October 26, 2009

The following is a statement by Attorney General Eric Holder on the death of three U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in Afghanistan: "This morning, three U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were tragically killed in the line of duty when the helicopter in which they were riding crashed in Western Afghanistan. While the circumstances of this crash are still being investigated, I want to express my deepest condolences to the families of these heroic agents. During this difficult time, the families of these agents are foremost in our thoughts and prayers. "Every day, our law enforcement agents put themselves in harm's way to protect our communities and our country. It is an honor to work with these brave men and women from the DEA and all of our law enforcement components and to call them my colleagues. While no words can lessen the sorrow being felt today by these families, I hope their loved ones know they have the unending respect and gratitude of this nation. They certainly have mine. Full release.

On Wednesday, October 28, the UN is scheduled to take up its annual debate on the unilateral U.S. embargo of Cuba. Expectations are of a crushing U.S. defeat similar to last year, 185 to 3. "Most Americans, including government officials, may not pay much attention but this annual vote signals that no U.S. foreign policy is as universally despised as our trade war against Cuba," said John McAuliff, Executive Director of a leading non-governmental advocacy group, the Fund for Reconciliation and Development. "Likewise," he noted, "the margin of the U.S. defeat reflects the most dramatic failure of the Obama Administration to live up to its promise to improve U.S. standing in the world." McAuliff, head of a 25-year-old non-governmental organization based in New York, added, "The tragedy is that the White House could have easily influenced the vote by making a straightforward reform consistent with its own values and goals and the opinion of two-thirds of Americans. Full release.

With substandard and counterfeit versions of medicines intended to treat life-threatening diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis posing a growing threat throughout the developing world, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Pharmacopeial (USP) Convention will expand their joint efforts to combat this menace by launching a new program over the next five years. The Promoting the Quality of Medicines (PQM) Program, a $35 million cooperative agreement, will serve as a primary mechanism to help assure the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines that are essential to USAID's priority health programs. USAID is a U.S. government agency that provides economic, development and humanitarian assistance around the world in support of the foreign policy goals of the United States. USP is a nonprofit scientific organization that develops globally recognized standards for the quality of medicines. Building on a 10-year USAID-USP partnership in this arena that assists health officials and others in 28 countries around the world, the program will increase work to address the significant public health challenge posed by substandard and counterfeit medicines. According to the U.S.-based Center for Medicines in the Public Interest, counterfeit drug sales alone will reach $75 billion globally in 2010, an increase of more than 90 percent from 2005. Various factors contribute to the growth of substandard and counterfeit medicines, including the globalization of trade and weak regulatory capacity in developing countries. Full release.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair addresses thousands of taxpayers, who are in Chicago for the three days "Showdown" against big banks, to express her support for President Obama's Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Below is a part of her speech at the Hyatt Regency Chicago early this morning. SPEECH EXCERPT FROM SHEILA BAIR, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION (FDIC): "I will be speaking to the American Bankers Association later this morning and one of my messages will be to get in there and support the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). The Administration has proposed a new Consumer Protection Agency to establish consistent consumer protection standards for banks and non-banks. I strongly support this new agency....Looking at indecipherable credit card statement and documents and mortgages you can't understand and APRs from Payday Loans and high overdraft fees - I don't see how anybody can say that we've done a good job protecting consumers and financial services. I just don't see it..... The absence of a national standard was a contributing factor to our current economic turmoil - this uneven nature of regulatory protections and this lack of strong standards that apply across the board. This new agency would eliminate regulatory gaps between insured institutions and non-banks, consistent with the need for consumer protection standards across the board. And it would address another gap with authority - to examine for the first time non-bank financial providers. We need an examination and enforcement, not just rules, but examination and enforcement as well. By regulating the non-bank shadow sector for the first time, this new agency CAN help future abuses. I hope to see other measures being taken that will create a more resilient, transparent and better regulated financial system, including an end to the 'Too Big to Fail' doctrine. Yes, no more bail outs. No more bail outs." Full release.

Expeditionary Learning Schools (ELS), a national school improvement organization, has added 19 schools this year. The ELS network now includes 165 schools in 29 states and the District of Columbia, reaching approximately 46,000 students and 4075 teachers. The increased national impact of ELS follows another year of strong test scores in ELS schools across the country. ELS provides intensive teacher training and school coaching to schools of all kinds -- elementary, middle, and high schools; charter schools and district schools; urban, suburban, and rural schools; and schools with a broad range of student populations -- that wish to improve student achievement and engage students deeply in their learning. Many districts see partnerships with ELS as vital to their district-wide improvement plans. Jean-Claude Brizard, Superintendent of the Rochester City School District in Rochester, NY, notes the importance of the district's expanding partnership with ELS: "Expeditionary Learning plays an integral part in our plan for expanding our portfolio of high-performing, high-demand schools. We're looking forward to offering an EL continuum from K-12 to meet the needs of our students and families." Full release.

