November 4th 2009
This week in medicine
The following will appear in the Nov 7 issue of The Lancet:
Drug adviser fired The chairman of the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has been sacked by the government for crossing the line between advice and policy making. David Nutt maintains that evidence points to cannabis being less harmful than alcohol and tobacco, but the government believes such statements send the wrong message to the public. Two more advisers have since resigned in protest.
Troubled waters A report from Amnesty International shows that, because of Israeli water restrictions, some Palestinians are surviving on only 20 L of water a day—the minimum recommended in humanitarian emergencies. The average daily consumption in the occupied Palestinian territories is 70 L per person, compared with 300 L in Israel.
Going forward A group of US senators has announced new legislation for mental health. With nearly 5 million Americans suffering from depression, the ENHANCED Act plans the creation of centres of excellence in mental health throughout the nation. This network should allow research and training to expand, ultimately improving quality of life for those with depression and bipolar disorder.
Caesarean limit WHO no longer recommends that a country’s caesarean section rate should not exceed 10–15%. In Monitoring emergency care: a handbook, WHO admits that there is no empirical evidence for an optimum proportion and that any “optimum rate is unknown”. Instead countries can continue to use a range of 10–15% or should set their own thresholds.
Hajj health The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health is requiring all pilgrims coming from abroad to do the Hajj to provide proof of vaccination against H1N1 influenza, poliomyelitis, meningococcal meningitis, yellow fever, and seasonal influenza. Individuals older than 65 years and younger than 12 years will not be allowed to do the Hajj.
IBM and health IT behemoth IBM is to encourage access to primary health care for most of its US employees. Starting in 2010, people whose health-care coverage is paid for by IBM directly will receive full coverage of the cost of visiting doctors in primary care, with “co-payments” of US$20 being no longer required. The company thus hopes to improve employees’ health and productivity.
Science chief fired Amid concerns about future cuts to science budgets, the head of the Chilean Science Council, Vivian Heyl, has been dismissed after an internal investigation showed discrepancies in the distribution of government scholarship money to graduate students. Criteria for awarding grants were altered without consensus, raising the possibility that money was awarded inappropriately.
A dying trade In response to growth in “suicide tourism”, the Swiss Government is considering adopting new legislation to moderate assisted dying. Criteria will be defined to protect vulnerable people and ensure that people’s decisions to choose assisted death are not influenced by others’ personal gain. Proposals include restricting the practice to people who are terminally ill yet mentally competent.
Vaccine affordability More than 5500 children across Africa are currently participating in the clinical trial of RTS,S (Mosquirix), GlaxoSmithKline’s candidate malaria vaccine. The good news is that Chief Executive Andrew Whitty has promised that his company will not let money get in the way of access to the vaccine and that it will price RTS,S extremely responsibly.
Dangerous bill Uganda is considering an anti-homosexuality bill that would extend criminal sanctions on same-sex practices between consenting adults, and could include the death penalty for people with HIV/AIDS who engage in same-sex behaviours. The International AIDS Society has called for strong and swift opposition to the bill, which it says will have a “chilling effect” on HIV prevention and care.
IDPs in Sri Lanka According to the UN, 6 months after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, almost 245 000 people are still displaced and living in basic camps in the north of the country. The government has imposed restrictions on the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) who are allowed to leave the camps and return home. Meanwhile, Australia continues to turn away Tamil refugees from its shores.
iFlu Just 2 days after US President Barack Obama declared a national emergency over H1N1, Harvard Medical School launched an H1N1 influenza application for iPhone users. The software is part of the school’s strategy to promote public health via HMS Mobile, but, despite add-ons for businesses, the features are similar to other freely available applications.
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