November 11th 2009
This week in medicine
The following will appear in the November 14 issue of The Lancet:
Infant mortality A report by the US National Center for Health Statistics shows a stagnation (since 2000) in the country’s infant mortality rate, meaning that the USA now ranks 30th in the world. The main cause is the very high proportion of preterm births. Infant mortality is an important indicator of the health of a nation, and the finding has generated concern among researchers and policy makers.
Childhood poverty Data presented on Nov 1 at a regional conference in Bangladesh show that 300 million children in south Asia—almost half the childhood population—are trapped in poverty. UNICEF urged regional leaders to explore new ways to tackle child poverty through seven basic needs: food, education, health, information, shelter, water, and sanitation.
Amgen sued 14 US states are suing biotechnology company Amgen, and others, for allegedly bribing physicians to prescribe the anaemia drug Aranesp (darbepoetin alfa) and for encouraging them to bill health maintenance organisations for free samples of the drug. The companies expect to defend themselves “vigorously”.
Afghan health International and local non-governmental organisations have written to Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai, stressing that his new government must urgently devote more resources into training new midwives. The organisations, which include Oxfam and the Afghan Civil Society Forum, also recommend improvements to education and housing, and call for the protection of civilians, and women’s rights.
Fitness forecast Child obesity rates may be levelling off in England, according to the National Heart Forum. With use of data from the past few years, the Forum produced new forecasts for 2020. The analysis showed a 4% decrease in the predicted proportion of obese girls aged 2–11 years and a 7% drop in the anticipated number of obese boys.
Gender violence In Zambia, President Rupiah Bwezani Banda has launched a new campaign, backed by UNICEF, against gender violence. Banda called such violence the country’s next biggest scourge after HIV/AIDS. The campaign’s motto, “Abuse, just stop it”, promotes zero tolerance for perpetrators of sexual and gender-based violence.
Drug errors The US Food and Drug Administration has launched an initiative to fight avoidable harm from drug errors or misuse. The problems will be tackled by coordinated actions such as improved communication about inadvertent overdose and enhanced drug delivery devices. The US Institute of Medicine estimates that 400 000 inpatients have a preventable adverse event every year.
Faltering funding Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) has published a report, Punishing success: early signs of a retreat from commitment to HIV/AIDS care and treatment, which shows that international support to combat HIV/AIDS is faltering, as reflected in substantial funding shortfalls. According to MSF, health workers in southern Africa are now forced to turn patients with HIV away from clinics.
Hospital deaths Nearly a third of deaths in the USA take place in hospital, according to the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Agency researchers used survey data from 2007 to show that the cost of in-hospital deaths was around US$20 billion, that 12% of those who died had been admitted for non-urgent reasons, and that septicaemia was the major cause of death.
AORTIC action The African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC) held its seventh international conference on the burden of cancer in Africa on Nov 11–14 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The programme covered the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation of several cancers, with a session dedicated to the rising problem of tobacco-related cancers.
Ban lifted US President Barack Obama has repealed a 22-year-old law that banned HIV-positive foreign travellers from entering the USA. The move, which will lift the ban from early next year, has been praised by HIV/AIDS advocates and human-rights campaigners.
Awarded in absentia The Iranian authorities have banned an eminent pacifist known for his dedication to abolishing the death penalty in Iran from collecting an international award. Emaddedin Baghi, founder of the Society for the Defense of Prisoners’ Rights, was awarded the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, but a travel ban prevented him from flying to Geneva to collect the prize in person.
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