Newsbites
Africa
UN launches malaria campaign
The United Nations’ secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, has called for access to basic measures to control malaria for all of
Africa by the end of 2010. Launching the campaign on 25 April, world malaria day, he said that the world’s most affected nations
would not meet the millennium development goal of halting and reversing the growth in incidence of the disease.
The World Health Organization estimates that malaria kills 1.3 million people a year, mostly children under the age of 5.
Mr Ban and his special envoy for malaria, Ray Chambers, said that they wanted the entire population of Africa to have mosquito
nets and insecticide sprays by 2011, along with sufficient malaria clinics and preventive treatment centres for pregnant women
(http://africa.reuters.com, 25 Apr, “UN urges world to help Africa fight malaria”).
Indonesia
Practising for bird flu
Indonesia has conducted a drill, which involved 5000 people, to test its readiness for bird flu. The government, police, and
health workers fought off protests from villagers and tourists as they barricaded homes, shut schools, and quarantined travellers
After more than four years of fears about pandemic influenza, the avian flu virus remains hard for people to catch, but scientists
worry that it could mutate into a form that spreads easily between humans. Such a pandemic could kill millions of people.
As the country worst affected by the disease so far, with 107 of 240 deaths worldwide since this outbreak began in 2003, Indonesia
is seen as a potential location for that to happen.
The three day simulation started with the isolation of a village on the island of Bali, where a field hospital was set up
to treat people with flu-like symptoms. Officials also had to prevent “infected” travellers from leaving the international
airport and spreading the virus to other countries (http://ap.google.com, 24 Apr 2008, “Indonesians hold major drill for bird flu pandemic” and www.iht.com, 28 Apr, “Indonesia stages flu pandemic drill”).
World
Tackling food shortages
A top United Nations’ food official has urged the world to direct resources towards this year’s harvest and to support future
food production by investing in agriculture as a way to tackle growing fears of hunger and shortages.
Kosovo riot against the increased price of food in february
The UN has warned that recent rises in food prices are threatening millions of people around the world with hunger. Rapid
growth in demand from fast developing economies, such as China, has boosted global needs, and growth in the market for biofuels
has limited the supply of food crops. Global stocks have hit 25 year lows, and prices of staples, such as wheat, maize, and
rice, have risen to record highs.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that 37 countries face food crises, and several African countries, Indonesia,
and Haiti, have had riots because of food prices (http://africa.reuters.com/world/news/usnL23932496.html, 23 Apr, “FAO says focus on making 2008 harvest a success”).
United States
Veterans’ mental health
One in five veterans of the US armed services returning from Iraq or Afghanistan reports symptoms of post-traumatic stress
disorder or major depression. This is a finding of a study of almost 2000 troops by the not for profit think tank the RAND
Corporation.
That figure scales up to 320 000 of the 1.6 million soldiers who have deployed to war in the past five years and is consistent
with the most recent findings by military researchers.
Lisa Jaycox, a senior behavioural scientist at RAND, said that the findings show the barriers that troops face in getting
help. War veterans often say that they are reluctant to seek treatment. Commanders typically have access to military medical
records, and one common fear is that records of such treatment will hurt their careers.
Only half of service members and veterans who reported symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression sought treatment.
Of those, about half got “minimally adequate treatment,” according to the study (www.nytimes.com, 18 Apr, “Nearly a fifth of war veterans report mental disorders”).
China
Beijing bans smoking
An army of 100 000 inspectors will help persuade smokers in Beijing not to break a ban on lighting up in public areas, which
takes effect from May, health officials have said.
The city, which has pledged a smoke-free Olympic games, already has about 60 000 inspectors and will be recruiting another
40 000. Most will be workers at hotels, office buildings, and other venues covered by the ban, which does not include restaurants
and bars (www.chinadaily.com.cn, 25 Apr, “100,000 will help smokers stub out” and http://news.xinhuanet.com/english, 28 Apr, “Majority Chinese applaud Beijing’s smoking ban”).
New Zealand
Junior doctors strike
Junior doctors in New Zealand have staged a 48 hour stoppage in support of a pay rise of 10% a year for three years and have
threatened more strikes if district health boards don’t meet their demands at the negotiating table.
But senior doctors have criticised the way that industrial action has been conducted by their junior colleagues, with the
Association of Salaried Medical Specialists saying that the junior doctors’ union made false claims about staff shortages
and did not consult adequately about the plans to strike.
Boards say they cannot afford what the junior doctors are seeking and that it would be unfair to give them a rise disproportionate
to that received by nurses and senior doctors (www.nzherald.co.nz, 28 Apr, “DHBs and doctors in talks to avert new strike” and www.radionz.co.nz, 24 Apr, “Senior doctors have criticised the way industrial action has been conducted” and www.stuff.co.nz, 28 Apr, “Doctors need lateral thinking”).
India
More heart disease
Patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndromes in India are more likely to be younger and to present with myocardial infarction
with ST elevation than patients in rich countries, researchers have found.
Researchers have long known that South Asia has the most cases of acute coronary syndrome in the world, and it has been predicted
that India will carry as much as 60% of the world’s heart disease burden by 2010, but so far few statistical data have been
available about treatment and health outcomes.
Deaths from acute coronary syndromes are especially common among the country’s poorest residents, who cannot get to hospital
quickly in an emergency or afford routine treatments.
The study, published in the Lancet, found that of more than 20 000 patients with acute coronary syndromes studied, 60% had myocardial infarction with ST elevation,
compared with less than 40% of patients in registry data from rich countries (http://afp.google.com, 24 Apr, “India overwhelmed by heart disease” and www.medicalnewstoday.com, 24 Apr, “India to carry majority of world’s heart disease burden by 2010”).
Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed.
Student BMJ 2008;16:223 | 18