Too little attention is paid to improving the delivery of clinical preventive services to adolescents by addressing problems unique to that population, says a new study commissioned by Partnership for Prevention. Most of the clinical preventive services that are recommended for adolescents also don't have good evidence to support their effectiveness, say authors of the study, which appears in the current online edition and the November print edition of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The review article, "Clinical Preventive Services for Adolescents," is freely available to the public electronically at www.ajpm-online.net/article/S0749-3797(09)00490-5/abstract. It sheds light on the lack of attention that's been given to preventive health and wellness recommendations for adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17. "We need to encourage both more clinical effectiveness research on clinical preventive services for adolescents and changes in the ways medical practices serving adolescents approach improving delivery rates," said Leif I. Solberg, MD, the study's chief author who is Associate Medical Director for Care Improvement Research, HealthPartners Medical Group. Full release.

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) released a new report today that finds only five states have published a strategic climate change plan that includes a public health response. This includes planning for health challenges and emergencies expected to develop from natural disasters, pollution, and infectious diseases as temperatures and sea levels rise. The Health Problems Heat Up: Climate Change and the Public's Health report examines U.S. planning for changing health threats posed by climate change, such as heat-related sickness, respiratory infections, natural disasters, changes to the food supply, and infectious diseases carried by insects. "The changing environment has serious ramifications for our health," said Jeff Levi, PhD, Executive Director of TFAH. "In the near future, more extreme weather events, rising temperatures, and worsening air quality mean we'll see an upswing in climate-related illnesses and injuries. Full release.

As lawmakers debate health care reform, business innovator Lou Weisbach and Clinton White House health care advisor Dr. Richard Boxer are available for interviews to discuss a glaring, missing element of the forthcoming health care legislation: reducing health care costs -- and saving lives -- by preventing and curing disease. The chilling reality is that the percentage of Americans who die of cancer today is unchanged from 1950. There is nothing in current health care reform legislation that provides for real change in the way we approach health care in our country. Weisbach and Boxer want to change that: they are co-creators of The American Center for Cures (ACC) initiative, which proposes that a "Manhattan Project" or "Moon Shot"-like urgency be applied to cure or prevent disease. Their idea is revolutionary: the creation of The ACC -- led by a cabinet-level Director of the Cures -- housed within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The ACC's mission: to cure a minimum of three diseases within the next seven years. Full release.

Confirming the full impact of the global recession, philanthropic giving for health care in the United States grew a tepid 2.9 percent -- or about $241 million -- to $8.6 billion in 2008, while similar donations in Canada fell by a dramatic 12.9 percent, to total $1.07 billion, according to a new Report on Giving issued today by the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP). "The poor overall results for health care philanthropy shown by the AHP Report on Giving are a wakeup call for the Obama Administration and Congress," said William C. McGinly, Ph.D., CAE, president of the AHP. "The hit that wealthy individuals have taken in the total worth of their portfolios and holdings during the recession takes huge assets off the table and out of the giving equation. Compounding this scenario would be the Obama administration and Congress' attempts to limit the charitable deduction write off, thus dampening wealthy donors' incentive to give and further reducing charitable contributions to all philanthropic organizations." McGinly said, "While technically the recession is or will soon be over, AHP membership feels its impact will continue to impair giving to health care institutions for the near future." Full release.

While the economic recession has eroded the growth rate for medical tourism by approximately 13.6 percent from 2007 to 2009, the economic recovery may help spur a sustainable 35 percent annual growth rate for the medical tourism industry by 2010, according to a new report released today (www.deloitte.com/us/medicaltourism) by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions at the World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress in Los Angeles, California. "Barring any tempering factors, such as supply constraints, resistance from health plans, increased domestic competition or government policies, we project that outbound medical tourism could reach upwards of 1.6 million patients by 2012," said Paul Keckley, Ph.D. and executive director, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, based in Washington, D.C. "Medical tourism has transitioned from a cottage industry to an acceptable alternative for elective care that, despite the setbacks of the economic downturn, may begin to recover in 2010, as quality is better defined, new business models emerge, insurers, legislators and employers explore pilots and programs, health care providers become increasingly involved in coordinating care and consumers continue to test it out to explore savings." Full release.

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