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Local Meeting Held In California To Discuss HIV/AIDS Spending Priorities In Face Of Proposed State Budget Cuts
The Inland Empire HIV Planning Council, an agency that makes HIV/AIDS policy in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California, has begun a three-day summit, where they will determine how funds - primarily from HHS - will be spent, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports. The council, which oversees spending of more than $7 million for HIV/AIDS care and treatment in the counties, said proposed cuts to HIV/AIDS programs and Medi-Cal at the state level "could affect funding and treatment priorities set by the agency," the article states. Joe Acosta, co-chair of the council said they are looking for ways to make up for the expected shortfalls. The council distributes money to about a half dozen agencies in San Bernardino and Riverside counties that provide services to more than 6,800 HIV/AIDS patients, Acosta said" (Hines, 7/18).
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Obama To Replace Bush Bioethics Panel To Redirect Focus Toward Practical Policy Matters
President Obama last week disbanded the Bush administration"s Council on Bioethics and announced plans to form a new commission with a mandate that will offer "practical policy options," according to White House press officer Reid Cherlin, the New York Times reports. According to Cherlin, the old council was disbanded because former President George W. Bush"s administration designed it to be "a philosophically leaning advisory group" that focused on discussion rather than forming a shared consensus. Presidential bioethics commissions, which have existed since 1974, typically serve to inform the public of advances in science and develop guidance on controversial issues such as stem cells, human cloning and genetic engineering, the Times reports.The Bush administration"s council was created in November 2001, shortly after Bush restricted federal funding for embryonic stem cell research to lines existing at the time. Bush"s council at times was accused of being more ideological than previous commissions, particularly under the leadership of Leon Kass of the University of Chicago, the Times reports. It often produced reports with "a somewhat philosophical bent" on issues like how to determine death or the genetic screening of newborns, according to the Times. Alta Charo, an ethicist at the University of Wisconsin, said much of the council"s work "seemed more like a public debating society." Ruth Faden, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University, said, "The other view is that all presidential commissions are structured in the context of a particular administration" (Wade, New York Times, 6/18).
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Stanford To Offer Bipolar Education Day On July 25
The Stanford University School of Medicine will host its fifth annual Bipolar Education Day on July 25. Individuals with bipolar disorder, their families, caregivers, friends and interested community members are invited to attend.
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Funding Allocated For Hospice Care, Wales

Health Minister Edwina Hart announced the allocation of ÷£4million Assembly Government funding for hospices and palliative care services across Wales. Just over half of the total, ÷£2.1 million, will help fund the clinical palliative and end-of-life care services provided by 18 hospices throughout Wales and ÷£1.9 million will be spent on NHS palliative care services. The allocations for independent and NHS care services are based on recommendations of an expert group headed by Baroness Ilora Finlay, a consultant in palliative care. The group aims to provide a fairer funding system for hospices. Part of the funding will be dedicated to the expansion of the Cancer Network Information System Cymru, a computerised clinical record to enable health professionals quick access key information to monitor and care for patients. One of the other key areas in development is out-of-hours services and the aim to make seven-day-a-week care more widely available and fairly distributed across Wales. Extra support will be made available to patients at home as part of a managed clinical network. Work is ongoing to ensure services are consultant-led, with support from multidisciplinary teams including specialist palliative care nurses and other health professionals, with consultants on NHS contracts. Edwina Hart said: "For people with progressive and life threatening conditions, good quality palliative care services are vital. I wish to ensure that the level of care provided, at what is a very distressing time, is the very best possible and people have access to services consistently across Wales." Baroness Finlay added: "The Government"s support for palliative care services in Wales is crucial for the further development of high-quality services across the whole of Wales. This ensures that patients and family needs can be met and the quality life improved even as the end approaches. "It is vital that we move to a change of work patterns in order to put the patient at the centre of their care. Most patients" care is delivered by GPs, nurses and hospital teams, but they need to be able to have the back-up and support of excellent specialist services wherever the patient is in Wales." Notes Baroness Finlay and the Palliative Care Implementation Board have been leading on the implementation of the Sugar Report (by the Wales Palliative Care Planning Group, led by Viv Sugar, Chair of the Welsh Consumer Council), published in July 2008. The funding model aims to ensure fairness of service provision across Wales, recognising rurality, poverty and areas of ageing populations as well as the higher mortality rates in Wales than in England. Current levels of Local Health Board funding to services should not be decreased without consultation with the Implementation Board; it is not replaced by any allocation of central Welsh Assembly Government funds. CaNISC Cancer Network Information System Cymru, or simply CaNISC, is an online computer system holding information from a patient"s interactions with health professionals and was launched as a national service in April 2009. It aims to make sure the most important and relevant information is available to health professionals at all times and in all places, helping to provide the best possible care to patients. Information is entered into CANISC by cancer units and centres. Entry can be online during clinical interactions, electronic by integration with other IT systems, or following data collection using specific forms. This summary electronic case record is available at all times and covers both emergency and elective care. Some trusts are also using locally-held systems to gather cancer information, but the National Assembly for Wales has now agreed to back CANISC as it is developed to meet the majority of cancer information needs and becomes the single system for Wales. Developing CANISC as a national system will bring improvements to the gathering and recording of cancer information which will ultimately improve the quality of care for the patient. Welsh Assembly Government


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