Links for the day

Here are some articles you might be interested in:

State, local changes seen as key to U.S. food safety - This is based on a report released today regarding food safety. So true! The system needs to be integrated, and hopefully the various proposals out there to reform the food safety system will be implemented to help strengthen the system.

This article by Paula Crossfield at the Huffington Post critiques an article in the NY Times recently that warns consumers about the dangers of trichinosis in free-range pork. There were a few problems with the analysis, which Paula smartly points out.

A policy cocktail for fighting HIV - Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, discusses three "bold new" policy moves to combat HIV in the U.S. First is PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis, would provide antiretrovirals to those at high risk of infection. Second is "universally available, voluntary, annual testing for HIV infection" followed by immediate treatment of those found HIV-positive. The third policy addresses the long-term treatment of HIV-positive people. (Frankly, the third policy isn't spelled out very succinctly.)

New York considers making HIV testing routine - This is a pretty controversial idea to make HIV testing routine during physician visits, but studies have found that asking patients to opt into testing is a barrier. So there are pros and cons to this approach. We'll see where the NY legislature takes this.

Access to outpatient mental health services - Primary care physicians are finding difficulty getting mental health services for their patients. This study in Health Affairs (great journal) says that it is up to twice as difficult to get mental health services than other medical services.