insert_link Health / Medical The Powerful Constraints on Medical Care in Catholic Hospitals Across America Jennifer Chin, an OB-GYN at UW Medicine in Seattle, has treated patients turned away by Catholic hospitals. “We had many instances where people would have to get in their car to drive to us while they were bleeding, or patients who had had their water bags broken for up to five days or even up to a week,” Chin says. (DAN DELONG FOR KFF HEALTH NEWS) By Rachana Pradhan and Hannah Recht via KFF […] todayFebruary 20, 2024 13
insert_link Opinion Pieces Israel-Egypt peace treaty has stood the test of time over 45 years: expert explains its significance By Ofir Winter, Tel Aviv University The peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, signed in 1979 to end hostilities and normalise relations between them, turns 45 on 26 March. The Conversation Africa asked Ofir Winter, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, who studies Egyptian politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict, for his insights on the peace deal and the key challenging moments since it […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 16
insert_link Opinion Pieces Rafah: A Point of No Return By Mona Ali Khalil The catastrophe in Rafah has begun. In the 131 terrible days since the horrible Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, we have watched 1.8 million Palestinian civilians pushed from the north of Gaza to the south and even further south until they reached Rafah at the very end of the strip. Adults and children alike have been bombed and shot relentlessly in […] todayFebruary 16, 2024 20
insert_link Health / Medical GoFundMe Has Become a Health Care Utility In its early years, GoFundMe funded honeymoon trips, graduation gifts, and church missions to overseas hospitals in need. Now it has become a go-to platform for patients trying to escape medical billing nightmares. (ERIC HARKLEROAD/KFF HEALTH NEWS) By Elisabeth Rosenthal via KFF Health News GoFundMe started as a crowdfunding site for underwriting “ideas and dreams,” and, as GoFundMe’s co-founders, Andrew Ballester and Brad Damphousse, once put it, “for life’s important moments.” […] todayFebruary 13, 2024 12
insert_link World Ukraine war: corruption scandals and high-level rifts could become an existential threat as Kyiv asks for more military aid By Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy The latest revelations about corruption in Ukraine tell a complex story. A scandal has engulfed the Ukrainian ministry of defence, where 100,000 mortar shells worth about $40m (£31m) were paid for but never delivered. But within days of this story emerging, Ukraine achieved its best-ever ranking in the annual corruption perceptions index complied […] todayFebruary 2, 2024 20
insert_link Health / Medical Surge in Syphilis Cases Leads Some Providers to Ration Penicillin Vials of injectable penicillin in cold storage at the Metro Public Health Department in Nashville, Tennessee. Injectable penicillin is the go-to treatment for syphilis and the only treatment considered safe for pregnant people with the disease. In mid-2023, the health department began rationing the injectable to just pregnant women because of a nationwide antibiotic shortage. Patients who test positive for syphilis and are not pregnant are given an oral antibiotic […] todayFebruary 2, 2024 9
insert_link World Guyana, Leading the UN Security Council, Is Not Giving Up on a Ceasefire in Gaza Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, permanent representative of Guyana, photographed at the country’s mission to the UN, Jan 22, 2023. “We would very much like to see a ceasefire for the people to receive the necessary humanitarian aid,” she said about Gaza in an interview. “We are not at that point yet, and that is really regrettable.” JOHN PENNEY/PASSBLUE By Damilola Banjo via PassBlue The United Nations Security Council’s continuing failure to agree […] todayFebruary 1, 2024 4
insert_link Health / Medical How Fringe Anti-Science Views Infiltrated Mainstream Politics — And What It Means in 2024 People protest against covid-19 vaccine mandates outside of Los Angeles Unified School District's offices on May 10, 2022. (DAVID CRANE/MEDIANEWS GROUP/LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS VIA GETTY IMAGES) By Amy Maxmen via KFF Health News Rates of routine childhood vaccination hit a 10-year low in 2023. That, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, puts about 250,000 kindergartners at risk for measles, which often leads to hospitalization and can cause death. In recent […] todayJanuary 29, 2024 16
insert_link World UN launches full scale investigation into UNRWA staff participation in Oct 7th attacks on Israel The United Nations Secretary General has expressed alarm at allegations that several UNRWA staff were involved in the October 7th attacks on Israel. The UN's aid agency in Gaza is launching an urgent and comprehensive independent review of all staff. Meanwhile, the United States has for now ended all funding to the agency that's tasked with supporting Palestinian refugees. Jody Jacobs reports from the United Nations in New York. todayJanuary 29, 2024 10
