- Unsafe Abortions Kill 70,000 Women Each Year: Survey
- More than One Billion People Hungry: U.N.
- Stents Tested for Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction
- Snowe Votes With Dems on Health Care Reform Bill
Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:
Unsafe Abortions Kill 70,000 Women Each Year: Survey
Unsafe abortions kill more than 70,000 women worldwide each year, says a global survey released Tuesday by the New York-based Guttmacher Institute.
"In almost all developed countries, abortion is safe and legal," said institute president Sharon Camp, the Associated Press reported. "But in much of the developing world, abortion remains highly restricted, and unsafe abortion is common and continues to damage women's health and threaten their survival."
The study, which called for further relaxing of abortion laws in developing nations, found that more than half the worldwide deaths (38,000) occur in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the lowest rates of contraception and the highest rates of accidental pregnancies.
The survey also found that increased contraceptive use has resulted in fewer abortions worldwide, the AP reported.
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More than One Billion People Hungry: U.N.
More than one billion people -- a sixth of the global population -- are undernourished, says a U.N. report released ahead of World Food Day on Friday.
The annual report on global food security said the number of hungry people had been increasing before the economic crisis, which has made the situation even worse, BBC News reported.
"No nation is immune and, as usual, it is the poorest countries and the poorest people that are suffering the most," said the document from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program.
The largest number of hungry people are in Asia and the Pacific (642 million), followed by sub-Saharan Africa (265 million), BBC News reported.
The number of hungry people in the world is at its highest since 1970.
"The World Food Summit target of reducing the number of undernourished people by half to no more than 420 million by 2015 will not be reached if the trends that prevailed before [the economic crisis] continue," the U.N. said.
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Stents Tested for Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction
A clinical trial to determine if drug-coated stents can treat erectile dysfunction in men with coronary artery disease will be conducted by Medtronic Inc.
The stents will be implanted in the pelvic arteries of men who haven't benefited from treatment with drugs such as Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, the Associated Press reported.
The trial is still being designed, but the first procedure has been performed, Medtronic said Tuesday. The study will enroll 50 men and the results are expected in 2011.
Stents are widely used to treat heart disease.
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Snowe Votes With Dems on Health Care Reform Bill
In a symbolic victory for Democrats, Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe crossed party lines and voted for a Democratic health care reform bill on Tuesday.
The Democrats hold a 13-10 majority on the Senate Finance Committee, which ensured passage of a 10-year, $829-billion plan bill that requires nearly all Americans to purchase health insurance and introduces numerous other changes, the Associated Press reported.
So, although the Maine Senator's announcement didn't change the outcome of the crucial vote, it provided a much-needed boost to President Barack Obama's quest to provide universal health coverage. Colleagues said Snowe had some misgivings about the bill, but has said "when history calls, history calls," the AP said.
Senate Finance Committee support of the bill, which Republicans oppose, would represent a significant advance in Obama's efforts to overhaul the nation's $2.5 trillion health system. Four other congressional committees passed legislation before August. For months, attention has focused on the Finance Committee, the remaining one.
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