The News Review:
- Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines
- Special allowance for AJK doctors approved: Duty in rural health facil…
- Stressed parents equals sick kids
- … Conference to Explore Using Technology to Increase Access to…
Public Health Risk Seen as Parents Reject Vaccines
New York Times – Mar 21, 2008
While many parents meet deep resistance and even hostility from pediatricians when they choose to delay, space or reject vaccines, they are often able to find doctors who support their choice. “I do think vaccines help with the public health and helping prevent the occasional fatality,” said Dr. Bob Sears, the son of the well-known child-care author by the same name, who practices.
Special allowance for AJK doctors approved: Duty in rural health facil…
Pakistan Dawn – Mar 21, 2008
The AJK health department had worked out an attractive package for the doctors last May so as to overcome the shortage of medical practitioners in rural health centres but that was not okayed by the finance department on account of “scant financial resources”. However, sources told Dawn, the minister for health and population welfare Dr Najeeb Naqi Khan did not give up and continued to vigorously pursue the case with the finance department and finally got it through. Mr Khan has himself earned a bachelors degree in medicine. According to the new package, female medical officer (FMO) and dental surgeon in Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital and Rural Health Centre (RHC) would receive a special allowance of Rs12,000 per month (in additional to their regular salaries) whereas the male medical officers in THQ, RHC and BHU (Basic Health Unit) would receive a special allowance of Rs10,000 per month. Specialists and medical superintendents, willing to serve in the THQs, would receive a special allowance of Rs10,000 per month… According to the new package, female medical officer (FMO) and dental surgeon in Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) Hospital and Rural Health Centre (RHC) would receive a special allowance of Rs12,000 per month (in additional to their regular salaries) whereas the male medical officers in THQ, RHC and BHU (Basic Health Unit) would receive a special allowance of Rs10,000 per month. Specialists and medical superintendents, willing to serve in the THQs, would receive a special allowance of Rs10,000 per month. Similarly, the doctors on attachment would not benefit from this package as it would apply to only those who would perform duties at their original place of posting, the sources added. The sources claimed that the medical students who were getting admission in the medical colleges on quota basis would have to serve the same district for at least one year after completion of their studies, which would enable them to obtain degrees from their respective institutions. The health department was working on this proposal since long and was likely to settle it with the help of Pakistan Medical and Dental Council, sources said.
Stressed parents equals sick kids
New Scientist – New Scientist (subscription) – Mar 21, 2008
Subscribe and get 4 free issues. For similar stories, visit the Mental Health Topic Guide STRESSED parents aren’t just damaging their own health – they may also be making their children more vulnerable to illness. To investigate, Mary Caserta and her colleagues at the University of Rochester in New York asked the parents of 169 children aged between 5 and 10 to monitor their child’s health over three years, recording symptoms of illnesses and taking their temperatures. Every six months, the parents took a test designed to assess their own psychiatric health, noting markers of stress such as anxiety or depression… For similar stories, visit the Mental Health Topic Guide STRESSED parents aren’t just damaging their own health – they may also be making their children more vulnerable to illness. To investigate, Mary Caserta and her colleagues at the University of Rochester in New York asked the parents of 169 children aged between 5 and 10 to monitor their child’s health over three years, recording symptoms of illnesses and taking their temperatures. Every six months, the parents took a test designed to assess their own psychiatric health, noting markers of stress such as anxiety or depression. Caserta’s team found that the total number of illnesses, both with and without fever, was significantly higher in the children of parents who reported high levels of emotional stress. The team also measured the levels of immune cells in the children, and found those with highly stressed parents were much more likely to have heightened immune activity – a sign that they were working hard to fend off infection (Brain, Behavior and Immunity,.
… Conference to Explore Using Technology to Increase Access to…
Earthtimes – Mar 21, 2008
, at the New Yorker Hotel in New York City. The day-long event, sponsored by the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality (Hcheq), is the first conference of its kind to bring together policy and health care technology experts to discuss the role technology should play in increasing access to public health programs for all eligible individuals. The conference focuses on New York State, where roughly 900,000 people — 40 percent of the state’s 2. 2 million uninsured — are eligible but not enrolled in public health insurance provided by Medicaid, Family Health Plus or Child Health Plus (CHPlus) programs. “We need enlightened health care policy, but also the administrative infrastructure and technology in place to support it,” explains Georganne Chapin, President and CEO of Hcheq. “Information technology initiatives are already at work in health care programs in New York and other states and have huge potential to increase coverage and access… The day-long event, sponsored by the Hudson Center for Health Equity & Quality (Hcheq), is the first conference of its kind to bring together policy and health care technology experts to discuss the role technology should play in increasing access to public health programs for all eligible individuals. The conference focuses on New York State, where roughly 900,000 people — 40 percent of the state’s 2. 2 million uninsured — are eligible but not enrolled in public health insurance provided by Medicaid, Family Health Plus or Child Health Plus (CHPlus) programs. “We need enlightened health care policy, but also the administrative infrastructure and technology in place to support it,” explains Georganne Chapin, President and CEO of Hcheq. “Information technology initiatives are already at work in health care programs in New York and other states and have huge potential to increase coverage and access. This conference will bring together leaders from New York’s health care community to start a productive and, hopefully, ongoing discussion about how to leverage information technology in the enrollment and eligibility process for New York’s public health insurance programs. ” The conference will feature panels of experts in health care, IT, and public policy.
