Monthly Archives: February 2008

What’s a health nut to do? Another supplement bites the dust.

Bush’s trip to Africa was of interest not only for the places he visited but for those he didn’t.

Egypt’s totalitarian regime would not of course be appropriate to emphasize on a trip that highlighted democratic initiatives–Egypt receives over 2 billion dollar a year in military and non-military aid. Somalia, of course speaks for itself. A failed country, it was the recipient of all manner of aid from us because we thought for a while that it’s location was strategically important. An expensive assessment since it appears to be of little military significance. Kenya was the recipient of many billions in aid and was the base and cornerstone of the U.S. AID establishment in East Africa. Lot of good that has done as we’ve tolerated and used it’s corrupt government for the past 40 years. Uganda has lost it luster with the participation of it’s military in the plundering of the Congo. You do remember the Congo, or was it Zaire?! Etc. Etc.

Meanwhile Tanzania, a country receiving little aid from the U.S. since independence because of it’s socialist bias, has become the poster boy for the U.S. aid program. Given the track record Tanzania might want to consider the consequences.

This AIDS program is a lifetime commitment. Once we start supplying medications it’s unethical to stop. The U.S. program distributes branded relatively high priced medications exclusively. No other program, the UN and other nations, is so profligate. These drugs cost several times more than generics, meaning that the money available for drugs will be sufficient to treat several times fewer patients.

While on a visit to Tanzania recently, we visited a hospital that explained that half their HIV patients were receiving the “free” medications and other care provided by our program. We were quite impressed with the progress. They also indicated that while the U.S. program frowns on prevention education regarding condoms. The hospital, a mission facility, provides the education and condoms anyway.

Meanwhile at home Bush vetoes health care for children; opposes any real national health scheme that assures access to medical care; cuts Medicaid and Medicare funding; refuses to negotiate with drug companies to decrease the cost to our consumers. Here, health expenses are the leading contributer to bankruptcy and our health expenditures are 100-150% higher than anywhere else in the world.

The hypocrisy, the hypocrisy.

It’s should have been apparent to us that a healthy lifestyle doesn’t decrease health care costs but simply defers them. An interesting study from the Netherlands confirms this intuitive conclusion.

“It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars.”

“Lung cancer is a cheap disease to treat because people don’t survive very long,” van Baal said. “But if they are old enough to get Alzheimer’s one day, they may survive longer and cost more.”

Don’t worry, however, we’re working hard to make lung cancer treatment more expensive as we introduce prohibitively expensive agents into the treatment mix of the disease. These new agents by the way have had a minimal effect on longevity in these patients. Still, it’s nice to live longer.

In order to save money in our health care non system, it’s apparent that the only strategy that will work to cut costs is a systematic approach that fosters efficiency and cost containment.

It’s pathetic that we have hundreds of billions available to bail out big business during a down turn; hundreds of billions to go to a war started on false pretenses; Hundreds of billions to outsource the war to private enterprise and facilitate the wealth of political supporters.

And pay for it by cutting funding to Medicaid and Medicare. We clearly need regime change.

” Educators nationwide are protesting a Bush administration move to curtail hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funding for disabled students that could force some schools already in budget straits to trim health services or cut back instructional programs.”