Each year more than 1 million babies born prematurely before 37 weeks of development in the womb or within the first month of life the “March of Dimes said Sunday in the first comprehensive global report on premature births,” CNN reports. Nearly 10 percent of total births worldwide, or 12.9 million infants, are preterm, the study found (10/4).

“The problem is concentrated in poor countries, with the vast majority of … premature babies born each year in Africa and Asia [based on total numbers], according to the report,” the Associated Press/ New York Times writes (10/4). In Africa, 11.9 percent of babies are born premature, followed by North America (10.6 percent), Asia (9.1 percent), Latin America and the Caribbean (8.1 percent), Australia and New Zealand Trustedtablets (6.4 percent) and Europe (6.2 percent), the Washington Post reports (Brown, 10/5).

The report notes, “Wherever trend data are available, rates of preterm birth are increasing.” In addition, “babies who survive premature birth face lifelong health risks, including the possible development of cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss, learning disabilities and other chronic conditions, according to the March of Dimes,” CNN writes (10/4).

Christopher Howson, a March of Dimes researcher who worked on the report, said that not much is known about the causes of preterm birth in the developing world. But he said malnutrition, malaria, anemia and inadequate prenatal care are probably contributing factors, the Washington Post reports (10/5).

According to Agence FrancePresse, Jennifer Howse, March of Dimes president, said, “If world leaders are serious about reaching the United Nations Millennium Development Goals to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health, then strategies and funding for reducing death and disability related to preterm birth must receive priority” (10/4).

The new paper includes data from the WHO Bulletin. In a March of Dimes/EurekAlert! release, the organization said the WHOs “figures are conservative = counting only singleton preterm births, for example and likely underestimates the true magnitude of the worldwide crisis of preterm birth” (10/4).

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.

The study

Over a period of two years, 30 scientist lead by Associate Professor Peter Krustrup, University of Copenhagen, have investigated physiological, sociological and psychological aspects of womens soccer in comparison to running. 100 untrained adult premenopausal women have participated in the study.

The women (65 participated in the physiological study) were randomly divided into three groups One soccer group, one running group and one control group. The soccer players and runners trained twice a week for one hour. After four and sixteen weeks, all the subjects went through extensive physiological tests. The same 65 subjects + another 35 women playing in soccer clubs were continually observed and interviewed to study the sociological and psychological effects of their training.

Soccer players stick to their game

Many women find it difficult to fit in sport and exercise in their busy daily lives, and many state family and especially small children as the main reason for not finding the time.

The study reveals that contrary to common assumption, the flexibility of running as exercise form actually makes running harder to stick to for most women than soccer, which requires a fixed time and place.

“What is really interesting is that the soccer players differed from the runners in their motivation. The runners were motivated by the idea of getting in shape and improving health. But the soccer players focused on the game itself and were motivated by the social interaction and by having fun with others. As it turns out, the soccer players got in better shape than the runners, and that combined with the social benefits makes soccer a great alternative to running”, says Associate Professor Laila Ottesen and continues

“The women who played soccer have continued their soccer training as a group whereas few of the women in the running group continued running after the study. Actually, some of the women from the running group joined teams with the soccer group after the project finished.”

Why soccer players are more fit

When choosing a sport, women tend to favour cardiovascular training to strength training although the buildup of muscles and bone strength are vital to preserve health into old age.

“While playing soccer, the women have high heart rates and perform many sprints, turns, kicks and tackles, making soccer an effective integration of both cardio and strength training”, says project leader Peter Krustrup.

“Our study shows that the 16 weeks of recreational womens soccer causes marked improvement in maximal oxygen uptake, muscle mass and physical performance, including the endurance, intermittent exercise and sprinting ability, explains Peter Krustrup, and continues, “This makes soccer a very favourable choice of exercise training for women.

In the recent decade, we have seen a significant rise in women and girls playing soccer. It seems as though women are really beginning to take in soccer and make it a popular sport for women on their own terms. This is a very positive step forward, not only because of the improved physical fitness and health profile but also for the enjoyment of sports”, Krustrup concludes.

Publication plans

The present results will be submitted online in the highlevel international journal Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports next week (Bangsbo, Nielsen, Mohr, Randers, Krustrup, Brito, Nybo and Krustrup. Performance enhancements and muscular adaptations of a 16week recreational football intervention for untrained women. Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2009).

