More than half of the estimated 2.9 million people in the UK who use e-cigarettes have given up smoking tobacco, a survey suggests.
But many people overestimate the relative health risks of vaping, which may have contributed to a slowdown in the numbers turning to e-cigarettes. Nine million people in the UK still smoke tobacco.
The number of people vaping or using e-cigarettes has quadrupled in the past five years, the annual Smokefree GB survey by Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) found, with many people turning to them for help with quitting or cutting down on smoking tobacco.
For the first time, more than half of vapers said they had quit smoking. Most of the remainder continued to both vape and smoke tobacco.
Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College London, said the finding was encouraging. “This year’s Ash survey finds that around 1.5 million vapers are ex-smokers, for the first time a larger number than those who continue to smoke,” she said.
“This is encouraging news as we know that vapers who continue to smoke continue to be exposed to cancer-causing chemicals. The message for the 1.3 million vapers who still smoke is that they need to go further and switch completely.”
But vaping’s rate of growth has slowed considerably in the past couple of years, and the survey found many people overestimated the health risks of vaping compared with tobacco.
In 2015, Public Health England concluded vaping was about 95% less harmful than smoking. But more than a quarter of respondents (26%) said they believed e-cigarettes were equally or more harmful than the traditional equivalents, with only 13% saying they were much less harmful than smoking.
Deborah Arnott, the chief executive of Ash, said: “It’s excellent news that the number of vapers who have quit smoking is continuing to grow, but there are still 9 million smokers compared to only 1.5 million vapers who don’t smoke at all.
“The rapid growth in e-cigarette use has come to an end while over a third of smokers have still never tried e-cigarettes, saying the main reasons are concerns about the safety and addictiveness of e-cigarettes. It’s very important smokers realise that vaping is much, much less harmful than smoking.”
The findings were based on an online survey by YouGov of 12,969 adults, weighted to be representative of the UK adult population.
About two in five GPs in the south-west of England are planning to quit, exposing a potential doctors’ crisis in the NHS. A survey of more than 2,000 GPs in the region revealed the impending healthcare problems.
Figures published last month showed there had been a drop in the number of GPs working in the NHS despite the government aim of recruiting 5,000 more by 2020.
The survey, carried out by the University of Exeter, also found that seven in 10 GPs intended to change their working patterns in a way that would mean less contact with patients. This included leaving patient care, taking a career break or reducing their hours.
The researchers said the data provided a snapshot of low morale which, if echoed in other regions, could point to a deeper and more imminent crisis than previously anticipated in relation to the worsening shortage of GPs nationwide.
John Campbell, a professor who led the research, which is published in BMJ Open, has called for a move away from “sticking plaster solutions” towards robust, joined-up, action to avert the crisis nationwide.
Campbell, a practising GP, said: “We carried out this survey because of a nationally recognised crisis in the shortage of GPs across the country, and our findings show an even bleaker outlook than expected for GP cover, even in an area which is often considered desirable, and which has many rural communities,.
“If GPs have similar intentions to leave or reduce their hours in other regions, as many are reporting, the country needs to take robust action more swiftly and urgently than previously thought.”
The research team sent surveys to 3,370 GPs across the region and received responses from 2,248, with 54% reporting low morale.
Campbell said: “We know that there’s an ageing workforce in general practice, with 30% of GPs being over 50 years old. Previous research has found that GP morale is low because of workload pressures, and many younger GPs do not want the financial risk and responsibilities of taking on a practice.
“Yet if the GPs we surveyed fulfil their intentions to leave or to cut back their patient contact, and no action is taken to address the issue, the south-west of England will experience a severe shortfall of GPs in the next five years.
“Whilst numerous government-led initiatives are under way to address recruitment, there is a need to address the underlying serious malaise which is behind this data.
“We are in a perilous situation in England, with poor morale of the current GP workforce, and major difficulties with recruitment and retention of GPs reflected in the stark overall reduction in the GP workforce. Reactive, sticking-plaster, approaches are not the answer.”
Campbell said GPs and their teams delivered nine in every 10 patient contacts with the NHS but attracted just seven pence in every pound of NHS spending.
“The government needs to work with the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association and universities to obtain evidence on the causes of the problem, to develop and implement relevant strategy, and to effect fundamental change in healthcare resourcing and planning nationwide,” he said.
More than 900 adult social care workers a day quit their job in England last year, figures reveal, as homecare providers warn the adult social care system has begun to collapse.
Analysis by the BBC of data released by a charity, Skills for Care, shows that in 2015-16 about 338,520 adult social care workers left their roles, equal to 928 people leaving their job every day. There were more than 1.3 million people employed in the adult social care sector in England in the period.
Of those leaving a job, 60% left the adult social care sector altogether, the figures showed, while there was an estimated shortage of 84,320 care workers, meaning about one in every 20 care roles remained vacant.
The average full-time frontline care worker earned £7.69 an hour, or £14,800 a year, according to the data, and one in every four social care workers was employed on a zero-hours contract.
The figures come as the UK Homecare Association wrote a letter to the prime minister warning of the crisis facing social care.
Mike Padgham, the chair of the UK Homecare Association, said: “My biggest fear is that we will soon run out of capacity to provide care to those who cannot fund themselves. I agree wholeheartedly with Age UK’s warning that the social care system will begin to collapse this year, but I would go further and say that the system has already begun to collapse.”
The Skills for Care figures show that the industry has a staff turnover rate of 27%, which is nearly twice the average for other professions in the UK, according to the BBC report.
The government has said it will spend an extra £2bn on the social care system and permitted local authorities to raise council tax bills in order to fund the gap in social care budgets.
The Department of Health said: “Social care jobs have increased at an average of 3% a year since 2010, but we want to see improvements in turnover rates, with talented staff attracted to a robust sector backed by an additional £2bn over the next three years.
“Meanwhile, we’re investing in the workforce of the future, with a total of 87,800 apprentices starting last year – up 37,300 compared to 2010.”
I didn’t go into nursing ignorant of the challenges ahead. I’d witnessed the enormous toll it can take emotionally and physically, and was exposed to the seemingly constant negative press surrounding the NHS about overworked staff and a broken system. Yet I wanted to be a nurse. And I wasn’t going to let the NHS break me.
After three years of training, I started my first job as a children’s nurse on a busy surgical ward. I sat in my first handover, listening to the nurses complain about not getting breaks until, eventually, one turned to me and said dryly, “Welcome to the NHS!” These weren’t bad people. They were exhausted from giving so much to a system that relies on the good nature of its staff. But I was still optimistic. I wanted to be a good nurse. I wasn’t bitter. Yet.
My enthusiasm very quickly waned. My optimism and energy were worn down by the patient load, 14-hour days with just a cup of coffee to see me through, and the crushing responsibility of being a newly-qualified nurse. I made an agreement with myself: I’d get through one full year before I quit, just to prove to people I’d tried.
