Category Archives: Society

Survival rates in UK for two lethal cancers lower than in comparable countries, research shows

Posted on by

Experts say UK ‘lags behind’ as OECD finds poor outcomes for many diagnosed with colon and lung cancers

People in the UK who are diagnosed with the two most lethal forms of cancer die sooner than those in many other comparable countries, a new study has found.

Research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) showed the UK ranked a lowly 31st out of 43 countries for how many people survive at least five years after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

UK spending on cancer will rise from £14.4bn to more than £23bn by 2050 because the ageing population will lead to more people being diagnosed.

Cancer will cause one in four deaths of people under the age of 75 between now and 2050.

170,000 people at any one time cannot work because they have cancer.

Continue reading...

Female migrant in Florida subjected to ‘horrific’ treatment, complaint alleges

Posted on by

Detainee, identified as Ana, mocked and leered at by male guards after they strapped her almost naked to a chair

A female migrant in mental distress was kept in solitary confinement for a month at a Florida detention center, then mocked and leered at by male guards after they strapped her almost naked to a restraint chair, a federal civil rights complaint alleges.

The reported sexual and mental abuse of the detainee, identified solely as Ana, took place at the Baker county detention facility, a rural camp 30 miles west of Jacksonville with a long history of allegations of mistreatment, harassment, retaliation and cruelty to detainees.

Continue reading...

Food prices soar in Gaza after looting of almost 100 aid trucks worsens shortages

Posted on by

WHO says hijacking by armed men has aggravated already severe scarcity of food, medicine and other aid

Food prices have soared in Gaza after the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks amid an already severe food crisis caused by more than a year of war between Israel and Hamas.

This weekend’s hijacking of 98 lorries of a 109-strong convoy by armed men – the biggest such attack to date – has aggravated food, medicine and other aid shortages, according to a World Health Organization spokesperson, Margaret Harris. “It’s getting harder and harder to get the aid in,” she said on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Lucy Letby likely to have harmed other babies, doctor tells inquiry

Posted on by

Consultant who raised concerns says there could have been earlier victims she has not been convicted of killing

Lucy Letby was likely to have harmed more babies than those she has been convicted of murdering on a hospital neonatal unit, a senior doctor has told a public inquiry.

Dr Stephen Brearey, a consultant paediatrician who raised concerns about the nurse, told the Thirlwall inquiry he believed Letby “didn’t start becoming a killer” in June 2015 and that she may have had earlier victims.

Continue reading...

Health minister Stephen Kinnock says he will back assisted dying bill

Posted on by

Minister says law change is ‘right thing to do’ while Keir Starmer gives strongest hint yet that he will vote for bill

The health minister Stephen Kinnock has said he will vote in favour of the assisted dying bill next week, arguing that it is the “compassionate” thing to do and will not automatically place NHS palliative care services under extreme pressure.

Kinnock, the minister responsible for palliative care, said he did not believe there was a conflict between backing a change in the law and supporting hospices, as had been suggested by his boss Wes Streeting, the health secretary.

Continue reading...

Public’s understanding of paedophiles has not improved, says charity boss

Posted on by

Rev Harry Nigh, who set up Circles in 1994 to support sex offenders, says it is easy for politicians to say ‘lock them up’

Public understanding of paedophiles has not improved over the past 30 years, according to the founder of the pioneering charity Circles, which offers support to some of society’s most reviled offenders.

While the Rev Harry Nigh says child protection must always be paramount, he stresses the importance of breaking the isolation and shame that often leads people who commit child sexual abuse to reoffend, arguing that “anything that drives people underground even further endangers the community itself”.

Continue reading...

Call to ban cakes and biscuits at school lunchtimes in England

Posted on by

Campaigners want ministers to overhaul rules to outlaw snacks that contain up to 12 teaspoons of sugar

Schools in England should be banned from giving pupils cakes or biscuits as part of their lunch because they contain so much sugar, food campaigners say.

They want ministers to overhaul the rules that guide schools on the nutritional content of the meals they serve to outlaw such sugary snacks.

Continue reading...

Gisèle Pelicot rape trial: children tell of ‘devastation’ caused by their father

Posted on by

Couple’s two sons and daughter beg Dominique Pelicot to reveal if other family members were abused

Gisèle Pelicot’s children have described their “devastation” to learn that their father had drugged their mother and invited dozens of men to rape her, begging him in court to tell the truth about whether he had abused other members of the family.

David Pelicot, 50, the couple’s oldest son, told the court in Avignon on Monday that he believed his sister Caroline Darian, 45, when she said she felt certain that she too had been drugged and abused by Dominique Pelicot, after photos were found on his computer of her asleep in bed in underwear that she did not recognise as her own.

Continue reading...

Bridget Phillipson says she is likely to vote against assisted dying bill

Posted on by

Education secretary urges ministers to limit discussion on policy to behind the scenes after vocal opposition to bill by Wes Streeting

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has said she is likely to vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying, as she urged ministerial colleagues to restrict their discussions about the policy to behind the scenes.

Under a policy of government neutrality towards the private member’s bill by the Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, which will get its first Commons vote this month, ministers are permitted to set a previously-known stance if asked but otherwise to keep out of the debate.

Continue reading...

Women’s rights groups fear FGM is rife among Sudanese refugees in Chad

Posted on by

Practice banned in both countries but widespread among those displaced by Sudan’s civil war, say aid workers

Women’s rights campaigners have spoken of their concern over the spread of female genital mutilation among Sudanese refugees in camps across the border in Chad.