In January 2010, the same journal will publish a supplementum describing multiple health effects of recreational football for various subject groups, including men, women, young and elderly. The supplementum includes one review and 13 original scientific papers.

The data will also be presented at the Scandinavian Congress of Medicine and Science in Sports 2010, Copenhagen, Denmark, 46 February 2010, and at the 3rd International Football Medicine Conference in Sun City, South Africa, 1921 February 2010.

The project group currently includes collaborators from Switzerland, Norway and Italy, and major applications are currently being processed to include collaborators from England, Portugal, Belgium, Australia and Kenya.

Funding
The work has been financially supported by FMARC, The Danish Ministry of Culture, The Danish Football Association and The Danish Sport Federation, The Danish Gymnastics and Sports Associations and by 3F (United Federation of Danish Workers).

Source
Peter Krustrup

Most people dont think twice about the ability to choose the movie they want to watch, the book they want to read or with whom they will have coffee. But what if you didnt have the choice, or were never taught how to make decisions regarding leisure activities? Thats the reality for some women living in group homes according to a new study from the University of Alberta.

Brenda RossowKimball, who did postgraduate research with Donna Goodwin, in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, investigated the leisure experiences of five women with intellectual disabilities in two group homes. They found major differences in how leisure was experienced in each group home. In one, the women were provided with support and encouraged to make their own decisions about how they used their leisure time; there was a genuine interest in the women engaging in independent spontaneous leisure, according to RossowKimball. In the other home leisure was supervised by the staff, scheduled into the activities of the home, and managed by the staff, which, the researchers say, doesnt teach the women how to discover what they like to do for leisure.

The stark contrast of selfdirected leisure against staffdirected leisure time concerned both researchers because the women in the study are approaching retirement and will soon have a lot of free time on their hands.

“If we dont provide people with the opportunity to experience choice and to learn leisure skills, their longawaited retirement time could be quite empty,” said Goodwin.

The findings are published in Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly.

Notes
Quinn Phillips

An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy where the fertilized egg settles and grows outside the inner lining of the uterus (not in the uterus). The uterus is the womb. Most ectopic pregnancies occur in the Fallopian tube known as a tubular pregnancy but they can also occur in the cervix (neck of the womb), abdominal cavity and ovary.

Slightly over 1% of all pregnancies are ectopic pregnancies. In a normal pregnancy the egg should be fertilized by the sperm in a fallopian tube; the fertilized egg then travels into the uterus (womb) and implants itself in the lining of the uterus. The embryo develops into a fetus and remains in the uterus until the baby is born.

An ectopic pregnancy that remains untreated may kill the mother. For example, the fallopian tube can rupture, causing internal abdominal bleeding and serious blood loss. These days, very few ectopic pregnancies result in death. Out of 31,000 ectopic pregnancies that occurred in the UK from 2000 to 2002, eleven women died, or 0.035% of the total (according to The National Health Service, UK).What are the signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy?The initial signs and symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy are the same as any normal pregnancy, and includeMissing a menstrual periodFatigue (tiredness) NauseaBreast tendernessIf it is an ectopic pregnancy, the distinctive signs and symptoms will appear between weeks 4 and 10 of the pregnancy. Symptoms may includePain on one side of the abdomen. The pain may be severe and continuous.
Vaginal bleeding bleeding will be lighter or darker than menstrual bleeding, and is usually less viscous (more watery). In some cases a woman may not know she is pregnant and think her period has come.
Shoulder tip pain this is usually a sign that internal bleeding is occurring. Experts say the bleeding irritates the phrenic nerve, which causes referred pain in the shoulder. Referred pain is pain which exists in one part of the body but is felt by the patient in another part.
Pain when passing urine.
Pain when passing stools (feces).
Collapse if the fallopian tubes rupture the woman may collapse, due to serious internal bleeding. When the fallopian tubes rupture it is a medical emergency. The woman may

Feel light headedFeel faintFeel sickHave diarrheaFeel something is seriously wrongLook very paleOver half of all women with an ectopic pregnancy have no symptoms until they experience a collapse. Any woman who thinks she is pregnant again after previously having an ectopic pregnancy should tell her doctor immediately in order to find out whether the current pregnancy is ectopic.

