Health Care in West Virginia

West Virginia's attempt to improve the health of its residents on a statewide scale over the course of this decade "shows a gradual progress in many areas that add up to some good news," but "some of the plan's goals still seem unlikely to be met in the next year and a half," The Associated Press reports.

AP health care writer Tom Breen examines the objectives of the "West Virginia Healthy People 2010" initiative to gauge its progress so far. While obesity is actually down since 2000, and more residents are checking their cholesterol regularly and exercising more, "goals are far from being met in a wide range of other categories, including cigarette smoking, colorectal cancer screening and hypertension rates," Breen found.

The Charleston Gazette, meanwhile, cites a new study to report that "West Virginia has the second-highest percentage of children with chronic health problems in the nation, a troubling statistic that highlights the state's need to expand health coverage for kids."