As the months passed I found myself actually enjoying the job. Yes, I still worked long days without a real break. And yes, I did still worry about my patients on my days off. But I’d somehow adapted to the gruelling schedule of a nurse. And so I continued.
But gradually, over the years, my list of grievances with nursing grew. It started to affect my home life and I noticed that I was getting sick more often. My resilience had been weakened and I felt like I was running on empty.
My partner and I had been talking about living abroad for a while and we came to the conclusion that now was as good a time as any. We were both ready for a break. Many of our friends were buying houses and climbing career ladders, and would often comment that we were brave to quit it all. But for me taking a break seemed selfish and indulgent rather than brave. I didn’t even consider whether it would harm my career progression. At that point I yearned for less, rather than more responsibility.
And so we packed our bags and headed for Asia. On long bus journeys or during quiet moments I would sometimes question whether I could go back to nursing. With the luxury of distance and time I saw myself as the bitter, overworked nurse I’d been sure I wouldn’t become. I was ashamed. I’d lost sight of why I wanted to be nurse.
After six months away from nursing, I heard that the Lao friends hospital for children in Luang Prabang was looking for nursing volunteers. Re-energised by our time away so far, I felt ready for a new challenge and so, with a mixture of apprehension and excitement, we headed to Laos.
The hospital is well equipped thanks to the generosity of the charity that funds and runs it. Yet compared with NHS hospitals it lacks the equipment, medicines and expertise that we take for granted. In the UK I never saw a child go without a blood transfusion because the blood bank was empty, or watched a terminally ill child be discharged home with only an apology that we could do no more. It reminds me how lucky we are to have the NHS. The limitations we worked with in Laos encouraged innovation and teamwork, which can sometimes be lacking or forgotten about in the vastness of the NHS.
Being part of a team that responds innovatively and tirelessly to the challenges these limitations provide, combined with spending my days (and nights) with children and their families and the joy of seeing these children get better, has reignited my enthusiasm for nursing.
I’m extending my stay here in Luang Prabang. Hopefully when I return to the UK, I’ll be a better nurse for my time spent here. But I certainly wouldn’t rule out another career break. It’s been difficult financially, and yes, it’s a luxury, but a break from my normal has made me remember why I’m proud to be a nurse.
If you would like to contribute to our Blood, sweat and tears series about memorable moments in a healthcare career, read our guidelines and get in touch by emailing sarah.johnson@theguardian.com.
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A record number of EU nationals left the NHS last year, renewing fears that Brexit could exacerbate a staffing crisis.
The figures, compiled by NHS Digital, prompted medical leaders to call for more reassurances to European workers about their future in the UK. A total of 17,197 staff, including nurses and doctors, left their posts in 2016, compared with 13,321 in 2015 and 11,222 for 11 months in 2014.
Even though EU staff numbers rose across the period analysed, experts fear the number of people leaving is the more significant trend.
As Britain embarks on fraught Brexit negotiations, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the British Medical Association (BMA) blamed the increase in departures on the prime minister’s lack of assurances about the position of EU nationals resident in the UK. Theresa May has said such a pledge would weaken her ability to negotiate a good deal for Britain as it prepares to leave the trade bloc.
Prof Jane Dacre, the RCP president, said: “These figures confirm our fears that EU doctors are feeling unsettled and, at worst, leaving or planning to leave the UK. We need the government to provide reassurance that we will be able to keep our European colleagues, in the NHS and research, as we will not be able to replace them with homegrown doctors for many years to come.”
The BMA’s council chair, Dr Mark Porter, said: “Following the EU referendum, thousands of EEA [European Economic Area] nationals working in the NHS and wider health and social care system have been left feeling uncertain as to whether they and their families will have the right to live and work here.
“Worryingly, one in four EEA doctors working in the UK have told the BMA that they are considering leaving following the referendum, with many feeling substantially less appreciated by the government. These are people who have dedicated years of service to healthcare, staffing our hospitals, GP surgeries and leading medical research.”
Analysis by the Guardian shows 2,348 doctors from the 27 other EU states left NHS England between July and September 2016 compared with 1,281 in the same period in 2015. That is a rise of 83% year on year. The figures mirror concerns raised about the growing numbers of nurses leaving the health service and the falling number EU nationals registering as nurses in England, which dropped by 92% since the Brexit vote last June.
Number of EU doctors who left NHS England each month between February 2014 and November 2016
The NHS Digital data also shows an increase in other members of NHS staff leaving the health service. In total, 6,391 EU workers quit in the three months after the EU referendum, compared with 4,125 in the same period in 2015 – a 55% increase. The increase in the number of EU staff employed by NHS England in the same period was 15%.
A number of NHS staff told the Guardian they knew colleagues who were considering leaving. One health worker from London, who asked to be anonymous, said: “I am worried. I work in operating theatres and I walk into some of them and they are all EU staffed.
“Every theatre in London has a European citizen in it. Heaven help us if they leave. A few of my colleagues have already left – the good ones.”
A midwife from Worcester, an EU national, said: “I do know of quite a few of my colleagues who are considering leaving. Also junior doctors who aren’t eligible for permanent residency because they don’t meet the criteria. It’s a total disaster.”
Jonathan Ashworth, the Labour party health spokesman, said: “Safeguarding the future of these staff should be an absolute priority in the Brexit negotiations. Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt [the health secretary] have been totally negligent in failing to guarantee a future for these staff before article 50 was triggered.”
Concern has also been raised about a slowdown in EU nationals joining the NHS since the referendum. Figures from the Nursing and Midwifery Council show a 90% drop in the number of nurses from EU states registering to join in December.
Barry Pactor, the managing director of TTM Healthcare, an international recruitment company, said: “Since Brexit TTM Healthcare has seen a marked difference in UK perception among EU healthcare professionals.
“Overwhelmingly concern centres on a lack of clarity around their status and not knowing whether they should plan a long-term future in the UK. With such concerns it is unavoidable that EU specialists will choose alternative countries to continue their careers.”
Some were more cautious about linking the departures with the Brexit vote. Jackie Smith, registrar and chief executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, said: “This is the first sign of a change and it is too early to say definitively that changes in this area are due to any one reason.”
The Department of Health sought to downplay fears of a staffing crisis. “As the secretary of state has repeatedly made clear, overseas workers form a crucial part of our NHS and we value their contribution immensely,” a spokesperson said.
“We are continuing to invest in the frontline: there are over 34,800 more professionally qualified clinical staff, including over 11,600 more doctors and over 13,400 more nurses on our wards since May 2010. Furthermore, there are 30,000 students training to be doctors and over 52,000 training to be nurses.”
The number of EU nationals registering as nurses in England has dropped by 92% since the Brexit referendum in June, and a record number are quitting the NHS, it can be revealed.
The shock figures have prompted warnings that Theresa May’s failure to offer assurances to foreigners living in the UK is exacerbating a staffing crisis in the health service.
Only 96 nurses joined the NHS from other European nations in December 2016 – a drop from 1,304 in July, the month after the referendum.
