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10,000 Australians Demand Bowel Cancer Screening - New Research Shows Nine In Ten Can Survive Bowel Cancer If Found Early
A community-based Cancer Council advocacy campaign has motivated 10,000 Australians to call for expansion of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, amid new research showing 93 per cent of bowel cancer patients can survive if diagnosed early.

FDA Approves Generic Version Of Emergency Contraception Pills
FDA on Wednesday approved Watson Pharmaceuticals" generic version of the emergency contraceptive Plan B, the Wall Street Journal reports. The generic drug will be available without a prescription to women ages 18 and older on Aug. 24, when Duramed Pharmaceuticals" market exclusivity for Plan B expires (Kalish, Wall Street Journal, 6/25). The generic version will be available to women ages 17 and younger with a prescription, according to an FDA press release (FDA Web site, 6/24). Watson will market the generic version under the name Next Choice (AP/Washington Post, 6/24).A one-time use pack of the brand-name product, Plan B, currently costs $49.99 through the online retailer DrugStore.com. According to Bloomberg, generic drugs usually cost 30% to 80% less than brand-name versions (Larkin, Bloomberg, 6/24).
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Debate Over Taxing Health Benefits Picks Up
"As the debate on how to fix health care picks up pace, so does discussion about one of the most lucrative ways to pay for it:" taxing employer-provided health benefits, CNN reports. The "tax-free arrangement" in which an employer"s contribution to employee health benefit "is treated as tax-free to the employee in terms of income tax and payroll tax," was "born during the days of wage control in 1943." According to Paul Fronstin, director of the health research program at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, employers were not allowed to "attract workers on the basis of better pay," so instead they offered the benefits "as a way to compete for the best talent." Over the past 66 years, employees have come to expect it. But "tax and health experts say it"s inequitable. High-income workers and those with the most expensive health insurance plans enjoy the biggest break as a result of the tax exclusion."
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Series On The Status Of Public Health In Southeast Asia Launched By The Lancet

In these difficult times, when the global health community is facing the dangers of an important new influenza pandemic, a new partnership is forming. The lancet, one of the world÷´s leading medical journals has announced its partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the China Medical Board. Together they will develop a major series to evaluate the state of public health in Southeast Asia. The launch of the series is programmed during the Prince Mahidol Award Conference, in January 2011. It will underline the region÷´s distinctiveness, diversity, as well as the successes and difficulties in the field of health. There will be a main focus on the rising risks of pandemics. It will highlight how initiatives such as the Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance Network can thrive in building effective capacity and teamwork between health institutions and ministries across the region. Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert, meeting attendee and senior advisor to Thai Ministry of Public Health, explains: "This series will be a very exciting and important step towards enhancing the level of regional cooperation and solidarity on health issues". Leaders in the field of public health from the Southeast Asia and other regions will determine the precise topic and content of the series. They will comprise around twelve papers and commentaries. Forty leaders in the field already attended a preliminary two-day meeting. They will commission a series of papers with regional scientists as the lead authors. "The region has so much to offer to the outside world in terms of learning and future directions," mentions Dr. Lincoln Chen, event organizer and President of the China Medical Board. "The Series will help do this in a very effective way." "We see this series as much more than a research process," comments Dr. Mushtaque Chowdhury, Associate Director of the Rockefeller Foundation. "By bringing together leading experts from across the region, The Lancet Series can serve as a vehicle for fostering long-term collaboration to improve health equity in the region." Dr Richard Horton, Editor of The Lancet, remarks: "For The Lancet, this work represents an important step in our efforts to move beyond being a conventional medical journal. We aim to partner with scientists, policymakers, and institutions to act as a catalyst for progressive health reforms in countries that face some of the toughest health predicaments in the world today. We want to work with colleagues in Southeast Asia to be a laboratory of evidence and policies, to review and test the best available data in order to deliver reliable advice to professionals on the frontlines of healthcare. This collaboration has the potential to identify important new directions in health for those living in Southeast Asia and I am very much looking forward to our joint work together." thelancet Written by Stephanie Brunner (B.A.) Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today


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