Schoolgirls in Kenya to face compulsory tests for pregnancy and FGM

Girls in Narok County will be made to reveal identities of babies’ fathers and tell police about female genital mutilation

Plans to subject schoolgirls in Kenya to mandatory tests for female genital mutilation and pregnancy are a violation of victims’ privacy, campaigners have warned.

All girls returning to school this week in Narok, Kenya, will be examined at local health facilities as part of a countywide crackdown.

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Depression in girls linked to higher use of social media

Research suggests link between social media use and depressive symptoms was stronger for girls compared with boys

Girls’ much-higher rate of depression than boys is closely linked to the greater time they spend on social media, and online bullying and poor sleep are the main culprits for their low mood, new research reveals.

As many as three-quarters of 14-year-old girls who suffer from depression also have low self-esteem, are unhappy with how they look and sleep for seven hours or less each night, the study found.

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Experts urge Egypt to rethink two-child population strategy

Medics say limiting families s not the answer for a country where a baby is born every 15 seconds

In the cramped office of New Cairo hospital’s family planning clinic, Safah Hosny sets a box overflowing with contraceptives next to the visitors’ ledger on a small desk.

There are eight condoms for one Egyptian pound, about 4p, or ampoules of injectable birth control, for just under 9p. A contraceptive implant lasting three years costs 22p, while copper IEDs – the most popular form of birth control on offer according to Dr Hosny – cost 17p.

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Average 10-year-old has eaten 18 years’ worth of sugar

PHE launches campaign to persuade parents to reduce sugar in their children’s diets

The average 10-year-old has consumed as much sugar in their lifetime as the recommended limit for an 18-year-old, according to Public Health England (PHE), which is warning of serious implications for obesity and health.

Children are consuming the equivalent of eight excess sugar cubes a day, or 2,800 a year, says PHE, which has launched a new healthy eating campaign, Change4Life . National guidance recommends no more than five or six sugar cubes (20g-24g) a day for children aged four to 10.

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When Republicans decide to love an activist judge: The Affordable…

President Donald Trump talks about drug prices during a visit to the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 25. He's pictured with HHS Secretary Alex Azar. On Friday, members of the GOP hailed a ruling by U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor striking down the Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional.

Obamacare ruling won’t affect coverage a ” yet

A federal judge's ruling that the Affordable Care Act is unconstitutional was a Friday-evening bombshell and a first-round victory for opponents of the law. But it will need to survive review by higher courts to have any effect on the program that's credited with expanding health insurance to about 19 million people in the U.S. A crimson banner appeared on the federally run healthcare.gov website over the weekend to reassure potential customers: "Court's decision does not affect 2019 enrollment or coverage."

Kansas Medicaid expansion in doubt despite governor support

Democratic and moderate Republicans lawmakers worked together last year to try to make Kansas the latest state to expand Medicaid, only to see their bipartisan effort rewarded with a veto from former conservative GOP Gov. Sam Brownback. The election this month of a governor who supports Medicaid expansion seemed to remove the biggest hurdle for those hoping to bring health coverage to thousands of the state's poor.

GOP on defense to explain pre-existing condition protections

This combination of file photos shows Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker, left, and his Democratic challenger Tony Evers in the 2018 November general election. Walker, who is seeking a third term, has been working for years to repeal Obama's health care law and signed off on the state attorney general joining the lawsuit against it.

Democratic candidates focus on health care as midterms near

Marylea Evans recounted how, decades ago, her husband had been unable to get health insurance after developing cancer, forcing the couple to sell some of their Texas ranch to pay for his treatment. Now she was worried about Democratic ads saying McSally, currently a congresswoman, supported legislation removing the requirement that insurers cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.

Seniors are getting slowly strangled by Social Security’s flawed math – here’s how to fix it

As a result of inflation, people on fixed incomes find that their incomes decline in value over time. One extremely important feature of Social Security is that its benefits are adjusted every year automatically to offset increases in inflation so that the modest, but vital, benefits do not erode over time.

Premiums for popular ACA health insurance dip for the first time

The average price tag for the most popular level of insurance sold in the Affordable Care Act's federal marketplaces is dropping slightly, the first time the rates have stopped going up since the health plans were created a half-dozen years ago. In the 39 states that rely on HealthCare.gov, the monthly premium is dipping by 1.5 percent for 2019 in a tier of coverage that forms the basis for the ACA's federal insurance subsidies, according to federal figures released Tuesday.

Ap Fact Check: Trump’s view of ‘Medicare for All’ simplistic

President Donald Trump took a big step into the debate over the future of America's health care system with an op-ed column in USA Today that presented a bleak vision of what would happen under plans backed by many Democrats to institute government insurance for everyone. Trump on Wednesday cast the idea as a dangerous scheme by "radical socialists" as he played up potential pitfalls of a government-paid system without citing any of the benefits, such as the disappearance of most medical bills.

Fact Check: Trump’s False Claims On ‘Medicare For All’

President Trump attends a signing ceremony for health care measures in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday, the same day USA Today published an opinion column on the topic by the president. USA Today published an opinion column by President Trump Wednesday in which the president falsely accuses Democrats of trying to "eviscerate" Medicare, while defending his own record of protecting health care coverage for seniors and others.

Trump signs bills to help patients stop overpaying for drugs

President Donald Trump holds up the 'Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act' after signing it and the 'Know the Lowest Price Act of 2018,' during a ceremony in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. These bills, which were sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in red, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., right, help protect Medicare patients and those with private insurance from overpaying for prescription drugs by outlawing pharmacy "gag clauses."

‘I Know This Is Shocking,’ Says Sanders, But Trump ‘Lying About Medicare for All’

In reaction to President Donald Trump's op-ed on Wednesday-titled, " Democrats 'Medicare for All' plan will demolish promises to seniors "-Sen. Bernie Sanders responded in a sensible and honest way by calling the president a liar. "No, Mr. President.