At the same time, freedom of information responses compiled by the Liberal Democrats from 80 of the 136 NHS acute trusts in England show that 2,700 EU nurses left the health service in 2016, compared to 1,600 EU nurses in 2014 – a 68% increase.
The haemorrhaging of foreign staff is being blamed by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) on the failure of the government to provide EU nationals in the UK with any security about their future. May has claimed that Britain cannot act unilaterally to guarantee residency as it would weaken her hand in the coming article 50 negotiations over Brexit.
Janet Davies, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said the government’s tactic was backfiring, and now threatened the sustainability of the health service.
“The government risks turning off the supply of qualified nurses from around the world at the very moment the health service is in a staffing crisis like never before,” she said. “As she pulls the trigger to begin negotiations, the prime minister must tell EU nurses and those in other occupations that they are needed and welcome in the NHS. Sadly, it is no surprise that EU staff are leaving – they have been offered no security or reassurance that they will be able to keep their jobs. Few are able to live with such uncertainty.
“The government has failed to train enough British nurses and cannot afford to lose the international workforce on which the NHS so heavily relies.”
There are an estimated 57,000 EU nationals working for the NHS, including 10,000 doctors and 20,000 nurses. On Saturday the Liberal Democrats passed a motion at their spring conference in York calling for a guaranteed right to live and work in the UK for all EU citizens working in the NHS and care services.
The former Lib Dem health minister Norman Lamb said that the government’s attitude to EU nationals in the UK was “deeply damaging”, and that the creation of a so-called “NHS passport” could be a vital step. “These shocking figures show you can’t have a strong NHS and a hard Brexit,” he said. “The government’s refusal to guarantee that nurses from the EU can stay here is not only morally unjustifiable, it is deeply damaging for the NHS.
“Theresa May must urgently give EU nationals the certainty they need before we see an even bigger exodus of nurses on whom our health service relies.”
Joan Pons Laplana, a Spanish national and a senior nurse at the James Paget Hospital in Great Yarmouth, who came to the UK 17 years ago, told the Observer that he had personally witnessed the collapse in morale of foreign nurses.
“Since Brexit, I feel like a second-class citizen,” he said. “My son asked me if I was going to be forced back to Spain and my daughter doesn’t want to visit her grandparents because she fears I will not be able to come back.
“The UK is no longer the first choice for EU nurses. The uncertain future means many they are starting to leave. We are people with feelings, not a commodity at the Brexit table.”
The NHS is already under pressure because of a long-term failure to hire enough people. Applications for nursing courses plummeted by almost a quarter in a year after the government axed bursaries for trainees in 2016. Numbers fell by 9,990 to 33,810 in 12 months, according to figures released in February by the university admissions service Ucas. Meanwhile, one in three nurses is due to retire in the next 10 years and there are 24,000 nurse jobs unfilled, RCN figures show.
The Department of Health said: “While the stock of nurses is broadly stable, some of the changes described are owing to the introduction of more rigorous language testing. The secretary of state has repeatedly said that overseas workers form a crucial part of our NHS and that we value their contribution immensely.
“We continue to invest in the frontline, with 13,400 more nurses on our wards since May 2010 and over 52,000 nurses in training.”
The number of smokers in Britain has reached its lowest point since records began in 1974, according to new data, while more than a million people say they are using e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 17.2% of adults in the UK smoked in 2015, down from 20.1% in 2010.
Smoking levels are highest in Scotland, at 19.1%, followed by Northern Ireland, where it is 19%, Wales on 18.1% and England on 16.9%. The numbers have been dropping fastest in recent years in Scotland and Wales. Among local authorities, Blackpool is the only one to feature consistently in the 10 heaviest smoking areas between 2012 and 2015. In 2015, 25.3% of adults in Blackpool smoked.
Smoking by country
The data also shows that 2.3 million people were e-cigarette users in England, Scotland and Wales in 2015, about 4% of the population. Their survey also shows that 4 million more people describe themselves as former e-cigarette users. A further 2.6 million say they have tried them but not gone on to use them regularly.
Half of the 2.3 million who were current users of e-cigarettes at the time of the survey said they were doing it to quit smoking. A further 22% said they were vaping because it was less harmful than smoking. Only 10% said they chose to vape because it was cheaper than buying cigarettes. Others – 9% – said they used e-cigarettes mainly because they were permitted indoors.
The figures will bolster the arguments of those who believe e-cigarettes have a major role to play in ending the tobacco epidemic. The issue has been hugely controversial among public health doctors and campaigners, some of whom consider e-cigarettes to be a stalking horse for the tobacco industry which hopes to make smoking acceptable again and has invested in vaping.
e-cigarette users
The World Health Organisation has expressed concern over e-cigarettes, but Public Health England has said vaping may be 95% safer than smoking tobacco.
Half of current smokers say they have tried e-cigarettes, and 14.4% of current smokers also vape.
Some of the statistics suggest that it is often the heavier smokers who turn to e-cigarettes. Those who also vape smoke marginally more cigarettes per day on average than those who do not – 11.8 versus 11.3. Smokers who have given up on e-cigarettes smoke 12.2 per day versus 10.6 among those who have never used an e-cigarette. Smokers who have children at home are also more inclined to use e-cigarettes.
The ONS vaping data is from the opinions and lifestyle survey 2014-15 and relate just to Great Britain. The ONS figures on general smoking trends include northern Ireland.
smoking graphic
Men are more likely to smoke – 19.3% do, compared with 15.3% of women. Smoking is most common in the 25-34 age group, where 23% smoked in 2015. It is least common in the over-65s, among whom 8.8% smoke. But the biggest decline since 2010 has been among the 18-24 year-olds, where it has dropped five percentage points to 20.7% in five years.
Figures for Great Britain also show that smokers have been cutting back on the numbers of cigarettes they consume. Average consumption is down to 11.3 cigarettes per day, the lowest number since 1974.
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH said: “The decline in smoking is very encouraging and shows that strong tobacco control measures are working. However, the government can’t leave it to individual smokers to try to quit on their own. If the downward trend is to continue we urgently need a new tobacco control plan for England, and proper funding for public health and for mass media campaigns. That’s essential if the prime minister is to live up to her promise to tackle health and social inequality.”
About 12,000 doctors trained in European countries could quit the UK because they feel less welcome following the Brexit vote, according to a survey of overseas medics.
About two in five doctors who qualified in European Economic Area countries are considering leaving the UK in light of the referendum result, research by the British Medical Association reveals.
The findings prompted alarm about an impending “disaster” in medical staffing and fears that an exodus of EEA doctors could exacerbate already significant personnel shortages in NHS hospitals.
The BMA’s findings are based on a survey it undertook of 1,193 EEA doctors working in the UK. When asked if they were thinking about leaving the UK following last year’s referendum vote, 500 (42%) said yes, 309 (26%) said no, 278 (23%) were unsure, while the other 106 did not answer.
