Archived Press Releases

The Office of Minority Health Resource Center receives pertinent health information from prominent media resources and other government sites. Please return to our Current Press Releases 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:


	ORWH ANNOUNCES NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), National Institutes of Health (NIH) is pleased to announce the appointment of Janine Austin Clayton, M.D. as the new Deputy Director of ORWH.
	Children’s Physical Activity Drops From Age 9 to 15, NIH Study Indicates The activity level of a large group of American children dropped sharply between age 9 and age 15, when most failed to reach the daily recommended activity level, according to a long-term study by the NIH.
	NIAID Creates HIV Vaccine Discovery Branch to Promote Synergy between Basic HIV Researchers and Vaccine Designers National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has formed a new Vaccine Discovery Branch within the Vaccine Research Program in the Division of AIDS (DAIDS).
	Hearing Loss Is Common in People with Diabetes Hearing loss is about twice as common in adults with diabetes compared to those who do not have the disease, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
	Give Dad the Gift of Good Health for Father's Day this Year The U.S. Department of Interior and the National Institutes of Health's We Can! program - a national education program to help children maintain a healthy weight - are encouraging children and families to get outside and play at a nearby national park or national wildlife refuge this weekend and beyond.
	New Consensus Statement Offers Nation's First Blueprint for Disaster Preparedness in Minority Communities Leading Public Health and Health Care Agencies and Organizations Join in First-of-Its-Kind Declaration.
	Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, May 19, 2008 The HIV/AIDS epidemic has emerged to clearly threaten the public health of Asians and Pacific Islanders living in the United States and its territories.
	Kidney Disease Substantially Worsens in a Fourth of African Americans despite Therapy for Hypertension The best available treatment for chronic kidney disease from high blood pressure did not keep the disease from substantially worsening in about a fourth of African-Americans studied, according to long-term results of a National Institutes of Health study published April 28, 2008, in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
	NIAID Describes Research Priorities to Fight Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) has long been one of the world's great killers. Now, forms of drug-resistant TB-multidrug (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-are occurring at an ominous and accelerating rate.
	NIH Study Reveals Factors That Influence Premature Infant Survival, Disability Based on observations of more than 4,000 infants, researchers in an NIH newborn research network have identified several factors that influence an extremely low birth weight infant's chances for survival and disability.
	Aggressively Lowering Cholesterol and Blood Pressure May Reverse Atherosclerosis in Adults with Diabetes Aggressively lowering cholesterol and blood pressure levels below current targets in adults with type 2 diabetes may help to prevent - and possibly reverse - hardening of the arteries, according to new research supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.
	Scientists Link Chromatin Changes with Alcohol Withdrawal Anxiety Changes to genetic material in the brain may help induce the anxiety that is characteristic of alcohol withdrawal, according to a new study conducted in rats and supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
	NIAID MEDIA AVAILABILITY NIAID to Convene HIV Vaccine Summit Watch Live Via Webcast On Tuesday, March 25, 2008, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, will host an HIV Vaccine Summit in Bethesda, Md. as an important step in the ongoing process to examine the current direction of HIV vaccine research.
	NIH Launches Center to Study Genomics and Health Disparities The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced the establishment of the NIH Intramural Center for Genomics and Health Disparities (NICGHD), a new venue for research about the way populations are impacted by diseases, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension.
	Survey Shows Americans Lack Critical Facts about Maintaining Eye Health Most Americans do not know the risks and warning signs of diseases that could blind them if they don't seek timely detection and treatment, according to recent findings of the Survey of Public Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Eye Health and Disease.
	NLM and ORWH Announce New NIH Web Site Source for Women's Health Research Information A new Web resource providing consumers with the latest information on significant topics in women's health research from scientific journals and other peer-reviewed sources is now available through the National Library of Medicine (NLM).
	Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases National Institutes of Health on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, March 10, 2008 Today, we pause to commemorate the third annual National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and to recognize the female face of HIV/AIDS in America. Since the epidemic began in the early 1980s, more than 181,000 women and girls in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS, and an estimated 86,000 have died with the disease.¹
	Quantity and Frequency of Drinking Influence Mortality Risk "Taken together, our results reinforce the importance of drinking in moderation. In drinkers who are not alcohol dependent, the majority of U.S. drinkers, alcohol quantity and frequency might be thought of as modifiable risk factors for mortality, the researchers conclude."
