore up support from swing constituencies or whether Obama will yield to conservative religious dogma on reproductive-health issues." Meanwhile, Christian conservatives have been "making hay of the findings" of recent Pew and Gallup polls that found more U.S. residents identifying with "pro-life" positions and using the data to argue "that Obama"s position is out of touch with the majority of Americans," Posner writes. However, as bloggers at The Monkey Cage and FiveThirtyEight have pointed out, the polls are not representative of most U.S. residents" views on abortion rights, she writes. "Because of that deception on reproductive rights, it"s more important than ever for the president to lay the moral groundwork for his own position -- not just to recognize the moral qualms of abortion opponents," Posner says (Posner, "The FundamentaList," American Prospect, 5/20).~ "Meghan McCain Preaches What She Practices," Willa Paskin, Slate"s "XX Factor": Meghan McCain -- Sen. John McCain"s (R-Ariz.) daughter -- "acquitted herself quite admirably" on Monday"s episode of Comedy Central"s "The Colbert Report" by "defending her core position" that the Republican Party "needs to appeal to younger voters, and it can only do so by getting liberal on social issues," Paskin writes. On the show, McCain said, "I think it"s not realistic for this generation to be just plain abstinent, I think we need to have sex education with condoms and birth control. ... I would never practice anything I didn"t preach." Paskin also includes a video clip of McCain"s appearance (Paskin, "XX Factor," Slate, 5/19).~ "Skill the Messenger," Cristina Page, Birth Control Watch: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin"s (R) 18-year-old daughter Bristol -- who was
Oncology

AARP Endorses Bill To Help Americans Get Care In Their Own Homes

More than one million Americans are living in nursing homes, but many would prefer to receive the services they need in their own homes, where they would be more comfortable and potentially save the health care system money in the long run. Unfortunately, many Americans who want to be cared for at home can"t because of a costly institutional bias in Medicaid, which pays for nearly two-thirds of the country"s nursing home residents. While state Medicaid programs are required to provide nursing home care, home and community-based services that are often less expensive are optional, leaving them first in line to be cut in a poor economy. AARP is working with members of Congress to end this bias that forces too many Americans out of their homes and costs us all too much. The Association today endorsed the "Empowered at Home Act" (H.R. 2688) sponsored by Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Diana DeGette (D-CO), which would provide incentives and greater opportunities for states to expand access to home and community-based services. AARP has also endorsed a bipartisan companion bill in the Senate sponsored by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA). "Representatives Pallone and DeGette, along with their Senate colleagues, are true champions of health reform," said AARP President Jennie Chin Hansen. "Their common sense legislation will give more Americans a chance to live comfortably in their homes, instead of in often more costly institutions. AARP is proud to endorse the "Empowered at Home Act," and we look forward to working with Representatives Pallone and DeGette as well as Senators Kerry and Grassley, to enact this legislation as one of the most important parts of health care reform." Research by AARP"s Public Policy Institute has found 89 percent of people 50-plus want to remain in their homes as they age. Greater access to home and community-based services, along with the help of properly supported family caregivers, could make this goal possible for hundreds of thousands of people who otherwise face life in costly nursing homes. AARP estimates that on average, Medicaid can care for three people with home and community-based services for the same cost as one person in a nursing home. Hansen added: "There"s no excuse for a program as critical as Medicaid to force people into more expensive institutions when we could be saving money and improving the quality of life for so many Americans." More information on home and community based care is available in AARP"s latest fact sheet. For details on AARP"s health reform priorities, including long-term care, visit here. AARP


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