The following will be published in the June 19 issue of The Lancet:

Bhopal sentences 26 years after the Bhopal disaster in India, seven men have been sentenced to 2 years in prison for criminal negligence. Up to 25 000 people are thought to have died and around 500 000 are estimated to have been harmed by the clouds of lethal gas that escaped from the chemical plant run by Union Carbide in 1984.

Pfizer warning The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to Pfizer for repeatedly failing to report promptly adverse effects of post-marketed drugs. Such drugs include Pfizer’s top-selling Viagra (sildenafil) and Lipitor (atorvastatin). According to FDA director Ronald Pace, Pfizer inspectors found system-wide lapses during their inspections.

Water hunting Geologists are using magnetic resonance sounding to locate ground­water in Chad. Serious water shortages caused by insufficient rainfall and rapid population growth, including the arrival of refugees from neighbouring Sudan and Central African Republic, have forced the use of this method, which is expensive but more accurate than standard geophysical techniques.

Torture tests Physicians for Human Rights released a report last week alleging that US doctors working for the Central Intelligence Agency during the Bush Administration participated in illegal experiments on detainees with the aim to improve torture techniques, such as waterboarding. US Government officials rejected the study, asserting that no such research occurred.

Polio protection WHO has vaccinated more than 1·2 million children against poliomyelitis in Afghanistan after an outbreak of the disease near the Afghan border in neighbouring Tajikistan. To ensure that all Afghan children were vaccinated, WHO set up immunisation posts at the border, as well as doing house visits, setting up mobile clinics, and having hospital immunisation teams.

Media and health The Brunei Ministry of Health has held a seminar with the country’s most influential radio and television broadcasters to encourage listeners to lead healthier lifestyles and educate participants on health-related issues, such as diet. According to Deputy Minister of Health Pehin Abdullah, the media is crucial to the positive promotion and spread of health information to the public.

Telemedical abortions Doctors in Iowa, USA, are providing medical abortions to women in remote areas via video link. A clinic nurse examines the woman and provides counselling and follow-up care. A doctor “arrives” via video conference and issues the necessary drugs by clicking a button that releases a drawer in the clinic. Opponents charge that the scheme makes abortion easier.

Mental disorders At least 30 million young people in China have mental disorders or behavioural problems, according to estimates reported at the 19th World Congress of the International Association for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Allied Professions. China’s rapid urbanisation and industrialisation and greater societal competition are thought to be part of the problem.

Contaminated water Lead poisoning of water reserves in northwestern Nigeria, probably caused by illegal gold mining, has left more than 160 people dead, many of them children. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called the contamination “unprecedented”, and the Nigerian Government has set up emergency clinics in conjunction with several aid agencies to help treat those affected.

Stem-cell tourism Costa Rica’s health ministry has shut down the largest stem-cell clinic in the country. The clinic had treated thousands of foreigners because it was cheaper or more accessible than those in other coun­tries. The Ministry’s chief said that the treatments were unproven, and the centre’s owner admitted that they were not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

HIV disclosure Uganda has drafted a new policy to allow HIV-positive children to be informed of their status by the age of 10 years to try to im­prove their adherence to antiretroviral therapy. The previous policy required parental consent to inform children by age 12 years, but the new policy allows health workers to do so earlier (with parental support) after assessment of the child’s ability to understand.

Loud and clear Telecommunications company Geemarc has developed a mobile phone with a 100 dB ringtone. Although the Clearsound CL8200 was developed for people with hearing loss, its simplicity and enlarged button and screen size were also designed to appeal to older people frustrated with the tendency of modern phones to be both overly complex and tiny.

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