January 6th 2009
This week in medicine
The following will appear in the Jan 10 issue of The Lancet:
Disabilities According to a report from the US Census Bureau, 19% of Americans–54·4 million people–reported some level of disability in 2005. Americans With Disabilities: 2005 finds that within this group, 35 million people–12% of the population–have a severe disability. In those aged 15 years and older, mobility problems are the most frequently reported disability, affecting 27·4 million people.
Food safety After perennial reports of food contamination in China, the Ministry of Health is introducing a monitoring system for food safety aimed at early detection and intervention. The announcement came as the chief executive of Sanlu, one of China’s largest dairies, pleaded guilty to her company’s role in selling tainted baby formula that made almost 300 000 children unwell.
Hospital parking The Scottish Government has abolished hospital car parking fees in a move motivated by commitment to maintaining the NHS’s founding principle of free-at-the-point-of-delivery health care. However, Scotland’s three private funding initiative hospitals will still charge staff, patients, and visitors for car parking.
Cholera update The United Nations has said that more than 1600 people have died from cholera in Zimbabwe, and over 30 000 cases have been reported overall. WHO response teams, with the aid of UNICEF supplies from South Africa, continue to battle the epidemic despite the collapse of Zimbabwe’s health system and the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Child survival UNICEF and WHO have launched a multimillion dollar campaign to improve child survival in Somalia, described by the UNICEF Representative for the country as their “largest-ever campaign”. Child Health Days aims to reach more than 1·5 million children and women of child-bearing age with a package of preventive care measures including vaccinations, nutritional supplements, and water purification tablets.
Hours cut Doctors in the UK have warned that hospitals are not prepared for a cut in junior doctors’ hours, due to fall from 56 h to 48 h a week in August. The UK Government has set aside funds to employ extra staff, but the British Medical Association has expressed concern that primary care trusts are underprepared, risking disruption to patient care.
Biobank launch Kaiser Permanente has received a grant of US$8·6 million to build a biobank that by 2012 will contain DNA samples from 500 000 people. The bank will allow scientists to investigate links between genes, the environment, and disease risk. The repository’s unique value will be that the study population is racially diverse, and so findings from studies could be applied across the USA and elsewhere.
New direction Health ministers have been appointed in Nigeria after a gap of almost 9 months. The ministry had been without leadership since March, 2008, when the health minister and minister of state resigned following claims of corruption. The new health minister, Babatunde Osotimehin, has called for improved community health insurance, and greater focus on immunisation programmes.
No more free pens Members of the US pharmaceutical industry have agreed to end the distribution of branded giveaways to doctors. The move comes following a set of voluntary guidelines intended to counter suggestions that gifts from pharmaceutical companies have an undue effect on medicine. Around 40 companies have signed up, and will stop giving out free, branded items ranging from pens to T-shirts.
Ebola outbreak According to WHO, the ebola haemorrhagic fever virus has been laboratory confirmed in three cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. WHO is aware of 36 additional suspected cases including 12 deaths associated with this outbreak. A further 184 contacts have been identified and are being followed up.
Tangled web Controversy has brewed over Harald zur Hausen’s share of a Nobel Prize, awarded for his work on HPV and cervical cancer. Merck and GlaxoSmithKline are marketing competing vaccines to protect against oncogenic types of HPV, but two members of Nobel committees involved in selecting candidates have been linked with AstraZeneca, which will receive royalties from vaccine sales.
Papal controversy Pope Benedict XVI’s comment that defending heterosexuality is as important as saving the world’s rainforests has shocked the international press. Subsequent outcry led the Vatican to respond that the pope did not intend to attack homosexuality. The Pope’s comment contrasts with activity within the Catholic Church in England to reduce the marginalisation of homosexuals.
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