The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report on the cost-effectiveness and/or cost savings of preventive services and whether or not the service had been recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.  In doing so, GAO "conducted a literature review of articles about U.S. preventive services in meta-analyses or comparative studies in peer-reviewed journals published between January 2007 and April 2014 that addressed cost-effectiveness or cost savings."

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its partners have released the 2014 National Preparedness Report (NPR) .  "The NPR is an annual status report on the nation's progress toward reaching the National Preparedness Goal of a secure and resilient nation.  Overall, the NPR found the nation continues to make progress building preparedness in key areas and identifies several areas of sustainment. The report also identified areas for national improvement in building resilience and reducing long-term vulnerability.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans can last for decades, according to a new study that looked at Americans who served in the Vietnam War.

Researchers found that most of the 11 percent of veterans who had PTSD a decade or more after that war showed little improvement since then, The New York Times reported.

More than 18 percent of Vietnam veterans with PTSD had died by retirement age, a rate about twice that of those without the disorder, according to the study to be presented Friday at an American Psychological Association meeting.

Vietnam veterans especially likely to develop PTSD included members of minorities who enlisted before completing high school, and those who had killed multiple times in combat, The Times reported.

The researchers said their findings from the Department of Veterans Affairs-funded study have implications for the United States as it deals with veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This study shows us what the road ahead is going to look like," Dr. Charles Marmar, one of the study authors and chairman of psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center and director of the NYU Cohen Veterans Center, told The Times.

"A significant number of veterans are going to have PTSD for a lifetime unless we do something radically different," he said. (Health Day News)

Taking aspirin every day appears to reduce the odds of developing and dying from colon, stomach or esophageal cancer, a new study suggests.

Based on a review of available studies, researchers determined that the benefits of aspirin therapy for preventing cancer outweigh the risks. Millions of people already take this inexpensive drug to prevent or treat heart disease. (Health Day News) Read more…

President Barack Obama signed the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act, which outlines efforts to increase access to quality health care for U.S. veterans. The bill offers veterans the option to seek medical care outside of the VA health care system and will provide resources to hire more VA doctors and nurses.

The $16.3 billion bill was spurred largely by a recent inspector general report that indicated long waits for patients seeking care at a Phoenix  VA hospital this spring.

“As a country, we have a sacred obligation to serve you as well as you have served us, an obligation that doesn’t end with your tour of duty,” Obama said before signing the bill.  (CBS News) Read More…

(http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-signs-va-reform-bill/)

A new special online issue of APHA’s American Journal of Public Health compiles some of the latest research and commentary regarding the health of U.S. veterans as it relates to equity, quality of care and disparities.

“Any lapse in care quality, access or equity is antithetical to our duty to those who have served to protect our freedoms; it is simply not who we are as an organization,” wrote Robert Jesse, MD, PhD, former acting undersecretary for health for the Veterans Health Administration.

“Recognizing additional areas for improvement by identifying disparities in care has reinvigorated our commitment to these uniform principles,” he wrote.

The open-access issue, developed in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Health Equity, investigates tobacco use and smoking habits, mental health, homelessness, racial disparities and access to care for transgender people and for American Indian and Alaska Native populations, along with a host of other topics impacting veteran health care. (Journal of Public Health)

Partnership for Prevention's ActionToQuit initiative has released a new guide titled, Help Your Patients Quit Tobacco Use: An Implementation Guide for the Armed Force.  It points out that rates remain higher among people serving in the military than in the civilian population.  "This is of particular concern because of the substantial negative effects of tobacco use on military readiness. Among these are impaired physical endurance, increased absenteeism for illness, delayed wound healing, and reduced night vision."  The Partnership recommends that tobacco cessation treatment should be a standard of care at every patient encounter, and views the Guide as a practical supplement to the publication, VA/DoDClinical Practice Guideline on Management of Tobacco Use (2008).

A new National Healthy Housing Standard could help millions of U.S. residents and homeowners make living spaces safer and healthier.

Public health and housing leaders, including U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, gathered to unveil the new standard on May 16 in Washington, D.C. The standard, released by APHA and the National Center for Healthy Housing, is a “health-focused property maintenance policy targeting the nation’s 100 million existing homes,” and serves as a guide to help homeowners, landlords and tenants maintain dwellings that are safe for people to live in. (The Nation’s Health) Read more…

FDA enforces rule saying the claim can only be used for foods containing less than 20 parts per million of gluten Starting Tuesday, the label “gluten free” will actually mean “gluten free.” Before Aug. 5, there were no standards or regulations governing the use of gluten-free claims placed on packaged foods. As of Tuesday, however, the Food and Drug Administration determined that the claim can only be used for foods containing less than 20 parts per million of gluten.(Time) Read more…

A popular health care program that serves more than 130,000 military family members and retirees is redundant and should be eliminated, the Government Accountability Office says.

The U.S. Family Health Plan, an association of six health care companies that provides Tricare Prime to military beneficiaries in 15 states and the District of Columbia, costs the Defense Department more than $1 billion a year, and its unique nature restricts DoD from maximizing use of military hospitals and clinics, GAO officials wrote in a report released Thursday. (NavyTimes.com) Read more...