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Following a meeting of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs on Monday (18th May 2020), it has been reported that Public Health England (PHE) could be among a number of institutions facing a review.
Boris Johnson reportedly told MPs at the meeting that a review of “a number of institutions” was planned once the COVID-19 pandemic is more manageable, potentially threatening the future of PHE.
Conservative MPs are reportedly unhappy with PHE’s handling of antibody testing, which they believe could have allowed people who have had the virus to return to work had a test been approved more quickly.
Source: Daily Mail, 16 May 2020
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In a national briefing last month on infection control and COVID-19, NHS England reported that it had found that 10%-20% of people in hospital with the disease had caught it while they were inpatients, emphasising the importance of reducing preventable hospital admissions.
The figures represent NHS England’s first estimate of the size of hospital-acquired COVID-19, which Boris Johnson, last week said was causing an “epidemic” of deaths. Senior doctors and hospital managers say that doctors, nurses and other staff have inadvertently passed on the virus to patients because they did not have adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) or could not get tested for the virus.
Dr Alison Pittard, the dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, which represents intensive care specialist staff, said: “I’m very concerned that the incidence of [hospital-acquired] infection has gone up during this pandemic. It’s conceivable that asymptomatic staff may unintentionally infect some patients and that could be a mode of transmission and help explain the rise in intra-hospital infection.”
And an NHS England Spokesperson said: “PHE is conducting a survey to estimate the proportion of asymptomatic healthcare workers that have detectable SARSars-CoVv-2 virus in their nose and throat to inform development of relevant guidance.”
online.
Source: The Guardian, 17 May 2020
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Anne Charlton, who has died aged 84 after contracting COVID-19, was a pioneer of cancer education research and smoking prevention. Anne’s work helped to overcome the taboo of cancer and her research on the factors that encourage young people to take up or stop smoking fed into teaching and resources for schools. Her studies also highlighted external influences that reinforced children’s smoking, including tobacco industry sponsorship of Formula One racing and snooker, and contributed to the big push to transform UK government policy to denormalise smoking.
Source: The Guardian, 15 May 2020
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New York’s ban on flavoured e-cigarettes and the sale of all tobacco products in pharmacies, came into effect on Monday (18 May). This new law makes New York the second state to prohibit the sale of tobacco products in addition to e-cigarette products in all pharmacies. Any pharmacy caught selling tobacco products will face a fine of up to $100 per item.
Sarah Robbins, Southern Tier Tobacco Awareness Coalition said: “Selling tobacco products in pharmacies has long sent a contradictory message to consumers by offering tobacco alongside medicine or products for illnesses either caused by or made worse by smoking”.
The changes come less than a year after New York raised the tobacco buying age from 18 to 21 to reduce the use of tobacco among teenagers. According to the American Cancer Society, 95% of all smokers begin using tobacco before age 21.
Source: Syracuse.com, 18 May 2020
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