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Poorly Performing IVF Clinics Should Be Closed
BioNews publishes a controversial editorial by Dr Gedis Grudzinskas, Director of Fertility Focus Professional Services. If the same standards were applied to ivf centres as cardiac surgery, one in five ivf centres in the uk would be closed immediately.
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Prompt Bypass Surgery Or Angioplasty Does Not Lower Mortality Risk Compared To Drug Therapy In People With Type 2 Diabetes And Stable Heart Disease
The long-awaited results of the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation in Type 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) study, a multicenter trial led by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, were reported at a symposium here today at the American Diabetes Association"s 69th Scientific Sessions.
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Chinese Government Reports Abortion Statistics
Chinese state media on Thursday reported that women in the country have about 13 million abortions annually, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. According to the China Daily newspaper, the actual number likely is much higher because the 13 million includes abortions performed in hospitals but not unreported procedures performed in rural clinics. Most of the abortions were among single young women who experts say know little about contraception. The paper also said that about 10 million pills for medical abortion are sold annually in the country. China imposed strict population controls in the 1970s that prohibit most couples from having more than one child. For married women, sterilization and the use of intrauterine devices are widely promoted and subsidized. However, Chinese policies typically do not address the needs of unmarried women, even as national attitudes have become more accepting of sex outside of marriage, the AP/Chronicle reports. According to the newspaper, about 62% of the abortions were among unmarried women ages 20 to 29. The Chinese report called the number of abortions "an unfortunate situation" but did not indicate whether the procedures are increasing or decreasing from year to year. National Population and Family Planning Commission official Wu Shangchun is quoted in the report as saying that almost half of the women seeking abortion had used no form of contraception. Wu also said that reducing abortions is a national challenge that requires significant effort. Peking University professor Li Ying said that sex education in China must be improved at the university level and that Chinese parents must do more to teach children about sex (AP/Houston Chronicle, 7/30).
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U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Calls For World To Do More To Protect Refugees

To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged the "international community to do more to protect and care for refugees around the world," VOA News reports (Schlein, VOA News, 6/20). Antonio Guterres, the UNHCR head, said, the "people cared for by the U.N. refugee agency and our partners are among the most vulnerable on Earth." He added, "Refugees are not faceless statistics." Guterres said aid donations for refuges and internally displaced people (IDP) should not slow down amid the global economic downturn (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 6/19). He said that without support, "we are forced daily to make heart-breaking decisions that directly affect the lives and well-being of the millions of uprooted families we are charged with protecting" (UPI, 6/20). Ron Redmond, UNHCR spokesman, said the theme of this year"s World Refugee Day is "Real People, Real Needs" because refugees are "real people just like us who through no fault of their own have lost everything." He added, "The sobering reality is that there are substantial gaps in our ability to provide essentials such as shelter, health, education, nutrition, sanitation and protection from violence and abuse." More than 80 percent of the world"s refugees and IDPs are in developing countries, which can least afford to care for them, according to Redmond (VOA News, 6/20). An abridged version of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton"s prepared remarks for World Refugee Day is available online (U.S. Department of State, 6/20). IDP Numbers Growing Faster Than Refugee Numbers IRIN writes that by the end of 2008, there were about 16 million refugees, which are people who have crossed international borders, and approximately 26 million IDP - people who have been "uprooted to other areas within their own countries," according to UNHCR"s 2009 Global Trends Report. The number of IDPs is "growing faster than the number of refugees because of the changing nature of conflict; the majority of conflicts today are within individual countries and less between nations," according to UNHCR, IRIN writes. Guterres said, "Being forced from your home by conflict or persecution is a tragedy whether you"ve crossed an international border or not." He added that because of the situations in Pakistan, Somalia and Sri Lanka, the number of people forced to flee their homes is edging towards the 45 million mark, which is the highest number in at least a decade. The IRIN article includes additional information about the number of IDPs and refugee host countries around the world (IRIN, 6/21). Xinhua reports that three aid agencies say although perception of refugees in some countries of the Eastern Africa region has improved, refugees in other parts of Eastern Africa still face hostility and neglect. The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Refugee Consortium of Kenya (RCK) say most refugees are denied fundamental human rights and experience rejection and discrimination (Ooko, Xinhua, 6/20). Refugee Situations In Kenya, Southern Sudan Examined; Pakistan Marks World Refugee Day IRIN examines the refugee situation in Dadaab, Kenya, where facilities to host people fleeing the "[e]ver-worsening security in Somalia" are "stretched to bursting point, raising fears of a major refuges crisis." According to Refugees International, overcrowding in Dadaab "means that international standards for basic services are not being met. There is a shortfall of 36,000 latrines and 50 percent of the refugees have access to less than 13 litres of water per day" (IRIN, 6/19). The IRC and RCK say there are about 400,000 refugees in Kenya. Kellie Leeson, who manages the IRC"s programs in Kenya, said, "Throughout Kenya - in sprawling camps like Dadaab and Kakuma, as well as in urban centers like Nairobi - hundreds of thousands of refugees are struggling day-to-day without adequate basics such as food, water, healthcare and sanitation" (Xinhua, 6/20). The Guardian reports on the situation in southern Sudan where "[t]wo million people have already returned from neighbouring regions, from the north, from Kenya, from Uganda, where they had fled during the war, and are arriving in towns and villages where there is no shelter, healthcare, food, sanitation, water or jobs" (McVeigh, Guardian, 6/21). The International News reports on an event in Pakistan to mark World Refugee Day. "In places such as Pakistan, more than 2.4 million IDPs have been displaced. Although this is a huge number, each and every one of them has a human story to tell," Society for Human Rights & Prisoners Aid Director Qaiser Siddiqui said (Khalid, International News, 6/21). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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