The News Review:
- House widens US child health care
- Child health bill would benefit and cost Texas
- Child marriage in India endangers maternal health: UNICEF
- Reps. vote for child health care bill
- Police: Toddler was smothered to death during nap time
- Child Health Bill Relies on Hefty Tobacco Tax Hikes
- Health situation in the Gaza Strip 14 Jan 2009
House widens US child health care
BBC News UK
1bn) over four-and-a-half years to continue health coverage for seven million children who currently rely on the scheme. “In this moment of crisis ensuring that every child in America has access to affordable health care is not just good economic policy but a moral obligation we hold as parents and citizens” Mr bama said in a statement. UnemploymentMr bama said he hoped the Senate would pass its version of the legislation quickly so that it could be one of the first measures he signed into law after taking office on 20 January.
Child health bill would benefit and cost Texas
Fort Worth Star Telegram TX
At issue is a plan approved by the House and pending before the Senate to boost federal taxes on a pack of cigarettes from 39 cents to $1 to give 4 million more children health insurance. That would raise the price of a single pack of cigarettes in Texas to around $6. “As a parent who cares deeply about the health of my two young sons I can think of few things this Congress could do that would be more important than to see that millions of children receive the kind of healthcare we would want for our own children” said Rep. Chet Edwards D-Waco whose district stretches from suburbs south of Fort Worth to east of College Station. Texas which has the highest percentage of uninsured children of all the states should be poised to get the largest share of help through the enhanced State Children’s Health Care Insurance Program. At the same time Texas has countless smokers many of whom may be low-income themselves and have a hard time paying the extra 61 cents per pack.
Child marriage in India endangers maternal health: UNICEF
AFP
Child brides “become mothers long before their bodies are physically mature for pregnancy” said UNICEF’s Karin Hulshof at the launch of the annual “The State of the World’s Children” report in the capital New Delhi. “The younger a girl is when she gets pregnant the greater the health risk to her and her child” Hulshof said. She said that child marriage prevents many girls from continuing their education leaving them unaware of the risks and responsibilities of pregnancy and less likely to seek medical attention and immunise their babies. More than 40 percent of the world’s child marriages take place in India a majority of them among poor rural residents even though the legal age to wed is 18. In 2005 India’s maternal mortality rate was 450 per 100000 live births compared to just 8 per 100000 in industrialized countries in the same year. The neonatal mortality rate was 39 per 1000 live births in 2004 more than ten times the rate in developed countries.
Reps. vote for child health care bill
Fox44 News Vermont
The program known in New Hampshire as the Healthy Kids Program focuses on families whose incomes are too high to qualify for Medicaid. More than 12000 children in the state rely on the program now. Shea-Porter spoke in favor of the bill on the House floor saying no child should have to suffer because their parents cannot afford health insurance. Congress plans to pay for the expansion by increasing the tobacco tax by 61 cents. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast rewritten or redistributed.
Police: Toddler was smothered to death during nap time
Arizona Republic AZ
When a Chandler police officer arrived he found owner Rachel DeChristina leaning over the child trying to perform CPR. The officer continued trying to revive the child and she was transported to Desert Banner Hospital in Mesa where she was later pronounced dead. The child did not have any known medical problems. Colorful Kids which was licensed by the state health department since 2001 is owned by Rachel DeChristina and her husband Keith. He read a prepared statement Wednesday stating that the owners didn’t know of any alleged wrongdoing and that they are cooperating with police. No enforcement actions were listed for the center according to the state health department’s web site. The health department issued five citations against the facility in August 2008 but all were corrected.
Child Health Bill Relies on Hefty Tobacco Tax Hikes
Media General Washington Bureau DC
House on Wednesday approved a major expansion of federally funded health coverage for children – a measure that would slam cigar manufacturers in Tampa and across the country with a big tax increase. The measure would also expand the coverage to an added 4. 1 million children on top of the current 7 million now enrolled. The Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to pass a similar bill this week.
Health situation in the Gaza Strip 14 Jan 2009
ReliefWeb (press release) Switzerland
- n 13 Jan Israeli missiles destroyed the PHC clinic (for maternal and child health) of the Near East Council of Churches in Al-Shuja’ia area. – 20 additional patients expected to be evacuated via Rafah. – Monitoring and surveillance of water quality has not been carried out since the central public health laboratory closed on 4 January due its proximity to open conflict area. – At least 35 520 people displaced in Gaza by crisis. – All hospitals have 8-12 hours partial power supply.
Related from Wateresources: IDF to help facilitate aid to Gazans
