The News Review:
- Health Calendar
- Problems linked to lack of health insurance are getting worse
- Postponing pregnancy has its own risks Health and Lifestyle
- Staying in school just to stay insured
- Applauding the Best of TV Health Reports
- Best reason yet for congestion pricing: kids’ mental health
- Halting the baby boom in Katine
Health Calendar
Washington Post – Mar 23, 2008
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Problems linked to lack of health insurance are getting worse
St. Louis Post-Dispatch – Mar 23, 2008
Gomez is chief executive of Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care in the District of Columbia. The clinic serves Latinos who either have no insurance or are underinsured. The fact that 47 million people in this country — including 9 million children — are uninsured has been one of the top issues in the current presidential campaign. Equally troubling is this statistic: The lack of health care coverage is most acute among Hispanics and African-Americans, many of whom work in low-wage jobs without benefits or are employed by small businesses that don’t offer coverage. "Things are getting worse," Gomez said… The clinic serves Latinos who either have no insurance or are underinsured. The fact that 47 million people in this country — including 9 million children — are uninsured has been one of the top issues in the current presidential campaign. Equally troubling is this statistic: The lack of health care coverage is most acute among Hispanics and African-Americans, many of whom work in low-wage jobs without benefits or are employed by small businesses that don’t offer coverage. "Things are getting worse," Gomez said. "What we are seeing is a lot of people coming in who cannot qualify for government programs. "These families earn too much to qualify for free care but don’t make enough to pay for insurance, she said.
Postponing pregnancy has its own risks Health and Lifestyle
Hindu – Mar 23, 2008
Polycystic ovarian syndrome, obesity and irregular menstrual cycles are some commonly reported complaints. Sometimes, stress could cause irregular menstrual cycle. Changes in lifestyle among the younger generation, eating junk food and lack of exercise have also impacted reproductive health. Gynaecologists advise lifestyle changes and sometimes medication to regularise menstrual cycle. Birth control pills
The use of birth control pills has also impacted the way young women view pregnancy, say doctors. Young girls come to us for advice about the use of birth control pills when their marriage is finalised, says Hebzibah Kirubamani, head of Raja Sir Ramaswamy Mudaliar maternity hospital in north Chennai. Middle class women take the lead in seeking medical advice on postponing childbirth, but government hospitals have also actively encouraged young women who seek the hospital’s services to opt for other control methods… Middle class women take the lead in seeking medical advice on postponing childbirth, but government hospitals have also actively encouraged young women who seek the hospital’s services to opt for other control methods. Independent studies by non-government organisations have found that such decisions have contributed to health problems. An article in the January 2008 issue of ‘Update,’ an in-house magazine brought out by GG Hospital, working in the field of infertility, says postponing the first child beyond the age of 35 could result in higher risk of chromosomal abnormalities. Women prone to diabetes and hypertension expose themselves to more complications, says the article. The hospital recently launched frozen oocyte pregnancy, using which method less than 100 babies have been born across the world since 1986. The hospital has launched this method for the benefit of women who wish to delay marriage and childbearing, single mothers and divorcees. The Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to which the Women and Children’s Hospital is attached has sought permission to set up an assisted reproductive technology (ART) centre.
Staying in school just to stay insured
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Pittsburgh Post Gazette – Mar 23, 2008
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Move to extend age limit
The issue is a little-discussed aspect of a debate over insurance coverage now before the Pennsylvania Legislature. Insurers typically allow parents to cover their dependent children until age 19, with extensions of a few more as long as a child is enrolled full-time. One provision of Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed health care reform would mandate that insurers allow parents to keep dependent, unmarried children on a policy until their 30th birthday, regardless of how many courses they take. Experts say the matter seldom surfaces in policy discussions on how to improve success rates among community college students, partly because there are no data on it. But instructors, counselors and administrators at several campuses from Pittsburgh to suburban Philadelphia all said in interviews the phenomenon was a significant presence at their schools… Insurers typically allow parents to cover their dependent children until age 19, with extensions of a few more as long as a child is enrolled full-time. One provision of Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed health care reform would mandate that insurers allow parents to keep dependent, unmarried children on a policy until their 30th birthday, regardless of how many courses they take. Experts say the matter seldom surfaces in policy discussions on how to improve success rates among community college students, partly because there are no data on it. But instructors, counselors and administrators at several campuses from Pittsburgh to suburban Philadelphia all said in interviews the phenomenon was a significant presence at their schools. Mary McGinnis, a career and academic counselor at Butler County Community College, estimates that insurance is an issue for perhaps 40 percent of the students she speaks with who are in academic jeopardy. At Northampton Community College, insurance is a consideration for maybe a third of the traditional-age students still on their families’ health insurance, said Mardi McGuire-Closson, the school’s vice president for student affairs and dean of students.
Applauding the Best of TV Health Reports
TelevisionWeek – Television Week – Mar 23, 2008
toggle(400); }); }); News March 23, 2008 8:50 PM Applauding the Best of TV Health Reports By Allison J. Waldman The Association of Health Care Journalists presents its awards at this week?s conference in Washington, honoring the best health reporting of 2007 in 10 categories covering print, broadcast and online media. The top TV winners are a diverse group covering a broad range of the health care universe. In the stories that follow, TelevisionWeek correspondent Allison J. Waldman profiles this year?s AHCJ award recipients in the television categories. AHCJ is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues… The second-place winner in the top-20 category was ?Nick?s Choice,? by Joe Fryer and Brett Akagi. These two Minnesota reporters, for NBC affiliate KARE-TV in Minneapolis, shared the story of 9-year-old Nick Nelson, who was born with the rare popliteal pterygium syndrome, in which webs form on the backs of the legs, preventing him from straightening them. Although he was just a child, Nick wanted his doctor to amputate his right leg after 15 surgeries failed to straighten it. KARE?s story followed his journey. The third-place winner in the top-20 category recognized a story about the toxic trailers given to Katrina victims that turned out to be made with materials that are emitting formaldehyde. HDNet?s ?Dan Rather Reports? told that story, including the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was aware of the problem before it delivered a single trailer. Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather collaborated on the comprehensive report with Chandra Simon and Resa Matthews.
Best reason yet for congestion pricing: kids’ mental health
New York Daily News – Mar 23, 2008
If we don’t do something to reduce automobile congestion, our children’s brain development could be put at risk. That’s right: researchers at the… After adjusting for the children’s exposure to tobacco smoke and lead, their wealth and parental education, a wide array of brain functions were impaired in children with higher exposure to traffic-related air pollution. That is not insignificant – especially if it’s your child at the receiving end of that pollution. In fact, the effect of traffic-related air pollution on intelligence was similar to that seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead. This new finding builds on a growing body of evidence that traffic-related pollution causes many different kinds of health problems. While most people already know the strong link between air pollution and asthma, awareness is just now growing about how automobile pollution’s effects on the heart and arteries can lead to heart attacks and premature death. Children exposed to pollution can have stunted lung development.
Halting the baby boom in Katine
Guardian Unlimited – Mar 23, 2008
Luwaga notes, however, that family planning remains a divisive issue in Katine that will have to be handled carefully. Deborah Atuko, 22, dropped out of school when LRA rebels invaded the district in 2003. After her first child was born, she consulted a clinical officer at Atirir health centre, who recommended injectaplan. Her husband, Jorem, has been supportive, suggesting that the couple should only have three children. Her second and youngest is currently seven months old. “When I started using injectaplan, I got headaches and lost my appetite,” Atuko explains. “I went back to the doctor and he said that the problems would stop, and they did.