In most cases fallopian tube rupture is successfully treated. It can be fatal, but this is very rare today if the patient receives treatment.What are the risk factors for ectopic pregnancy? A risk factor is something that increases your risk of developing a condition or disease. For example, smoking regularly significantly increases your risk of developing lung cancer; hence, smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer. The risk factors for ectopic pregnancy areHaving had an ectopic pregnancy before women who have had a prior ectopic pregnancy have a 10% risk of having a subsequent ectopic pregnancy.
Age while a 25yearold womans risk is 1%, a 44yearold woman who becomes pregnant has an 8% risk of having an ectopic pregnancy.
Salpingitis women who have had salpingitis (inflammation of the fallopian tube) have a higher risk of ectopic pregnancy.
Other infections infections of the uterus or ovaries (pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID) increase the risk of subsequent ectopic pregnancies. Some STDs, such as gonorrhea or Chlamydia, also increase the risk of PID.
Smoking women who smoke are more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy compared to women who dont.
Ovulation medications women with fertility problems who have been taking drugs to stimulate ovulation are more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy, compared to other women.
Fallopian tube abnormality a woman who has an abnormallyshaped fallopian tube, or a fallopian tube that has been damaged runs a higher risk of ectopic pregnancy. Fallopian tube damage may have been caused by surgery.
Previous surgery such as a Csection (Cesarean section) or surgical fibroid removal.
Taking contraceptive if a woman is taking the contraceptive pill or an IUD (intrauterine device) and gets pregnant she has a higher chance of having an ectopic pregnancy.
Tubal ligation in the unlikely event of becoming pregnant after a tubal ligation (having the tubes tied), there is a greater chance that that pregnancy is an ectopic one. 47% of women who have an ectopic pregnancy have none of the risk factors mentioned above.What causes an ectopic pregnancy? The fertilized egg becomes stuck on its way to the uterus. This usually occurs because the fallopian tube is scarred, has an abnormal shape or is damaged. In many cases nobody knows what the specific cause was.How is an ectopic pregnancy diagnosed? Blood test HCG (chorionic gonadotropin), a hormone, is produced in pregnancy and detected in a blood test women with a normal pregnancy will have high levels of HCG. If HCG levels are lower than normal for pregnancy, it could be a sign of an ectopic pregnancy.
Urine test a urine test can only tell whether an egg has been fertilized whether the woman is pregnant. It cannot distinguish between an ectopic or normal pregnancy.
Transvaginal ultrasound this is an ultrasound scan through the vagina and can sometimes confirm an ectopic pregnancy. Sound waves are emitted by an ultrasound probe that has been inserted in the vagina. The sound waves bounce off the vaginal wall and other tissue; a computer uses the ultrasound echoes to create a sonogram (a picture). If it is too early to detect an ectopic pregnancy and the diagnosis is doubtful, the doctor may monitor the patients condition with blood tests until the ectopic pregnancy can either be confirmed or ruled out through a subsequent ultrasound some time later.What are the treatment options for ectopic pregnancy? Several treatment options are possible if diagnosis is made before the fallopian tube ruptures.Surgery the embryo is surgically removed using laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery. The surgeon makes a small incision near or in the navel, inserts a thin tube with a camera and light at the end (laparoscope) to view the area. Other surgical instruments are inserted into a tube or through other small incisions to remove the ectopic tissue. If the fallopian tube is damaged it will either be removed or repaired.
Medication if the ectopic pregnancy is detected soon enough methotrexate is injected into the patients muscle or directly into the fallopian tube to halt cell growth and dissolve existing cells. The patient is then monitored for blood levels of HCG (chorionic gonadotropin). If blood HCG levels do not drop, the patient may receive another injection. This drug can cause abdominal pain as a side effect.
Wait and see if the symptoms are very mild the doctor may recommend waiting to see how things develop. Often, ectopic pregnancies terminate on their own. Ruptured fallopian tube if the fallopian tube ruptures (bursts) the patient will need emergency surgery. If possible the fallopian tube will be repaired, if not it will be removed.What are the possible complications of an ectopic pregnancy? A complication is more likely to occur if diagnosis or treatment is either delayed or never done. A woman who has an ectopic pregnancy and does not get timely diagnosis/treatment is more likely to experience severe internal bleeding, which can lead to shock. Shock in some cases can be fatal.

Delayed treatment can also result in damage to the fallopian tube; significantly raising the risk of further ectopic pregnancies in future.