“These are the people who staff our hospitals and GP surgeries, look after vulnerable patients in the community, and conduct vital medical research to help save lives. Many have dedicated years of service to healthcare in the UK, so it’s extremely concerning that so many are considering leaving,” said Dr Mark Porter, the BMA’s council chair.
“At a time when the NHS is already at breaking point and facing crippling staff shortages, this would be a disaster and threaten the delivery of high-quality patient care. But this isn’t just about numbers. The quality of patient care is improved where doctors have diverse experiences and expertise,” he added.
The EEA includes the 28 members of the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Figures from the General Medical Council, which regulates the medical profession, show that there are 280,932 doctors on the medical register. Of those, 177,912 (63%) were trained in the UK, 30,733 (11%) qualified in another EEA country and 72,287 (26%) are from elsewhere in the world.
“While thousands of overseas and EU doctors work across the UK to provide the best possible care for patients, many from the EU are left feeling unwelcome and uncertain about whether they and their families will have the right to live and work in the UK after Brexit,” said Porter.
European doctors feel significantly less appreciated by the UK government now than before the referendum. Their average rating on that score has fallen from seven out of ten before the vote to leave the EU to less than four out of ten now.
Similarly, they also feel a lot less committed to working in the UK since the Brexit vote. Their average rating on that question has fallen from nine out of ten before the referendum to six out of ten.
“Since the result of the EU referendum I feel increasingly uncertain about my future here, and am considering returning to Germany. It is unsettling that in a country that I have contributed to for 20 years and consider home, I am now seen as a foreigner and have to prove that I deserve to live and work here,” said Dr Birgit Woolley, a German-born GP who has worked in Britain for 20 years.
“I feel supported by my patients, with even those that voted leave telling me: ‘You can stay because you’re a doctor. We like you. We didn’t mean you.’ But the reality is that the government does not appreciate what EU nationals like me have contributed to the UK, and only sees us as bargaining chips.”
Luciana Berger, a Labour member of the Commons health select committee, said: “These extremely worrying BMA figures show the huge contribution made by doctors from the EU, and the severe risk that hundreds will leave the UK as a direct result of Brexit.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “As the government has repeatedly made clear, overseas workers form a crucial part of our NHS and we value their contribution immensely.
“We want to see the outstanding work of doctors and nurses who are already trained overseas continue, but at the same time we have been very clear that we want to give more domestic students the chance to be doctors, given the enduring popularity of this as a career.”
Smokers in England wanting to quit face a postcode lottery as cash-strapped councils and GPs restrict access to services that can help them.
The revelation has alarmed health experts and charities who claim that lives are being put at risk as a result of the fragmented provision.
Evidence obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows that an increasing number of clinical commissioning groups – the 200 or so organisations that deliver NHS services in England – have been instructing GPs to stop providing the services. Many of the groups argue that it is no longer their responsibility.
In 2012, local authorities were made responsible for improving public health and given £2.8bn of ring-fenced grants to pay for it. But, as the grants have been pared back, councils have pulled their funding for stop smoking services.
This has led to a rationing of treatments – such as nicotine replacement therapies, bupropion (brand name Zyban) or varenicline (Champix) – in many areas. When used in conjunction with counselling, studies suggest the chances of a smoker quitting can be substantial.
Almost a quarter of a million people stopped smoking in the 12 months to April 2015 as a result of using the services, a quit rate of 51%. The services are said to have a high success rate in helping smokers in poorer communities stop.
“We are increasingly concerned that cuts in council spending, NHS cost pressures and a lack of joined-up thinking by central government are combining to block progress on cutting smoking, still the No 1 public health challenge facing the country,” said Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).
A briefing last year to clinical commissioning groups in Worcestershire said: “Worcestershire county council will only fund a smoking cessation service for pregnant women. The CCGs have considered the implications of this decision and due to the current financial challenges are unable to commit local funding to smoking cessation services or prescribing of products to support stop smoking attempts.
“GPs are therefore advised that no prescriptions for nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion or varenicline should be written for new patients from 1 April 2016.”
It added: “The CCGs appreciate that GPs will be in the difficult position of having to explain to patients that this service is no longer available.”
For every £1 invested in help to quit smoking, £2.37 is saved in treatment and lost productivity. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
Restrictions have also been imposed in East Kent, York and Somerset. Windsor, Ascot and Maidenhead CCG told GPs last May: “The royal borough has commissioned a new smoking cessation service. From April 2016 Solutions4Health are commissioned to support only three groups: pregnant smokers, smokers with mental health issues and young people. The bottom line is that GPs are not commissioned to provide smoking cessation services.”
But local authorities are failing to plug the gap created by GPs discontinuing the service. A survey by Ash and Cancer Research UK has found that smoking cessation budgets have been cut in almost three in five authorities. Health organisations claim this is a false economy.
At least £1.4bn a year is spent on social care because of smoking-related illness, Ash says. Access to services for patients needing surgery – known as “Stop before the Op” – is considered particularly important.
Smokers are 38% more likely to die after surgery than non-smokers due to higher risks associated with lung and heart complications; higher risks of post-operative infection; impaired wound healing and the need for longer hospital stays and higher drug doses.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence estimates that for every £1 invested in quit smoking services, £2.37 will be saved on treating smoking-related diseases and lost productivity.
But the service is not considered a priority. A report by the British Thoracic Society, published in December, shows that NHS hospitals are falling “woefully short” of national standards when it comes to helping patients quit.
It found that 72% of hospital patients who smoked were not asked if they would like help in stopping.
Since last May, all cigarettes must be sold in plain packs that carry the message “get help to stop smoking at www.nhs.uk/quit”. But the fragmented nature of stop smoking provision means some people are being told to contact services miles out of their local authority area.
For example, the site directs smokers in Worcester to a service in Solihull some 35 miles away – for which they do not qualify.
“It’s alarming that a pre-operative patient advised to stop smoking will only get NHS help if they live in the right place – a postcode lottery that will damage patients’ health and certainly cost the health service money in the long run,” Arnott said.
A Department of Health spokesman said smoking rates in England were the lowest they have ever been as a result of its policies. “The needs of individual communities vary significantly across the country, and local areas are best placed to understand local needs,” the spokesman said.
“I don’t think you’re going to like it,” said my manager, turning from her computer. She’d just marked my last day of work in her calendar. I’d finally found the courage to announce I was leaving to move to London.
She wasn’t being mean-spirited or spiteful. She was thinking back on the experience of a friend who had moved to the UK to work as a nurse and how disappointing it had been.
And she couldn’t have been more right. It’s been a year since I touched down in London, and not a single week has gone by where I haven’t daydreamed about finding a new career.
I enjoy nursing and it suits me well. But I can’t help but feel undervalued as a nurse in the UK. The basics are the same: nurses look after sick people. So why does it feel so different this side of the Atlantic? It comes down to responsibility, autonomy and respect.
