Kid Care CHIP, Wyoming’s version of SCHIP, on July 1 began providing new mental health, vision and dental benefits to children, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reports. The updated benefits were proposed by a state benefits committee that meets every two years. [click link for full article]

A new analysis of data from a large national study found that people who took a 200 microgram selenium supplement each day for almost eight years had an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those who took a placebo or dummy pill.The data came from the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer Trial (NPC), a large randomized, multi-center, clinical trial from the eastern United States, designed to evaluate whether selenium supplements prevent skin cancer. [click link for full article]

“Women With an Unmet Need for Contraception in Developing Countries: Levels and Reasons for Not Using a Method,” Guttmacher Institute: The report, written by Gilda Sedgh and colleagues, found that about 15% of married women and 7% of unmarried women in developing countries have an “unmet need” for contraception services. [click link for full article]

Soft tissue sarcomas—rare tumours of the connective tissue—should be treated at the few centres which see most cases, in order to give patients the best chance of good outcomes, concludes an analysis of sarcoma management in Florida, published in the Annals of Surgery last month.”STS [soft tissue sarcomas] are rare. [click link for full article]

New study challenges conventional thinking that high carbohydrate, low fat slimming plan should contain little or no added sugar (sucrose).A team of scientists at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh has found that a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet (containing sucrose) combined with physical activity achieved the greatest health benefits in overweight subjects. [click link for full article]

The AP/Lexington Herald-Leader on Monday examined problems experienced by Medicare beneficiaries who try to switch their private Medicare Advantage health insurance plans. “[H]undreds” of elderly residents have contacted the [click link for full article]

A new study from the UK, Australia and New Zealand confirms the findings of American research, that women who start on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) many years after the menopause increase their risk of major heart problems and blood clots.The study is published in the early online issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ). [click link for full article]

There are an estimated 140,000 children in China who have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses, according to figures released Sunday by UNICEF China, the South China Morning Post reports. The organization also called on China to increase financial assistance provided to AIDS orphans in the country, according to the Morning Post. [click link for full article]

CMS on Friday released a final rule that will change the Medicaid prescription drug reimbursement formula for pharmacies from being based on the average wholesale price to being based on the average manufacturer price, CongressDaily reports (Edney, CongressDaily, 7/10). The rule, mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and scheduled to take effect on Dec. [click link for full article]

Multilateral development banks are not fulfilling their commitments to support initiatives involving reproductive and sexual health in developing countries, according to a new study released by Gender Action, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that monitors the banks’ policies on women and gender equality, Inter Press Service reports. [click link for full article]