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Terry O'Neill Elected New "National Organization for Women" President
The National Organization for Women on Saturday during its annual conference elected Terry O"Neill as the group"s new president, the Indianapolis Star reports. O"Neill succeeds Kim Gandy, who has served two four-year terms as NOW president. The group has grown to include about 500,000 advocate members since its founding in 1966.During the conference, participants discussed a number of women"s rights issues, including same-sex marriage, equal pay and health insurance affordability. O"Neill raised the issue of "conscience" clauses, which allow health care workers to refuse to provide information or services on moral or religious grounds. O"Neill said, "Conscience clauses, where pharmacists refuse birth control sales because it"s against their conscience, must go. Guess what? Women have a constitutional right to birth control," adding, "There is no constitutional right to be a pharmacist" (Jacobs, Indianapolis Star, 6/21).O"Neill served as NOW"s vice president for membership from 2001 to 2005. She most recently served as chief of staff for a county council member in Montgomery County, Md. O"Neill in a prepared statement said that she is "honored and eager" to lead NOW (AP/Google.com, 6/21).
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Fewer Americans Following Healthy Lifestyle
A new study found that compared with two decades ago, fewer Americans are following a healthy lifestyle. This is despite the mounting evidence
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Cognitive Impairment Associated With Reduced Survival Among Both African-American And White Older Adults
Alzheimer"s disease and its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, appear to be associated with an increased risk of death among both white and African American older adults, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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Denver Post Examines Efforts To Establish Needle-Exchange Programs In Colorado

The Denver Post on Friday examined efforts to establish needle-exchange programs in Colorado to reduce the risk of HIV and hepatitis C among injection drug users. According to the Post, 185 cities in Colorado have needle-exchange programs, but legislation that would have legalized needle exchanges statewide did not advance in the Legislature this year. "The issue is more complex than it perhaps first appears," Evan Dreyer, a spokesperson for Gov. Bill Ritter (D), said, adding that "law enforcement and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment both expressed serious reservations" about a proposal that would have legalized needle-exchanges statewide. A coalition of public health officials, treatment providers and advocates are increasing efforts to establish a needle-exchange program in Denver, the Post reports. The Denver Drug Strategy Commission in February recommended that Mayor John Hickenlooper consider a pilot needle-exchange program, DDSC Director Karla Maraccini said. The commission is looking at different programs to develop a model following Hickenlooper"s request for additional research. However, Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has concerns that a local needle-exchange program would violate state law, according to Morrissey"s spokesperson Lynn Kimbrough. Eric Brown, a spokesperson for Hickenlooper, added, "Anything in contradiction to city or state law would have to be carefully considered." Proponents of needle-exchange programs say they prevent HIV and hepatitis C, but opponents say they condone injection drug use. Mark Thrun, director of HIV prevention for Denver Public Health, said, adding that needle-exchange programs prevent IDUs from "getting these chronic, potentially fatal diseases" and give public health workers "an opportunity to link them into treatment; and it lessens the economic burden on the already overburdened health care system." Thrun noted that several studies have found that needle-exchange programs do not encourage or prolong injection drug use and make IDUs more likely to seek treatment. In addition, a 2005 CDC study found that 86% of exchange programs make treatment referrals and that more than 80% offer counseling and testing for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C.Nancy Steinfurth, executive director of the Hep C Connection, noted that an estimated 10% of HIV cases and 70% of hepatitis C cases are transmitted through needles (Auge, Denver Post, 5/15). Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. © 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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