HealthCetera Action News Update has a new name! Thanks to all our Twitter Challenge submissions and we are happy to announce we’ve chosen Robin Cogan‘s submission and thus moving forward this biweekly roundup will be Wide Angle Health!
This is the fifth edition of HealthCetera’s global health policy and media action news update curated by the Center’s Katherine (Kayte) Green. This bi-weekly round-up intends to keep our community apprised of up-to-date news, policies, economics and ideas important to policy and social issues facing national and international health. This selection gathers information from a wide range of sources including, but not limited to: health associations and organizations, news sources, government agencies, academic publications, policy centers, and other national and international experts.
NATIONAL NEWS
Transgender rights and health in the U.S.
As mandated by The Affordable Care Act (Section 1557), both under state and federal law, in most states it is illegal for health providers, insurance companies, and other health programs to discriminate against transgender people in many circumstances. This includes accepting Medicaid and Medicare payments. The National Center for Transgender Equality outlines the rights of the trans community and their healthcare in this document.
Despite the protection of transgender rights under the ACA, many in the community are experiencing discrimination based on their gender identity. However, in better news, three transgender Puerto Ricans won a lawsuit that allows them to legally change their birth certificate to match their gender identity. Read more below.
Transgender Woman Says CVS Pharmacist Refused to Fill Hormone Prescription
– The New York Times
CVS apologizes to a transgender woman for prescription denial
-The Washington Post
Bill Of The Month: A Plan For Affordable Gender-Confirmation Surgery Goes Awry
-NPR
A Transgender Woman’s Quest For Surgery Caught In Political Crosswinds
-Kaiser Health News
Judge Deems State Health Policy Denying Treatment For Transgender Medicaid Recipients Unlawful
-WPR News
Three transgender Puerto Ricans win suit to change gender markers
-The Hill
Washington:
Congressman Introduces National Public Health Act
-US House of Representatives
On July 24, 2018 “Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) introduced the National Public Health Act (H.R. 6481) to hold corporations accountable for actions that hurt public health…The National Public Health Act would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to work with the National Academy of Medicine to establish and continuously update a list of public health crises. In addition, the Secretary of HHS would be required to develop a list of products that contribute to these public health crises. “
-The U.S. House of Representatives Committee of Appropriations
July 26th, 2018 was the deadline to reunify thousands of migrant children separated at the border. However, the administration said “they will not be able to reunify all of them. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) more than 900 children aren’t eligible to be reunified due to their parent’s criminal history and other factors. In up to 463 cases, the parent has already left the US, whether voluntarily or after being deported. DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has said that every parent was given the option to take their child with them and many declined.”
Other News:
Can A Community Hospital Stay True To Its Mission After Sale To Large Corporation?
-Kaiser Health News
U.S. Is Unprepared for the Health Challenges of Climate Change, Experts Warn
-Scientific America
Climate change impacts a wide-range of health outcomes. The Centers for Disease Control outlined the most significant climate change impacts (rising temperatures, more extreme weather, rising sea levels, and increasing carbon dioxide levels), their effect on exposures, and the subsequent health outcomes that can result from these changes in exposures.
GLOBAL NEWS
ALZHEIMER’S AND WOMEN
Health: Why Alzheimer’s hits women harder than men
–BBC
Over 50 million people worldwide live with dementia. Experts project that by 2030 75 million people and by 2050 131.5 million will be living with this disease(s) that affect brain processing and memory retention. The majority of those living with dementia-related diseases like Alzheimer’s are women; representing two-thirds of those suffering from the disease in American. Additionally, US women over the age of sixty are at greater risk to develop Alzheimer’s than breast cancer. In Australia, England, and Wales dementia has lapped heart disease as the leading cause of death. Funding for research to address dementia-related diseases is significantly lower than other diseases. There is a need for a paradigm shift fueled by research that factors in gender differences.
Women and Alzheimer’s was a focal point at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference® (AAIC®) this week. As reported out from this conference, the following articles highlight
Women’s Alzheimer’s test needed as superior verbal skills mask onset of the disease
– The Telegraph
Why Alzheimer’s May Be Tougher to Spot in Women
– HealthDay
Women Bear Alzheimer’s Burden; Researchers Are Trying to Discover Why
– CNN
Hormone Levels Likely Influence A Woman’s Risk of Alzheimer’s. But Exactly How?
– NPR
Schützen Schwangerschaften vor Demenz?
– Spektrum.de
Other News:
A simple pair of eyeglasses increases earnings and productivity for tea pickers in India
-Devex
– BMJ Journal
Mummies Speak to Us via Ancient Bacteria
-Medium
AIDS/HIV
-Health Policy Watch
A look at PEPFAR’s strategy: Controversies and motivations
-Devex
-Health Policy Watch
Global Health News Resources:
WEEKLY OP-ED
(Unsponsored and unsolicited)
The Hemorrhage of Emergency Nurses
Dr. Rada Jones, an emergency physician poses the question: Why is everyone leaving the ER and what should Emergency Departments do about it? In particular she is referring to her nurse colleagues.
“A few years ago my friends, the ED nurses, started leaving. Some retired. Some moved to winter friendly places where ice only lives in cocktail glasses. Some went into travel nursing to see the world. Most of them, however, didn’t go far. Their only point was to leave the ED. They went to the ICU, to surgery, to administrative jobs, to NP school. Few of today’s ED nurses were here five years ago. Even fewer were here before me…What happened? Why are they leaving? Where are they? I polled them on Facebook, expecting some answers. I got a ton.” Read More.
Rada Jones, MD, is an Emergency Physician. She practices in Upstate New York where she lives with her husband, Steve, Gypsy Rose Lee, her German shepherd, and a deaf black cat named Paxil. She is finishing her first novel, “Overdose, an ER Thriller” where a lot of people die in unnatural but exciting ways. Find more at RadaJonesMD.com, instagram RadaJonesMD and twitter @JonesRada.
Katherine (Kayte) Green works for the George Washington School of Nursing’s Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement. She holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Service Development. The focus of her research is gender equity and empowerment. She is passionate about working on unresolved social issues that deal with health, gender rights, LGBTQ, risk reduction, the arts, and justice. She has a background in social sciences and fine arts. Prior to joining GW, Kayte has worked in global and national health advocacy, development, and policy.
To subscribe and submit content to Wide Angle Health email: nursingpolicy@gwu.edu
