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Mashup Score: 0Action demanded on alcohol as deaths hit record levels - 2 hour(s) ago
With a record number of UK deaths from alcohol and drinking rates high among children, Bryan Christie examines the data and what is being done to reverse the trends Campaigners are calling for action to tackle a worsening public health crisis after new data showed that the death toll from alcohol related causes has reached record levels in the UK. At a time when 27 people in the UK are dying a day as a result of alcohol misuse, drinks companies are spending some £6bn promoting their products in major markets around the world.1 The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)2 show that in 2022 there were 10 048 deaths (16.6 per 100 000 people) from alcohol specific causes registered in the UK, the highest number on record. This was 32.8% higher than in 2019, before the covid pandemic. Death rates stabilised in the period from 2012 to 2019. Meanwhile, a report published on 25 April by the World Health Organization on substance misuse among children in 44 countries has fo
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Mashup Score: 11
Why do politicians have such a low opinion of British people’s compassion to think this policy is a vote winner, asks Martin McKee Late on 22 April 2024 the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill cleared its final stages in the UK parliament.1 Its stated purpose is to enable the government to send migrants who have reached the UK to Rwanda. The bill was deemed necessary because the government’s previous attempts to send migrants to Rwanda were thwarted, firstly by a series of temporary blocks (Rule 39 orders) imposed by the European Court of Human Rights, and then by the UK Supreme Court.2 The Supreme Court ruled that the government had failed to show that refugees sent to Rwanda would be safe and would not be sent on to another country and that its plans were incompatible with the UK’s obligations under international agreements, in particular, the 1951 Refugee Convention. These decisions created two problems. Firstly, should the government want to proceed, it had to show that
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Mashup Score: 0Total anomalous pulmonary venous connection in an adult - 4 hour(s) ago
This chest radiograph (fig 1, left panel) and reconstructed cardiac computed tomography angiography scan (fig 1, right panel) show a rare example of unobstructed supracardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection (TAPVC).1 The patient, a woman in her 30s, presented with worsening dyspnoea, cyanosis, …
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Mashup Score: 6Medscape caves in on courses funded by tobacco giant Philip Morris, while medics fear global push into medical education - 14 hour(s) ago
Clinic demonstrations, podcasts, and TV shows: Hristio Boytchev reveals how an ambitious deal between a leading medical education provider and the tobacco industry collapsed this week The medical education provider Medscape has bowed to pressure and agreed to permanently remove a series of accredited medical education courses on smoking cessation funded by the tobacco industry giant Philip Morris International (PMI), The BMJ and The Examination have found. Medscape has acknowledged its “misjudgment” in a letter to complainants and says that it will not accept funding from any organisation affiliated with the tobacco industry in the future. The move comes after a BMJ investigation revealed the PMI deal and widespread protests among doctors and academics in reaction to the partnership. Critics had said that the content tended to portray non-cigarette nicotine products as relatively harmless, therefore aligning with the commercial interests of PMI, which also sells e-cigarettes, nicotine
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Mashup Score: 4US Supreme Court hears arguments on whether states can regulate emergency abortions - 15 hour(s) ago
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on 24 April that emergency abortions should be allowed in states with strict abortion bans. An emergency abortion is a rare procedure carried out to save a woman’s life or to protect her health. Questions by conservative justices suggested the court might rule against permitting such abortions when it gives its ruling in June or early July.1 In 2022 the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion and returned regulation to the 50 states, about half of which ban or severely restrict abortions.2 Idaho’s strict abortion ban shows the continuing conflict between federal law and state law. The US Constitution says that federal law overrides state law. The …
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Mashup Score: 2Doctors can’t fix the alcohol problem by themselves - 16 hour(s) ago
