Category Archives: Health

Morrison government’s $4m grant to group accused of ‘extreme religious practices’ was likely unlawful

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There is no evidence politicians knew of the allegations against the foundation when the grant to WA group the Esther Foundation was announced

The Morrison government gave $4m to an organisation accused of “extreme religious practices” – including exorcisms and gay conversion – on the same day the Australian government solicitor (AGS) advised the grant would “likely be without lawful authority”.

The former prime minister Scott Morrison announced the grant for Western Australia’s Esther Foundation in the lead-up to the 2019 election, declaring the organisation had “completely, completely captured” his heart.

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Syphilis cases at highest level for 75 years in England last year

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UKHSA figures also show gonorrhoea diagnoses rose by 50% to 82,600 – the most since records began in 1918

Cases of syphilis were at their highest level in 75 years in England last year while gonorrhoea cases reached a record high, figures show.

The UK Health Security Agency is urging people to use condoms, calling them “the best line of defence”, and advises people to go for a test if they have recently had unprotected sex.

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Access to contraception has got harder in England, top doctor says

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Lesley Regan, women’s health ambassador for England, says ‘destructive’ changes to NHS system in 2012 are failing women

Women are finding it harder to access contraception than they did a decade ago, resulting in more unplanned pregnancies, the women’s health ambassador has said.

They have been discouraged by bad experiences, a confusingly disjointed system and long delays for procedures such as the coil or implant insertion, according to Prof Lesley Regan, a leading gynaecologist who was appointed women’s health ambassador for England last year.

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Bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, US study suggests

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Doctors found some patients could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat the disease

Thousands of bowel cancer patients could be spared radiotherapy, a study suggests, after doctors discovered they could rely on chemotherapy and surgery alone to treat their disease.

Radiotherapy has been used to treat bowel cancer patients for decades, but the side-effects can be brutal. It can cause problems that negatively affect quality of life, including infertility, the need for a temporary colostomy, diarrhoea, cramping and bladder problems.

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Boris Johnson hands over WhatsApp messages directly to Covid inquiry

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Former PM bypasses government’s attempts to keep unredacted communications secret

Boris Johnson has bypassed the government’s attempt to keep his unredacted WhatsApp messages secret by handing them over directly to the Covid inquiry.

In a move that will further frustrate Downing Street, the former prime minister circumvented the Cabinet Office, which is seeking to hold up the process by launching legal action.

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Government to take legal action against Covid inquiry over Johnson WhatsApps

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Cabinet Office serves notice on inquiry chair at 4pm, the deadline she had set for it to hand over files

Ministers have launched an unprecedented high court attempt to avoid handing over Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries to the government-commissioned public inquiry into the handling of Covid.

In a move immediately condemned by bereaved families and opposition MPs, the Cabinet Office told the inquiry, headed by the retired judge Heather Hallett, that there were “important issues of principle” over passing on information that might not be relevant.

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New migraine drug on NHS could help thousands of patients in England

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Nice approves rimegepant for preventing migraines in cases where at least three previous treatments have failed

Thousands of people in England who get migraines could benefit from a drug that has been approved on the NHS.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), the drugs regulator, said it was recommending rimegepant for preventing migraines in the approximately 145,000 adults where at least three previous preventive treatments had failed.

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Young people harmed by nitrous oxide use most likely to be Asian men – study

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Study of patients in England with neurological damage related to laughing gas finds group overrepresented

Young people experiencing neurological harm after using laughing gas are most likely to be male and Asian, according to a small study of patients admitted to hospital in England.

Nitrous oxide is the second most common drug used by 16- to 24-year-olds in the UK. It is typically released into balloons from small silver canisters before being inhaled. Rishi Sunak recently announced plans to criminalise the drug.

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UK ministers could ban flavoured vapes to deter sales to children

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Tighter rules could also demand plain packaging and more curbs on promotion of products

• Vaping: quitter’s aid or addiction risk?

Ministers are considering further vaping laws, such as a ban on colourful branding or flavours, to deter their sale to children amid calls for plain packaging to be extended to the products.

No 10 said the government was considering “further steps” on vaping, with a call for evidence due to close next week. The government announced on Tuesday that it was closing a loophole in the law that allowed companies to give away free samples to children, as concern grows that usage of vapes among under 18s has been on the rise.

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‘Elevated’ lead levels detected in water at far-north Queensland hospital

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Atherton hospital staff were offered blood tests but the state’s chief health officer says he would be ‘very surprised’ if they showed high levels of lead

Lead contamination has been discovered in the water at a new hospital building and at an Aboriginal health clinic in far-north Queensland.

The Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS) announced that a number of water samples taken at the new clinical services building at Atherton hospital and at a health facility in nearby Yarrabah contained lead at levels that exceeded the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended guidelines for safe drinking water.

