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<p>The World Health Organization today <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSNLB765857._CH_.2400">… swine flu to be the first global pandemic since 1968</a>, raising its pandemic flu alert to"phasesix" on a six-point scale. Careful with the definitions: while the disease caused by the H1N1 virus is considered to be moderate, swine flu is considered to be unstoppable and countries are urged to come up with long-term plans for combating its spread. </p>
<p>New Health and Human Services Secretary <a href="http://www.hhs.gov/secretary/">Kathleen Sebelius</a> today released a new <a href="http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/healthdisparities/index.html">repor…; on health disparities showing that: </p>
<p>This isn't yet posted on the California Department of Public Health <a href="http://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/default.aspx">website</a>, but officials just alerted reporters that a Contra Costa County child has died from swine flu. Here's information from the release. ReportingonHealth also has a <a href="/resources/lessons/swine-flu-useful-resources">helpful guide</a> to covering the current swine flu outbreak. </p>
<p>Two new swine flu developments today remind us that this pandemic is still very much with us, despite its near-absence lately in the mainstream media. Reuters <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN01480382">reports<…; that H1N1 cases have been confirmed in all 50 states and that more than 10,000 people have been infected with the virus (you can check out the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's official state-by-state count <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/update.htm">here</a>).
<p>Writer, editor and blogger Angilee Shah is live-blogging the California Endowment Health Journalism Fellowships seminar for broadcasters taking place May 28-31 in Los Angeles. She's also on Twitter @ReportonHealth.</p><p>Angilee, a former managing editor of <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/">AsiaMedia</a>, has written for the Far Eastern Economic Review, The China Beat, TimeOut Singapore , Asian GEOgraphic and Asia Pacific Arts.</p>
<p>The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't issue policy statements all that often. When it does, the statements tend to be deeply researched and full of fodder for future stories. That's the case with the <a href="http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/pediatrics;12… Built Environment: Designing Communities to Promote Physical Activity in Children,"</a> which appears today in the AAP journal <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/">Pediatrics</a>. </p>
<p>After California voters soundly rejected several proposals to mitigate the state's staggering $21 billion budget deficit, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is suggesting unheard-of cutbacks in health and social programs. This time, the discussion isn't just about cutting money from the Healthy Families subsidized health insurance program, it's about <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-budget22-2009may22,0,3512305.story">s… it altogether</a>.</p>
<p>California journalists, you know how the state's special election is going to turn out. Late on election night, all of the budget-related propositions - save for the one regarding lawmaker pay raises - are <a href="http://vote.sos.ca.gov/returns/props/59.htm">failing miserably</a>. Even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger <a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1056032.html">skipped town</a>.</p><p>So, now that ticked-off voters are turning down the stopgap budget fix proposed by Schwarzenegger, the question in the coming days will be: what happens to health care? </p>
<p>The release of a major new <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/state_data/state_highlights/… report on states' tobacco control programs</a>, the first in 5 years, is a great peg for taking a look at what's happening in your state and community. The CDC report gives state-by-state breakdowns of smoking rates by age and other demographics and provides a snapshot of current state regulations on smoking.</p>
<p>Ouch. Medicare is expected to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-medicare13-2009may… out of money</a> in a mere eight years, according to a new <a href="http://www.socialsecurity.gov/OACT/TRSUM/index.html">report</a> from the trustees who oversee the federal health insurance program primarily for the elderly. </p>