November 4th 2008
This week in medicine
The following will appear in the Nov 8 issue of The Lancet:
US veterans The US Department of Veterans Affairs has reported that almost 15% of soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who have sought medical care through the VA system say they experienced some form of “military sexual trauma”. Forms of trauma ranged from unwelcome advances to rape.
Uganda loses aid The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has halted the release of US$12 million allocated to Uganda in 2003-04, because of poor management of funds. With an estimated 1 million Ugandans living with HIV/AIDS, the country will need to maintain donations from the Global Fund and other donors for its ambitious plan for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, predicted to cost $2 billion over 5 years.
Artificial heart A prosthetic heart, that is shaped like the human organ and pumps blood in the same rhythm, could be ready to implant into patients by 2011. The heart was developed by cardiac expert Alain Carpentier and engineers from the aerospace group EADS. It uses electronic sensors to control heart rate and blood flow, and includes chemically enhanced animal tissue to reduce the risk of rejection by the patient’s immune system.
Resignation Chile’s heath minister Maria Soledad Barria has resigned following a scandal in which a hospital failed to inform patients of their HIV-positive status. Barria commented that she did not wish to be an obstacle to government efforts to improve the health service. Several staff members at the hospital in Iquique, northern Chile, await further investigation into claims of possible negligence.
Refugee crisis Around 250 000 people have been displaced by fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). WHO’s emergency medical stocks have been sent to non-governmental organisations working in Goma, and the Italian Government is providing medical aid. Meanwhile, the Zambian Government has closed its borders to DRC refugees because of concerns over imported diseases including an unknown arenavirus.
Child deaths Kenya’s health ministry has reported that the number of deaths in children has risen over the past 10 years. Currently, one in nine children die before the age of 5 years, compared with one in ten in 1990. The increase has been attributed in part to a shortage of skilled health workers and lack of access to referral facilities.
Transplant success Reports this week are hailing pioneering HIV positive-to-positive renal transplants as highly successful. The two operations were done in September at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital, and were the first with HIV-positive donor organs. Last year in South Africa-where there is currently a donor shortage-30% of organs were discarded for being HIV-positive.
Asbestos The Ban Asbestos Network of India has criticised the Indian Government for its role in the failed attempt to add chrysotile asbestos, a known human carcinogen, to the UN’s watchlist of hazardous chemicals. India, one of the world’s largest importers of asbestos, has been accused of neglecting public interest concerns and being swayed by industry demands.
Children’s trusts A report from the Audit Commission concludes that there is little evidence that the English children’s trusts-created to improve child services after the murder of Victoria Climbié in 2000-have led to better outcomes for children and young people. According to the Audit Commission, progress on children’s services has been disappointing.
Financial flows A report launched this week by the Global Forum on Health Research provides new estimates of research and development investments made by individual countries and sectors. Monitoring Financial Flows for Health Research 2008 proposes a Report Card approach to measure the performance of all countries, and includes categories for Global Health Initiatives and development agencies.
Forum Yemen, not usually recognised for its role in supporting human rights, has launched a humanitarian forum to enhance the role and effectiveness of local non-governmental organisations. The Humanitarian Forum Yemen (HFY), aims to “help create a conductive, unbiased and safe environment for the implementation of technically sound and principled humanitarian action”.
Purple tomatoes With the enormous financial resources given to cancer research it is disheartening that so much media attention has been given to researchers who turned a tomato purple to “fight cancer” by genetically engineering it to contain antioxidants found in dark berries. Perhaps if people ate dark berries instead of purple tomatoes, the resources used to fund this project could be put to better use.
Bookmark on delicious | Digg