There is also a risk of depression and sadness if the woman worries about the possibility of never being able to have a healthy pregnancy. It is important to remember that even if a fallopian tube is removed it is still possible to get pregnant. If both are removed IVF (invitro fertilization) is still an option.PreventionAlthough there is nothing a woman can do to prevent the occurrence of an ectopic pregnancy developing, she can reduce her risk of having a PID (pelvic inflammatory disease), which can damage the fallopian tubes. STIs (sexually transmitted infections), such as Chlamydia and gonorrhea are one of the main causes of PID. Therefore, “safe sex” using a male condom helps reduce the risk of catching an STI.

As smoking is known to increase the risk of having an ectopic pregnancy, giving it up would lower the risk.

The New York Times examines how “[a] set of proposed international sex education guidelines aimed at reducing H.I.V. infections among young people” and unplanned pregnancies, based on “more than 80 studies of sex education,” has received some criticism. The release of the final guidelines, originally scheduled for next week by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), has been delayed. They would have been “distributed to education ministries, school systems and teachers around the world to help guide teachers in what to teach young people about their bodies, sex, relationships and sexually transmitted diseases,” the newspaper writes (Erlanger, 9/2).

“The goal is simple with contraception often not an option in many parts of the world and vaccines to prevent diseases like AIDS still unavailable UNESCO hopes that teaching children more about the risks of sexual activity will help them steer clear of such perils,” TIME reports. “The organization believes this could be one way to scale back the 111 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases reported among people aged 10 to 24 globally each year, and similarly reduce the 4.4 million abortions sought by women aged 15 to 19 annually” (Stirton, 9/3).

The New York Times writes, “[a] draft [of the guidelines] issued in June has been attacked by conservative and religious groups, mainly in the United States, for recommending discussions of homosexuality, describing sexual abstinence as only one of a range of choices available to young people to prevent disease and unwanted pregnancy, and suggesting a discussion of masturbation with children as young as 5.” The groups have also expressed concerns over how the draft guidelines address condom use and abortion, and they maintain the guidelines “are too detailed and too uniform in their recommendations across different cultures, and they remove responsibility from parents.” According to the New York Times, UNESCO “says that it will present a new draft [next week], and that it hopes to produce the final guidelines by the end of the year” (9/2).

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.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday in Kenya “reaffirmed the new U.S. administrations commitment towards expanding its partnership with African countries, expressing optimism in the continents longterm potential for growth and development,” VOA News reports. Speaking at the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum in Nairobi, which marked the start of her 11day trip to Africa, Clinton “also stressed to the delegates that economic progress is tied directly to good governance (Boswell, 8/5). Clintons message was that the “new American policy for Africa would be trade not aid,” according to the New York Times. She told the forum, “We want to be your partner, not your patron” (Gettleman, 8/5).

“We believe in Africas promise. We are committed to Africas future and we will be partners with Africas people,” she said, adding that Africans should focus on womens rights in order to expand economic growth, CNN reports. “The social, political and economic marginalization of women across Africa has left a void in this continent that undermines progress and prosperity every day,” according to Clinton (8/5). She said that economic progress in Africa “also depends on responsible governments that reject corruption, enforce the rule of law and deliver results for their people,” adding, “This is not just about good governance, this is about good business,” according to Reuters.

Reuters reports that President Obama said in a videotaped message after Clinton spoke, “Only Africans can unlock Africas potential” (Pleming, 8/5). “To all Africans who are pursuing a future of hope and opportunity, know this you have a partner and a friend in the United States,” he said, Agence FrancePresse writes (Tandon, 8/5).

Ahead of the meeting in Kenya, Tom Vilsack, the U.S. agriculture secretary, said the U.S. wants to reduce Africas dependence on food handouts and address the continents food shortages by adopting a sustainable approach, Reuters reports. “This is not something where we come in and say this is the way you need to do it, it is where we come in and say how are you doing it and how can we help you do it better,” Vilsack said. He said some of the areas being considered included offering affordable credit to farmers, supporting women farmers and providing new technology to encourage irrigation in some areas (Miriri, 8/4).

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.

A recent Obama administration legal filing clears the way for foreign women who have experienced severe domestic beatings and sexual abuse to receive asylum in the U.S., the New York Times reports. The administration stated its position in an April immigration appeals court filing involving a Mexican woman, identified only by her initials, who is seeking asylum in the U.S. because of fear that her abusive commonlaw husband would kill her. The Times reports that the woman recently consented to having her confidential case documents disclosed to the newspaper.