	WHI Follow Up Study Confirms Health Risks Of Long-Term Combination Hormone Therapy Outweigh Benefits For Postmenopausal Women New results from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) confirm that the health risks of long-term use of combination (estrogen plus progestin) hormone therapy in healthy, postmenopausal women persist even a few years after stopping the drugs and clearly outweigh the benefits.
	NICHD Renamed for Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Advocate for Institute's Founding Event to Commemorate Her Founding Role Congress has renamed the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health in honor of Eunice Kennedy Shriver for her essential contribution to the institute's founding.
	NIH Scientists Offer Explanation for Winter Flu Season Stability of Virus' Membrane at Cold Temperatures May Ease Winter Spread A finding by a team of scientists at the National Institutes of Health may account for why the flu virus is more infectious in cold winter temperatures than during the warmer months.
	February 29, 2008 Increased Allergen Levels in Homes Linked to Asthma Results from a new national survey demonstrate that elevated allergen levels in the home are associated with asthma symptoms in allergic individuals. The study suggests that asthmatics that have allergies may alleviate symptoms by reducing allergen exposures inside their homes.
	February 20, 2008 HHS Secretary Invites Communities to Apply for An Innovative Electronic Health Record Demonstration Project Use of EHRs Can Improve the Quality of Health Care and Reduce Errors HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today called on community leaders across the country to apply for a new demonstration project that provides Medicare incentive payments to physicians for the use of certified electronic health records (EHRs) to improve patient care.
	February 10, 2008 NIAID Scientists Identify New Cellular Receptor for HIV A cellular protein that helps guide immune cells to the gut has been newly identified as a target of HIV when the virus begins its assault on the body's immune system, according to researchers from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
	February 5, 2008 Statement of Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day, February 7, 2008 The grossly disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on African Americans is a public health crisis that we at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and as a nation must address boldly. Nearly 27 years into the AIDS epidemic, approximately half of the new HIV infections that occur each year in the United States are among African Americans, even though they represent only 13 percent of the U.S. population.
	February 1, 2008 Dr. Carl Dieffenbach Appointed Director of the NIAID Division of AIDS Carl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D., has been appointed Director of the Division of AIDS (DAIDS) of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health.
	January 30, 2008 NCMHD Announces Physician And Policy Maker As New Director Of Office Of Innovation And Program Coordination Dr. Kyu Rhee, a primary care physician and member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that assessed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plan to eliminate health disparities, has been named director of the Office of Innovation and Program Coordination (OIPC) at the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) at the NIH. Dr. Rhee and his staff will seek, identify, and then support innovative ideas and programs to better serve the medically underserved and eliminate health disparities.
	January 13, 2008 International Effort Finds New Genetic Variants Associated with Lipid Levels, Risk for Coronary Artery Disease Environmental and genetic factors influence a person's blood fat, or lipid levels, important risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). While there is some understanding of the environmental contribution, the role of genetics has been less defined.
	January 13, 2008 Researchers Uncover New Piece to the Puzzle of Human Height In studies involving more than 35,000 people and a survey across the entire human genome, an international team supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found evidence that common genetic variants recently linked to osteoarthritis may also play a minor role in human height.
	January 8, 2008 NIAID Experts See Dengue as Potential Threat to U.S. Public Health A disease most Americans have never heard of could soon become more prevalent if dengue, a flu-like illness that can turn deadly, continues to expand into temperate climates and increase in severity, according to a new commentary by Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and David M. Morens, M.D., Fauci's senior scientific advisor.
	September 10, 2007 Office of Minority Health to Launch a National Campaign in Detroit to Address Infant Mortality Among African Americans "A healthy baby begins with you" seeks to heighten awareness of African-American babies dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, prematurity and low birth weight
	The Office of Minority Health and District of Columbia Department of Health Launch Infant Mortality Campaign Author and Producer Tonya Lewis Lee, Philanthropist Charrisse Jordan, WPGC Radio Disc Jockey Justine Love Help Lead the Educational Effort
	October 4, 2006 HHS AWARDS $1.2 MILLION TO ADDRESS METHAMPHETAMINE ABUSE IN NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES "American Indians and Alaska Natives suffer health disparities for many diseases at a higher percentage than other U.S. populations," Dr. Agwunobi said. "Tribal officials have identified meth use one of their highest priority health issues, and called for federal and state assistance to conduct outreach and education and help reduce the toll that methamphetamine abuse is taking on their communities."