A decade ago the jurisdiction of England and Wales was on the brink of introducing a policy that would have led to substantial reductions in the harms done by alcohol (doi:10.1136/bmj.f7646).1 Instead, politicians U turned, ignoring strong health advice in favour of protecting industry interests. Other, braver territories, including Ireland and Australian states, brought in minimum unit pricing, and today the policy saves lives and reduces consumption and hospital admissions (doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-077550).2 After Scotland introduced a minimum unit price, the biggest reduction in alcohol related deaths was seen among the most deprived groups. As evidence mounts for the effect of minimum pricing on reducing alcohol consumption, those …
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Mashup Score: 9A new approach to oral health can lead to healthier societies - 18 hour(s) ago
New definitions of oral health provide an opportunity to change mindsets and promote innovation to tackle high levels of unmet needs, but this will only be realised with a radical change in practice, argue Julian Fisher and colleagues More than 3.5 billion people globally suffer from the main oral diseases. These conditions combined have an estimated global prevalence of 45%—higher than any other non-communicable disease.1 A major barrier to improving this situation is our approach to oral health. The prevailing mindset is that oral health is synonymous with dentistry and that poor oral health has little impact on personal and societal health and wellbeing. We need to shift away from the idea that the prevention and control of certain oral diseases equates to overall oral health and instead move to a broader and more inclusive understanding. Expanded …
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Mashup Score: 6Medscape caves in on courses funded by tobacco giant Philip Morris, while medics fear global push into medical education - 20 hour(s) ago
Clinic demonstrations, podcasts, and TV shows: Hristio Boytchev reveals how an ambitious deal between a leading medical education provider and the tobacco industry collapsed this week The medical education provider Medscape has bowed to pressure and agreed to permanently remove a series of accredited medical education courses on smoking cessation funded by the tobacco industry giant Philip Morris International (PMI), The BMJ and The Examination have found. Medscape has acknowledged its “misjudgment” in a letter to complainants and says that it will not accept funding from any organisation affiliated with the tobacco industry in the future. The move comes after a BMJ investigation revealed the PMI deal and widespread protests among doctors and academics in reaction to the partnership. Critics had said that the content tended to portray non-cigarette nicotine products as relatively harmless, therefore aligning with the commercial interests of PMI, which also sells e-cigarettes, nicotine
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Mashup Score: 18Minimum unit pricing for alcohol saves lives, so why is it not implemented more widely? - 20 hour(s) ago
Minimum unit pricing (MUP) saves lives, particularly among heavy drinkers, and should be widely rolled out for the benefit of all, say Peter Anderson and colleagues ### Key messages Minimum unit pricing (MUP) for alcohol sets a price below which alcohol cannot be legally sold based on alcohol content. In Scotland, the price was set in 2018 at 50p per unit (8 g of alcohol)1 and will increase to 65p in September 2024.2 A major justification for MUP is to target cheaper, high strength alcohol, which is disproportionately purchased by people who drink heavily.1 MUP is one of a suite of alcohol pricing policies, including excise taxes,3 endorsed for implementation by all member states of the World Health Organization.4 Minimum pricing for alcohol was introduced in Ontario, Canada, soon after prohibition was repealed in the 1920s.5 Minimum prices were used to stabilise alcohol markets that were operated by government alcohol monopolies, an important source of government revenue.5 Widespread
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Mashup Score: 9Experts call for school focused support to overhaul children’s mental health services - 21 hour(s) ago
Badly needed support for children’s mental health in England should be focused on schools with the creation of “one stop shop” information hubs, according to experts. A new report1 calls for a radical overhaul of the system that provides mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people and warns that currently around a fifth of this population may have a mental health condition. The report published on 26 April by the Centre for Young Lives think tank and the Child of the North initiative—a partnership between Health Equity North and N8 Research Partnership—calls on the government to boost children’s mental health through the education system. Its authors argue that schools have a vital role to play in supporting and promoting children’s mental health and …
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Campaigners are calling for action to tackle a worsening public health crisis after new data showed that the death toll from alcohol related causes has reached record levels in the UK @ONS https://t.co/kFvsL8AFU9