The filing reverses the governments stance under former President George W. Bush. According to the Times, lawyers say that the Obama administration “has marked a clear, although narrow, pathway for battered women seeking asylum, … after 13 years of tangled court arguments.” Bush administration lawyers had argued as recently as last year that the Mexican woman and others like her could not meet the standards of U.S. asylum law, the Times reports. Applicants for U.S. asylums or refugee status must show a “wellfounded fear of persecution” because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or “membership in a particular social group.” The legal debate has been whether women can be included under those terms.

According to the Obama administrations court filing, foreign women who experience abuse would have to prove that their abusers treat them as subordinates and little better than property. They would also have to show that abuse is widely accepted in their country. In addition, they would need to demonstrate that they are unable to find protections from their countries institutions or by moving somewhere else in their country. The policy does not apply to women fleeing genital mutilation, the Times reports. The Department of Homeland Security has not recommended asylum for the woman. However, DHS senior lawyers wrote in the filing that “it is possible” for her “and other applicants who have experienced domestic violence could qualify for asylum.”

Under the Clinton administration, Attorney General Janet Reno proposed regulations to clarify the asylum law, but they have never taken effect. DHS lawyers in 2004 raised the possibility of asylum for domestic violence victims, but it was never put into practice in immigration court, according to Karen Musalo, director of the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies at the University of California Hastings College of the Law. “This really opens the door to the protection of women who have suffered these kinds of violations,” Musalo said.

DHS officials said they now are returning to the 2004 position of stipulating conditions narrow enough to allow domestic violence victims to gain asylum in only a limited number of cases. Matt Chandler, a DHS spokesperson, said, “Although each case is highly factdependent and requires scrutiny of the specific threat an applicant faces, the department continues to view domestic violence as a possible basis for asylum in the United States” (Preston, New York Times, 7/16).

Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Womens Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Womens Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.

The evidence is in. Estrogen does not halt aging or protect women from heart disease and dementia, nor is it the safest or best treatment for the hot flashes, night sweats and the insomnia that are associated with menopause and perimenopause. Quite simply estrogen is not a good and magical hormone as Susan Baxter, PhD., and Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, painstakingly prove in their book, The Estrogen Errors; Why Progesterone is Better for Womens Health.

“The Womens Health Initiative, the largest (in history) clinical trial of womens hormones conclusively showed that our infatuation with estrogen was just plain wrong.” Baxter adds, “They followed almost 28,000 women finding that menopausal women who took the placebo instead of estrogen or estrogen/progestin were healthier. Yet even now, women are being told it wasnt the estrogen that was at fault but the dosage and timing.”

“For over 30 years,” Prior notes, “I have worked with my patients, designed studies to address womens unanswered questions, and conducted randomized trials on the subject of hormones and health. Our book shows that contrary to the estrogen myth, its progesterone with estrogen that makes a girl, a woman. One researcher refusing to believe me asserted that progesterone is evil.”

In their lively, indepth book, Baxter and Prior put to rest the debate about hormone replacement therapy and explain how too much estrogen can dangerously increase a womans risk of breast cancer, strokes, blood clots and more. Based on scientific evidence, personal experience, case studies, historical and sociological analyses, this readable book explains how progesterone, which balances out estrogen during each menstrual cycle, is essential for optimal health.

Baxter, an experienced medical journalist and social scientist, has extensively investigated the medical and popular literature about hormones and womens health. With her almost encyclopedic knowledge about the literature, Baxter needed to buttress her theoretical understanding and analysis with specific medical information and clinical insights. So she turned to Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, MD.

Prior, a pioneering endocrinologist; founder of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CEMCOR); and professor of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, has worked tirelessly and against considerable odds to educate medical practitioners and women everywhere about the importance of progesterone for women.

Estrogen Errors, a book written for lay people, doctors, and other interested professionals, moves us beyond the good and evil hormone discussion. Its an examination of how we got here and how we can move forward to a more balanced view of the reproductive hormones necessary for a womans health throughout her life cycle.

Notes

Estrogen Errors (Praeger Publishers, May 30 2009.)

