Press Releases
Press Releases
| Date | Press Releases | Topic |
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| Oct 17, 2007 |
Report Finds Major Gaps Exist in U.S. Pediatric Pandemic Preparations The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) issued a new report today, Pandemic Influenza: Warning, Children At-Risk, which finds that children and teens between the ages of 0-19 account for nearly 46 percent of all H5N1 “bird” flu cases and deaths. The report also identifies gaps in U.S. preparedness for treating and caring for children during a possible pandemic flu outbreak. Four key areas of concern raised in the report include: child-appropriate doses of vaccine and medications; management and treatment of children who become ill; including children in strategies to slow the spread of influenza in communities; and caring for and supervising the health of children if schools and childcare facilities are closed for extended periods of time. |
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| Sep 24, 2007 |
Peer-Reviewed, Online Database Showcases Pandemic Plans Public health planners have a new tool to help them prepare for one of the most daunting public health emergencies: an influenza pandemic. PandemicPractices.org, launched today by the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota and the Pew Center on the States (PCS), a division of The Pew Charitable Trusts, brings together more than 130 peer-reviewed promising practices from four countries, 22 states and 33 counties. Compiled as a resource to save communities and states time and resources, the database enables public health professionals to learn from each other and to build on their own pandemic plans. |
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| Aug 30, 2007 |
In a decision that places cost concerns above public health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has rejected a petition filed by a coalition of health and consumer groups calling for the agency to strengthen standards for genetic testing laboratories. Citing cost concerns, the agency told petitioners in a recent letter that it would not pursue the safety standards. |
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| Jun 26, 2007 |
Pew Announces New Investment to Prevent Irresponsible Subprime Mortgage Practices The Pew Charitable Trusts announced a new effort today to protect American families from dangerous “exploding” subprime mortgages linked to the current record number of home foreclosures. |
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| Apr 25, 2007 |
While Americans are generally very supportive of the use of genetic information to improve their own health and the health of their families, 92 percent are wary that this same information could be used in ways that harm them, according to a public opinion survey by the Genetics and Public Policy Center conducted in late February and early March of this year. |
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| Dec 12, 2006 |
Report Finds U.S. Bioterror, Bird Flu, and Health Disaster Preparedness Inadequate Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) today released the fourth annual Ready or Not? Protecting the Public’s Health from Disease, Disasters, and Bioterrorism report, which found that five years after the September 11th and anthrax tragedies, emergency health preparedness is still inadequate in America. The Ready or Not? report contains state-by-state health preparedness scores based on 10 key indicators to assess health emergency preparedness capabilities. All 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia were evaluated. Half of states scored six or less on the scale of 10 indicators. Oklahoma scored the highest with 10 out of 10; California, Iowa, Maryland, and New Jersey scored the lowest with four out of 10. States with stronger surge capacity capabilities and immunization programs scored higher in this year’s report, since four of the measures focus on these areas.
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| Oct 16, 2006 |
New Initiative Will Help State and Local Health Agencies Prepare for Pandemic Flu State and local health departments will soon get additional help preparing for a potential pandemic influenza through a partnership announced today between The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota.The project, a complement to the Trusts’ Pandemic Preparedness Initiative launched earlier this year, will identify the most problematic issues state and local agencies may confront in a pandemic, and then, by summer of 2007, collect and widely disseminate innovations and options for addressing them. |
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| Sep 27, 2006 |
Lax Oversight of Genetic Tests Better oversight of genetic testing laboratories by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is “critical to ensuring the quality of genetic testing in the United States,” and failure to provide it “poses a risk to the public’s health,” according to a Petition for Rulemaking submitted today to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan by the Genetics and Public Policy Center, Public Citizen, and Genetic Alliance. |
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| Aug 8, 2006 |
Improvement Needed in Genetic Testing Oversight In recent months many health-related organizations have joined in calling on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to end years of delay in assuring the safety and accuracy of genetic testing. In separate letters to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, members of Genetic Alliance and a coalition of women’s health groups urged the agency to issue a proposed rule to create a genetic testing specialty under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of 1988. |
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| Aug 4, 2006 |
New Bill Could Jumpstart The Setting of Sound Genetic Public Policy Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) introduced legislation to improve development and appropriate use of genetic tests in the United States, the Genetics and Public Policy Center has learned. "The Obama bill accelerates advances in the beneficial applications of genetic technologies to human health, while ensuring appropriate safeguards for the quality of genetic testing," says Center Director Kathy Hudson. |
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| Jul 27, 2006 |
Oversight Gaps for Genetic Testing Pose Risks to Public Health At the invitation of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, Genetics and Public Policy Center Director Kathy Hudson testified on Thursday, July 27 as part of the hearing "At Home DNA Tests: Marketing Scam or Medical Breakthrough?" Hudson made the case that poor oversight of genetic testing has led to a situation in which "there is no way for a consumer to distinguish between the dubious and the decent" genetic tests and the laboratories that perform them. |
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| Dec 12, 2005 |
The Pew Charitable Trusts Supports U.S. Pandemic Planning Project In response to the threat that avian flu could transition into a human pandemic, The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today a $1.5 million investment to ensure that key decision makers at the federal, state and local levels are responsibly developing and executing plans to protect Americans from this or other widespread public health threats. |
