Health Care

Trump administration says it will pull back billions in COVID funding from local health departments

Federal health officials said Tuesday they are pulling back $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation. “The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,”

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Health Care

Democrats say EPA illegally canceled hundreds of grants aimed at boosting ‘environmental justice’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency illegally canceled grants worth more than $1.5 billion focused on improving the environment in minority communities hit hard by pollution, Senate Democrats say. Hundreds of grants were awarded by former President Joe Biden’s administration under a 2022 law that directed the EPA to spend $3 billion on grants

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Health Care

5 high-level CDC officials are leaving in the latest turmoil for the public health agency

NEW YORK (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was rocked by five high-level departures on Tuesday in the latest turmoil for the nation’s top public health agency. The departures were announced at a meeting of agency senior leaders. The Atlanta-based CDC has two dozen centers and offices. The heads of five of

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Health Care

Sierra Leone debates decriminalizing abortion as women and girls endanger their lives

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — When she got pregnant at 16, Fatou Esther Jusu was terrified that it would derail her future. Abortion is illegal in Sierra Leone. Fearing judgment from her family, she took friends’ advice and bought misoprostol, a drug whose uses include abortion, from a local pharmacy. It didn’t work. Desperate, she

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Health Care

Trump will nominate acting CDC director Susan Monarez for the position, White House official says

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump will nominate Susan Monarez, the acting director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a longtime federal staffer, to the permanent position, a White House official confirmed Monday. Trump abruptly withdrew the nomination of his first pick, David Weldon, earlier this month. Monarez has been serving

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Health Care

Trump administration cancels at least 68 grants focused on LGBTQ health questions

A surge of grant cancellations hit researchers focused on the health of gay, lesbian and transgender people last week, as the Trump administration continues to target what it describes as ideologically driven science. Last week the U.S. government terminated at least 68 grants to 46 institutions totaling nearly $40 million when awarded, according to a

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Health Care

UNAIDS director proposes that President Trump make an ‘amazing deal’ to end HIV

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the U.N. AIDS agency said Monday that the sudden loss of American money has been “devastating” for efforts to stop HIV and will cost many lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. But she also proposed an “amazing deal” for U.S. President Donald Trump that she said could result

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Health Care

Do you eat a meal in 20 minutes or less? It might be time to slow down

LONDON (AP) — You can have your cake and eat it too — just do it slowly. Experts tend to focus on the kinds of foods you can eat to improve your health. But the speed at which you devour your dinner matters just as much. There are risks with eating too fast — think

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Health Care

Stressed? Sick? Swiss town lets doctors prescribe free museum visits as art therapy for patients

NEUCHATEL, Switzerland (AP) — The world’s woes got you down? Feeling burnout at work? Need a little something extra to fight illness or prep for surgery? The Swiss town of Neuchâtel is offering its residents a novel medical option: Expose yourself to art and get a doctor’s note to do it for free. Under a

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Health Care

Abortion once more plays a key role in a state political fight, this time in Wisconsin’s court race

MILWAUKEE (AP) — As the candidates for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat squared off in a recent debate before early voting, one issue came up first and dominated at the start. “Let’s talk about abortion rights,” the moderator said. The winner of the April 1 election could hold the power to determine the fate of

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