Britain bans smoking in public places

It’s certainly not good news for smokers in Britain as UK implemented a complete ban on smoking in public places with effect from Sunday.
People will not be allowed to smoke in bars, hotels, clubs or any other enclosed public area.

Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, hailed the introduction of the ban — the biggest smoking ban in the world — as an important step towards a healthier population. Over three-quarters of the general public and 73 per cent of regular pub-goers support the ban, according to the Department of Health.

"Labour has taken action to protect people from smoke in their workplace, pub or cafe. A smoke-free country will improve the health of thousands of people ... I am thrilled that my first major announcement as Health Secretary enacts the single most important public health legislation,” he said.

Only prisons, submarines and hospices are exempted. The only option left for people is to go to pubs that have invested in outside facilities. Mot country pubs and a few in cities which have open spaces are also planning to put up marquees and heaters during winters.

The pro-smoking campaign, Freedom2Choose, estimates that up to 3,000 of its members — including owners of social clubs — may refuse to implement the ban. The group has challenged the ban on human rights grounds at the High Court in a bid to "fight against injustice and erosion of freedom and personal liberties".

A leading expert on the effects of tobacco, Professor Sir Richard Peto, said that it will prevent up to half a million deaths a year on the experience of Ireland, where cigarette sales fell by 17 per cent. A similar trend in England could lead to 1.5 million people quitting smoking, where sales of cessation products such as nicotine patches and gum have been rising for weeks.

England was the last part of the UK to ban smoking, following a ban in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Irish Republic has also banned smoking in public. Anyone lighting up in a public place faces a £50 fine — reduced to £30 if paid within 15 days. Owners of pubs, clubs and cafes face much stiffer punishment, with fines of £2,500, for every cigarette smoked at their premises.

Edwards to Detail Health Care Plan

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards wants to reduce the cost of U.S. health care by removing patents for breakthrough drugs and requiring health insurance companies to spend at least 85 percent of their premiums on patient care.

The former North Carolina senator was expected to discuss details of a universal health care proposal he released in February during an appearance Thursday at the Riverside Health Center.

Edwards' plan would remove long-term patents for companies that develop breakthrough drugs and then reap large profits because of the monopolies those patents provide, according to a statement by Edwards obtained Wednesday evening.

Edwards said offering cash incentives instead would allow multiple companies to produce those drugs and drive down prices.

He also was expected to detail a plan requiring health insurance companies to justify their rates by requiring them to spend at least 85 percent of the premiums they collect on patient care. He said New York, Minnesota, New Jersey, Florida already impose similar requirements.

"Three out of 10 health care dollars go to administrative costs. How much of this is spent on insurers giving families the run-around and figuring out how to deny claims?" Edwards said in the statement.

"Americans today aren't getting the quality of health care they pay for and can't afford the cost of the care they do receive," he said.

Edwards said Detroit, where General Motors Corp. (nyse: GM - news - people ), Ford Motor Co. (nyse: F - news - people ) and DaimlerChrysler AG (nyse: DCX - news - people )'s Chrysler Group spend $16 billion annually on health care costs and are expected to pay $114 billion in future retiree benefits, is indicative of health care ailments felt nationwide.

"Here in Detroit, the cost of health care is particularly crippling for business," Edwards said. "These businesses and their unions made a promise to workers and now it's time for the government to hold up its end of the bargain and lower health care costs."

Edwards previously has proposed that employers be required to provide health coverage to workers or pay into a government fund to support insurance, and allow workers to choose among plans.

A rival Democratic presidential candidate, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, has proposed to provide health care to millions of Americans and more affordable medical insurance, financed by tax increases on the wealthy.

International Health Officials Urge Widespread HIV Testing

In issuing new guidelines, UNAIDS and the WHO said 80 percent of people who are infected with the virus that causes AIDS are unaware of their situation.

An estimated 40 million people throughout the world are living with HIV. More than 60 percent live in Africa.

Kevin De Cock, the director of the HIV/AIDS program at the World Health Organization, says the guidelines are essential if people are to be treated. "We think these new guidelines are extremely important as we struggle to move towards universal access to prevention, treatment, care and support which the countries of the world have committed to," he said.

