Insights

<p><i>Update: Dr. Gupta removed himself from the list of candidates on March 5, telling CNN's Larry King, "I</i><i> think for me it really came down to a sense of timing more than anything else. This job...takes us away from our children for so many years at once, and I sort of came to grips that I'd probably be away for several years of their lives."</i></p><p>Dr. Sanjay Gupta appears to be the first surgeon general picked not for his public service but for his public image. </p>

<p>When more than half of American families sampled in a recent poll say they're skimping on medical care to save money, that's a story by any measure - and one that's easy to localize. A new <a href="http://www.kff.org/kaiserpolls/posr022509pkg.cfm">study</a&gt; from the <a href="http://www.kff.org/"&gt;

<p>The <a href="http://www.gatesfoundation.org/">Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation's</a> $100 million grant to the <a href="http://www.ipm-microbicides.org/index.htm">International Partnership for Microbicides</a> is big news for HIV prevention researchers frustrated by years of skimpy funding and scientific setbacks. The United Kingdom Department for International Development kicked in another $28.5 million.

<p>While reading New York Times health reporter Tara Parker-Pope's recent <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/in-health-still-leaving-childr… post</a></span> about children's health care, I was struck by the comment of a doctor named Elise:</p>

<p>SCHIP is <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3-r4-QX2sJIwxAkeLfY3… on the table</a>!</p><p>
Let the wrangling begin.</p>

<p>Journalists are using geographic information software (GIS) to map data for stories and graphics about toxic health threats, prescription medicine abuse and EMS response times. Here are more ideas for using GIS in your health reporting.</p>