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BMJ video: Lord Darzi interview

Watch the BMJ video interview with health minister Lord Darzi, timed to coincide with the release of his report about the future of the NHS in England.

Survey highlights differences in cardiac care in Europe

The first comparative analysis of cardiac care in 29 European countries shows that the best treatment, ranging from prevention to rehabilitation, is in Luxembourg, France, Norway, and Switzerland.

More than half of drugs sold online are fake or substandard

More than 60% of drugs sold by online pharmacies are counterfeit or substandard, according to a report published by the European Alliance for Access to Safe Medicines.

Psychiatrists call for fair deal on mental health

The UK Royal College of Psychiatrists has launched a three year campaign to tackle inequalities in mental health.

WHO European region commits to health charter

A European health charter was adopted last week by health ministers from the 53 countries of the European region of the World Health Organization, together with the WHO itself, the World Bank, Unicef, the International Organization for Migration, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

WHO launches guide to safer surgery

A simple checklist in operating rooms worldwide is expected to prevent millions of injuries associated with surgery and save untold numbers of lives, according to a campaign launched by the World Health Organization in Washington DC on 25 June.

MPs will be asked to allow nurses to carry out early abortions

MPs will be asked to sanction a relaxation of Britain's abortion law to allow specially trained nurses who work in abortion care to carry out early terminations.

Global Alliance sets vaccine strategy for seven deadly diseases

The board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation has approved a plan to support new and underused vaccines to combat seven deadly diseases - cervical cancer, cholera, typhoid, meningitis A, rabies, Japanese encephalitis, and rubella - in poor nations.

Needs of disabled refugees are "routinely ignored"

Refugees with disabilities are among the "most underserved and neglected people in the world," says the Women's Commissions for Refugee Women and Children, which maintains that the needs of millions of disabled people are routinely ignored.

German soap opera has thinly veiled references to branded drugs, regulator says

A dispute has arisen in Germany over accusations of surreptitious advertising of prescription drugs in a television soap set in a hospital.

"Smoking bans reduce heart attack admissions"

On the first anniversary of the ban on public smoking in England, a report in Preventive Medicine shows that smoke-free laws worldwide reduce admissions by almost one fifth.

"US systematically tortures detainees"

Suspected terrorists held at US detention facilities were "systematically subjected to torture and ill treatment," says a detailed medical and psychological evaluation of former detainees conducted by Physicians for Human Rights.
BMJ TV interviews Christian Pross, one of the trauma therapists who interviewed the detainees.

"Avoid creeping privatisation of NHS," policy institute argues

Increasing the role of the private sector in the UK health system will not make the service more efficient and should not be seen as a solution to rising long term healthcare costs, argues the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Scotland will start screening for aortic aneurysm in 2011

The Scottish government is investing £5m over the next three years to establish a screening programme to detect abdominal aortic aneurysms in men older than 65. The programme is expected to save about 170 lives a year.

Safe drinking water and better sanitation "could lower disease burden by 9%"

Better access to safe drinking water and improvements in sanitation and hygiene could prevent about 9.1% of the total burden of disease worldwide, or 6.3% of all deaths, a report from the World Health Organization estimates.

Black women in the US have lower survival rates from breast cancer than white women

Black women in the United States are less likely to survive breast cancer than white women, regardless of the stage at which the cancer was diagnosed, a new study has found.

Publishing data on patient survival does not deter surgeons from taking difficult cases

Surgeons are taking on more high risk heart operations despite fears that publishing data would deter them. The latest heart surgery survival rates for the United Kingdom have just been published by the NHS watchdog, the Healthcare Commission.

Americans are finding it harder to access health care

Access to medical care has deteriorated sharply among people living in the United States, a survey has found. The proportion of people who report delaying medical care or not getting it at all rose from 14% in 2003 to more than 20% in 2007. Perhaps surprisingly, the decline in access was greater among people with health insurance than among those without it.

American Medical Association provides guidance on medical tourism

The American Medical Association has drawn up guidelines on medical tourism for patients, employers, insurers, and medical travel coordinators. The association plans to introduce model legislation based on these principles for evaluation by state law makers.

Fasting plasma glucose is inadequate for screening for prediabetes in obese young people

Fasting plasma glucose, the preferred test for screening children in Canada and the United States for glucose intolerance, is inadequate for screening for prediabetes in obese youngsters, says Canadian researchers.