NEWSHEALTH

Below is a guest post from Ryan Carroll, from Bealeton, Virginia, about why she created a petition to ask Aetna to pay for her surgery. You can see her petition here.

As a young teenager, I was a gymnast and a competitive cheerleader. My nickname was “The Toe-Touch Queen” because I could bust out roughly 15 perfectly executed toe-touch jumps. If only I had a crystal ball to look into the future…

Around the age of 17, I began to develop mild hip pain. Specialists told me I had mild arthritis and gave me prescriptions for medication and physical therapy.

Although these treatments helped, they didn’t help for long. As the years passed, I learned to deal with the hip pain. Hot baths, ice, Motrin… these became part of my daily routine. I accepted it as part of my life, and moved on.

In 2001, I married my best friend. He was (and still is) an officer in the U.S. Army. He has been deployed twice since we were married, and he is proud to protect and serve. We had always wanted a big family, so we started right away. Through international adoption and natural conception, we’ve been blessed with four beautiful children. My kids are my life. I live and breathe for them, and ultimately wish I could be the active and healthy mother that they deserve.

In 2010, with my husband on a 12-month deployment in the Middle East, I had my hands full with my four energetic kids. Although my hip pain had always been there, nagging at me, it really began to intensify. 



Music fans are slamming Provo, Utah-based Neon Trees -- famous for their No. 1 hit “Animal” -- for playing an international music festival sponsored by a tobacco company despite winning an award for anti-cigarette advocacy

More than 1,000 music fans have signed an online petition on Change.org asking Provo, Utah-based Neon Trees to pull out of an international music festival sponsored by a tobacco company.

The band, famous for their hit “Animal” -- which has been performed on the TV show Glee -- won an award for anti-tobacco advocacy in 2008 -- yet they are slated to perform at Indonesia’s Java Rockin’ Land festival July 22-24, sponsored by Gudang Garam, one of Indonesia’s largest tobacco companies.

Mother Jones magazine reports that the band has ignored a campaign by Marita Hefler, a PhD candidate in Public Health at the University of Sydney asking them to cancel their appearance at the concert. Hefler started her petition on Change.org, the world’s fastest-growing platform for social change demanding that Neon Trees - as well as Good Charlotte, The Cranberries and other bands pull out of the festival, which features scantily-clad models distributing cigarettes for free to concert-goers.

Think of your favourite band or singer. Chances are that you not only know their songs, you also know their favourite products. Whether it’s a clothing label or perfume, a car or a phone, the products they advertise are part of their image. You might even know about their favourite social causes – as the face of a charity which supports sick kids, a supporter of cancer or AIDS research, or a champion of the environment.

For kids in Indonesia, the product most often tied in with international musicians is cigarettes. The reason? Most major music events are sponsored by big tobacco.

The latest bands lining up as part of an Indonesian event being sponsored by a company selling the world’s most lethal drug include U.S. musicians 30 Seconds to Mars, Good Charlotte, Neon Trees, We are Scientists and Ed Kowalczyk, Irish band The Cranberries, and U.K. bands Happy Mondays and Blood Red Shoes. The event is Java Rockin’ Land festival, Jakarta from July 22 to 24 and will attract tens of thousands of Indonesian young people. Sponsored by cigarette company Gudang Garam, the festival is 3 days of top music delivered with a blast of tobacco promotion.

[This post comes from Kerala Taylor, Online Content Manager at KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit dedicated to saving play for America's children. --Eds.]

In this simultaneously uplifting and disheartening story from the National Post, four teenagers took a stand against a decades-old law in Toronto, Canada that bans children from playing hockey on residential streets.

Andrew Polanyi, age 13, insisted, “Roads aren’t only for cars.” He said of street hockey: “It’s fun for us, and it keeps us active, not to always play video games.” Andrew and three friends brought a petition with more than 125 signatures to City Hall a few weeks ago to request that the ban be lifted.

Funding by the United States for HIV-Criminalization continues in Africa.

