A 25% increase in new HIV cases among Puerto Ricans ages 60 and older has led the San Juan Health Department to create a new sex education program called "Golden Force."
For the year ending in September 2007, 238 new HIV cases were reported among Puerto Rican seniors. Puerto Rico Health Secretary Rosa Perez Perdomo said about 4% of all HIV cases reported in the commonwealth are in this age group. Puerto Rico has the fifth-highest concentration of AIDS cases in the United States, about 26 cases per 100,000 people.
Health officials are planning several prevention outreaches, including public service announcements and a radio campaign. According to HIV prevention counselor Milagro Melendez, "Golden Force" is focusing on reaching seniors at retirement homes, local fairs, and domino parks, where program staffers hand out condoms and educate people about the dangers of unprotected sex. Future plans include reaching older people at San Juan bars.
Melendez said local doctors face a challenge dealing with HIV-positive patients because AIDS remains a taboo topic. When elderly patients complain of health issues, physicians often confuse the early symptoms of HIV infection with those of old age, he said.
[This summary provided by the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention | Miami Herald | Jan. 28, 2008 | Susan Anasagasti Akus]
HIV Cases Among Puerto Rican Seniors on the Rise | News Story | HIVPlusMag.com | Health+Spirit+Culture+Life
NOW 5-16-2010 Still no Prevention for seniors!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Humana: ASES incapable of becoming single payer in health reform - Puerto Rico Daily Sun - Timely news about Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and the world
Humana Health Plans opposed Tuesday a Senate bill that would take health insurance companies out of health reform and allow the Health Insurance Administration, known as ASES, to directly negotiate and contract the hospitals, pharmacies and doctors that serve program participants.
Humana’s director of Government Affairs, Héctor A. Mujica, questioned ASES’s ability to become a single payer, as he said health reform’s financing has fallen primarily on the health insurance companies providing service.
“Even though the contract states that ASES will advance the monthly premiums to the insurance companies, such premiums, as in previous years, are not paid on time, forcing insurance companies to continue making payments to health care providers to prevent the collapse of the system. Will ASES be able to confront the situation of being the only health reform insurer?” he asked during a Senate hearing.
But the Justice Department, in written remarks, said many of the concerns addressed in Senate Bill 1403 are taken care of in the health reform overhaul proposed by Gov. Fortuño during his budget speech last month. The governor said health reform would become the “Mi Salud” or My Health program, which includes the availability of a health insurance plan for private companies.
Mujica also expressed concerns that ASES is “light years” away from fully becoming automated. He noted that ASES officials recently said it would take them at least 18 months and that the recent government layoffs will make it more difficult for such a plan to be implemented.
He said most health care providers oppose the repeal of the health insurance companies out of health reform as well as making ASES the single payer. “It is evident that there is no trust in the government’s ability to pay, according to contractual obligations,” he said.
The legislation, he said, will cause the immediate layoffs of some 1,500 associates whose jobs would be eliminated if ASES becomes a single payer. “We asked ourselves, what would be the impact on the thousands of providers who decline to contract directly with the government?” he asked.
The health insurance executive expressed concerns that the Medical Assistance Program will be eliminated and that the evaluation on eligibility will go to the Treasury Department. He said ASES expressed concerns that the federal government may not award funds to an agency that is not compatible with the Health Department.
Humana’s director of Government Affairs, Héctor A. Mujica, questioned ASES’s ability to become a single payer, as he said health reform’s financing has fallen primarily on the health insurance companies providing service.
“Even though the contract states that ASES will advance the monthly premiums to the insurance companies, such premiums, as in previous years, are not paid on time, forcing insurance companies to continue making payments to health care providers to prevent the collapse of the system. Will ASES be able to confront the situation of being the only health reform insurer?” he asked during a Senate hearing.
But the Justice Department, in written remarks, said many of the concerns addressed in Senate Bill 1403 are taken care of in the health reform overhaul proposed by Gov. Fortuño during his budget speech last month. The governor said health reform would become the “Mi Salud” or My Health program, which includes the availability of a health insurance plan for private companies.
Mujica also expressed concerns that ASES is “light years” away from fully becoming automated. He noted that ASES officials recently said it would take them at least 18 months and that the recent government layoffs will make it more difficult for such a plan to be implemented.
He said most health care providers oppose the repeal of the health insurance companies out of health reform as well as making ASES the single payer. “It is evident that there is no trust in the government’s ability to pay, according to contractual obligations,” he said.
The legislation, he said, will cause the immediate layoffs of some 1,500 associates whose jobs would be eliminated if ASES becomes a single payer. “We asked ourselves, what would be the impact on the thousands of providers who decline to contract directly with the government?” he asked.
