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Lowell Elementary Closes Due To High Rate Of Influenza Like Illness
Today, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health in cooperation with Phoenix Elementary School District has closed Lowell Elementary School until May 26, 2009 due to a high rate of influenza like illness.
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Complications Of Image-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation Of Renal Cell Carcinoma: Causes, Imaging Features And Prevention Methods
UroToday.com - Radiofrequency (RF) ablation of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been accepted as a minimally invasive treatment for patients who are not able to undergo surgery1. These patients have such poor medical conditions that they can have a higher risk of postoperative morbidity or mortality compared to the general population.
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Examines Effects Of Maternal Mortality On Infants In Tanzania
The New York Times on Thursday examined the effects of maternal mortality on infants in Tanzania, many of whom live in village orphanages after their mothers" deaths. The article is the last in a three-part series on pregnancy- and childbirth-related deaths in the country. The Times reports that 250,000 women die annually during pregnancy or childbirth in Africa as the result of bleeding, infection, high blood pressure, prolonged labor and botched abortions. Although many of these problems can be treated or prevented with basic obstetrical care, Tanzania has too few physicians, nurses and drugs -- and is short on equipment, ambulances and paved roads -- to address the issue. Women who die during pregnancy often are survived by their infants. The newborns do not have access to breastmilk, and formula and baby food are not widely available in the country. To avoid malnutrition and infection, the infants often are taken to orphanages that can provide basic care until they reach age two or three, and then they are returned to their extended families. The article profiled an innovative program at the Berega Orphanage that is being widely replicated in Africa. The "program is designed to meet the infants" emotional as well as physical needs," by having "teenage girls from their extended families living with [the infants] at the orphanage," the Times reports. The girls -- known as "bintis" in Swahili -- learn how to take care of the infants and are then better able to take care of them when they return to their villages. Ute Klatt, a German missionary and nurse who has been the director of the orphanage for 10 years, explains that "the families weren"t visiting, and it was hard to reintegrate the children." With the bintis, "the children grow up more normally, as they might at home," she said (Grady, New York Times, 6/25).
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Long-Term Care Proposal Draws Opposition

The insurance industry opposes a long-term care proposal called the CLASS Act, currently included in two major health care reform measures. Roll Call reports: "The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee package and the House health care reform bill include the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, which would set up a government-run insurance program to provide seniors or disabled people with about $75 per day to help pay for home care or expenses for assisted living or nursing homes. Introduced by HELP Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), the CLASS Act would automatically enroll participants and charge them premiums averaging around $65 a month. Participants would be 18 years or older, but anyone could opt out of the plan. Supporters say such a plan is a necessary part of health care reform and would not interfere with private insurers. But companies that currently have a stake in the private long-term care insurance market argue that the government should stay out of that business." Roll Call reports: "A Senate aide working on the bill draws a distinction between private long-term care insurance and the bill"s intention to cover "long-term services and supports." This aide, speaking on background, added that the CLASS Act is not designed to put insurers out of business" (Ackley, 7/29). McKnight"s Long Term Care News also reports: "The American Association for Long Term Care Insurance counters that the bill cannot deliver as promised. Its just-released report finds that a $50 daily benefit will require monthly payment closer to $110, not the $65 being promoted. The study also asserts that a new government fund established for such coverage will go broke by 2027. Another obstacle: adverse selection. In other words, people in poorer health will be more likely to sign up for the benefit, the group claims" (7/28). 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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