Health Policy News
Please select the links below for complete Health Policy articles and events of the current year. View Health Policy Archives
- Public Health Alerts
- Influenza Update
- Practice Advisories
- Georgia Division of Public Health
- National Updates
- Resources
Public Health Alerts
08.21.08 CDC: Most U. S. measles cases reported since 1996; many unvaccinated because of philosophical beliefs
More measles cases have been reported in the United States since Jan. 1, 2008 than during the same period in any year since 1996, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Between January 1 and July 31, 2008, 131 cases were reported to CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). At least 15 patients, including four children younger than 15 months of age, were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.
Of the 131 patients, 112 were unvaccinated or had unknown vaccination status. Among the 112 unvaccinated U.S. residents with measles, 16 were younger than 12 months of age and too young for vaccination, and one had presumed evidence of measles immunity because the person was born before 1957.
Of the 95 patients eligible for vaccination, 63 were unvaccinated because of their or their parents’ philosophical or religious beliefs.
Although immunization coverage rates for measles vaccine remain high, unvaccinated persons are at risk for measles, and sizeable measles outbreaks can occur in communities with a high number of unvaccinated persons.
View more information on the CDC's Web site
Influenza Updates
02.21.08 National Influenza Vaccine Summit Update
- The FDA’s VRBPAC has recommended that the strains for the influenza vaccine for the 2008-2009 season follow those recommended by the WHO. This raises challenges for manufacturers who now have to start the production of a vaccine with three new strains. Some reassurance comes from the fact that two of the new strains, the B and H1N1 strains are in the current southern hemisphere vaccine and so some experience with those two strains exist. However, the new H3N2 strain will be a new entity.
- Novartis has launched an online resource for ordering Fluvirin Influenza Virus Vaccine for the 2008-2009 influenza season.
- The CDC has updated their Flu Season Q&A to reflect the protection that is still provided by the vaccine. Physicians should continue to offer vaccine and communicate to the public that despite the mismatch, Department of Defense data indicates that the vaccine’s H3N2 strain is 52 percent protective against the circulating H3N2 Brisbane strain and that the vaccine reduces the severity of disease.
- The 2008 National Influenza Vaccine Summit meeting is scheduled for May 12 -13 in Atlanta. More details regarding the hotel and room blocks to follow. At this time, the meeting is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on the 12th and end at 4 p.m. on the 13th. Please note there will be a dinner session (buffet dinner provided) on the evening of the 12th.
Endorsement of any material present in the links below by either the CDC, the AMA, or MAG should not be inferred.
Recommended Influenza Virus Vaccine Composition
NCQA’s Proposed Measures and MedImmune’s Public Comments
Novartis Press Release
Read CDC's Updated Flu Season Q&A
01.30.08 National Influenza Vaccine Summit Update Re: ABC's 'Eli Stone'
There has been a lot of media coverage recently regarding the premiere episode of ABC’s 'Eli Stone.' In this episode, the mother of a child with autism wins a judgment against the manufacturer of “mercuritol,” which is the influenza vaccine. Many large national organizations have written to ABC expressing their concern that this episode perpetuates the myth that vaccines can cause autism.
Read CDC's Key Messages Regarding 'Eli Stone'
Read AMA's Letters
01.28.08 2008 National Influenza Vaccine Summit Dates Set
The 2008 National Influenza Vaccine Summit meeting will be held May 12 - 13, 2008, in Atlanta. Please hold those dates. An draft agenda is being prepared for review by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases Executive Committee and will be made available shortly.
01.24.08 GIVE - Get Influenza Vaccine Every Year
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases is working to raise awareness about the issue of low healthcare worker (HCW) immunization rates against influenza, which can ultimately leave patients at risk.
MAG asks its Members to join health care workers across the nation in the NFID's "Get Influenza Vaccine every year" campaign, by making a personal commitment to better protect yourselves and your patients against influenza.
Practice Advisories
04.25.08 HHS Extends Comment Period for Proposed Rules
On February 29, HHS published a notice of proposed rulemaking, 'Designation of Medically Underserved Populations and Health Professional Shortage Areas' (73 FR 11232), to revise and consolidate the criteria and processes for designating medically underserved populations (MUPs) and health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). HHS provided a 60-day public comment period, with written comments to be received on or before April 29, 2008. HHS and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) have received requests for an extension of the comment period. In consideration of these requests, HHS is extending the comment period an additional 30 days, with a new closing date of May 29, 2008.
