This Week in Medicine

www.thelancet.com Vol 382 July 27, 2013 i

Bloomberg promotes stairs In his fi nal days in offi ce, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has launched a campaign to redesign buildings in such a way to make stairs more prominent and accessible. This initiative is part of Bloomberg’s fi ght against obesity, as he hopes that with this architectural plan, people will be more likely to take the stairs, rather than the lift.

Dealing with dengue The Singapor-ean Government has raised the national budget allowance for tackling dengue fever by more than 20% compared with the budget of the past 3 years. The National Environment Agency is using the funds for research, mosquito breeding control, and public education. The number of cases peaked at the end of June, but now seems to be on a downward trend.

Physical activity WHO Europe has launched a policy summary and full report on promoting physical activity in socially disadvantaged groups. Case studies in the report identify key principles for targeted action including identifi cation of the target group and expected outcomes. Adequate levels of physical activity can greatly reduce the risk of disorders such as heart disease.

School meal deaths 23 children were killed in Bihar, India, by a free school lunch containing cooking oil contaminated with the monocrotophos pesticide. India’s Mid-Day Meal programme is the largest scheme in the world for free school meals, feeding 120 million children every day in a country where 48% of children younger than 5 years have stunted growth.

Cyberbullying Social media is having a negative eff ect on the mental health of Irish teenagers, according to a report on cyberbullying by the Irish Government. The report recommends that social media websites should improve measures to stop underage children from opening accounts, and that schools should be given new guidelines on how to deal with cyberbullying.

Merlin merger Two of the largest UK based non-governmental organ-isations, Merlin and Save the Children, are to join to create one world class humanitarian health force. The combination of Merlin’s network of front-line health workers and Save the Children’s reach of 120 countries will aim to help even more children and their families worldwide.

NCI gene database Last week, the National Cancer Institute released the largest open access database to date for genetic mutations that are associated with various cancers. This vast amount of information, which is now freely available to the public, is expected to speed the development of anti-cancer agents that could possibly target the disease more precisely and to better understand drug response.

Crisis in South Sudan Violence in South Sudan is escalating, resulting in hundreds wounded and thousands without access to health care, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. The UN has also warned that clashes between government forces, rebels, and rival tribes have left about 100 000 unable to access vital aid, with people hiding in unsafe, malaria-infested swamps.

Paediatricians The recent workforce census conducted by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health reveals that there is an in-adequate number of paediatric con-sultants across the UK and too many general units. They warn that unless changes are made to the model of care, there will be serious safety risks to children and diffi culties in meeting demands.

France and stem cells The French Parliament has adopted a law permitting the use of human embryonic stem cells for research. Until now, their use was prohibited with exemptions and is now authorised “with supervision”, although the notion of supervision will be defined in an official decree explaining the law’s application.

South African health Stats SA released a report on the use of health facilities by households in South Africa in 2011, which showed that most South Africans were satisfied with their last visit to a health facility, and continued to rely on the public sector for health services. However, use of public or private health services and coverage of medical aid or health insurance still diff ered between ethnic groups.

MERS-CoV not an emergency The International Health Regulations Emergency Committee concluded last week that the Middle Eastern coronavirus was not a “public health emergency of international concern”, according to a WHO statement. Meanwhile, the US Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorisation for a diagnostic test.

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

For more on WHO guidelines on physical activity in disadvantaged groups see http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/disease-prevention/physical-activity/news/news/2013/07/new-guidance-on-promoting-physical-activity-in-socially-disadvantaged-groups

For the report on cyberbullying see http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/Report-on-Social-Media-July-2013-Website.pdf

For the RCPCH medical workforce census see http://www.rcpch.ac.uk/what-we-do/workforce-planning/workforce-census/workforce-census

For the Stats SA report on health in South Africa see https://www.statssa.gov.za/Publications/Report-03-00-05/Report-03-00- 052011.pdf

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