Long-awaiting United Nation Women's Agency Now Within Reach
The creation of a new United Nations (UN) agency for women would dramatically improve the international response to the autoimmune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic, said the AIDS-Free World at the XVII International AIDS Conference in Mexico in August 2008. Until now, the UN's response to women has been fragmented and incoherent. However, UN member states were posed to adopt a resolution at the 63rd session of the UN General Assembly in September 2008 to establish a new agency. The ideal model, said advocates of women's rights, would combine and significantly strengthen the 4 tiny, understaffed, and poorly funded parts of the UN currently devoted to women's issues; it would be led by an undersecretary general with decision-making authority at the top ranks of the UN system, would lean on the expertise of civil society, and would have an initial budget of at least $1 billion dollars.
AIDS-Free World has been petitioning the international community for more than 2 years to create a new UN agency that would give appropriate representation to 52% of the world's population and bring expertise to gender issues, including the grossly disproportionate impact of the AIDS pandemic on women and girls. The AIDS pandemic has exacted a carnage among women that knows no parallel in modern history. In sub-Saharan Africa, home to more than two-thirds of people living with the virus, some 60% of infected adults are women. Three of 4 young people in the region who are living with HIV are females.
The creation of a well-funding, dedicated UN agency to promote women's human rights and advance the worldwide struggle for gender equality has never been more urgent. Advocacy to ensure that member states adopt this resolution is a top priority for AIDS-Free World. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Healthcare: Perceived Lack of Quality Leads to Consumer Rating Web Sites
A unique Web site that was launched in response to growing concerns about healthcare quality and satisfaction in the United States is WhereToFindCare.com (http://www.wheretofindcare.com). The new site lets visitors share their experiences, research quality data, review other users' ratings, and contact providers directly. The Web site is unique because it is free for consumers to use and its database includes more than 52,000 healthcare providers nationwide, such as hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, rehabilitation facilities, and home care agencies. Most other sites only focus on 1 of these 3 types of healthcare providers. Patients rate the care they received on a scale of 1 to 5, leave comments, and nominate an exceptional caregiver for recognition. Ratings are instantly aggregated and shared with the world, allowing future patients to learn from former patients' experiences before they choose a facility or service. In addition to patient feedback, visitors to the Web site can also view quality data on all facilities and amenities, photographs, and virtual tours of participating facilities. For more information, contact http://www.wheretofindcare.com/contactus.
New Survey Shows That Pain at Dressing Change is a Major Concern for Patients With Chronic Wounds
A large multinational patient survey underscores the importance of addressing pain during wound-dressing changes. Dressing-related pain in patients with chronic wounds is the largest international survey of its kind, investigating patients' perspectives of chronic wounds, including 2,018 patients from 15 countries. Among the patients, pain was rated as the highest concern among 6 symptoms associated with living with a chronic wound. Fifty-four percent of patients oftentimes or all the time experienced pain at dressing changes. Most reported that it takes more than an hour for the pain to resolve. In addition, the results show that experience of pain varies between wound types, with venous and arterial leg ulcers being associated with more frequent pain.
Patients with chronic wounds regularly experience pain, which negatively influences their quality of life and ability to function on a daily basis. Dressing removal is often reported as the time of greatest pain. Forty percent said that the worst part with living with an ulcer was pain at dressing change. All patients reported that the wound itself was the most painful location. The results further demonstrate that pain experience varies between patients with different wound types. Venous, mixed, and arterial leg ulcers were associated with more frequent pain at dressing changes.
Different types of dressings were reported as associated with the experience of pain. The most common type of dressing reported as giving "less pain" was soft silicone dressing. Pain relievers are a common medication to manage wound-related pain. Sixty-five percent of the surveyed patients reported that they took pain relief. However, 32% of the participants stated that pain relief did not generally work. Pain can have a negative effect on wound healing. The survey illustrates the importance of acknowledging patients' pain and adopting strategies to minimize it. For more information, please contact http://www.monlycke.com.
US Conference of Mayors Backs Single-payer National Health Insurance
The US Conference of Mayors, meeting in Miami in June 2008, adopted a resolution in support of single-payer national health insurance. This bill would guarantee everyone care for all medically necessary services, contact costs by slashing the administrative waste and bureaucracy associated with the private insurance industry, and assure patients their choice of doctor and hospital. For more information, contact [email protected].
State Healthcare Reforms for Uninsured Fail to Address High Percentage of Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders
New data indicate that more than 1 in 4 adult Americans without medical insurance have a mental illness or substance use disorder or both. However, many state healthcare initiatives intended to cover the uninsured are neglecting these conditions, according to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. Mental illness is the leading cause and substance use is the second leading cause of disability among adults. Approximately one-third of people with these disorders, living below the federal poverty line, do not have insurance. The report reveals that benefits for mental illness and substance use treatment vary greatly across states. Among the report's findings are as follows:
1. On the basis of a study of 18 states, approximately 60% provide equal coverage for mental illnesses in initiatives for the uninsured, but only 28% provide equal coverage for substance use disorders.
2. Basic parity is not enough. More states need to address problems with scope of benefits, co-payments, prior approvals, and shortages of mental health professionals.
3. Few states are including mental illness and substance use disorders in wellness and chronic disease management programs.
To read the entire report, visit http://www.HealthcareforUninsured.org, or for more information, contact [email protected].
American Lung Association: Improving Life One Breath at a Time
In July 2008, the US senate passed a critical bill that will make life easier for millions of Americans who have serious lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]). The Pulmonary and Cardiac Rehabilitation Act ensures that older Americans in all states have access to pulmonary rehabilitation treatment as a covered benefit through Medicare. This cost-effective treatment helps reduce the impact of COPD by helping to control or reduce breathlessness and recondition the body. Pulmonary rehabilitation helps people with COPD to develop less need for medications and experience fewer hospital stays, longer survival, and a better quality of life. For more information, contact [email protected].