Topic: Public Health

Diet, exercise, nutrition and heart disease have all been health buzz words lately. This hour on Focus, we'll talk with Dr. Sumuk Sundaram of Christie Clinic about men's health issues.

Samantha King, Associate Professor, Associate Director and Graduate Coordinator, School of Kinesiology at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario

Host: Kimberlie Kranich

The National Cancer Institute estimates that just more than 12 percent of U-S women or “1 in 8” born today will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in her life.  Approximately 40,000 U.S. women die from breast cancer each year.  Only lung cancer claims more cancer deaths among women.

In the U-S and increasingly worldwide, the movement to end breast cancer is symbolized by a pink ribbon and the strategy is to raise billions of dollars for research and to promote early detection through mammograms.  Cause-driven marketing encourages us to buy products that display the pink ribbon and to participate in 5k races for a cure.  Are these the best strategies?  Where did they come from and who is really benefitting?

We go beyond the pink ribbon to the politics of breast cancer, civic engagement and corporate philanthropy with Samantha King, author of  “Pink Ribbons, Inc.”

The Department of Kinesiology & Community Health and the Center on Health, Aging and Disability is hosting a screening of Pink Ribbons, Inc. at 7:00 PM, on Thursday, September 27 at the Knight Auditorium, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL 61801. After the film, Samantha King will field questions about the film and her research.

Malcolm Hill, M.D., Pediatrician, Carle Physicians Group

Host: Craig Cohen

Our guest will be Dr. Malcolm Hill, pediatrician from Carle in Urbana. Dr. Hill can respond to a range of concerns, anything from vaccinations and common childhood illness, to coping with minor bumps and bruises.  Any problem you might discuss with your own family doctor is welcome on this show.

Claudia Lennhoff, Executive Director, Champaign County Health Care Consumers

John Katsinas, Manager, Barham Benefit Group, Champaign

Host: Craig Cohen

Perhaps no single issue has been more politicized the last four years than health care. After more than a year of especially rancorous debate and discussion in Congress, and in town halls across America, this country’s health care system began an overhaul through passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. That law has set a number of changes in motion – not the least of which is a requirement for most Americans to have health insurance, or pay what the Supreme Court ruled this summer amounts to a tax. The Affordable Care Act has also addressed everything from providing relief to seniors who faced a Medicare prescription drug “donut hole,” to providing Americans under 26 with a chance to remain on their parents’ health insurance, to new regulations ensuring patients aren’t dropped from coverage due to pre-existing conditions. The Affordable Care Act is designed do more in the coming years, including funding for state Medicaid programs geared towards preventive care, and the establishment of insurance exchanges, state to state, in 2014.

We thought it would be helpful to provide an hour in which we walk through what is and is not in the legislation, what is and is not already in place, and what it all means for your personal health care. We welcome any questions you have about the health care system, as we seek to take the politics out of it, and focus instead, on how the system works, and what you, as a health care consumer, ought to know about it.