For starters, in the UK nurses tend to leave most decision-making up to doctors. ECG? Show it to the doctor. Blood results? Let the doctor review them. Can’t find a vein? The doctor will insert the IV cannula. In Canada, nurses look at ECGs to determine whether patients should be treated immediately for heart attack or if it’s fine for them to sit in the waiting room. It’s up to the nurse to get something done if a patient’s electrolytes are out of whack. Putting a needle in a vein? That’s a nursing skill – and they’re the best at it.
Back home I was often told that if a patient’s blood levels were fine, I could go ahead and discharge them from hospital. Here, not many nurses bother looking at blood results. No one expects them to.
In Canada, mentors taught me about how symptoms and anatomy related to diagnoses. I was required to fully assess every patient from head to toe by looking, touching, and listening. In the UK, I most often receive feedback about recording blood pressure on time and making sure patients sign the personal property waiver. Here, a nursing assessment can be done without even touching the patient. Nurses document who patients live with, what mobility device they use, and what their risk for pressure sores is. The nurses I work with here know their stuff . But from what I’ve seen, the NHS is geared towards nurses doing tasks, not applying judgement or critical thinking.
Nurses have an important job; they can make or break a patient’s healthcare experience. To be a nurse requires a university degree and membership in a professional body. Nurses give their all for people who are at their worst. It’s a physically and emotionally draining job on the best of days. Yet most NHS nurses I know do extra shifts on top of their full-time hours to make ends meet.
The nursing salaries here are embarrassingly low. After converting from Canadian dollars, I earn £15,000 less per year here than I did back home. Canada’s healthcare system is publicly-funded just like the NHS, but somehow nurses there are paid well.
In nursing school, one of the first courses I took was about the status and history of the profession, from Nightingale to the present. One day the topic of salary came up. The students knew how well Canadian nurses are compensated, but I recall the energy with which my classmates cheered when our professor exclaimed: “And we’re worth every penny!”
But perhaps the most difficult aspect for me has been public perception of nurses in the UK. Back home when you say you’re a nurse, you say it proudly and people’s eyes light up. “My aunt is a nurse, what type of nurse are you?” they ask with interest. Here In the UK, I find people are less enthusiastic. “A nurse? Oh,” they say, and move on to a different subject.
A Canadian friend landed at Heathrow and handed her visa over to the immigration officer.
“What do you do for work?” he asked.
“I’m a nurse,” she said, beaming. “Why?” he said flatly, as the smile fell from her face.
It was a quick introduction to nursing in the UK.
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Obese people and smokers will be asked to lose weight and give up cigarettes or face delays to routine operations after a health authority’s proposals were approved by NHS England.
Patients with a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30 will be asked to lose weight or face a 12-month delay for elective surgery while smokers will be asked to quit for two months or face a six-month postponement, the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) announced.
The North Yorkshire CCG ruled out a “blanket” ban and said each patient would be dealt with on a “case-by-case basis” when the plan comes into force in January.
The CCG said: “Smokers and obese patients that need routine surgery, but do not wish to access the support services or fail to meet the criteria will not be denied their operation, but it could mean they have to wait longer than they otherwise would have done.”
Dr Shaun O’Connell, the CCG clinical lead who is also a local GP, said the plans would give patients the “best possible health outcomes in the long term” while helping to protect finances.
O’Connell said: “There is no ban and no blanket policy … decisions about what is in the best interests of their health, will be made on a case-by-case basis.”
The CCG, which serves a population of more than 351,000 in areas including York, Selby and Tadcaster, said there would be exclusions from the plan, which will probably include emergency and bariatric surgery and operations on patients under 18.
This year, NHS England intervened in the policy after the Royal College of Surgeons raised concerns that the proposals went against clinical guidance and made smokers and overweight patients soft targets for financial savings.
But the public body has now approved the plan.
An NHS England spokeswoman said: “Vale of York CCG has made clear its commitment to supporting patients to achieve better health and clinical outcomes by referring them to an established weight loss or stopping smoking programme, where appropriate.
“However, every patient’s case will be considered in the light of their own particular circumstances and on the basis of clinical need.”
I had recently resigned from a well-paid job when I started working for the NHS in an administrative role. I was happy to be performing a useful service in the interests of a larger social goal, while no longer being required to write strategy documents or meet financial targets. However, in my seven months as a hospital specialty coordinator (a posh term for medical secretary, invented in order to create a sense of potential job progression), I experienced more stress – of several different kinds – than I have ever experienced.
The NHS is 25 years behind the rest of the country in terms of technology and management techniques
After the 2013 final report of the public inquiry into the “deaths by human error” at the Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust, the induction training programme for all new starters in the NHS – both clinical and administrative – was substantially rewritten. The major change in the day-long training sessions was the section on transparency and accountability. All new staff, we were told, were encouraged to follow the trust’s whistleblowing policy: this meant that we should feel duty-bound to report any incident, however small, that might jeopardise the wellbeing of a patient.
The NHS is 25 years behind the rest of the country in terms of technology and management techniques. Despite millions of pounds spent on computer technology in the NHS, I was amazed to discover that everything done within the health service – every clinic letter, investigative test, scan result – requires a hard copy file note to accompany its electronic counterpart. Across the country, hospital administrative staff, such as myself, waste thousands of hours each week trying to locate hard copy patient notes that could be anywhere within numerous hospital departments, and in many cases, across several different hospitals.
The most familiar sight in any hospital admin department is overloaded trolleys with patient notes being trundled from one section of the hospital to another, and overflowing filing trays that require staff to come in at weekends just so that they don’t start Monday mornings depressed by the amount of filing they have to do.
I could not work out why technological advancements and concern for the environment could have somehow bypassed the NHS, the fifth largest employer in the world. Jeremy Hunt’s goal of a paperless health service by 2018 looked to be a long way off, particularly since most of the managers preferred the security of hard copies (as back-up in the event of a computer glitch, and also in terms of patient confidentiality, since paper is not vulnerable to computer hacking).
Managers struggled to address the problems of their increasingly demoralised staff, who were trying to cope not just with the paperwork, but also with the constant demands of patients who wanted to know why their test had not been scheduled, or why they had not received their results. Absenteeism was rife because staff frequently called in sick with stress. On some days I found myself doing three people’s jobs. If a consultant was sick, their clinic for that day was cancelled. If a medical secretary, or two, or three, called in sick, the patients kept coming, and so did the accompanying paperwork.
I felt like I didn’t have time to breathe, let alone take a lunch break, and inevitably, when people are stressed, they take it out on each other. In my experience, the consultants, registrars and junior doctors were polite and considerate to the admin staff; and the patients were understanding and forbearing: it was the other admin staff who were the most unpleasant to one another. On one occasion, for example, a group of admin staff organised an official meeting to complain that their colleagues were “hogging” the few hours per week of a temporary helper.
