Health

'Global Gag Rule' Lifted

On Friday evening, a time favored by officials trying to avoid attention, President Barack Obama issued a statement reversing one of the most damaging policies ever visited on developing nations by Republican administrations. This was the "global gag rule," which forbade US government support for any organization that in any way fostered, provided or even advised women about abortion.

Posted in Health, obama, reproductive rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2009
1:10 PM

CONTACT: Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

UN Madrid Food Summit Could Miss Critical Target

55 million young children at risk

MADRID - January 23 - If next week's Madrid Food Summit does not come up with a concrete implementation and funding plan focused on malnutrition, 55 million children under five will continue to face potential life-threatening malnutrition according to ACF International and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

While global prices for basic food commodities have fallen back to 2006 levels, childhood malnutrition - caused by the lack of foods rich in nutrients, vitamins, and minerals - continues to claim the lives of almost 10.000 children every day.

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Posted in food crisis, Health, Human Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 21, 2009
2:09 PM

CONTACT: Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

JAMA Study Shows Food Supplements Can Significantly Reduce Rates of Deadliest Form of Malnutrition

WASHINGTON - January 21 - According to a study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), children in rural Niger who received ready-to-use food in addition to their normal diet were nearly 60 percent less likely to progress to the most life-threatening form of malnutrition than children whose diets were not supplemented.

“Highly nutritious ready-to-use food (RUF) is recommended by the UN for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition,” said Rebecca Freeman Grais, one of the leading authors for Epicentre, the research affiliate of the international medical aid organization

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Posted in Health, healthcare

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2009
12:33 PM

CONTACT: Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
Phone: 202-332-9110

Coke Sued for Fraudulent Claims on Obesity-Promoting 'VitaminWater'

vitamins + water + sugar + hype = soda - bubbles

WASHINGTON - January 15 - The Coca-Cola Company has been served notice of a class action lawsuit filed over what the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says are deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on its VitaminWater line of beverages.

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Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science.

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Links:

Posted in consumer watch, Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 15, 2009
11:50 AM

CONTACT: Planned Parenthood
Diane Quest or Christie Petrone, 202-973-4882

New CDC Study Demonstrates Critical Need for Medically Accurate, Age-Appropriate Education and Treatment

to Protect Against Sexually Transmitted Infections

WASHINGTON - January 15 - Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) expressed deep concern over the findings of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report indicating high rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI), particularly among women, and reinforced the need to take action to reduce these alarming numbers.

“This study underscores what Planned Parenthood has stated for years: Women, men and teens need to know how to protect themselves against sexually transmitted infections.

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Planned Parenthood Federation of America is the nation's leading sexual and reproductive health care advocate and provider. We believe that everyone has the right to choose when or whether to have a child, and that every child should be wanted and loved. Planned Parenthood affiliates operate nearly 880 health centers nationwide, providing medical services and sexuality education for millions of women, men, and teenagers each year. We also work with allies worldwide to ensure that all women and men have the right and the means to meet their sexual and reproductive health care needs.

Posted in Education, Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2009
11:30 AM

CONTACT: Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
Phone: 202-332-9110

Health Experts Urge President-Elect Obama to Take Bold Action to Reverse Obesity Epidemic

Hundreds of Thousands of Lives, Tens of Billions of Dollars at Stake, Experts Say

WASHINGTON - January 9 - Bold action is needed to stem the obesity epidemic, or else today's children might be the first generation of Americans ever to lead shorter life spans than their parents. That's the urgent message delivered today to President-elect Barack Obama by 49 of the nation's most prominent health and medical organizations and 44 prominent physicians and nutrition experts.

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Since 1971, the Center for Science in the Public Interest has been a strong advocate for nutrition and health, food safety, alcohol policy, and sound science.

Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) Links:

Posted in Health, obama

Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City

CERRO DE PASCO, Peru - An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru's central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages.

The government just signed a new law to relocate part of the local population, who for decades have suffered from the lead dust, dynamite explosions and toxic gases generated by the mining of zinc, lead and silver.

Posted in Health, mining, pollution, Peru

Gaza Health Risk as Sewage Floods Streets as Israeli Attacks Continue

Israel's Erez crossing into Gaza - The waste leak added to controversy over the humanitarian situation with growing international anger at Israel's refusal to accept there is a crisis.

Sewage has long been a major concern in Gaza where the antiquated pumping system is held together with a fragile network of temporary pumps and generators.

Oxfam reported the north Gazan town of Beit Hanoun was experiencing serious sewage flooding after generators that run the local pumping station ran out of diesel.

Posted in Health, Human Rights, Israel/Palestine

'Yes We Can' Create a Sane Food Policy in the US

Two extensive reports released in April indicate that our current method of devising food policy is broken and that the current system is doing tremendous harm in many areas, including those that are of particular interest to President-elect Obama: human health, the environment, and global poverty.

Posted in beyond obama, Food/Water, Health

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 4, 2008
12:02 PM

CONTACT: Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)
phone 202.332.9110;
fax 202.265.4954

Industry Not Lowering Sodium in Processed Foods, Despite Public Health Concerns

A Few Companies Actually Hike Salt Levels Dramatically in Some Products, Says CSPI

WASHINGTON - December 4 - Health experts have been ringing alarm bells about the amount of sodium, or salt, in processed foods for years. But according to discouraging new data published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, most food companies aren't listening. The average sodium content of 528 packaged and restaurant foods stayed essentially the same between 2005 and 2008, increasing by under one percent.

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Posted in Food/Water, Health

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