Coverage & Access - CDC Report Finds Increase in Reports of Respiratory Illness in Children After Hurricane Katrina; New Orleans Mayor Pushes for City Residents To Leave Trailers

The number of children in the Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina who complained of symptoms of bronchitis, pneumonia and other lower respiratory illnesses rose in the years after the storm, according to a 49-page CDC report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports. CDC...Read Full Story

Administration News - Letter From Bush Administration Indicates States Have More Flexibility To Prove They Enrolled 95% of Currently Eligible Children in SCHIP

The Bush administration on Wednesday sent letters to state health officials to clarify a policy directive issued last year that restricts states' ability to expand their SCHIP programs, CQ HealthBeat reports (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 5/7). According to guidelines issued in August 2007, before...Read Full Story

Science & Medicine - Rapid HIV Tests Highly Effective in Preventing Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in India, Study Finds

Rapid HIV tests have been found to be highly effective in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission in clinical trials in India, according to a study published online Tuesday in PLoS Medicine, the Times of India reports (Sinha, Times of India, 5/7). For the study, the researchers used OraSure...Read Full Story

Politics and Policy - AIDS Orphan Advocates Call for Increased Community-Based Programs, Passage of PEPFAR Bill

Advocacy groups on Wednesday during a briefing about the millions of children worldwide who have lost one or both parents to AIDS called for an increase in community-based programs to assist AIDS orphans, as well as the passage of legislation to reauthorize the President's Emergency Plan for...Read Full Story