Some managers tried a technological fix to the problem of overwork and paperwork – “two computer screens will make you more efficient by speeding up your processing times” – whereas what we needed was less absenteeism and better systems. We were, however, forbidden to use any external agency staff to cope with the dire shortages. These were considered an expensive luxury at a time of cost-cutting. Since all managers were assessed on their ability to achieve targets and avoid serious incidents, the real reasons for the poor performance of their staff were disregarded as long as no breaches of the trust’s policies needed to be reported.
In the end, I felt like a workhorse who was flogged too hard for trying and failing to shoulder the burdens of the job. I have left the NHS and am working in a job where I no longer dread the thought of Monday morning. I never reported a colleague through the whistleblowing hotline and, as far as I know, no one reported me. I can’t help feeling guilty, though, at the thought of the continued toil of my former workhorse colleagues I left behind.
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Quitting smoking can be a difficult task. Creating a list of activities that can keep you busy is a very important coping techniques for those that want to quit smoking. Statistics has shown that about 47% of smokers want to quit the addiction. Statistics have shown that only 13% of those that want to quit smoking are able to completely quit the harmful habit. This is why it is important to have some coping techniques at hand to help reduce your urge for smoking. Your risk of a heart and lung related diseases is greatly reduced if you are able to quit smoking at an early age. One in five deaths recorded in the US is caused by smoking; this amounts to about 440,000 deaths annually. As difficult as it seems, you can get your mind off smoking if you adopt a lifestyle based on some of the following tips.
Distract yourself
Put up a list of things you can engage yourself to reduce your urge for smoking. Idleness will make you resort to the dangerous habit. Always surround yourself with people and get into meaningful discussions instead of being alone. Take a glass of water, stroll down the street anytime you feel like having a hit.
Find out the triggers
Identify a list of things or moments when the urge to smoke is highest. You can easily avoid these triggers as a way of reducing your addiction to smoking. Avoid going to pubs, stop being around smokers and reduce your presence at parties. Inform some of your friends that are smokers of your intention to quit smoking and make sure they respect the decision.
Engage in regular exercises
Exercising a lot will reduce your addiction to smoking. Apart from making you healthy, exercises keep you busy and prevent you from being alone. Regular exercise also helps to lower stress levels in your body. Do a few pushups, jog for few minutes; seek pleasure in doing some physical activities. This will eliminate your addiction to smoking.
Switch to honey
Honey, with its rich components, can be a perfect substitute while you are working on quitting smoking. It is rich in essential nutrients that can help you get over the harmful effects of smoking while also helping you to suppress the urge to smoke. Honey has been proven in the treatment of certain ailments apart from its other health benefits.
Eat candies and fruits
You should always keep your mouth busy whenever you craving for smoking. You can eat carrots, apples, sweets, chocolates, nuts and other chops. Snacks are also a great option for you to reduce your urge for smoking. Eat whatever you have to anytime you have the urge to smoke.
Watch a movie
Use the time for smoking to watch a movie with a friend. You will find that more enjoyable. You can also listen to music anytime you feel the urge to smoke. Doing these little things will keep you busy and helps to reduce your craving for cigarettes.
Theresa Might: ‘Today we are taking one much more phase in the direction of giving females a voice and eradicating these harmful practices.’ Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Photos
The government is to set up a female genital mutilation unit, as portion of a broad-ranging package of reforms to stop the practice in the Uk.
Speaking at the Lady Summit – a significant international conference in London made to highlight the problems of FGM and kid marriage – the house secretary, Theresa May, said the cross-get together unit would assist defend thousands of girls across the nation.
The unit, which could operate in a related way to the government’s forced marriage unit, has been a important demand of campaigners towards FGM. “These measures will make certain that we can sustain the momentum on stamping out these hazardous practices,” May stated.
The home secretary mentioned the government would also strengthen laws close to FGM, and would hold parents responsible if their child was a victim of the practice. Might also announced a consultation into creating it mandatory for professionals to report FGM and explained victims going by means of court instances would be given lifelong anonymity.
A push to improve police responses to FGM will see forces inspected on their response to honour-primarily based violence, with a concentrate on FGM and forced marriage. The college of policing has also begun a consultation on new tips, which will urge officers to dismiss fears of becoming labelled racist when dealing with FGM. FGM has been illegal in the Uk for 3 decades, but the very first prosecution was only created in March and is at the moment going through the courts.
May possibly mentioned that as part of a £1.4m FGM prevention programme, charities will receive funding to generate local community “champions” with the “cultural expertise and the connections essential to challenge beliefs and behaviours”.
“We are making progress. Nowadays we are taking one much more step on the street in direction of giving girls a voice and eradicating these damaging practices,” she mentioned.
Meanwhile, more than 600 people attended an event at the Walworth Academy in south London as component of the Lady Summit. In a video message, the basic secretary of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, mentioned he had been inspired by youthful campaigners on the concern. He singled out for praise Fahma Mohammed, the encounter of the Guardian’s campaign to get more details FGM into colleges. “I commend international leaders and brave activists confronting these problems specially the courageous from young ladies in affected communities,” he said. “They deserve our complete support. Like Fahma Mohammed, who inspired me so much when we met in March with the Guardian’s campaign. I pledged to her, and I repeat these days, that I will continue to raise my voice about the urgency of ending these damaging practices.”
Females like to have intercourse. Some women who like to have sex will not want to get pregnant, so they use birth control. I recognize that these are not notably revelatory statements, but for some exceptionally irritating explanation, the punditocracy is still dwelling on the fairly mundane details that intercourse transpires and contraception is typically a portion of it.
Conservatives won’t admit their deep-seated worry of non-reproductive sex, so Washington media’s machine is propping it up for them. But if this is our mid-summer debate, effectively, let us at least try to uncover a explanation for the stupidity, shall we?
When Sandra Fluke gave her now infamous testimony ahead of the US Residence of Representatives about insurance coverage coverage for contraception, the bulk of her opening statement targeted on a friend who required to take birth control to deal with polycystic ovarian syndrome. In the wake of final week’s supreme court decision on Hobby Lobby, Elle magazine ran a piece on “10 Health care Causes Why a Lady May Be Prescribed Birth Management”. And then the National Journal published a extensively shared article declaring that what “everyone is missing” in the ongoing Pastime Lobby debate is all the ladies who need to consider birth manage for medical factors. “Even if these women never have sex as soon as in their lives, they need to have to be on birth management,” wrote reporter Lucia Graves. She continued:
These girls depend on the pill to regulate their hormones and do every little thing from ease discomfort to minimize the threat of cancer. These medical advantages have absolutely nothing to do with intercourse or the prevention of pregnancy.
I agree with Graves that the website link between contraception and women’s overall health should not be ignored – and it truly is important that the national conversation, post-Pastime Lobby, is seeking beyond the court’s shameful ruling on behalf of sex-fearing “freedom-seekers”.
But it’s awfully depressing that, in the summer of 2014, when 99% of American girls use birth handle, we can not just come out and say that most ladies use birth control for sex. And that we like said sex – a lot.