Instead of waiting for patients at walk-in clinics and hospitals to request HIV tests, Paul De Lay of UNAIDS, says the guidelines urge health care workers to offer HIV tests as a routine part of medical care. "It encourages health care providers to recommend an HIV test to people who show symptoms of illness, or who likely benefit in health terms from an HIV test," he said.

But the officials say under no circumstances should people be coerced into taking a test, nor should one be administered without their consent. The officials say those who test positive must also receive counseling afterward.

In addition to getting AIDS treatment they might ordinarily not receive, De Cock says people who know their HIV status are less likely to spread the infection to others. "There are data from the United States certainly showing safer behavior once people know their HIV infection status. Because the overwhelming majority of HIV-infected people wish to do everything they can to prevent transmission to others," he said.

Experts say it is unclear how the recommendations for HIV testing will be received in cash-strapped nations, particularly in Africa. According to one expert, the health care systems in many countries are in disarray, and many people who are HIV-positive fail to seek care until they are very sick.

Health Corp. apologizes for faulty breast cancer tests

The largest health-care corporation in Newfoundland has apologized for failing to fully disclose a review that found hundreds of woman, including 36 who died, received a false result on their breast cancer tests.

Eastern Health CEOGeorge Tilley acknowledges the health corporation knew that more than 300 patients got incorrect results, but initially they only acknowledged 117 cases of women whose treatment changed as a result of new tests.

Tilley told a news conference Friday he takes full responsibility.

"I also appreciate that this issue must be causing incredible anxiety for the families of the women who have passed away," Tilley told reporters. "We sincerely regret that. Unfortunately we simply do not know how many of these patients may have benefited from hormonal therapy," but didn't get it because of the inaccurate results.

The issue, revolving around faulty breast cancer testing done from 1997 to 2005, has sparked a potential class-action suit and threatened to shake public confidence in the health system in the province.

When a breast cancer tumour is removed, tests are done to determine the best treatment depending on whether the cancer cells have estrogen or progesterone receptors. Over 300 women got a false-negative result, meaning they may have been denied an alternate treatment for their cancer. It is not clear that if the 36 other women who didn't get treatment and died could have been saved with different therapies.

Eastern Health first became aware of the problem in 2005, Tilley said. That's when it stopped doing its own tests and began sending all breast cancer tests, including suspect results from tests as far back as 1997, to Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital to be redone.

The first results came back from Mount Sinai in October 2005, and Eastern Health notified the public that 117 results had changed.

Tilley acknowledged that the health corporation did not speak publicly about the additional patients who had a change in test result but no change in treatment plan. But all the women were notified about the changes in their test results.

"We believed at the time that the decision to focus on the 117 was the right one because this was, in our estimation, the critical piece of information. That being said, given the reaction that has come from not releasing the second number, I regret that decision and apologize for any confusion this has caused," he said.

Opposition politicians from two parties have called for a full public inquiry. Premier Danny Williams appears to be leaning in that direction, saying the government has a "moral responsibility" to get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible.

A St. John's lawyer is leading a potential class-action lawsuit against Eastern Health on behalf of over 40 survivors and the families of the dead women. Ches Crosbie will be in a St. John's court next week to try to certify the action

President George Bush is pushing his health care proposal that would help provide coverage for the 46 million Americans who do not have any

It is being reported that George Bush has vowed to do whatever is necessary to bring health insurance to those Americans who do not have any. Over 46 million Americans are currently without health insurance, a fact that the US President says is unacceptible.

"From my conversations with Democrats and Republicans, it is clear both parties recognize that strengthening health care for all Americans is one of our most important responsibilities," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "I am confident that if we put politics aside, we can find practical ways to improve our private health care system."

Under Bush's proposed plan, health insurance costs would classify as taxible income: "Today, the tax code unfairly penalizes people who do not get health insurance through their job," stated Bush.

"If you buy health insurance on your own, you pay much more after taxes than if you get it through your job," he said. "I proposed to end this unfair bias in the tax code by creating a standard tax deduction for every American who has health insurance, whether they get it through their job or on their own."

