The following will be published in the February 27 issue of The Lancet:

More broken promises Last week the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released a review of aid performance of its member countries for 2010. Although overall aid will reach a record high of US$107·4 billion, it is $21 billion short of the amount originally pledged in 2004. Countries not reaching their projected goals include France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, and Portugal.

Organ awareness In an attempt to overcome the shortage of compatible donors in the UK, a campaign to raise awareness about organ donation in black and south Asian communities has been launched by NHS Blood and Transplant. Currently, black and south Asian patients wait nearly twice as long as does a white person for a compatible organ.

Niger famine 5 years ago, an extreme famine in Niger was largely ignored by the international community (despite pleas from aid agencies) until the media got involved. Worryingly, 7·8 million people—two-thirds of Niger’s population—are now facing extreme food insecurity. This time, pleas for international help should not be ignored.

Syrian seizure Syria has shut down a group of counterfeit drug manu­facturers and traders operating in the country and exporting fake drugs to Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Iran, and Egypt. Syrian officials also seized fake medicines and equipment used to produce the counterfeits. 65 people, including smugglers and pharmacists, have been arrested in connection with the case and await trial.

Waste disposal The UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Government of India have teamed up to help to improve disposal of hazardous medical waste in India. The 5-year, US$40-million project will use environmentally friendly methods such as microwave and autoclave to reduce persistent organic pollutants. UNIDO’s Director-General also appealed to the private sector to reduce the burden on hospitals.

Info or ad? An opinion from an Advocate General of the European Court of Justice might mean that the Information to Patients strand of the EC’s Pharmaceutical Package (which some have regarded as direct-to-consumer drug advertising by another name) might now become law. But the ruling is vague, relying on the “deliberate and direct intention” of drug companies to give information versus advertising.

Extreme poverty A joint report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the UN Development Programme states that the global economic downturn could push 21 million people in the Asia-Pacific region into extreme poverty.  Asia has weaker social protection programmes in place than do other regions such as Latin America and eastern Europe.

Patent care The US Patent and Trademark office has upheld a previous decision that an element of Pfizer’s Viagra (sildenafil) is not a new invention and so cannot be patented. Seemingly sildenafil works in a similar way to the Chinese herb yin yang huo, otherwise known as horny goat weed, which is sold via the internet.

Pay for performance The World Bank has released the results of a study on the use of pay-for-performance (P4P) medicine in low-income countries. The study examined the effect of P4P on maternal and child health services such as facility-based childbirth and scheduled vaccination in Rwanda, and concluded that financial performance incentives are capable of improving both the quantity and quality of health services.

Nurse prescribing Finnish nurses could soon be able to prescribe drugs for the specific medical conditions in which they have been trained, with authorisation from a supervising doctor. The bill, currently being con­sidered by the Finnish Parliament, is expected to improve the efficiency of services in health centres and to slow down the increasing demand for physicians.

New drug registration A report by the Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative outlines recommendations to improve registration of new drugs in Africa. These include closer collaboration between high-income and low-income countries, further involvement of WHO, and the establishment of regional centres of excellence to assess the safety, efficacy, and quality of new drugs for the specific populations most affected by neglected diseases.

Medical drama Canadian researchers have revealed the shocking fact that medical dramas on television are not the best source of information about first aid, especially when it comes to seizures. The researchers spent many a gruelling hour watching episodes of House MD, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice, and found that 46% of depictions of seizure care involved inappropriate actions such as putting something into the patient’s mouth.

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