Click Here for More Information
04.14.08 Physicians' Foundation Sending Survey to Every Primary Care Doctor in America
What is the state of primary care practice in America today? Can primary care physicians continue to provide patient care in the face of rising costs, reimbursement cuts and pervasive government regulations? What do primary care doctors themselves have to say about the direction of medical practice in America?
The Physicians’ Foundation for Health Systems Excellence (PFHSE), a not-for-profit group composed of medical societies and physician leaders, is seeking answers to these questions by undertaking one of most ambitious physician surveys ever attempted. Beginning in May 2008, PFHSE will send more than 300,000 surveys to primary care physicians and selected medical specialists throughout the country. The survey will be sent to virtually every active primary care physician nationwide, and to specialists in small, independent practices. MAG urges you to watch for this survey in your mailbox and please take the time to complete it!
Click Here for More Information
04.14.08 Alert Issued for Prevention of Pediatric Medication Errors
The Joint Commission has issued an alert aimed to prevent pediatric medication errors.
Medication safety is a big problem for small children. Young patients are at greater risk for drug errors because most medications are formulated and packaged for adults and most health care settings are built around the needs of adults. A study in the April issue of Pediatrics says that medication mix-ups, accidental overdoses and bad drug reactions harm roughly one out of 15 hospitalized children.
Read Joint Commission's Alert
Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health
02.05.08 Save the Date: Georgia Statewide Tuberculosis Training
The Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health has announced the dates for the Georgia Statewide Tuberculosis Training: April 17-18 at the Marriott Augusta Hotel & Suites. Registration deadline is March 14, 2008.
Click Here to Download Registration Materials
National Updates
06.06.08 Go Local Web site links Georgia patients with information
Go Local is a federally-funded initiative to link users of MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) premier consumer health information Web site, to health services and providers in their local community. The Go Local initiative enables a patient or consumer anywhere in Georgia to visit the MedlinePlus Web site for information on a health topic or condition (diabetes, for example) and then be able to link directly to a Georgia Health Go Local Web site to locate related services, health care providers or institutions, support groups, advocacy organizations, etc. in their own county or zip code.
The libraries of Georgia’s four medical schools (Emory University, Medical College of Georgia, Mercer University School of Medicine, and Morehouse School of Medicine), GALILEO, Georgia 2-1-1, Georgia academic librarians, Georgia Health Sciences Library Association, Georgia Public Health Association, Georgia Public Library Service, Georgia Rural Health Association, Georgia AHECs, and others, have helped implement the NLM “Go Local Project” in the state.
Georgia Health Go Local Web site
06.03.08 MAG Alert: New Organization Aims to ‘TAP-IN’ to Physician Volunteers for Free Clinics
As the number of uninsured in Georgia reaches 1.7 million residents and 46 million nationwide, the demand for free health clinic services that rely on health care professionals to donate their time rises. These clinics are in great need of primary care physicians, specialists, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychiatrists, and social workers.
According to the Georgia Free Clinic Network, 30,000 people were turned away due to insufficient capacity in 2007. That’s where a non-profit program called TAP-IN, funded by The American Health Initiative, aims to fill in the gap.
TAP-IN is reaching out to retired and semi-retired health professionals in Atlanta. The organization, which currently operates in the states of Virginia and North Carolina, chose Atlanta because of the well-established network of free clinics already in place and the concentration of retired health professionals in the greater metropolitan area.
Health professionals can register for the program through the Web site www.tap-in.org or by calling 877.605.3250.
Register for the Program
05.23.08 Suicide Prevention Foundation Airing Documentary June 1
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) will be airing a new documentary, Struggling in Silence: Physician Depression and Suicide, on local Georgia PBS stations on Sunday, June 1 at 4 p.m.
AFSP says that studies show that physicians die by suicide ay a higher rate than others when compared to the general population and other professions. The documentary is part of a new AFSP multimedia educational campaign.
AFSP-Metro Atlanta Research will then host a town hall meeting on Tuesday, September 16 from 6:30 to 8 p.m at the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta.