Expresses the view that health is an individual moral obligation, and that the health of individuals will not be improved via a national health insurance program. (SL)

Present educational and administrative structures must be changed in order to improve health care in rural areas. (Author/RH)

The primary objective of national health insurance is to make sure that good medical care is available to everyone at an affordable price. Any plan when first adopted will have a role for both private and government sectors but regardless of the mix, the system should meet certain goals. (Author/BB)

Public interest in health is very high in 1978. This situation provides a powerful stimulus for the life sciences. A wide spectrum of research is needed to meet long-range health problems. (Author/BB)

Reviews the vascular anatomy of the pituitary and discusses a series of 14 questions concerning the functional implications of these anatomical observations. Together these questions attempt to identify whether pituitary hormones are transported directly to the brain to modify brain function. (HM)

Describes adverse congressional reaction to a recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) recommendation that the Veteran's Administration's (VA) health care system be phased into a general health care system. (SL)

Defensive medicine (the use of diagnostic and end-treatment measures explicitly for the purposes of averting malpractice suits) is frequently cited as one of the least desirable effects of the current rise in medical litigation. It is claimed that defensive medicine is responsible for the rising cost of health care and the exposure of patients to…

Methods for amplifying the effects of scientific resources on global health problems are described. (Author/DF)

Presents the history of federal health spending during the past three decades. (BB)

An experimental and theoretical investigation into the range and nature of exposure of the nonsmoking public to respirable suspended particulates from cigarette smoke is reported. An assessment of public health policy implications is presented. (Author/RE)

This is a discussion of some of the reasons for the high cost of health care in the United States in government programs, hospital wages, physician's fees, excess beds, too many specialists, and high technology--and some of the proposed solutions to these problems. (BB)

A discussion of the relationships, both biological and behavioral, among nutrition, population, and health in relation to government policy. Special emphasis is given to breast feeding and child survival. (BB)

Evaluation of the efficacy of a medical intervention requires measurements of both its benefits and risks as compared to those of alternative forms of management. The requisite measurements are more difficult to make than this description suggests, and the accumulation of information is inhibited by certain characteristics of our pattern of health…

Risk factors for disease consist of personal habits such as cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, and bodily characteristics such as hypertension and high serum cholesterol. Progress in identifying, quantifying, and controlling risk factors is opening the way to the prevention of disease. (BB)