Health news summary

The news today is...extremely depressing. Sorry.

The Miami Herald reports on the anarchy that has become Haiti: broad day kidnappings, unchecked gang violence, disease and extreme poverty.

Elsie Dejamie, 22, says she has to eat clay to give breast milk to her 1-year-old boy, Belange.''When I don't have enough food, I eat the dirt,'' Dejamie said. ``When I eat dirt it gives me more milk.''

Wonderful. As a corollary, see the New York Times report on the corruption that has brought Haiti's health care system (if it can be called that) to its knees.

The hospital suffers chronic shortages of materials and working lab machines. Three of the six operating rooms are out of service, and anesthetists are often not available, doctors say. The morgue has no electricity, and bodies covered with worms line the sidewalk.

A recent report from the United Nations Development Program described health care as nearly catastrophic. One of every three deaths in Haiti is that of a child. With most people earning less than $1 a day, many do without medicine. Death during childbirth is the second leading cause of death among women, H.I.V. rates are climbing, and tuberculosis is common, the report said.

Sigh...

On a bright note, the San Francisco Chronicle has a story about some French researchers who may be on their way to developing an HIV vaccine.

From the LA Times, a tragic report on the heroin epidemic that seems to be reborn in Norway. (Notice the New York Yankees hat worn by the 18-year old Norwegian junkie/prostitute. Fuck the Yankees.)

And last but certainly not least, today's healthcare news wouldn't be complete without mentioning the Supreme Court's hearing on medical marijuana laws.