Bush is also proposing a $7000 tax deductible for individuals, and a $15000 tax deductible for families.

"Americans deserve a level playing field," Bush said. "If you're self-employed, a farmer, a rancher or an employee at a small business who buys health insurance
on your own, you should get the same tax advantage as those who get their health insurance through their job at a big business."

A major component to his proposal is taking money that is used to help hospitals cover the costs for the uninsured, and use it to allow individual states to set up programs to assist residents to get health coverage and assist those with high-cost health conditions.

Half-ton man gets to leave house at last

A man who once weighed well over half a ton left his house for the first time in five years Wednesday -- wheeled outside on his bed to greet neighbors and see a mariachi band."The sky is beautiful and blue, and what I want is to enjoy the sun," said Manuel Uribe, who had once been certified by doctors as weighing 1,235 pounds.Though still unable to leave his bed, Uribe has lost 395 pounds since he began a high-protein diet a year ago. He now weighs about 840 pounds.To celebrate the milestone, six people pushed Uribe's wheel-equipped iron bed out to the street as a mariachi band played and a crowd gathered. Then, a forklift lifted him onto a truck and the 41-year-old rode through the streets of San Nicolas de los Garza, a Monterrey suburb.With dozens of reporters and photographers in tow, Uribe traveled along, passing the town's plaza and church and waving at clusters of people eager to get a glimpse of him."It fills me with joy to see he's getting better and getting a little sun," Uribe's neighbor Guadalupe Guerra said. "I would go crazy if I had to be inside my house for so many years."Uribe was a chubby kid and weighed more than 250 pounds as an adolescent. In 1992, when he was 26, his weight began ballooning further, he said.Since the summer of 2002, Uribe has been bedridden, relying on his mother and friends to feed and clean him.He drew worldwide attention in January 2006 when he pleaded for help on national television. Afterward, an Italian and a Spanish doctor both visited and offered gastric bypass surgery.But Uribe chose to accept help from Mexican nutritionists working with the Zone diet. He says he will stick to that diet until he reaches his goal of 265 pounds."My goal is to leave the house on my own but I know that will be a long process," he said. Doctors say it may take three to four years for Uribe to reach his goal.Uribe said he plans to start a foundation to help overweight people get medical assistance and teach them about healthful eating habits.

IT and e-health is 'every nurse's business'

IT and e-health is every nurse’s business because it has to be integrated into practice, nursing leader, June Clark, said on the eve of a major discussion at the Royal College of Nursing’s annual congress this week.

The discussion on the theme “Computerised records – what can they offer?” will be available online at the College website. Professor Clark, a former president of the college and chair of the RCN Information in Nursing Forum, told E-Health Insider she hoped as many people as possible in the e-health community would get involved.

She hopes the session will raise awareness on several fronts: “The first is awareness among nurses that e-health and IT and the introduction of IT into the NHS is every nurses’ business because it has to be integrated into nursing practice,” she said.

“The other awareness that I want to get across to this audience and more generally that electronic patient records must have appropriate nursing content, not just medical content.”

Nursing content, she said, included pre-existing nursing diagnoses for the patient and records of interventions and outcomes. In the case of a patient with diabetes, for example, the electronic record would need to chart progress in teaching the person how to self-administer insulin and manage the condition generally – not just offer lists of blood glucose readings.

“Teaching patients how to manage their lives with diabetes doesn’t show [at present]. The electronic patient record (EPR) makes it possible – in theory at least – to do that at an individual and aggregated level,” she said.

“What EPRs would be able to show is how the outcome differs according to who did the intervention and indeed there’s good research from other countries that shows when you dilute the [nursing] skillmix patient outcomes change.”

She pointed particularly to the work of George Evers in Belgium and Linda Aiken in the US as demonstrating the effect of increasing or decreasing the levels of professional nursing.

Professor Clark said there was a need to invest in education for nurses now on such issues if the systems were going to produce the right information.

“The reason I’m pushing now is that we won’t ever get it right in the future unless the right decisions are made now and the education programmes are started now,” she said.