Both countries have outlawed the practice but it continues in secret. The UN children’s agency, Unicef, says that about 87% of Sudanese women aged 14-49 have been cut – one of the highest rates in the world. In Chad, the figure is 34.1%, though rates are higher in the south and east, which is where the camps for Sudanese people have been set up.

Continue reading...

First known US case of person infected with new mpox strain reported

Posted on by

Person acquired clade Ib while traveling to east Africa and treated in California for mild illness, said health officials

US health officials reported Saturday the first known case of a person infected with the new mpox strain in the country.

The person acquired mpox while traveling to east Africa and was treated for a mild illness in San Mateo, California, according to health officials. The person is isolating at home and is recovering, and there is no evidence that mpox is spreading in the United States.

Continue reading...

Revealed: ‘Grassroots’ campaigns opposed to assisted dying financed by conservative Christian pressure groups

Posted on by

Religious lobbyists are secretly coordinating and funding bodies that claim to be led by disabled people and health workers

Campaigns against assisted dying that claim to be led by healthcare workers and disabled people are being secretly coordinated and paid for by conservative Christian pressure groups, an Observer investigation has found.

The “grassroots” campaigns have been central to the debate on legalising assisted dying in England and Wales before a landmark vote by MPs this month.

Continue reading...

Saoirse Ronan ‘absolutely right’ about women’s safety fears, says Gladiator combat trainer

Posted on by

Paul Biddiss, who trained Paul Mescal and Day of the Jackal star Eddie Redmayne, says streetwise women are more aware of surveillance and harder to follow

He has trained would-be assassins and marshalled invading hordes, Napoleonic forces and Roman regiments, but movie military adviser Paul Biddiss found himself in the midst of his biggest Hollywood skirmish last month when the actor Saoirse Ronan made a powerful intervention about women’s personal safety.

Ronan, a guest on Graham Norton’s BBC chatshow sofa, sparked a nationwide debate about women’s security fears when she interrupted fellow actors as they discussed techniques that Biddiss had taught the casts of both Gladiator II and the new drama series The Day of the Jackal.

Continue reading...

UK charity declares ‘refugee homelessness emergency’ as numbers hit record high

Posted on by

Naccom report says gaps in state support have led to more than 1,940 refugees having no accommodation

Homelessness among refugees has doubled in the last year to reach record levels as charities hand out tents and sleeping bags to those forced to live on the streets for the first time, according to research.

The No Accommodation Network (Naccom), an umbrella organisation for 140 frontline organisations working with asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants across the UK, has collated the data and shared it with the Guardian.

Continue reading...

Cabinet minister Liz Kendall says she will vote for assisted dying

Posted on by

Work and pensions secretary confirms stance, as Wes Streeting faces criticism for saying law could bring NHS cuts

Liz Kendall has become the first cabinet minister to confirm she will vote for the assisted dying bill since it was published, as the row intensified over the proposed law change.

Some supporters of assisted dying have expressed anger after Wes Streeting, the health secretary and an opponent of the plan, warned it could be a potential drain on NHS resources.

Continue reading...

Fears for spread of malaria in Africa as study finds resistance to frontline drug

Posted on by

Signs of resistance to artemisinin in tenth of children with severe malaria similar to situation in Asia, say researchers

Researchers have found “troubling” evidence for the first time that a lifesaving malaria drug is becoming less effective in young African children with serious infections.

A study of children being treated in hospital for malaria in Uganda, presented at a major conference on Thursday, found signs of resistance to artemisinin in one patient in 10.

Continue reading...

Colombia outlaws child marriage after 17-year campaign

Posted on by

Country closes 137-year legal loophole, becoming one of 12 in Latin America and the Caribbean to entirely ban marriage for minors

Colombian lawmakers have approved a bill to eradicate child marriage in the South American country after 17 years of campaigning by advocacy groups and eight failed attempts to push legislation through the house and senate.

After five hours of heated, drawn-out debate on Wednesday evening, lawmakers approved the proposed legislation, dubbed They are Girls, Not Wives, which prohibits the marriage of anyone under the age of 18.

Continue reading...

‘I have lost everything’: southern Africa battles hunger amid historic drought

Posted on by

Crops have failed in several countries, with 27m people at risk of hunger according to World Food Programme

Emmanuel Himoonga paced his dry field, picking up stalks of maize that had been bleached almost to bone white.

The 61-year-old chief of Shakumbila, a mainly agricultural community of about 7,000 people roughly 70 miles west of Zambia’s capital, Lusaka, had seen droughts before.

Continue reading...

Swedish firm censured for use of C-word in ads for vaginal health supplements

Posted on by

Regulator deems posters offensive, though Elexir Pharma argues term is ‘not loaded in the same way as in the UK’

The Swedish advertising ombudsman has criticised a company for using the C-word in posters to promote vaginal health supplements, saying the use of the “gross profanity” is offensive to consumers.

The ads, displayed on public transport in Stockholm and Gothenburg, feature the phrase “you can cunt on us” in pink writing.

Continue reading...

Streeting’s hospital league table plan riles NHS medics and bosses

Posted on by

Health secretary says controversial scheme for trusts in England is necessary to raise standards

Wes Streeting plans to publish a football-style league table of the best- and worst-performing hospitals in England, prompting fury from NHS bosses and staff at the prospect of struggling trusts being “named and shamed”.

The health secretary will announce the controversial move on Wednesday to an audience of health service leaders and defend it as a “tough” but necessary way of raising care standards.

Continue reading...