A new report from the World Bank shows a decrease in life expectancy for sub-Saharan Africa, due to the double burden of HIV/AIDS and other diseases (kaisernetwork.org Daily HIV/AIDS Report, June 22, 2006).

The report, Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, is the second edition of a report originally published in 1991.

Nonprofits, on average, provide better health care than for-profit nursing homes and hospitals, according to a review published in Health Affairs (Web exclusive, June 20, 2006). (Reuters, June 20, 2006)

The Christian Science Monitor examines efforts to help African widows who are accused of witchcraft and banished or shunned (June 22, 2006).

The Economic Reality of Nonresident Mothers and Their Children is a new Urban Institute report that uses data from the 2002 National Survey of America’s Families (NSAF) to describe nonresident mothers and their children.

• Changes in Co-pays for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plans, 1999–2003 (#127)
• Changes in Out-of-Pocket Maximum Limits for Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plans, 1999–2003 (#128)
• The Uninsured in America, First Half of 2005: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 65 (#129)
• The Uninsured in America, 1996–2005: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 65 (#130)
• Health Insurance Status of Children in America, First Half 1996–2005: Estimates for the U.S. Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population under Age 18 (#131)

New chartbook from MEPS: Outpatient Prescription Drug Expenses in the U.S. Community Population, 2003

Melanoma is more common in whites, but deadlier in blacks and Hispanics because it is more likely to go undetected, according to a study published in Archives of Dermatology (June 2006, PubMed abstract). (AP via Centre Daily Times, June 20, 2006).

On June 30, 2006, the PRI Simple Online Data Archive for Population Studies (SodaPop) is moving to a new Web site - http://sodapop.pop.psu.edu.

The new SodaPop site is in Beta version, but the basic functionality of the system - variable searching, online documentation, and data download - will be up and running. You will find that the layout of information on the site has changed; the primary difference being tabbed navigation for general information (home, collections, and explore) and for each dataset page (description, download, and search functions).

Over the coming months, the SodaPop team will be actively working on adding enhanced features to the site: help information, technical notes for specific datasets, and special access information for PRI users.

Should you discover any bugs, have questions, or wish to offer feedback on the site’s design, please contact the SodaPop team.

According to a study by Humana, consumer-driven health plans have succeeded in encouraging preventive care and other healthy behaviors, and in lessening increases in claims costs (kaisernetwork.org Daily Health Policy Report, June 13, 2006).

UNAIDS Executive Director Peter Piot said during a visit to Malawi that stigma associated with HIV/AIDS is decreasing in African countries, a signal of progress for prevention and treatment programs (kaisernetwork.org Daily HIV/AIDS Report, June 16, 2006).