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L.A. Times, NYT Opinion Pieces Discuss International Women's Health Issues
The Los Angeles Times and the New York Times recently published opinion pieces examining issues related to international women"s health. Summaries appear below.~ Michelle Goldberg, Los Angeles Times: The solution to addressing issues of over-population and under-population in various parts of the world is "giving women more control over their fertility and their lives," Goldberg, author of "The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World," writes in a Times opinion piece. Goldberg says that both problems are "symptoms of countries" failures to meet women"s needs." Citing United Nations data, Goldberg writes that the world"s population is growing at an "unsustainable" rate of 78 million people annually, and it will probably continue to increase by 70 million or 75 million annually through 2020. Almost all of that growth will occur in developing countries, she says. "The ethical and effective way to counter rapid population growth is to bolster women"s rights and improve their access to family planning," as well as access to education, Goldberg writes, adding that "study after study has found that girls who go to school marry later and have fewer, healthier children." Meanwhile, some developed countries -- including Japan, Russia, Italy and Spain -- are seeing a decline in birth rates, a fact that some social conservatives are using "to argue for restrictions on women"s rights." According to Goldberg, "Fertility is reaching dangerously low levels in countries where social attitudes and institutions haven"t caught up with women"s desire to combine work and family. When faced with men who are unwilling to share domestic burdens, inflexible workplaces and day-care shortages, many women respond by having fewer children." However, "when societies make it possible for women to combine having children with pursuing their other ambitions, fertility rates are fine," Goldberg says. She adds, "Give women freedom and support, and they will find reproductive equilibrium, so that when societies do shrink or grow, they do so in a manageable way" (Goldberg, Los Angeles Times, 5/17).~ Nicholas Kristof, New York Times: About 500,000 women "die annually from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth without attracting much interest because the victims are typically among the most voiceless people in the world: impoverished, rural, uneducated and female," Kristof writes in a Times opinion piece. He adds, "It"s no mystery how to save the lives of pregnant women; what"s lacking is the will and res." Kristof writes that Sierra Leone, which has the highest maternal mortality rate in the world, "is now making progress with the help of the United Nations Population Fund." Former President George W. Bush cut off U.S. funding for UNFPA, but President Obama has restored the funding. Kristof adds that a bill (H.R. 1410) that would "establish American leadership in this area ... has attracted pathetically little attention." He continues that if the lives of women in West Africa "were a priority, there would be many simple ways to keep them alive," such as providing them with bed nets to help protect against malaria or iron tablets to fight anemia at a cost of "just a few dollars" (Kristof, New York Times, 5/17).
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Ignorance May Not Be Bliss, Brain Response To Information About The Future Suggests
New research demonstrates that single neurons in the reward center of the brain process not only primitive rewards but also more abstract, cognitive rewards related to the quest for information about the future. The study, published by Cell Press in the July 16 issue of the journal Neuron, enhances our understanding of learning and suggests that current theories of reward should be revised to include the effect of information seeking.
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Three Rivers Announces Positive Results From Phase 3 DIRECT Trial Of Once-Daily INFERGEN(R) With Ribavirin In Hepatitis C Virus Treatment Failures
Three Rivers Pharmaceuticals announced positive results of the U.S.-based, randomized Daily-Dose Consensus Interferon and Ribavirin: Efficacy of Combined Therapy (DIRECT) clinical trial authored by Bruce R. Bacon, M.D., of Saint Louis University, and colleagues at 44 centers in the United States. The primary endpoint of increased sustained virological response (SVR), was achieved demonstrating that INFERGEN provides a second chance to those HCV patients failing to respond to standard, first-line therapy of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV). "The retreatment of PEG-IFN/RBV nonresponders with INFERGEN and RBV is safe and efficacious and can be considered a retreatment strategy for patients failing previous therapy with PEG-IFN/RBV, especially in interferon-sensitive patients with lower baseline fibrosis scores," stated Dr. Bruce Bacon the lead Investigator for the study.
Endocrinology

The Obama Administration Ramps Up Push For Health Care Reform

The Obama administration ramps up efforts to promote health care reform and reacts to a sobering announcement by the Congressional Budget Office about the scoring of a health care bill. CBS News/Associated Press reports on the president"s presence at a New Jersey rally: "President Barack Obama returned to campaign-style rhetoric on Thursday, telling a political rally that inaction is not an option and urging allies to push for his overhaul of the nation"s health care system. ... Obama told the gathering, which drew more than 17,000 people on a sweaty afternoon - the president"s first political rally since taking office - that he is confident Congress will take action on health care before they leave on an August recess. The lawmakers" action, however, is only the first step toward the president"s goal. ... Obama said recession is linked with the burden of the health care system on the economy. He said the nation"s fiscal future depends on changing the health care system: "Health care reform is deficit reform"" (7/16). The Star Tribune/Associated Press puts the president"s action in context: "Up one day. Down the next. Sometimes legislation to remake the nation"s health care system moves in both directions at once. President Barack Obama"s top domestic priority is on an unpredictable, midsummer trajectory as the White House and Democrats struggle to bring the complex, controversial issue to a vote in both houses before lawmakers leave town for their August break." The AP also reports on the administration"s reaction to CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf announcement"s that there were not any net federal savings for the health bill. "But a few hundred miles away, all was not well for the president and his allies. Elmendorf"s remarks gave ammunition to Republican critics of the bill" (Espo, 7/17). NBC"s Today Show interviewed the President who began by saying: "The American people have to recognize that there"s no such thing as a free lunch, right? So we can"t just provide care to everybody, it has no cost whatsoever, you don"t end up having to make any decisions." Obama talked about self-responsibility, business responsibility and an individual mandate. He said: "I have changed my mind on this, because what I was persuaded of was that if we can phase this in so that we know there"s affordable insurance out there -- and, in fact, a lot of the uninsured are relatively young people who can be insured fairly cheaply -- that that actually will drive down the costs for everybody." (Snyderman, 7/16). Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports on the appearances of Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius at a health care forum in Alexandria, Va., on Thursday. "Biden says there has never been a better time to overhaul the nation"s health care system because the industry now recognizes that helping the uninsured will ultimately bolster its bottom line.... he said drug companies recognize the potential profits in extending coverage to nearly 50 million Americans without health insurance" (7/16). This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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