November 18th 2009
This week in medicine
The following will appear in the November 21 issue of The Lancet:
Widening drug access Six universities in the USA have combined efforts to help provide low-income countries with better access to drugs. All drugs and medical products developed on these universities’ campuses will be subject to a set of licensing policies designed to speed up drug development and dissemination and to make them more affordable.
Food bug burden A survey by WHO indicates that foodborne diseases have caused three times more deaths than previously estimated in southeast Asia and Africa. A large proportion of cases were thought to be preventable and have been attributed to poor food hygiene, substandard reporting and containment procedures, and inadequate patient care.
“Cell” phones An engineer from California has developed a new way of turning mobile phones into microscopes. Using software he developed himself and about US$10 worth of common equipment, Aydogan Ozcan produced a small, cheap product that uses electronic magnification instead of lenses. With its screening potential, this invention brings a new meaning to the humble cell phone.
H1N1 update Beginning unusually early this year, the winter influenza season is showing signs of having peaked in North America, but is still intensifying in Europe and central and eastern Asia, according to WHO. More than 99% of influenza A viruses in Europe (with the exception of Russia) were of the H1N1 subtype. The death toll for H1N1 influenza has surpassed 6250 worldwide.
El Salvador crisis In the wake of Hurricane Ida, which devastated large parts of El Salvador, at least 10 000 people are now in need of food aid after floods washed away crops. Because the floods also washed away at least 18 bridges, access remains a difficulty and the government has brought in heavy machinery to try to reach villages that have been cut off.
Screening shortfall The UK’s National Chlamydia Screening Programme has not delivered value for money, according to the National Audit Office. To be effective, the screening programme had to reach at least 26% of people younger than 25 years: this level was achieved only very recently, with just 5% being screened in 2007–08. The programme is estimated to have wasted £17 million in the past year alone.
World COPD day Nov 18 was World Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COPD) Day. The event, organised by the Global Initiative for COPD, involved activities across 50 countries to raise awareness of COPD. A theme “Breathless not helpless!” was used to publicise patients’ abilities to live active lives given the efficacy of treatments available.
Dementia drugs Doctors in the UK are overprescribing antipsychotics for dementia, according to a government ordered review. The report found that around 144 000 patients with dementia are unnecessarily receiving the drugs, leading to 1800 extra deaths in elderly people every year. In response to the report, the Department of Health has released an action plan, which includes improved training in dementia for health staff.
Abortion compromise The US House of Representatives passed Barack Obama’s health-care reform bill on Nov 7 but included a controversial clause on abortion. The amendment makes it almost impossible for policyholders to use their own money to pay for abortion coverage. The battle over health-care reform continues in the Senate.
Illegal prisons According to Human Rights Watch, China is running unlawful detention centres, often located in state-run nursing homes or psychiatric hospitals. Detainees—mostly ordinary people who have reported local injustices—are often ill-treated and are not told the reasons for their detention. Officials deny the existence of these jails.
HIV programme boost The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is to provide a 2-year extension of funding for HIV prevention programmes in Russia aimed at sex workers, people who inject drugs, and men who have sex with men. As we recently reported in an Editorial, the Russian Government had refused to continue to fund such schemes after the Global Fund grant for this purpose finished.
Divine intervention An Italian inventor has created an electronic dispenser for holy water, so that Catholic churchgoers can avoid dipping their hands into communal fonts—something they have been wary of in the wake of the H1N1 pandemic. The machine has been installed in a church in northern Italy and dispenses holy water when worshippers wave their hands under a sensor.
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