Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: Will Congress Pass Medicaid Expansion?; The Time To Reign In Monkeypox Is Now
The deal Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) seems to have struck with swing-voting Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) primarily involves a popular bill to let Medicare negotiate the prices of a select set of drugs 鈥 thereby driving down costs. (7/26)
Most Americans do not have to worry about contracting monkeypox right now. But we cannot discount the possibility that it becomes a broader threat. That鈥檚 why the World Health Organization was right to declare the disease a global health emergency and why containing it must be a top priority for the Biden administration. (Leana S. Wen, 7/26)
The U.S. pandemic response is evolving much more slowly than viruses and diseases around the globe, as the recent monkeypox outbreak illustrates. (Deborah L. Birx, 7/27)
KHN: To Stem The Spread Of Monkeypox, Health Departments Tap Into Networks Of Those Most At Risk
On July 23, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. It was a contentious decision, with the WHO鈥檚 director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, making the final call and overruling the WHO鈥檚 emergency committee. The advisory committee鈥檚 disagreements mirrored debates that have been unfolding among public officials, on social media, and in opinion pages over the past several weeks. Is monkeypox a public health emergency when it鈥檚 spreading 鈥渏ust鈥 among gay and bisexual men and trans women? To what degree do other populations need to worry? (Dr. C茅line Gounder, 7/27)
After weeks of frustration, commercial testing for monkeypox is now going strong in the US and has reduced the backlog. The tests show that, as of Monday, the US had nearly 3,500 cases, among the most in the world. (Lisa Jarvis, 7/26)
A month into the campaign to get the youngest children vaccinated against the coronavirus, it鈥檚 clear that a lot of parents still have questions. Only 2.8 percent of children under age 5 have received their shots. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 7/26)
Inscribing the watchwords of identity politics into medical education harms academic freedom and open discourse, tilting the scale in favor of a narrow orthodoxy. It also ensures a more politicized medical education. Many people reject "intersectionality" and "microaggressions" as helpful concepts. (John D. Sailer, 7/27)
