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July 12–18, 2014
Substance misuse in Germany Germany’s alternative drug and addiction report, released last week ahead of the government’s official report, pushes for a more sciencebased strategy. It particularly emphasises the discrepancy between criminalisation of illegal drug possession and the lack of a ban of tobacco and alcohol advertisements. Crises in South Sudan Food shortages compounded by ongoing conflict in South Sudan will probably cause famine in the coming months unless more aid can be delivered, says the UK Disasters Emergency Committee. The country is also battling a cholera outbreak, with thousands of cases and dozens of deaths reported.
UK under the knife The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) and the charity Age UK have warned of age discrimination in surgery in the National Health Service after an analysis of surgery rates showed that few patients older than 75 years receive breast cancer surgery, gall bladder removal, or knee replacement. The RCS also raised concern that medical students lack anatomical training and warned of surgeon shortages if training programmes are not filled. US Veterans Affairs The Head of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical investigation unit is the fifth senior Veterans Affairs official to have stepped down during the past six weeks. The department has faced fierce criticism after a federal watchdog made allegations of poor care across its hospital system.
TommL/Getty
Child self-harm and anorexia The number of British children looking at websites promoting self-harm has tripled since 2010, and in a Europewide study around a fifth of 13-yearolds had viewed pro-anorexia sites. Cyberbullying has also increased by 4% in the past year, with 21% of children aged 9–16 years experiencing online abuse in 2013, with several acts of teenage suicide reported as a result. Eliminating tuberculosis An increase in globalisation and migration has seen cases of tuberculosis rise. WHO and the European Respiratory Society have announced a new framework to eliminate tuberculosis by 2050, targeting 33 different countries. The framework builds upon already successful measures with eight key interventions. www.thelancet.com Vol 384 July 12, 2014
World Population Day July 11 is World Population Day, and this year’s focus will be adolescent pregnancy. The aim this year is to encourage actions and measures to be put in place to reduce and prevent the millions of unsafe abortions and unwanted adolescent pregnancies that occur every year due to poor education, sexual violence, and rights violations.
Children in Australian detention centres Australia’s federal health provider is to face an inquiry by the Australian Human Rights Commission into the care of children in detention centres across Australia and in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The provider has been warned about the longterm effects of keeping children in detention and has been accused of poor medical care. Measles in Papua New Guinea On July 2, the Papua New Guinea Health Department confirmed that 43 people have died from measles. Although the department is bolstering its immunisation programme to address the outbreak of nearly 2000 confirmed cases, this number is expected to rise. Grants for undiagnosed diseases The National Institutes of Health has awarded 4-year grants of US$7·2 million to six medical centres across the USA to diagnose difficultto-solve medical cases. Each institute will contribute to the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) that aims to diagnose and treat patients with very rare or unknown diseases with use of the latest technologies, often genomic approaches. Ramadan reminders Text messages sent to people with diabetes in Senegal provide advice on how to manage their fasting and feasting during Ramadan. These messages represent the first phase of mDiabetes, part of the Be He@lthy Be Mobile initiative established by WHO and the International Telecommunication Union. The next phase will include advice on complications such as kidney and heart disease.
For The Lancet News podcast see http://www.thelancet.com/ lancet-news-audio/ For the State of the Tropics report see http:// stateofthetropics.org/the-report For the National Institutes of Health report see http://www. nih.gov/news/health/jul2014/ nhgri-01.htm
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library
Health in the Tropics The State of the Tropics 2014 report shows that health in central Africa, Latin America, India, and southeast Asia continues to improve. With rapid economic growth, average life expectancy has increased from 41·6 to 64·4 years from 1950 to 2010, and infection rate and child mortality have both decreased; however, the report also details the unique challenges still faced by this region.
Adam Gault/SPL
This Week in Medicine
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UK under the knife The Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) and the charity Age UK have warned of age discrimination in surgery in the National Health Service after an analysis of surgery rates showed that few patients older than 75 years receive breast cancer surgery, gall bladder removal, or knee replacement. The RCS also raised concern that medical students lack anatomical training and warned of surgeon shortages if training programmes are not filled. US Veterans Affairs The Head of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ medical investigation unit is the fifth senior Veterans Affairs official to have stepped down during the past six weeks. The department has faced fierce criticism after a federal watchdog made allegations of poor care across its hospital system.
TommL/Getty
Child self-harm and anorexia The number of British children looking at websites promoting self-harm has tripled since 2010, and in a Europewide study around a fifth of 13-yearolds had viewed pro-anorexia sites. Cyberbullying has also increased by 4% in the past year, with 21% of children aged 9–16 years experiencing online abuse in 2013, with several acts of teenage suicide reported as a result. Eliminating tuberculosis An increase in globalisation and migration has seen cases of tuberculosis rise. WHO and the European Respiratory Society have announced a new framework to eliminate tuberculosis by 2050, targeting 33 different countries. The framework builds upon already successful measures with eight key interventions. www.thelancet.com Vol 384 July 12, 2014
World Population Day July 11 is World Population Day, and this year’s focus will be adolescent pregnancy. The aim this year is to encourage actions and measures to be put in place to reduce and prevent the millions of unsafe abortions and unwanted adolescent pregnancies that occur every year due to poor education, sexual violence, and rights violations.
Children in Australian detention centres Australia’s federal health provider is to face an inquiry by the Australian Human Rights Commission into the care of children in detention centres across Australia and in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. The provider has been warned about the longterm effects of keeping children in detention and has been accused of poor medical care. Measles in Papua New Guinea On July 2, the Papua New Guinea Health Department confirmed that 43 people have died from measles. Although the department is bolstering its immunisation programme to address the outbreak of nearly 2000 confirmed cases, this number is expected to rise. Grants for undiagnosed diseases The National Institutes of Health has awarded 4-year grants of US$7·2 million to six medical centres across the USA to diagnose difficultto-solve medical cases. Each institute will contribute to the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN) that aims to diagnose and treat patients with very rare or unknown diseases with use of the latest technologies, often genomic approaches. Ramadan reminders Text messages sent to people with diabetes in Senegal provide advice on how to manage their fasting and feasting during Ramadan. These messages represent the first phase of mDiabetes, part of the Be He@lthy Be Mobile initiative established by WHO and the International Telecommunication Union. The next phase will include advice on complications such as kidney and heart disease.
For The Lancet News podcast see http://www.thelancet.com/ lancet-news-audio/ For the State of the Tropics report see http:// stateofthetropics.org/the-report For the National Institutes of Health report see http://www. nih.gov/news/health/jul2014/ nhgri-01.htm
Alfred Pasieka/Science Photo Library
Health in the Tropics The State of the Tropics 2014 report shows that health in central Africa, Latin America, India, and southeast Asia continues to improve. With rapid economic growth, average life expectancy has increased from 41·6 to 64·4 years from 1950 to 2010, and infection rate and child mortality have both decreased; however, the report also details the unique challenges still faced by this region.
Adam Gault/SPL
This Week in Medicine
i