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February 11–17, 2012
This Week in Medicine
Dr Marc A Smith, Chief Social Scientist, Connected Acction, LLC. http://www.connectedaction.net
New cystic fibrosis drug On Jan 31, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug, ivacaftor, for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in patients aged 6 years or older with the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene. It is the first drug that targets the defective CFTR protein, the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. Free weather data The UN has launched the World Meteorological Organization Information System to improve and expand the exchange of climate data for various stakeholders, including users outside the meteorological community. This free climate service will be used to aid disaster risk reduction, food security, and water management.
Asthma deaths review The UK’s Royal College of Physicians has launched a 12-month national review of asthma deaths, beginning on Feb 1. The review, by a consortium of asthma professionals and patients’ groups, will involve the collection of details of all asthma deaths across the UK, and an in-depth multidisciplinary enquiry into each one. More than 70% of asthma deaths are preventable.
AIDS funding cuts Hundreds of HIVpositive Kenyans have protested outside the European Union’s Nairobi office against funding cuts to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Fund said in November that it could provide no grants for the next 2 years. Demonstrators warned that HIV testing rates will plummet if free antiretroviral drugs become harder to access.
Chronic tonic The US Institute of Medicine has published a report, Living Well with Chronic Illness. The report calls for more attention to be given to improving quality of life for people living with chronic disorders, emphasises the need for cost-effectiveness assessments, and suggests that progress requires “the combined efforts of both individuals and society”.
Love your heart February is American Heart Month, and Feb 3 saw the nation wearing red to raise funds for heart disease education and research. Also being promoted is the Million Hearts campaign—a scheme that aims to prevent 1 million cardiovascular deaths by 2016. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the USA, with one in three people dying of a cardiovascular cause.
Tuberculosis detection A pilot community-based programme to improve tuberculosis detection in northern Tanzania has shown promising results. Challenges to the nationwide rollout of the programme—which promotes cooperation between health-care workers and community leaders— include the fact that most Tanzanians live in rural areas with poor road networks.
Free condoms “porous” An estimated 1·35 million condoms that were distributed free of charge in South Africa have been recalled. The condoms were distributed to hotels, restaurants, and bars as part of the African National Congress’s centenary celebrations in early January. Large numbers of apparently porous condoms are still in circulation in the Bloemfontein area.
University applications fall University applications in the UK fell by 7·4% in 2012, according to data from the University and College Admissions Service released last week. Applications for medicine and dentistry were down by 3·1%, with a fall of around 10% seen for mature students. 2012 is the first year that students will pay fees of up to £9000 in English universities.
Low radiation effects After last year’s nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, screening of the population showed only low doses of radiation, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation reports. This finding suggests that the overall health effects will be lower than expected, possibly owing to rapid evacuation efforts and the fact that radioactive substances spread out over the ocean. www.thelancet.com Vol 379 February 11, 2012
For more on the approval of ivacaftor for cystic fibrosis see http://www.fda.gov/ NewsEvents/Newsroom/ PressAnnouncements/ ucm289633.htm For more on global leprosy incidence see http://new.paho. org/arg/index.php?option=com_ content&task=view&id=882& Itemid=1 For the UK review of asthma deaths see http://www. rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/ national-review-asthma-deaths For a “Twitter map” of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation see http://www.geekwire. com/2012/gates-foundationstweets-reveal-passive-insularglobal-health-community For more on American Heart Month see http://www.cdc.gov/ features/heartmonth/ For the World Meteorological Organization Information System see http://www.wmo. int/pages/prog/www/WIS/ index_en.html For Living Well with Chronic Illness see http://www.nap.edu/ catalog.php?record_id=13272 For more on university applications in the UK see http://www.ucas.com/about_us/ media_enquiries/media_ releases/2012/20120130
Science Photo Library
Tweet oblivion Technology commentators have branded the global health community as “passive” and “insular” on the basis of a map of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Twitter activity. Blogger Ines Mergel commented: “Gates serves as a broadcaster...but does not help to encourage the community to actively connect with each other”.
David Guttenfelder/AP/Press Association Images
Leprosy progress New leprosy cases detected worldwide fell by 44% between 2004 and 2010, according to official country data reported by the Pan American Health Organization. Leprosy prevalence has been decreasing since 2001, and the disease has been eliminated from 119 of 122 countries in which it was regarded as a public health problem in 1985.
