Press Releases - The Office of Minority Health

Archived Press Releases

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The Office of Minority Health Resource Center receives pertinent health information from prominent media resources and other government sites. Please return to our Press Release page often for the latest information on issues relating to minorities and health, funding resources and legislative publications.

The following represents the content we have available in this category:


	Newly Identified Gene Variations Account for Increased Burden of Kidney Disease among African-Americans For the first time, researchers have identified variations in a single gene that are strongly associated with kidney diseases disproportionately affecting African-Americans. This work was conducted by researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and by NIH-funded investigators at the Johns Hopkins University.
	FDA Issues Health Information Advisory on Infant Formula In response to reports of contaminated milk-based infant formula manufactured in China, the FDA advises the public that there is no known threat of contamination in formula manufactured by companies allowed to sell infant formula in the U.S.
	The Cancer Genome Atlas Reports First Results of Comprehensive Study of Brain Tumors: Large-Scale Effort Identifies New Genetic Mutations, Core Pathways The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network, a collaborative effort funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), reported the first results of its large-scale, comprehensive study of the most common form of brain cancer, glioblastoma (GBM).
	HHS Provides Prescription Drug and Durable Medical Equipment Assistance for Uninsured Louisiana Victims of Hurricane Gustav HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced $1 million in individual assistance for Louisiana victims of Hurricane Gustav, through a new Emergency Prescription Assistance Program (EPAP) administrated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
	HHS Secretary Declares Public Health Emergency for Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt declared a public health emergency to ensure that individuals, including those enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi and Alabama continue to receive their health care items and services.
	Report Finds Majority of Ryan White Program Clients Are From Minority Communities A key Federal program in the fight against AIDS serves many of the poorest people with HIV/AIDS in America, according to a report released today during the 2008 Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Conference in Washington, D.C.
	NHGRI Seeks DNA Sequencing Technologies Fit for Routine Laboratory and Medical Use More than $20 million was awarded Wednesday Aug. 20 to various researchers to help develop ways to inexpensively, but efficiently sequence DNA, in hopes of leading to more personalized medicine.
	CDC Launches CDC-TV On-Line Video Resource The CDC announced Tuesday, August 19, 2008 that they will begin offering videos online on a variety of health topics through CDC-TV. Their first series “Health Matters” will begin with the topic of dating violence.
	Alternative Vaccine Strategy Shows Promise in Prostate Cancer Patients Researchers at the National Cancer Institute have reported finding promising alternatives for treating patients with prostate cancer by using immune boosters. The study released Friday Aug. 15 found that the low dose of immune boosters had less side effects and similar results for patients.
	Anti-HIV 'Drug Cocktails' Equally Effective in Patients with or without History of Injection Drug Use Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been extremely effective at slowing the progression of HIV infection to AIDS as well as extending the lives and improving the quality of life for those with HIV.
	NIDDK Resource Helps Guide Women with Diabetes through Healthy Pregnancies Pregnancy is a time of great excitement and anticipation. It also can be a time of anxiety, especially for women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Pregnancy in women who have diabetes is automatically considered high-risk.