I can guarantee you this, too: focusing on the non-orgasmic causes females use contraception will not magically modify conservatives’ minds about the problem. No matter how a lot of content articles come out imploring the public to consider about the quite actual overall health problems girls have, conservative organizations have had their minds in the gutter for many years, and they like it there.
The organizations that supported Pastime Lobby with amicus briefs, for instance, tell a pretty clear story about what conservatives care about – and it ain’t health:
The Independent Women’s Forum filed a brief arguing that girls previously have plentiful entry to contraception via Planned Parenthood (which, ironically sufficient, IWF thinks must be defunded) – and that is just the most current in the group’s lengthy line of arguments that intercourse is by some means ruining ladies.
The Catholic Healthcare Association wrote a brief arguing (inaccurately) that contraception triggers abortion, but a 2011 memo from the organization sheds far more light, stating that “widespread use of contraceptives contributes to sexual promiscuity”. (As Bill Maher once joked, “It’s like saying if you give a kid a tetanus shot she’ll want to jab rusty nails in her feet.”)
The Eagle Forum and the Beverly LaHaye Institute also wrote briefs in help of Hobby Lobby they have also derided contraception and women possessing sex.
And when female reporters covered the Pastime Lobby decision, it was not a coincidence that the majority of us had been currently being called sluts and whores across social media and elsewhere. To conservatives, contraception is not about wellness – it really is about intercourse, their worry of intercourse, and a panic above ladies possessing intercourse that does not lead to infants. The much more we disregard that reality – or concentrate on on the “legitimate” reasons ladies use birth control – the more women give ammunition, and give up the moral ground, to the proper.
Liberals concede the same ground when we make pro-selection arguments making use of the most severe examples – rape, incest and overall health. Yes, women require abortions for those motives – but they also want them when they’re merely not ready to be parents. And which is Ok.
It’s also Okay – superb, even! – that women use birth management to have intercourse and not get pregnant. Even a lot more fantastic: it operates. The advent of contraception is arguably the most essential liberatory discovery for women of all time. We’re allowed to use it. And not just for our intervals – but to have scorching, sweaty, fantastic, exciting, non-procreative sex. That doesn’t make us “sluts” it can make us human.
I quit Facebook in 2006. It is attainable to dwell, really like and thrive without it.
Here’s the deal, if you haven’t observed it. Facebook published a review in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences about manipulating users’ emotional states. I’ll talk about the examine very first, and then make my situation for why you need to quit Facebook as well.
The examine is extremely limited, as far as it goes. If you consider a excellent look at the methodology, you discover that the measure for emotional states was counting good versus unfavorable phrases, by way of software program. The most apparent objection to this methodology is real language use: if you are even sometimes sarcastic (“Oh, good, a auto ran over my foot” — “Oh boy, I confident do love it when I’m hit by a automobile and really do not have health insurance”), you know that the words can be positive and the that means damaging. So let’s not in excess of-generalize: this is not really about emotional states, because we’re utilizing this kind of a shoddy device for measuring them.
But okay, we’ll proceed within the limitations. I really like limitations! What it seems to be like is an algorithm tweak — meant to keep you a lot more engaged with Facebook.
Some individuals are upset about experimenting on Facebook end users it seems to violate the thought of “informed consent.” Now, Facebook’s reply is that all of these factors are covered in the user agreement. As far as I know, this is correct — like you, I haven’t read through the terms of service. That is why they’re written in this kind of horrible legal jargon — you aren’t meant to read them. Only lawyers, ideally Facebook’s, are meant to read through them. Believe of all the productive hrs of your existence, and how much they would be shortened if you read through all the TOS for all the platforms you use.
This violates at least the spirit of informed consent. Here’s a checklist from the Division of Wellness and Human Solutions for informed consent. I will go ahead and record the violations:
no statement on the research
no explanation of the purpose of the study
no explanation of the duration of the subject’s participation
no description of the procedures to be followed
no identification of the experimental procedures
no description of foreseeable dangers
Actually, I’m going to end, simply because people are just the initial six things on the checklist, and it’s way longer. But I want to speak about the risks. For the second, let’s go ahead and presume the word lists do correlate to emotional states. I’ve acquired a foreseeable chance: showing a depressed individual a sadder feed, potentially tipping them into a worse state.
There are waivers for informed consent, which an institutional evaluation board may decide on, if appropriate (this is specifically essential for emergency medication you do not want your individuals to bleed out whilst you’re telling them the risks to the new procedure that might save their lives). Here’s the hitch: the Cornell IRB says the review didn’t go by them. Another author is from UCSF, so possibly their overview board was involved.
What’s weird is that this isn’t the initial time Facebook tinkered with user data in the identify of analysis. A “go vote” message could have influenced 340,000 people to go do so. This review, taken with Facebook’s total lack of comprehending of privacy, suggests they’re going to preserve at it — perhaps not in the key scientific journals anymore if there’s also a lot press blowback. But Facebook’s task is to promote advertisements more efficiently. Do you imagine your data won’t be utilised in that endeavor?
Which is why, if this bothers you, you ought to really quit Facebook. I know, everyone’s on it. But I promise that the individuals who in fact care about you will go out of their way to remain in touch. The other folks? Properly, no matter what, I guess you’ll deprive them of some gossip. Oh, your prospective dates will not be able to check out up on you 1st? Harsh lifestyle, where they’ll just have to Google like plebs. Absolutely everyone has images on Facebook? Properly, not absolutely everyone (I really do not!), but also: if you quit, you give Facebook users an incentive to post their pictures elsewhere, turning out to be less dependent on Facebook for dissemination.
And a bit of private guidance from my non-Facebook encounter: folks are a lot more very likely to tell you the genuinely crucial items offline, encounter-to-encounter. If you actually are interested in catching up with your close friends, catch up with your friends. You really do not need Facebook to do it. Because it’s not like they are going to quit altering their algorithms to make you much more engaged with the site any time quickly their company model depends on it. If you believe Facebook is not threatened by you, a lone user, quitting their service, well — appear at how challenging they make it to quit.
Supporters of e-cigarettes say the overall health consequences of nicotine use with no the tar seem to be significantly less of a issue. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
E-cigarettes are far more powerful than nicotine patches and gum in assisting men and women to quit smoking, in accordance to a examine that issues the adverse views of some public well being specialists.
The situation of e-cigarettes has turn into a public overall health battleground, alarming these who consider that allowing their advertising and marketing and their use in public spots the place smoking is banned hazards re-normalising tobacco.
But supporters say the huge bulk of smokers are making use of e-cigarettes to kick their tobacco habit and that the health consequences of nicotine use with no the tar from cigarettes seem, as however, to be far less of a difficulty.
The research by a staff from University School London looked at attempts to quit smoking by almost 6,000 folks and discovered that, whilst engaging with the NHS smoking cessation solutions was the most efficient way to quit, using e-cigarettes beat nicotine substitute therapy as effectively as the efforts of men and women to stop with no assist at all.
