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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

New Study: Injectable Contraceptive May Double HIV Risk

Linda Topping Streitfeld by Linda Topping Streitfeld 0 comments

New research out of Africa has potentially devastating news for women there, who rely on the convenience and confidentiality of injectable contraception. The study, published Monday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, indicates that the injectable contraceptive may double their risk of acquiring HIV, and also increases the risk of transmitting it to a male partner.

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Tagged J2J
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Reporting from Bangkok: J2J Fellow Stories from AIDS Vaccine 2011

Linda Topping Streitfeld by Linda Topping Streitfeld 0 comments

NPF’s J2J program arm has just completed training for 20 journalists who now are fanning out to cover AIDS Vaccine 2011, the international gathering of scientists seeking a vaccine against HIV. Over two days here in Bangkok, Thailand, our fellows heard from 20 researchers, most of whom are making important presentations at the conference. The briefings and extensive question-and-answer sessions helped prepare our group to report on the news from the conference, including an important development that moves the field significantly ahead.

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Thursday, September 1, 2011

CNN producer believes Alzheimer’s is “inherently a national story”

by Lauren Clason 0 comments

The topic of Alzheimer’s disease has always been a personal one for CNN.com Health producer Elizabeth Landau. Her grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s, and the effects of her disease took a toll on Landau’s entire family. Landau’s grandmother passed away in 2007, and Landau has been interested in reporting on Alzheimer’s research ever since.

Landau earned her master’s in journalism from Columbia University before starting out with CNN as a Master’s Fellow in 2007. She returned in 2008 after interning for Dow Jones and writing for law360.com, and was promoted to CNN.com health writer in June that same year. In May, she participated in the NPF program Alzheimer’s Issues 2011, which focused on ethical issues, global aging and the personal cost to care-givers.

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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

How Will DC’s Shifting Demographics Affect Diabetes and Health Care Issues?

Linda Topping Streitfeld by Linda Topping Streitfeld 0 comments

Wednesday’s Washington Post reported that the Washington metro region was among eight in which minorities became a majority in the past decade, according to a new analysis of census data. The well-done piece, by Carol Morello and Ted Mellnik, touched on implications for the area’s workforce, schools and politics.

One area not mentioned was health-care, but this is on our minds here at NPF, because we know that the burden of diabetes is much higher for racial and ethnic minorities than for whites. As the minority population grows, so will the importance of understanding diabetes. It’s one of the issues we’ll talk about during our one-day program, Diabetes Issues Today, which is offered free to area journalists on September 27th.

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Tagged Programs
Thursday, August 25, 2011

IOM’s New Report Reaffirms Safety of Vaccines

National Press Foundation by National Press Foundation 0 comments

The Institue of Medicine of the National Acadamies (IOM) has relased a new report, titled “Adverse Effects of Vaccines: Evidence and Causality.” From the report’s summary:

“Immunizations are a cornerstone of the nation’s efforts to protect people from a host of infectious diseases. Though generally very rare or very minor, there are side effects, or “adverse effects,” associated with some vaccines. The IOM reviewed a list of adverse events associated with eight vaccines to evaluate the scientific evidence about the event—vaccine relationship. Using epidemiologic and mechanistic evidence, the committee developed 158 causality conclusions, assigning each relationship between a vaccine and an adverse health problem to one of four causation categories. Overall, the IOM committee concludes that few health problems are caused by or clearly associated with vaccines.”

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About NPF Helpdesk

The NPF Helpdesk is an online resource for international health reporters. Started in 2007 with a focus on HIV/AIDS, the blog has grown to incorporate information about tuberculosis and other international health crises.

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