The News Review:
- HealthOpin II: Parents Weigh In On Child Health Issues
- CNN.com – Paging Dr. Gupta Blog
- Botswana: Mogae On Health And Gender (Mogae Legacy)
- Children’s health can’t be left to faith alone
- Health Tip: Choosing a Babysitter
- HIV Epidemic Among Gay Men Continues. Annual Figures For New HIV…
HealthOpin II: Parents Weigh In On Child Health Issues
Medical News Today – Medical News Today (press release) – Mar 31, 2008
“Parents need to research their health concerns and take proactive steps with their children to head off a potential health problem. ” The same survey asked these parents and others if they provide regular care to a child, aging relative, spouse or other person close to them. Out of the 1,900 respondents who are caring for a loved one 51 percent said caring for that person takes a toll on their own health. Twenty-seven percent said that care-taking was having a “great impact” on their own health; 55 percent said that care-taking was having “a medium impact” and 17 percent said it was having little impact. As the second installment in its “HealthOpin” poll series, QualityHealth. com polled its database of registered members between March 13 and March 14, collecting responses from 10,102 consumers interested in health matters.
CNN.com – Paging Dr. Gupta Blog
CNN – Mar 31, 2008
We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation… Web sites like this are popular with anyone who thinks we need more choice and transparency in the health care system. This view is especially popular with conservatives, who say informed consumers making better choices will increase competition, drive down costs and improve the quality of care. But even a site like Hospital Compare is just a baby step. It measures a fraction of the things that go into high-quality care, and it looks only at hospitals – not individual doctors. Doctors and medical centers have long been wary of being measured by “objective” criteria, because, they say, it’s hard to make apples to apples comparisons. For example, a physician who sees patients with more serious conditions might show a lower success rate in treating them. What information do you want, before choosing a doctor or hospital? And do you feel you really have a choice in where you go for medical care? Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science.
Botswana: Mogae On Health And Gender (Mogae Legacy)
AllAfrica.com – Mar 31, 2008
The policy was a bold decision to have Botswana pioneer routine testing amid heavy criticism from some quarters. This has increased the numbers of people who know their status. The prevention-of-mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) as one of the intervention strategies has been effective and curbed transmission to four to six percent with the increase in its uptake. Also introduced was early infant testing, which has been rolled out to the districts and provides accurate diagnosis of HIV at six weeks. In order to encourage citizens to go for voluntary counselling and testing, Mogae publicly declared that he had tested for HIV. Great strides have been made with the current 93, 754 people on the lifesaving treatment, out of an estimated 115, 000 people who may need it. Botswana is said to be one of a few countries in the developing world to have attained the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) six whose target is to halt and reverse the spread of HIV seeing by the recent drop in infections among the youth… The centre is said to be the only one on the African continent dedicated exclusively to the comprehensive care and treatment of HIV-infected children and their families. The country has also made many strides under Mogae’s leadership, with upgrading of hospitals, the setting-up of a medical education programme at the University of Botswana (UB), the commencement of work on a new Faculty of Health Sciences and efforts to establish a medical school. * ChallengesHealth manpower needs are still a big challenge compounded by open global market forces, which makes it difficult to recruit and retain skilled personnel. The disease burden has resulted in overstretching the limited human and infrastructural resources that are available. There has been an exodus of health workers looking for greener pastures due to unattractive conditions of service. * GenderMogae has been applauded for having more women in leadership roles. In 2003 the UNDP placed Botswana, alongside Canada, as number 16 in the world in terms of the percentage of women, 35 percent, occupying leadership positions in both the public and private sectors.
Children’s health can’t be left to faith alone
MSNBC – Mar 31, 2008
According to an investigative report done some years back by Mark Larabee of The Oregonian newspaper, at least 38 young children lie in graves in the church?s cemetery in Oregon City. And the Followers have reported a suspiciously high number of stillborn deaths in recent years. Ava Worthington is not the only child to become a victim of prayer in recent weeks. Madeline Neumann, 11, of Weston, Wis. , died March 23 from an easily treatable form of diabetes after her parents chose to rely on prayer. According to news reports, Madeline spent a month suffering from nausea, excessive thirst, vomiting and and loss of mobility before she died. So far, nothing has been done to punish the Neumanns.
Health Tip: Choosing a Babysitter
Forbes – Mar 31, 2008
Do not choose a sitter younger than 12 years old. Meet your sitter first. Once you're comfortable with theperson, see how the sitter interacts with your child and how thesitter reacts to emergencies or unusual situations. Check the sitter's references before the sitter watchesyour child. Make sure the sitter knows CPR and first aid. Encourage your sitter to take a babysitting class offered bythe American Red Cross.
HIV Epidemic Among Gay Men Continues. Annual Figures For New HIV…
Medical News Today – Mar 31, 2008
Over a third of new diagnoses in 2007 were in this group (38% – 2,630). This is the third successive year that new diagnoses among gay men have risen above 2,600 – the highest levels since records began. Dr Valerie Delpech , Head of HIV surveillance at the Health Protection Agency, said: “Gay men continue to be the group most at risk of acquiring HIV within the UK. “We need to reinforce the safe sex message for gay men that the best way to protect yourself from contracting HIV is practising safer sex by using a condom with all new and casual partners. ” “We must also shift the testing culture among gay men, encouraging more frequent testing particularly among individuals at greatest risk, such as those with a high number of sexual partners and men who attend GUM services. ” Increased testing is likely to have contributed in part to these recent high numbers of HIV diagnoses, but there is no suggestion that the overall level of underlying HIV transmission in gay men has fallen. Unprotected sex continues to be a very high risk activity for HIV in this group.