In Africa, HIV criminalization is rampant and supported by many country officials. Ugandan parliamentarians submitted a bill last year that would make HIV criminalization a law. It has been revealed that U.S. efforts are providing funding to similar HIV criminalization efforts across Africa.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been financing the Action for West Africa Region HIV-AIDS program (AWARE), which has been instrumental in creating and enforcing more aggressive HIV/AIDS policies across Africa. This has translated into developing a “model” HIV-specific criminal law. USAID has been funding these efforts since 2004. Prior to this effort, there were no HIV criminalization laws in any country in Africa. Now, there are at least 27 African countries with active laws.

This cause has been reporting on the ADAP Crisis for months now and most of the news we have shared has been bleak. Today we have some encouraging news.

AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) provide vital assistance to HIV-positive individuals who cannot afford the the incredibly expensive medications needed to treat and manage this devastating disease. Without these essential medications, a person’s HIV disease is more likely to progress to AIDS. HIV/AIDS can be life-threatening without these medications.

As of April 21, the waiting list for ADAP is at 7,674 people in 11 states. (The number was 5,100 in 10 states when we first began reporting about the ADAP Crisis in January.) These individuals are being denied coverage for their life-saving medications due to budget cuts on the federal and state levels. They are now at an even greater risk of seeing a drastic decline in their health while they wait for their medications.

Florida has been at the center of the ADAP Crisis since the beginning. Now it seems that the crisis could get even worse.

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), is a vital program that assists HIV-positive individuals with paying for the incredibly expensive medications needed to treat and manage this devastating disease. Without these essential medications, a person’s HIV disease is more likely to progress to AIDS. HIV/AIDS can become life-threatening.

For a variety of reasons, ADAP funding is being slashed in many states across the country. Thousands of HIV-positive people have been terminated from the program and thousands more are being placed on waiting lists. This means that a person living with HIV/AIDS may need to wait to receive the medications they need to save their life.

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Crisis continues. In fact, it is getting worse.

As of March 31, the waiting list for ADAP has increased to 7,745 people in 11 states. (The number was 5,100 in 10 states when we first began reporting about the ADAP Crisis in January.) That means right at this moment, there are close to 8,000 HIV-positive individuals waiting for financial assistance to pay for their HIV medications. They are being denied coverage for their life-saving medications due to budget cuts on the federal and state levels. They are now at an even greater risk of seeing a drastic decline in their health while they wait for their medications.

That's part one of the bad news. Part two is more disheartening. It seems that one pharmaceutical company (Pharma) has responded to the crisis ... by raising the prices of their HIV/AIDS medications. Seems they have a different definition of crisis.

We recently reported that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been financing HIV criminalization laws within Africa. The program, entitled Action for West Africa Region HIV-AIDS program (AWARE), has been instrumental in creating and enforcing more aggressive HIV/AIDS policies across Africa. This has translated into developing a “model” HIV-specific criminal law.

HIV criminalization in Africa is rampant and supported by many African country officials. Ugandan parliamentarians submitted a bill last year that would make HIV criminalization a law.

HIV Criminalization does not work as a means of HIV prevention. The argument for criminalization goes something like this: "If a person knows they will be punished for infecting someone with HIV, they will think twice before engaging in certain behaviors."

In reality, it is not this simple.

Our nation is potentially one step closer to seeing an end to Abstinence-Only Education.

Earlier this month, legislation was re-introduced in Congress seeking an end to this limited form of sexuality education. The bill is entitled the "Repealing Ineffective and Incomplete Abstinence-Only Program Funding Act." That about sums it up.

The annual funds already earmarked for Abstinence-Only Education Programs would be redirected to "evidence-based, comprehensive sex education programs." The bill is sponsored in the Senate by Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey) and in the House by Barbara Lee (D-California).

The bill will face a tough fight. Many conservative lawmakers have been on a war-path to stop funding many family planning programs. This means funding cuts to all community based clinics that provide health care services to low income women and families. HIV testing, cancer screenings, family planning counseling, condom and other birth control distribution... it's all in jeopardy.