This Week in Medicine

www.thelancet.com Vol 383 January 25, 2014 i

Limits on painkillers The US Food and Drug Administration is recommending that health-care professionals dis-continue prescribing and dispensing of prescription drugs containing more than 325 mg of paracetamol per dose. The recommendation is intended to reduce the risk of liver injury stemming from overdose or the combined intake of paracetemol products with alcohol.

HIV in Ukraine The number of new HIV infections in Ukraine fell in 2012 for the fi rst time since 1999, according to the country’s health ministry. The reduction has been attributed to a change in policy that allows clinics to distribute clean needles and methadone to drug users.

Saving Mothers, saving lives The first annual report from the USAID-led Saving Mothers, Giving Life partnership shows that, since its launch in June, 2012, maternal mortality rates have decreased by 30% in target districts in Uganda, and by 35% in facilities in Zambia. The 5 year initiative aims to improve maternal health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa by deployment of interventions including health-worker training.

World Leprosy Day Jan 26 marks World Leprosy Day 2014, with charities encouraging people to hold events to raise awareness of leprosy as a 21st century disease. Although eliminated globally in 2000 (less than one case per 10 000 people), small regions of high endemicity remain in some countries in Africa, and in Brazil and India.

Bird Flu in China Influenza H7N9 continues to spread across China, particularly in the south. 199 cases and 52 deaths have been confi rmed since March, 2013. Health authorities have warned that the virus could be further spread by migrants from rural areas returning home for Chinese New Year in late January.

Public Health Survey Public Health England have summarised their findings and recommendations for reducing obesity in local communities. New priorities for adult and child obesity are intended to lead a national debate, which, combined with local action through clinical commissioning groups and district councils, represents a new approach to promotion of healthy weight.

Hunger strikes Asylum seekers detained on Christmas Island are staging hunger strikes in protest against their treatment and forced separation from family members. At least 78 men have joined the strike; hundreds more, including children, are participating in sit-ins. Some people are self-harming with glass and razors, and others are sewing their lips together.

Acne pill reintroduced Bayer’s oral acne treatment Diane-35 has been reintroduced in France after an 8 month suspension amid safety fears. France suspended sales of the product last year after it was linked to thrombosis-related deaths in four women in the past 25 years. France is obliged to allow sales of the treatment after the European Commission ruled that the drug is safe.

Smoking and health The US Surgeon General has released a new report chronicling the health consequences of smoking and the progress made in tobacco control in the past 50 years. The report causally links several diseases to smoking that were not previously identified, including diabetes and liver cancer, and warns that if present trends continue, 5·6 million children alive today will die prematurely.

Drug shortages Of 2139 South African health facilities surveyed by the Stop Stock Outs project in September–October, 2013, 459 (21%) had a shortage of HIV or tuberculosis drugs, or both, in the previous 3 months. In 20% of aff ected facilities, patients were sent home without medication or referred elsewhere. The organisation is calling for national and provincial plans to address the issue.

Mental health equality The UK Government has launched a Mental Health Action Plan prioritising 25 areas of care that will be improved in the next 15 months to raise the quality of mental health care so that it is equal to physical care within the National Health Service. The plan includes a pledge to end the use of face-down restraint and introduce waiting time limits for access to services.

Children’s rights From April this year, the Third Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on a Communications Procedure, will allow children (individually or in groups) or their representatives to fi le a complaint with the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in countries that have ratifi ed this protocol.

For The Lancet News podcast see http://www.thelancet.com/lancet-news-audio/

For more on the US FDA recommendation see http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsfor HumanMedicalProducts/ucm381650.htm

For the Saving Mothers, Giving Life initiative see http://www.savingmothersgivinglife.org/doc/SMGL%20Annual%20Report%202013.pdf

For more on World Leprosy Day see http://www.leprosymission.org.uk/join-with-us/world-leprosy-day-2014.aspx

For more on the Public Health England survey see https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phe-and-association-of-directors-of-public-health-survey-fi ndings-tackling-obesity

For the Surgeon General’s report see http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-of-progress/full-report.pdf

For more on the Stop Stock Outs project survey see http://stockouts.org/uploads/3/3/1/ 1/3311088/stock_outs_a_national_crisis.pdf

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