Food Retailers Need To Prove Commitment To Health, Says British Heart Foundation

In response to the report ‘A Commitment to Health’ published by the British Retail Consortium Alex Callaghan, Policy Officer at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said:

“Whilst food retailers have made some efforts to help consumers make healthy choices, on the key issue of food labelling, they are still resisting change.

“If retailers want to prove their commitment to people’s health they should bring in food labelling model which combines traffic light colours, GDAs and the words high, medium and low.

Food Retailers Need To Prove Commitment To Health, Says British Heart Foundation

In response to the report ‘A Commitment to Health’ published by the British Retail Consortium Alex Callaghan, Policy Officer at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said:

“Whilst food retailers have made some efforts to help consumers make healthy choices, on the key issue of food labelling, they are still resisting change.

“If retailers want to prove their commitment to people’s health they should bring in food labelling model which combines traffic light colours, GDAs and the words high, medium and low.

About 0.59% Of Vietnamese Fishery Workers Are HIV-Positive, Prevalence Could Rise By 2013, Survey Says

An estimated 33,000 of the total 5.5 million workers in Vietnam’s fishery sector, or about 0.59%, were living with HIV in 2008, according to a survey released Tuesday by Vietnam’s fishery program, VNA/VOV News reports (VNA/VOV News, 5/27). The report also predicted that the number of HIV-positive people in Vietnam’s fishery sector could rise to 58,000 by 2013. According to a second survey, conducted simultaneously, a lack of knowledge about the disease has contributed to the fishery sector’s relatively high HIV prevalence. Vietnam’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as part of its Strengthening of Fisheries Administration conducted the survey with support from the Danish International Development Agency.

Low Vitamin D Levels In Blacks Could Contribute To Higher Rates Of Cancer, Other Diseases, Researcher Says

Low vitamin D levels in blacks could contribute to health gaps between white and black U.S. residents, Michael Holick, a professor at Boston University and a vitamin D researcher, said recently, the GNS/Chicago Sun-Timesreports. According to Holick, blacks have lower levels of vitamin D than whites in part because the higher amount of pigment in their skin makes it harder for their body to absorb the nutrient, which is produced in response to sun exposure.

Comparative Effectiveness Necessary To Weigh New Drugs Against Old Ones, Opinion Piece Says

Patients and physicians “need to know not just whether a new drug outperforms a placebo, but whether it’s a real advance on what’s already on the market,” Richard Friedman, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, writes in a New York Times opinion piece. According to Friedman, “Doctors and patients alike are inundated by drug company marketing.” Friedman states he has seen “scores of patients” who are “eager to get the latest antidepressant or mood stabilizer that promised them tranquility on their TV screens.”

New Dentists Just Part Of The Solution To Problems, Says BDA

The British Dental Association (BDA) has given a broad welcome to today’s announcement of the award of a tender for 38 new dentists in Northern Ireland as part of the solution to the problems some patients face accessing care. But the BDA has also warned that this is not the whole solution to the problems facing Health Service dentistry. Also required, says the BDA, are full support for the more than 800 dentists already working in Northern Ireland and a new contract that allows dentists to provide the kind of modern, preventive care they are trained to do.

Is Consensus In Anti-aging Medical Intervention An Elusive Expectation

In the May-June 2009 issue of the prestigious Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, an international journal published by Elsevier, Prof. Dr. Imre Zs.-Nagy, of the University of Debrecen Medical and Health Science Center (Hungary), and founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/archger), presents numerous studies documenting a diverse array of anti-aging medical therapeutics that currently exist and are being applied in the clinical setting today, as well as interventions that are in the laboratory stage, to slow, prevent, and perhaps even reverse the degenerative diseases of aging and the degenerative biological processes which lead to premature disease, disability, dependence, and death.

Pope’s Denunciation Of Condoms ‘No Help’ In Curbing Spread Of HIV, Washington Post Editorial Says

Although “[i]n a perfect world, people would abstain from having sex until they were married or would be monogamous in committed relationships, … the world isn’t perfect,” a Washington Post editorial states, adding that “neither is Pope Benedict’s pronouncement on the effectiveness of condoms in the battle against HIV/AIDS. The evidence says so.” The editorial asks, “Are condoms foolproof protection against infection by HIV, which causes AIDS? No.” However, even though condoms sometimes break or are used incorrectly, “doctors on the front lines of the fight against the AIDS epidemic established long ago that the use of condoms greatly diminishes the transmission of HIV,” according to the editorial. It says that it is “troubling” that Benedict “chose to question the value of condoms in fighting the nearly 28-year-old scourge while heading to the continent whose people are most affected by it.” Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 67% of people living with HIV in the world and 75% of all AIDS deaths, according to UNAIDS, the editorial states. It adds that “[h]eterosexual intercourse is the ‘driving force’ behind the epidemic.” According to the editorial, “To halt the march of HIV/AIDS, those who have the infection must be treated. Those who do not have it need all the information and tools possible to remain HIV-negative.” It concludes, “The pope’s denunciation of condoms is of no help” (Washington Post, 3/19).

GPs Should Not Be Rewarded For Cutting Referral Rates, Says British Medical Association

GPs should not take part in referral management schemes that offer GP practices financial rewards for cutting patient referrals, the BMA said.

In a new document, the BMA’s GP Committee offers GPs in England guidance on referral demand management and analysis schemes.

These initiatives are designed primarily to help GP practices examine the way they refer patients to other services, such as hospitals.

Referral schemes have developed in response to rising patient referral rates. More recently, variations have emerged that offer GPs financial rewards for cutting referral rates to pre-agreed levels set in co-operation with local health bodies.

Malaysian Pre-Marital Courses To Include HIV Testing, Official Says

Pre-marital courses for Muslim couples in Malaysia will now include mandatory HIV tests, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced recently, Singapore’s New Straits Times reports. The mandatory testing will begin in 2009, Najib said, adding that HIV testing already is a part of pre-marital counseling in six Malaysian states and was first introduced in 2001. Da-Tuk Wan Mohamad Sheikh Abdul Aziz, director general of the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia, said that couples who test positive for the virus will be permitted to get married and will receive counseling on preventive measures. According to Najib, the measure is part of government efforts to reduce the increasing HIV incidence among women. Najib said that the country has “successfully reduced the number of cases among [injection] drug users but transmission though sexual activities” has increased.