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International action needed on health in Turkmenistan

Health experts called on the international community to put pressure on the Turkmenistan government to improve health and stop human rights abuses.

3 Jun 2005

Raising awareness of oral health as an essential factor in general health

Despite the fact that oral health is an essential factor in general health and quality of life through an individual's life course, oral health is mostly neglected in integral approaches for the promotion of general health.

3 Jun 2005

Doctors in the U.S. gravitate to states that cap malpractice awards

According to two studies released this week many doctors are gravitating to states that place caps on malpractice awards, despite the fact that such awards are not the primary cause of skyrocketing insurance premiums.

1 Jun 2005

Health professionals should push for a total smoking

Health professionals should push for a smoking ban in hospitals, research facilities, and health-care clinics as well as in public places, states a comment published online today by The Lancet to coincide with World No Tobacco Day.

31 May 2005

World-first in health standards

A world-first research project looking at accreditation in the health care industry has been launched in Sydney.

30 May 2005

World Health Organization initiative to develop consensus guidelines to improve health information systems

The Health Metrics Network (HMN), a partnership comprised of countries, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, foundations, global health initiatives and technical experts will increase the availability and use of timely, reliable health information through shared agreement on goals and coordinated investments in core health information systems.

30 May 2005

Secret meetings to expand health cover

The Census Bureau in the U.S. has said that 45 million Americans had no health insurance in 2003, a figure which was up by more than 5 million from 2000.

29 May 2005

Half of NHS stafff come from outside the UK and Europe

Almost half of the recent 16000 staff expansion of the NHS came from the recruitment of health professionals trained outside the UK and Europe, states an article in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

26 May 2005

Much more needs to be done to tackle heart disease in South Asians in the United Kingdom

Health inequality between ethnic groups in the United Kingdom is widening. Death rates from coronary heart disease in South Asians (immigrants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) have declined at a slower rate than in the indigenous population, while evidence shows that second and third generation South Asians seem to be displaying many of the same risk characteristics that make them prone to coronary heart disease as their parents and grandparents.

26 May 2005

Everyone is entitled to a good doctor

Everyone is entitled to a good doctor and the public will no longer tolerate substandard practice, says Donald Irvine, former president of the General Medical Council in this week's BMJ.

26 May 2005

Long pointed kitchen knives should be banned

Violent crime is on the increase in the UK, say the authors, whose experience of working in emergency departments suggests that kitchen knives are used in as many as half of all stabbings.

26 May 2005

Competition from specialty hospitals promotes high-quality patient care

Specialty hospitals provide quality care to patients by offering new choices, and this hospital competition should not be stifled, the American Medical Association (AMA) testified to a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week.

26 May 2005

Armed forces doctors' pay rise fails to address recruitment and retention crisis

The announcement of a 3.225% pay increase for armed forces doctors by the Armed Forces Pay Review Body fails to address the continuing recruitment and retention crisis. Many doctors working in the armed forces will be bitterly disappointed at this missed opportunity to correct the disparity between pay for armed forces doctors and their civilian counterparts, the BMA warns today (26/5/05).

26 May 2005

BMA(NI) concerned about affect on NHS waiting lists if proposal to cut consultants' additional programmed work goes ahead

Hospital consultants in Northern Ireland have expressed their dismay and frustration to the British Medical Association about Department of Health plans to cut their programmed work across NI by 1800 hours each week, for at least the next year. This, in effect, equates to removing 53 consultants from the NHS in Northern Ireland.

26 May 2005

Even limited training improves communication with patients from other cultures

Simple classroom lectures about different religious holidays, such as the Muslim tradition of fasting during Ramadan, or Spanish language lessons focused on common medical terms really work to help physicians and nurses connect with patients from different cultures and improve patient satisfaction, according to a pair of reports from Johns Hopkins researchers.

25 May 2005

Medication errors continue even in highly computerized hospital

Errors in drug ordering, dosage and monitoring that may have serious consequences for patients persist in hospitals even after the adoption of computerized medication systems, according to a study in the May 23 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

23 May 2005

Scottish dentists not reassured by dental reforms

Deputy Health Minister Rhona Brankin says that despite rows over reforms of the profession the Scottish Executive will maintain good links with dentists.

23 May 2005

New York Hospital Director fired after cancer screening tests bungle

A flawed system at the Jacobi Medical Center in New York, which meant that hundreds of women were not informed of the results of their cancer screening tests has resulted in the firing of its executive director just a week after the slip up was discovered.

23 May 2005

Canada lags behind other western countries in the level of financial support it gives to family caregivers

The international review was conducted as part of the Hidden Costs Invisible Contributions (HCIC) research project. The financial support review was led by Mount Saint Vincent University's (MSVU) Dr. Janice Keefe who found that Australia and the United Kingdom do a better job of financially supporting people looking after a sick relative.

22 May 2005

Revalidation must have public confidence, says BMA

Whatever system of revalidation is chosen for doctors, the British Medical Association (BMA) believes it must have the confidence of the public, best achieved through a transparent professionally-led process. To succeed, says the BMA, revalidation must be seen to promote high standards, detect poor practice and have strategies for improving a doctor's performance where this is needed.

20 May 2005