January 27th 2009
This week in medicine
The following will appear in the Jan 31 issue of The Lancet:
Money talks A report from the US Department of Health and Human Services argues that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been inattentive to reporting of the financial interests of clinical investigators. Of the 118 marketing applications approved by the FDA in 2007, 42% did not have complete financial information.
Child medicine As part of WHO’s Make Medicines Child Size initiative, the organisation has received a grant of US$9·7 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to work with UNICEF to undertake research into paediatric medicines. This research includes determining optimum doses, dosing guides, and producing guidelines for doing clinical trials in children.
New strategy The UK Government has launched a 3-year strategy for people with learning disabilities called Valuing People Now in response to a series of damning reports criticising the care given to this group. The plan, which aims to improve health, housing, employment, and community care services for people with learning disabilities, will be reviewed yearly.
Human rights A report from the Afghanistan Rights Monitor has challenged the UN for its poor performance in helping the Afghan people who are most in need. It also said that the number of civilians killed or displaced was higher than media reports suggested. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan labelled the report as “superficial and deeply uninformed”.
Mind the gap A report from the Australian Government reveals improvements in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, including a near 50% reduction in infant mortality from 1991-2006. However, challenges remain in establishing parity between this group and other Australians in the domains of health, its determinants, and access to health care.
Social forum As the World Economic Forum meets in Davos, Switzerland, the World Social Forum meets in Belem, Brazil-the eastern gateway to the Amazon jungle-to discuss the global problem of deforestation of the Amazon. Also under discussion at the Social Forum will be how to implement the report, Closing the Gap in a Generation, from the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health.
Polio pledge Rotary International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the British and German Governments have pledged more than US$630 million to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative. The collaboration’s funds will go towards immunisation and surveillance programmes to fight polio, especially in high-prevalence countries such as Nigeria and India.
Zoonoses The European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control have released their Community Zoonoses Report for 2007. The most commonly reported zoonotic diseases across the European Union in 2007 were infections with Campylobacter-200 507 cases, an increase of 14·2% from 2006-and Salmonella, with 151 995 cases.
New hope After 2 years with little or no access to antiretroviral therapy, new donor funding has restored the supply of medication to patients living with HIV/AIDS in Togo. New measures have been put in place to prevent further shortages, including the emergency government purchase of a 3-month supply of medication, and donation of 2-months’ support from the Network for Therapeutic Solidarity in Hospitals.
Climate change The Lancet has signed the pledge from the Climate and Health Council, a charity that mobilises health professionals to tackle climate change. The aim of the pledge is to help guide the position of governments in the post-Kyoto framework discussions in Copenhagen later this year. We encourage as many health professionals as possible to also take the pledge.
Burnt out The Philippines is losing its battle against tobacco use, according to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines. A recent survey showed that the proportion of smokers in the Filipino youth increased from 15% in 2003 to 21·6% in 2007, despite the passage of the Tobacco Control Act in 2003, which brought in guidelines for the packaging, sale, and advertisement of tobacco products.
Caveat emptor On Jan 26, the UK established a register for complementary therapists to alert consumers to standards of practice. Even though registration is voluntary, and therapists need only show appropriate training, experience, insurance, and adherence to a code of conduct-rather than effectiveness-it is estimated that up to half the nation’s 150 000 practitioners will remain unregistered.
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