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Data Show Wisconsin Has Lowest AIDS Death Rate In Nation, Group Says
AIDS Re Center of Wisconsin Chief Operating Officer Mike Gifford said that Wisconsin has the lowest AIDS death rate in the nation, WPR News reports. Gifford said that CDC data indicate that Wisconsin and Minnesota have one AIDS death annually for every 100,000 people. He credits a strong system of health care professionals and state and private support for the low death rate, but noted that hundreds of people living with HIV in Wisconsin are not getting the services they need (Simonson, WPR News, 6/18).

Chemicals Found In Fruit And Veg Offer Dementia Hope
A group of chemicals found in many fruits and vegetables, as well as tea, cocoa and red wine, could protect the brain from Alzheimer"s disease, a dementia expert will tell scientists at a conference today (Friday).
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Obama, Health Insurers Clash On Public Plan
"President Obama made a detailed case on Tuesday for a new government-administered health insurance plan, but he did not rule out signing a bill that lacks such an option if he cannot win enough support from Democrats in Congress," The New York Times reports. "In a White House news conference, Mr. Obama dismissed as "not logical" the suggestion that a public plan, which is intended to create more competition and therefore act as a brake on the rise of health insurance costs, would undermine the private insurance market. He argued that a government-run plan competing with private insurers would be an "important tool to discipline insurance companies" and scoffed at complaints that it could drive some out of business."
Medical Devices

Rockefeller Foundation Launches $100M 5-Year Initiative To Improve Health Systems In Africa, Asia

The Rockefeller Foundation launched a $100 million, five-year initiative aimed at improving health systems in Asia and Africa, Judith Rodin, the foundation"s president, said in a speech on Wednesday in Nairobi, Kenya, Xinhua reports. The Transforming Health Systems (THS) project will begin with investments in Ghana, Rwanda and Vietnam, and will also support certain regional and global activities (Ooko, 7/1). The goal of THS is to "help countries in Africa and Asia that lack the latest treatments and technology; and where many people are forced to pay their medical bills out of pocket," VOA News writes (DeCapua, 7/1). Rodin said THS will put the emphasis on assisting low-income countries with the challenges their health systems face, shifting the focus from treatments and vaccines. She said the goal is to expand health coverage and provide new health and financial protections for everyone, Xinhua writes. "Although it is imperative that we continue developing and delivering new vaccines and medicines, many people still cannot access a clinic, pay out-of-pocket costs for medication and treatment, and fall into poverty as a result," Rodin said, adding that THS "will help ensure that investment is felt universally by supporting national efforts to provide equitable access." "A country"s shift to universal coverage does not happen overnight," Ariel Pablos-Mendez, managing director responsible for THS, said. Low-income countries have already demonstrated, the shift is "built on the reorganization of domestic financing rather than the influx of increased amounts of foreign aid," Pablos-Mendez said, adding, "If invested more wisely, increases in health spending can contribute to sound economic policy, better health outcomes, and lower rates of poverty" (7/1). The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports the foundation will try three approaches for the new initiative, which are: "training health professionals and developing better health policies, data-gathering, and financing mechanisms; improving regulation and partnership of private hospitals and other nongovernment health players; and using mobile phones, electronic health records, and other information technology to improve access to health services and making them less expensive" (Wilhelm, 7/1). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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