Frail aged people, younger people with a disability and their carers will benefit from a joint Australian and NSW Government allocation of $3.96 million in funding for Home and Community Care (HACC) services in New South Wales.
The rights of patients and the public will be strengthened by new amendments to the Mental Health Bill published by the UK Government.
Prominent Medicare health plans strengthen consumer protections and voluntarily pledge to temporarily suspend non-group PFFS marketing. Statement of AHIP President and CEO Karen Ignagni on landmark industry pledge:
The Department of Health today announced extra help for the NHS in tackling the spread of TB. From today, NHS commissioners will be able to access on-line the Department’s ‘TB Toolkit’.
Results of the Option (TOcilizumab Pivotal Trial in Methotrexate Inadequate respONders) trial, the first multinational Phase III study outside of Japan, showed that patients treated with Actemra (either 4mg/kg or 8mg/kg) plus methotrexate achieved a significant and clinically important improvement in the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to patients treated with placebo and methotrexate, a current standard of care.
New vaccines are available to make significant gains against cervical cancer deaths and debilitating pain from shingles, but infectious diseases experts warn that their full potential will not be realized without changes in the way vaccines for adults and adolescents are promoted, financed and delivered in the United States.
Although childhood lead poisoning remains a serious problem, the number of new cases identified in 2006 marks the lowest level in more than a decade. The number of new cases identified in 2006 ? 2,310 among children ages 6 months to 6 years ? marks a 13% decline from 2005 and an 88% decline since 1995, when nearly 20,000 children were newly identified with lead poisoning.
Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that patients with COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, have greater arterial stiffness. The researchers also found that those COPD patients with osteoporosis, a common complication of the respiratory disease, had even greater arterial stiffness. These premature signs of aging may explain why COPD patients are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease.
Researchers in the United Kingdom have demonstrated that high levels of pepsin, a digestive enzyme that is a marker for gastric aspiration, are associated with acute rejection of a lung transplant.
Reported cases of Lyme disease have more than doubled since 1991, when Lyme became a nationally notifiable disease, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The report also said 93 percent of reported cases were concentrated in 10 states.