Friday, February 27, 2009

Full steam ahead

What a week!

This Tuesday, Americans heard President Obama say that health reform is critical to our nation’s economic future, that the recovery plan “makes the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that's one of the best ways to keep our people healthy and our costs under control,” and that “health care reform cannot wait, it must not wait, and it will not wait another year.” [You can find a transcript of the speech here.]

And then less than 48 hours later, the president released a budget proposal including a $634 billion fund for health reform - calling it a “down payment” on universal coverage.

Taken together with the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program last month, the new administration has thus far lived up to its promise to work to ensure that everyone one in our nation has access to the health services needed to stay health. Additionally, there has also been a broad recognition of the role that public health and prevention must play in reform, which is a giant step toward better health in our nation.

APHA is pleased with the direction things are heading for health reform. Are you? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

GET TESTED.

The public health threat of Hepatitis C.

Routine testing and a massive education/awareness effort as advocated by former Surgeon General Satcher would result in these benefits:

1. Reduce the need for transplants.
2. Increase supply of healthy organs, blood and tissue.
3. Prevent liver disease through identification of lifestyle risks to the human liver, including toxins in air and water.
4. Make tattooing safer.
5.Reduce the need for therapy until a less toxic, more effective treatment is found.
6. Prevent transmissions from HCV positive mothers to their newborns.
7. Give women the information about fertility and treatment.
8. Obesity alone can cause cirrhosis by age 12. Adding hepatitis increases the possibility of liver transplant.
9. Reduce the disability and increase productivity of those who are HCV positive.
10. Initiate education, awareness and prevention at a much younger age and at every grade level.


Hepatitis C Outreach Project is the first organization in the world dedicated to hepatitis C. We are not pharmaceutical industry funded.

In fact, we are funded at all. We are all volunteers.

Donate if you can, and most important of all:
GET TESTED.
You cannot protect your health unless you know your status.

This is real.

www.hcop.org/blog

Anonymous said...

The public health of threat of Hepatitis C.

Routine testing and a massive education/awareness effort as advocated by former Surgeon General Satcher would result in these benefits:

1. Reduce the need for transplants.
2. Increase supply of healthy organs, blood and tissue.
3. Prevent liver disease through identification of lifestyle risks to the human liver, including toxins in air and water.
4. Make tattooing safer.
5.Reduce the need for therapy until a less toxic, more effective treatment is found.
6. Prevent transmissions from HCV positive mothers to their newborns.
7. Give women the information about fertility and treatment.
8. Obesity alone can cause cirrhosis by age 12. Adding hepatitis increases the possibility of liver transplant.
9. Reduce the disability and increase productivity of those who are HCV positive.
10. Initiate education, awareness and prevention at a much younger age and at every grade level.


Hepatitis C Outreach Project is the first organization in the world dedicated to hepatitis C. We are not pharmaceutical industry funded.

In fact, we are funded at all. We are all volunteers.



GET TESTED.

You cannot protect your health or the health of others unless you know your status.

This is real.

www.hcop.org/blog

Anonymous said...

Sounds like we are heading in the wrong direction once more. Just like throwing money at the public school system(taxpayer money by the way)the administration is showing it has no original thought. How much more money needs to be wasted before we start to think outside the box for a solution. Last time I checked, we have a govenrment run public school system that is far from successful. Expect more of the same with more governmental influence in healthcare.