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Ministers plan to ban retailers in England from giving children free vapes

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Promotional samples dodge rules forbidding sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s, who are vaping in rapidly increasing numbers

Retailers will no longer be able to hand out free samples of vapes to children after ministers announced plans to close a legal loophole.

Although it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s, it is not illegal for retailers and marketing firms to hand out free samples. This is because vapes are not covered by the tobacco advertising rules prohibiting free distribution, as they are not considered a tobacco product.

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NHS England workforce plan delayed amid rumours of cost issues

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Health secretary Steve Barclay not confirming when strategy to increase numbers of doctors and nurses will be published

NHS leaders have raised concerns about the delay to the long-awaited workforce plan, after the health secretary, Steve Barclay, refused to give a deadline for its publication amid rumours it is considered too costly.

The plan, which was expected to be published on Tuesday, appears to have been delayed, according to the deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery.

Barclay blamed the pandemic and “various things that have been happening in recent years” for the delay during broadcast interviews over the weekend. He had previously promised that the plan to increase the number of doctors and nurses would be published before the next general election.

Cordery said the plan, which has already been postponed from last year and aims to fix the UK’s crumbling healthcare system by plugging chronic staff shortages, was needed “as quickly as possible”.

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Met plan to stop mental health response will leave thousands ‘without support’

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Health groups raise alarm after Sir Mark Rowley says he will order officers not to attend 999 calls about mental health incidents

Thousands of people in a mental health crisis will be “left without support” under worrying and inappropriate police plans to “walk away” from emergency incidents, health chiefs have said.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, the Metropolitan police comissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said that from September he would order the force’s police officers not to attend thousands of 999 calls about mental health incidents.

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Met police to stop attending emergency mental health calls

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Exclusive: move will come into force on 31 August and will only be waived if a threat to life is feared

The Metropolitan police will no longer attend emergency calls related to mental health incidents, the force’s commissioner has said.

In a letter seen by the Guardian, Sir Mark Rowley says he will order his officers not to attend thousands of calls they get every year to deal with mental health incidents.

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Only 12 of 35 dementia units promised by 2023 Australia-wide are operational, health department says

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Exclusive: spokesperson says six units more will open by the end of 2024 but declines questions about cause of delay

Just 12 of a promised 35 specialist dementia units the government committed to have running by 2023 are operational, a health department spokesman has said.

To respond to a growing number of people with dementia and suffering from severe behavioural and psychological symptoms, the federal government in 2016 announced the Specialist Dementia Care Program [SDCP].

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NHS data breach: trusts shared patient details with Facebook without consent

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Observer investigation reveals Meta Pixel tool passed on private details of web browsing on medical sites

NHS trusts are sharing intimate details about patients’ medical conditions, appointments and treatments with Facebook without consent and despite promising never to do so.

An Observer investigation has uncovered a covert tracking tool in the websites of 20 NHS trusts which has for years collected browsing information and shared it with the tech giant in a major breach of privacy.

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WHO members vote to move Moscow office and urge Russia to stop attacks on hospitals

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Member states vote to relocate the office to Denmark by the end of the year, in response to health impacts of Ukraine conflict

Member states of the World Health Organization voted on Wednesday to move a Moscow-based office of the WHO to Copenhagen, and urged Russia to stop attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ukraine.

At the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, 80 member states voted to request the WHO secretariat to relocate the European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases to Denmark before the new year.

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‘A gamechanger’: new meningitis vaccine hailed as major step

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Successful trials in Africa of NmCV-5 vaccine open the door to affordable treatment for disease that kills 250,000 people a year

An effective, affordable meningitis vaccine has been successfully tested in Africa, raising hopes for the elimination of a disease that kills 250,000 people a year.

The NmCV-5 vaccine, developed by the Serum Institute of India and global health organisation Path, will protect against the five main meningococcal strains found in Africa, including the emerging X strain, for which there is currently no licensed injection.

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Record rise in people using private healthcare amid NHS frustration

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Data prompts speculation NHS inability to cut waiting lists could make private healthcare ‘new normal’

Record numbers of people are paying for private healthcare, spending up to £3,200 on having a cataract removed and £15,075 on a new hip, amid growing frustration at NHS waiting lists.

Across the UK last year 272,000 people used their own funds to cover the cost of having an operation or diagnostic procedure at a private hospital. That was up from 262,000 the year before and a sharp rise on the 199,000 who did so in 2019, the year before the Covid pandemic struck.

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South Carolina passes six-week abortion ban after heated debate

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The law, which the governor has promised to sign, will ban abortion before most people know they are pregnant

South Carolina’s state senate approved an anti-abortion bill on Tuesday that would ban most abortions at about six weeks, a period when most people are unaware they are pregnant.

During a special session to decide whether the bill advances to the governor, who has promised to sign it, the Republican-controlled senate launched into a heated debate over the ban.

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