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Noncommunicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes are now the leading causes of death in the world, in a dramatic change from two decades ago. They now make up seven of the top 10 causes of death, an increase from four out of 10 in 2000, with heart disease the biggest killer – accounting for 16% of all deaths.
According to estimates published today by the World Health Organization (WHO), Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are now among the top 10 causes of death, while deaths from diabetes increased 70% globally between 2000 and 2019. The seven diseases highlighted in the report accounted for 24.4 million deaths, or 44% of all deaths globally, in 2019. After heart disease, which killed nearly 9 million people in 2019, strokes and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were the second and third leading causes of deaths from noncommunicable disease. Trachea, bronchus and lung cancers, and kidney disease, were also on the rise.
“The WHO report depicts a devastating toll on human life that could have and should have been prevented,” said Katie Dain of the NCD Alliance.
“If governments are serious about preventing both avoidable death on a massive scale and better preparing the world for future pandemics, then they have to invest in the health of their citizens and promote healthy environments by tackling common risk factors – alcohol, tobacco, lack of physical activity, unhealthy diets and air pollution – and ensuring everyone who needs it has access to essential and lifesaving diagnosis, treatment and care.”
Source: The Guardian, 10 December 2020
See also: WHO. World health statistics 2020. 3. Trends in non-communicable disease mortality and risk factors, and deaths from injuries and violence
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An interim report into the biggest maternity scandal in the history of the NHS has called for urgent and sweeping changes in all English hospitals to prevent more avoidable baby deaths, stillbirths and neonatal brain damage. It includes a series of immediate actions and “must do” recommendations for all hospital trusts to improve maternity safety “at pace”. These include formal risk assessment at every antenatal contact, twice-daily consultant-led maternity ward rounds, women and family advocates on the board of every NHS trust, and the appointment of dedicated lead midwives and obstetricians.
The independent review of maternity services at Shrewsbury and Telford hospitals (SaTH) NHS trust by a team led by midwifery expert Donna Ockenden, uncovered 1,862 serious incidents including hundreds of baby deaths and an unusually high number of maternal deaths, mostly between 2000 and 2019. In June West Mercia police launched an investigation into the worst of the cases. A clinical review of the first 250 cases prompted Ockenden to outline Thursday’s emerging findings report so that action can be taken now before the full report is completed.
It calls for 27 local actions for learning and seven immediate and essential actions for all maternity services “to be implemented now and at pace”. Other recommendations include greater oversight of maternity care by senior doctors, ring-fenced funding for maternity training and the development of regional specialists in maternal medicine.
The failings identified at SaTH typify mounting concerns about the safety and potentially avoidable deaths at other maternity services. In September, Prof Ted Baker, the chief inspector of hospitals, admitted to MPs that 38% of maternity services were deemed to require improvement for patient safety and some could get even worse.
Rhiannon Davies, who lost her daughter Kate in 2009, said: “The time is now for significant deep-seated changes across maternity… Women are not aware of the risks they and their baby face during labour and birth. And whilst no one wants to feel fear and be disempowered through angst, everyone deserves openness and the accessible information to help them make an informed choice.”
Source: The Guardian, 10 December 2020
See also: Ockenden, D. First report of the independent review into maternity services at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. 10 December 2020
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Boris Johnson has suffered yet another Lords defeat over his Brexit plans, as peers rejected an attempted “power grab” over devolved nations. Peers voted by 320 to 215 for a cross-party amendment that would prevent Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland from being “bypassed” once the UK’s transition period out of the EU ends on December 31.
In the first serious parliamentary ping-pong between the two houses of parliament over the Internal Market Bill, the Lords move follows the Commons rejecting their amendment on Monday. Although ministers attempted to see off a defeat by offering greater consultation for the devolved administrations, peers are determined to secure even bigger changes to the bill.
Nicola Sturgeon has already called the bill “a full-frontal assault on devolution” because it hands to London previous EU powers over food safety, minimum pricing, environmental policy and animal health and welfare.
The Lords voted again for an amendment tabled by independent crossbencher Lord Hope of Craighead, a retired Scottish judge who was the first deputy president of the Supreme Court, to protect “common frameworks” across the whole of the UK. The common frameworks, first drafted in 2018 under Theresa May, manage the extent of divergence across policy areas for the four nations of the UK. Lord Hope told peers the government’s bill “needs to suit the needs and aspirations of all parts of the UK, which may differ greatly from one part to the other”.
Cabinet office minister Lord True appeared open to concessions ahead of a vote on Thursday, when MPs are due to send the bill back to the Lords, saying “the government will obviously continue to reflect further”.
If MPs again reject the amendment, the Lords is expected to hold another vote next Monday (14 December).
Earlier on Wednesday, the Welsh parliament voted to refuse legislative consent for the Internal Market Bill.
Source: Huffington Post, 9 December 2020
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Yesterday (9 November) in response to a Parliamentary written question from the Chairman of the All Party Group on Smoking and Health, Bob Blackman MP, the public health Minister, Jo Churchill confirmed to Parliament that the government has agreed to develop a new Tobacco Control Plan to help deliver a Smokefree 2030 with an expected delivery date of July 2021. This was one of the key asks in the Roadmap to a Smokefree 2030 launched earlier this year by a coalition of leading health organisations, including ASH.
Asked by Bob Blackman Conservative, Harrow East
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government’s Smokefree 2030 target, when the new Tobacco Control Plan setting out the further measures promised in the Green paper to help meet that target will be published.
Answered by Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care
The Government is committed in addressing the harms from smoking. The Department, working with Public Health England, will develop and publish a new Tobacco Control Plan to deliver its Smokefree 2030 ambition. The new plan is expected in July 2021.
Source: Hansard, 9 December 2020
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