Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Some positive news as reported in The Economist: On August 21st Nigeria marked three years since its last documented case of wild polio. That means the country is set to be declared polio-free by the World Health Organisation-backed Global Polio Eradication Initiative. If that happens, probably next year, all of Africa will be officially free…
No, this story is not about parents who don’t vaccinate their kids. It’s about parents who have vaccinated their kids (or plan to), but want to keep their children away from unvaccinated children. From the LA Times: A Bay Area mother formed a Facebook page where parents could arrange play dates for their children with…
According to the CDC, this year is on track to be the worst for measles in more than a decade. CNN reports that: There were 159 cases of measles in the United States from January 1 through August 24, according to the CDC. If that trend continues, there will be more cases in 2013 than…
In 2005, the market for pediatric vaccines was about $5 billion and the market for adult vaccines was about $4 billion. Yet these figures could be small potatoes. The Economist predicts that pediatric vaccine market will reach $20 billion by 2014; the adult vaccine market won’t be far behind. What innovations may be on the…
A paper written by John Fontanesi and myself was recently published in the October 2009 edition of the American Journal of Managed Care. The paper is titled “Delivering Vaccines: A Case Study of the Distribution System of Vaccines for Children.” The abstract of the paper is below: Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the central- ization…
Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs have become very popular among development economists. This programs pay poor families to have their children attend school and/or get vaccinated. Some of the larger programs include Bolsa Família in Brazil and Oportunidades in Mexico. Should economists support CCTs that pay the poor to get vaccinated? This depends on 2 factors: 1)…
This American Life has a very interesting show about the San Diego measles outbreak. Outbreaks decades ago were due to the fact that poor individuals often could not afford to get vaccinated or see a doctor. Now, this is not a problem since vaccines are generally made available for free for those who cannot pay.…
The Washington Post reports that the number of children who have been vaccinated in developing countries has been greatly exaggerated. Political pressure to increase vaccination rates as well as financial incentives from NGOs rewarded increased vaccinations has driven these reporting errors. Hat Tip: Marginal Revolution.
Merrill Goozner of GoozNews has an interesting interview with Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University. The two discuss the Bruce Ivins, anthrax, and bioterrorism. A few poignant excerpts. Ebright: “We’ve spent $57 billion in biodefense since 2001. The annual budget for NIH is only $30 billion. The spending has been disproportionate to the…
According to Reuters (“All U.S. kids…“), the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is recommending that all kids should receive an influenza vaccination. Previously, the CDC recommended that all children 0-6 receive a flu shot. Now, all children 18 and under should get the shot. In addition to the direct health benefits the children…