Susan Baxter, PhD, is a medical writer and social scientist with more than 20 years experience writing about medical controversies. Her previous books include Immune Power and Evaluation in the Health Care Sector. She is a peer reviewer for articles on clinical decision making and policy for the Canadian Medical Association Journal. She has written extensively for physicians (Family Practice, Medical Post) as well as the lay public (Psychology Today, Health Watch, etc.) She is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Dr. Jerilynn C. Prior, MD is a Professor of Medicine, Endocrinology at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). She is the founder and Scientific Director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research (CeMCOR) and has published 100 peerreviewed scientific articles in medical journals including The New England Journal of Medicine and the Lancet. Prior is invited as a Visiting Lecturer at institutions across Canada and the US (including the New York Academy of Sciences and Harvard School of Public Health) as well as internationally. She is author of the awardwinning book, Estrogens Storm Season Stories of Perimenopause (CeMCOR, 2005, Vancouver, Canada).

Source
Brian Lin

UN Launches Pilot Study In Uganda That Uses Text Messages To Promote Public Health

The U.N. has launched a tenday pilot project in Jinja, Uganda, that uses mobile phones to educate the public about health, the Monitor reports. As part of the Texting4Health initiative, an estimated 10,000 people will receive “a short health quiz using text messages,” according to the Monitor (Luggya, Monitor, 6/11).

CNN Examines Chagas Disease In Latin America

CNN examines Chagas disease, a “parasitic illness carried by a particular Latin American bug,” which affects about 16 to 18 million people each year and kills 50,000 people annually. The vinchuca bug carries the infection, which is transmitted when they bite or are “unknowingly eaten in uncooked food, or rubbed in the eye,” according to CNN. Although it is treatable in its early stages, people often do not know when they have been infected and the disease can cause fatal heart problems years later. The article examines other challenges related to the disease, including effective testing and a lack of highquality drugs (CNN, 6/10).

Progress On Infant Mortality Rates, Maternal Mortality Still High In Botswana

Although Botswana has made progress in infant health care, maternal mortality rates remain high and could prevent the country from achieving U.N. Millennium Development Goal targets, Sheenaz El Halabi, the countrys director of public health, said on Tuesday, Mmegi reports. She said the health ministry has a strategy “to deliver high impact interventions at large scale in order to reduce the deaths of children and mothers” (Baputaki, Mmegi, 6/10).

Nigerian Minister Calls For Expanded Community Health Program

Nigerian Minister of State for Health Aliyu Idi Hong called for expansion of the CommunityDirected Interventions (CDI) program in health worker training programs at a “threeday meeting of health experts and senior academics from 12 African countries,” in Abuja, Nigeria, Afrique en ligne reports. The CDI approach is currently used in more than 120,000 communities throughout Africa for the treatment for river blindness (Afrique en ligne, 6/10).

Economic Downturn Compromises Health Programs In Swaziland

Inter Press Service News Agency examines the impact that the global economic downturn is having on Swazilands health system. Onethird of Swazilands “national health budget which comes directly from donor agencies is abruptly drying up,” even as inflation in the region has increased, according to IPS. The impacts are forcing changes to tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS programs (Phakathi, IPS, 6/9).

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.

Senate Democrats on Tuesday announced that confirmation hearings for Judge Sonia Sotomayors nomination to the Supreme Court are set to begin on July 13, the New York Times reports. According to Democrats, the schedule puts the Senate on track to confirm Sotomayor before the August recess. By the Thursday before the recess, 72 days will have elapsed since President Obama nominated Sotomayor, which is the same number of days that passed during the confirmation process for Chief Justice John Roberts (Herszenhorn, New York Times, 6/10).

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (DVt.) said, “There is no reason to unduly delay consideration of this wellqualified nominee.” He said that critics attacks on her character are “compelling reasons to proceed even ahead of this schedule,” adding that Sotomayor needs to be given a chance to respond to her critics (Isenstadt/Raju, Politico, 6/9).

Republican senators have started a campaign to stall the confirmation process, saying they need more time to review her judicial record (LoBianco, Washington Times, 6/10). Republican senators had requested to delay the hearing until September. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (RKy.) said that Democrats are acting “unilaterally” and “being dismissive of the minoritys legitimate concerns for a fair and thorough process.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (DNev.) said he discussed the timeline with Obama and Leahy, both of whom had reviewed a letter from McConnell that expressed concerns about the process starting before September. According to Reid, Obama and Leahy went ahead with an earlier schedule after concluding that the timetable was similar to that of past nominations (New York Times, 6/10).

Reprinted with kind permission from nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Womens Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Womens Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2009 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.