A Pakistani youngster is vaccinated against polio by a overall health employee in Islamabad. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP
Pakistan’s failure to stem the spread of polio has triggered international emergency overall health measures , with the World Overall health Organisation (WHO) recommending all residents need to present proof of vaccination prior to they can leave the nation.
The emergency measures also apply to Syria and Cameroon, which along with Pakistan are witnessed as posing the best chance of exporting the crippling virus and undermining a UN strategy to eradicate it by 2018.
Pakistan is in the spotlight as the only country with endemic polio that noticed situations rise final 12 months. Its caseload rose to 93 from 58 in 2012, accounting for a lot more than a fifth of the 417 situations globally in 2013.
The virus has lately spread to Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel and Syria, and has been discovered in sewage in the West Financial institution, Gaza Strip and greater Cairo, explained WHO assistant director basic Bruce Aylward. It also appeared in China two many years in the past.
“In the bulk of these re-infected areas, the viruses circulating truly trace back to Pakistan within the final twelve-18 months,” Aylward advised reporters on a conference call.
Pakistan has referred to as an emergency meeting of senior provincial and federal health officials for Wednesday to finalise how to employ the new demands.
“The greatest option would be vaccinating the passengers at the airport departure where polio vaccination cards would be issued to the passengers. Human resource and vaccines would have to be worked out for the purpose,” state minister for health services Saira Afzal Tarar stated in a televised broadcast.
“It would be most useful as men and women usually have to fly in emergencies.”
Aylward explained Pakistan had carried out tremendous perform to restore security in Peshawar after deadly attacks on wellness staff had impeded the battle against polio. The race to meet a target to eradicate polio by 2018 was still feasible, he explained.
“In terms of the 2014 operating target to try out and cease transmission, from the data presented, obviously Pakistan would be the only country that would be regarded ‘off track’ in terms of its capacity to meet that deadline,” he extra.
The WHO chief, Margaret Chan, declared the resurgence of the ailment to be a public overall health emergency of worldwide concern, the very first such designation considering that a 2009 flu pandemic.
The travel restrictions need to remain in place right up until there is a complete yr with no new exports of the disease, or six months if the countries can display they have carried out substantial-high quality eradication routines in contaminated and high-threat locations.
The WHO’s emergency committee, an independent group of specialists that drew up the suggestions, will meet in 3 months to assess the countries’ actions, or sooner if required.
The measures published on Monday have been the minimal actions that could be taken with no unnecessarily disrupting travel or trade, but significantly stronger measures could have been suggested, Aylward said. People consist of full vaccination programmes, restrictions on much more nations and suggestions on nations of arrival.
The WHO says ten million individuals are walking today thanks to efforts to wipe out the ailment, which primarily affects children underneath five many years outdated. It says financial designs demonstrate eradicating polio would save at least $ 40bn to 50bn more than the subsequent 20 many years.
Polio passes effortlessly from person to man or woman and can spread quickly amid kids, especially in the type of unsanitary situations endured by displaced individuals in war-torn regions, refugee camps and regions where wellness care is constrained.
The virus invades the nervous method and can trigger irreversible paralysis inside hrs. The WHO has repeatedly warned that as extended as any single youngster stays contaminated with polio, young children all over the place are at risk.
There is no remedy for the disease but it can be prevented by immunisation. The polio vaccine, administered several times, can shield a kid for daily life.
A 9-yr-outdated boy has asked for assist from his local NHS believe in to support him quit smoking.
The unnamed youngster 1st experimented with a cigarette at college, exactly where he needed to “match in” and appear awesome, but he became addicted.
Right after realising the overall health dangers, he called the Help2Quit services, a free cease smoking service which is run by Shropshire Neighborhood NHS believe in.
Authorities warn that under-age smokers face horrible wellness problems in later on daily life and they have observed a new trend in kids turning for help from professionals to quit. Pat Thomas, services manager of Help2Quit mentioned: “We have skilled and worked very closely with, college nurses to help schooling for college-age kids.
“When smoking is portrayed on television and in videos as amazing and glamorous, it is tempting for the youthful and impressionable to copy their heroes.
“More youthful individuals start smoking each day and peer stress from pals to comply with what is fashionable is extremely large.
Despite the Government’s legal age for smoking is 18 years previous, more than 200 young children, aged amongst twelve-17 in the West Midlands have asked for support, in accordance to Birmingham Local community Healthcare NHS Trust’s Cease Smoking Support.
The good information about cherries just keeps coming. As the cherry blossoms in the National Mall in Washington DC start off to bloom, this tiny unassuming fruit is again gaining nationwide attention. In addition to their excellent taste cherries are also packed with powerful antioxidants and compounds that can quit joint soreness naturally.
As their popularity as a natural joint ache fighter grows it can make sense to consider a closer appear at the published scientific proof that hyperlinks tart cherries and cherry juice to joint discomfort relief. So if you’re seeking for science-backed data how this tiny small fruit can aid, check out this out.
The Science Behind the Cherry
Thanks to dedicated food researchers and present day food study engineering we now have difficult scientific proof to back up the claims cherries help alleviate joint soreness. Cherries are an superb source of several powerful antioxidants which includes melatonin and anthocyanins. The anthocyanin compounds, in certain, have been proven to assist battle inflammation. In truth, according to Michigan State University, the certain kind of anthocyanins discovered in cherries contains ten instances the pain relieving energy of in excess of-the-counter aspirin and ibuprofen. This indicates discomfort sufferers can take pleasure in a glass of tart cherry juice and appreciate relief with no the potential side results.
One review in distinct conducted by Oregon Wellness and Science University revealed that participants who drank tart cherry juice in a double blind, placebo research experienced lower inflammation markers. The results of the research we published in the Journal of Meals Scientific studies and included twenty folks struggling from osteoarthritis. All of the participants have been females and ranged from 40 – 70 years in age.
Prior to the begin of the study, the researchers asked every participant to charge their degree of discomfort and give a blood sample. The samples had been taken to assess the irritation biomarkers ranges in the body. These integrated C-Reactive Protein, Tumor Necrosis Element-Alpha and each Interleukin-ten and Interleukin-6.
This details was utilised as a baseline and in contrast with the results at the finish of the study.
The subjects were divided into two groups and asked to eat either a placebo or a cherry juice drink twice daily for 21 days. Each and every drank ten.5 ounces of the juice or the placebo daily.
Soon after the test time period, the benefits have been compiled and analyzed. According to the published benefits the cherry juice drinkers skilled a reduction in the inflammatory markers. Even though potential analysis and examine are necessary to additional verify the capability of the tart cherry and cherry juice to lessen joint pain naturally this is an outstanding start off. So if you’re searching for a natural way to decrease arthritis discomfort and want published scientific investigation backing up any folklore or urban legend, tart cherry juice might be what you are looking for.