The health insurance executive expressed concerns that the Medical Assistance Program will be eliminated and that the evaluation on eligibility will go to the Treasury Department. He said ASES expressed concerns that the federal government may not award funds to an agency that is not compatible with the Health Department.
The Lazarus Effect Campaign: 40 cents = 2 lifesaving pills
Benicio del Toro solidario con los pacientes de sida
Benicio del Toro solidario con los pacientes de sida
martes, 4 de mayo de 2010
08:43 p.m.
Primera Hora
Benicio del Toro no se quedó fuera de la campaña The Lazarus Effect, una iniciativa que busca erradicar el sida en África a la que ya se han unido Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Bono, Hugh Jackman, Orlando Bloom y Julianne Moore, entre otros.
En el anuncio publicitario varias estrellas de Hollywood cuentan todo lo que podrían comprar con 40 centavos, cantidad necesaria para costear el suministro diario de las pildoras antirretrovirales para una persona infectada por el VIH.
Durante su participación, Benicio destaca que 40 centavos se gastan en una estampilla de correos. En el caso de Penélope Cruz, la guapa actriz invita a las personas a sacrificar el consumo de chicles mientras que Javier Bardem, con los labios pintados de rojo, exhorta a la féminas a gastar el dinero de un pintalabios en la lucha contra el sida.
El proyecto RED, creadores de la novedosa campaña, intenta cambiar la forma de pensar de los consumidores para que creen conciencia que es imperativo ayudar a las personas afectadas por el VIH.
Empresas que simpatizan con la campaña han destinado la mitad de los beneficios obtenidos de la venta de sus productos para la erradicación del sida en el continente africano. Hasta ahora se han conseguido $140 millones y se ha ayudado a 5 millones de personas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKrtG724Cek&feature=player_embedded
http://www.primerahora.com/beniciodeltor...
content
08:43 p.m.
Primera Hora
Benicio del Toro no se quedó fuera de la campaña The Lazarus Effect, una iniciativa que busca erradicar el sida en África a la que ya se han unido Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Bono, Hugh Jackman, Orlando Bloom y Julianne Moore, entre otros.
En el anuncio publicitario varias estrellas de Hollywood cuentan todo lo que podrían comprar con 40 centavos, cantidad necesaria para costear el suministro diario de las pildoras antirretrovirales para una persona infectada por el VIH.
Durante su participación, Benicio destaca que 40 centavos se gastan en una estampilla de correos. En el caso de Penélope Cruz, la guapa actriz invita a las personas a sacrificar el consumo de chicles mientras que Javier Bardem, con los labios pintados de rojo, exhorta a la féminas a gastar el dinero de un pintalabios en la lucha contra el sida.
El proyecto RED, creadores de la novedosa campaña, intenta cambiar la forma de pensar de los consumidores para que creen conciencia que es imperativo ayudar a las personas afectadas por el VIH.
Empresas que simpatizan con la campaña han destinado la mitad de los beneficios obtenidos de la venta de sus productos para la erradicación del sida en el continente africano. Hasta ahora se han conseguido $140 millones y se ha ayudado a 5 millones de personas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKrtG724Cek&feature=player_embedded
http://www.primerahora.com/beniciodeltor...
content
Millones para crear expedientes electrónicos de salud Los fondos son asignados mediante la ley federal ARRA
04 Mayo 2010
2:33 p.m.
Por Inter News Services
El Secretario del Departamento de Salud (DS), Lorenzo González Feliciano, anunció hoy una asignación $1.8 millones por los Centros de Medicaid y Medicare (CMS), para el programa de Medicaid de Puerto Rico, mediante fondos federales pareados provenientes de la Ley de Recuperación e Inversión de América (ARRA) para la adopción de expedientes electrónicos de salud.
Con la millonaria asignación Salud brindará mayor acceso, seguridad y mejor manejo de los expedientes médicos, al transformar el sistema actual en uno electrónico, lo que brindará un sinnúmero de ventajas para los pacientes y los proveedores de salud en Puerto Rico, indicó González Feliciano.
“Los expedientes electrónicos de salud (EHR, por sus siglas en inglés) contribuirán a mejorar la calidad del cuidado de salud para todos los puertorriqueños y harán que el cuidado sea más eficiente. Los expedientes electrónicos facilitarán que múltiples proveedores de servicios que traten a un paciente de Medicaid puedan coordinar el cuidado. Además, facilitarán el que los pacientes puedan acceder la información que ellos necesiten para tomar decisiones relacionadas con su propio cuidado de salud”, explicó el Secretario de Salud.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
INFORME CASA BLANCA SOBRE VIH/SIDA
Aquí esta el informe que recopila lo se expreso en cada un de las 14 reuniones comunitarias de los EE.UU. y Puerto Rico, (en ingles se esta traduciendo a español tan pronto este lo pondré aquí)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ONAP_rpt.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ONAP_rpt.pdf
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