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Dr Marc A Smith, Chief Social Scientist, Connected Acction, LLC. http://www.connectedaction.net
New cystic fibrosis drug On Jan 31, the US Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug, ivacaftor, for the treatment of cystic fibrosis in patients aged 6 years or older with the G551D mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) gene. It is the first drug that targets the defective CFTR protein, the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis. Free weather data The UN has launched the World Meteorological Organization Information System to improve and expand the exchange of climate data for various stakeholders, including users outside the meteorological community. This free climate service will be used to aid disaster risk reduction, food security, and water management.
Asthma deaths review The UK’s Royal College of Physicians has launched a 12-month national review of asthma deaths, beginning on Feb 1. The review, by a consortium of asthma professionals and patients’ groups, will involve the collection of details of all asthma deaths across the UK, and an in-depth multidisciplinary enquiry into each one. More than 70% of asthma deaths are preventable.
AIDS funding cuts Hundreds of HIVpositive Kenyans have protested outside the European Union’s Nairobi office against funding cuts to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The Fund said in November that it could provide no grants for the next 2 years. Demonstrators warned that HIV testing rates will plummet if free antiretroviral drugs become harder to access.
Chronic tonic The US Institute of Medicine has published a report, Living Well with Chronic Illness. The report calls for more attention to be given to improving quality of life for people living with chronic disorders, emphasises the need for cost-effectiveness assessments, and suggests that progress requires “the combined efforts of both individuals and society”.
Love your heart February is American Heart Month, and Feb 3 saw the nation wearing red to raise funds for heart disease education and research. Also being promoted is the Million Hearts campaign—a scheme that aims to prevent 1 million cardiovascular deaths by 2016. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the USA, with one in three people dying of a cardiovascular cause.
Tuberculosis detection A pilot community-based programme to improve tuberculosis detection in northern Tanzania has shown promising results. Challenges to the nationwide rollout of the programme—which promotes cooperation between health-care workers and community leaders— include the fact that most Tanzanians live in rural areas with poor road networks.
Free condoms “porous” An estimated 1·35 million condoms that were distributed free of charge in South Africa have been recalled. The condoms were distributed to hotels, restaurants, and bars as part of the African National Congress’s centenary celebrations in early January. Large numbers of apparently porous condoms are still in circulation in the Bloemfontein area.
University applications fall University applications in the UK fell by 7·4% in 2012, according to data from the University and College Admissions Service released last week. Applications for medicine and dentistry were down by 3·1%, with a fall of around 10% seen for mature students. 2012 is the first year that students will pay fees of up to £9000 in English universities.
Low radiation effects After last year’s nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan, screening of the population showed only low doses of radiation, the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation reports. This finding suggests that the overall health effects will be lower than expected, possibly owing to rapid evacuation efforts and the fact that radioactive substances spread out over the ocean. www.thelancet.com Vol 379 February 11, 2012
For more on the approval of ivacaftor for cystic fibrosis see http://www.fda.gov/ NewsEvents/Newsroom/ PressAnnouncements/ ucm289633.htm For more on global leprosy incidence see http://new.paho. org/arg/index.php?option=com_ content&task=view&id=882& Itemid=1 For the UK review of asthma deaths see http://www. rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/ national-review-asthma-deaths For a “Twitter map” of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation see http://www.geekwire. com/2012/gates-foundationstweets-reveal-passive-insularglobal-health-community For more on American Heart Month see http://www.cdc.gov/ features/heartmonth/ For the World Meteorological Organization Information System see http://www.wmo. int/pages/prog/www/WIS/ index_en.html For Living Well with Chronic Illness see http://www.nap.edu/ catalog.php?record_id=13272 For more on university applications in the UK see http://www.ucas.com/about_us/ media_enquiries/media_ releases/2012/20120130
Science Photo Library
Tweet oblivion Technology commentators have branded the global health community as “passive” and “insular” on the basis of a map of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Twitter activity. Blogger Ines Mergel commented: “Gates serves as a broadcaster...but does not help to encourage the community to actively connect with each other”.
David Guttenfelder/AP/Press Association Images
Leprosy progress New leprosy cases detected worldwide fell by 44% between 2004 and 2010, according to official country data reported by the Pan American Health Organization. Leprosy prevalence has been decreasing since 2001, and the disease has been eliminated from 119 of 122 countries in which it was regarded as a public health problem in 1985.
i