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Opinion: I’m a public health doctor – I know austerity is why people are struggling
Writing for the New Statesman, Penelope Toff, Chair of the British Medical Association's Public Health Medicine Committee, argues the Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement was a “missed opportunity” to improve UK population’s health.
Toff disputes Jeremy Hunt’s claim that austerity has enabled the government to help those in need, instead arguing that it is precisely because of austerity that people have been struggling so much. She notes that between the pandemic, budget cuts and the cost-of-living crisis the population is getting sicker, and the autumn budget failed to adequately address this.
She notes that local authority public health grant has been reduced by almost a quarter per person since 2015 and this has resulted in cuts for local health services such as smoking cessation services (which have seen a 41% decrease in funding) and drug and alcohol services (which have seen a 28% reduction). These cuts have been distributed unevenly, with the most deprived areas seeing the most drastic reductions in the funding available for these lifesaving services.
Toff cites a study conducted by Glasgow Centre for Population Health, who estimated 335,000 deaths were caused by austerity in the five years before the pandemic.
She concludes by saying that doctors have welcomed the proposed budget increases over the next two years but that it is too little to fully counter the years of damage caused by cutbacks to health and social care under the name of austerity.
Source: The New Statesman, 21 November 2022
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Lobbyist and ex-Liz Truss aide Mark Fullbrook has parliamentary pass
Mark Fullbrook, corporate lobbyist and former chief of staff to Liz Truss, holds a parliamentary pass giving him access to ministers, MPs and peers.
The pass is sponsored by his wife, Lorraine Fullbrook, a Conservative MP from 2010 to 2015, who was made a life peer by Boris Johnson in July 2020, a year after Mark Fullbrook ran Johnson’s leadership election campaign.
The pass gives Mark Fullbrook, a statutorily registered consultant lobbyist, access to the parliamentary estate, making it easier to contact ministers, MPs, peers and bag carriers on behalf of his clients.
Source: The Guardian, 21 November 2022
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Life expectancy for cancer patients 'will double' in the next decade, UK researchers say
The Institute for Cancer Research is 'confident' advances of oncology will double the survival rate of people with advanced cancer.
Advances in oncology will target the eco-systems within the body that allow cancer cells to thrive, according to a new paper by the Institute for Cancer Research.
Outlining its plan for the next five years, the institute said it is "confident that doubling the survival rate of people with advanced cancer within a decade is a realistic goal”.
Researchers will also invest more in studies to analyse how microscopic fragments of cancer can shed into the bloodstream which could help to detect the disease in its earlier stages - before it shows up in scans.
Around 167,000 cancer deaths are recorded every year in the UK, that's nearly 460 every day. About 40 per cent of cancers are diagnosed at an early stage, which makes treatment more likely to be successful.
Advanced cancer survival rates vary greatly by type. Just 3.2 per cent of men diagnosed with lung cancer at stage four will live for five years after diagnosis, while for prostate cancer the proportion is 52 per cent. By comparison, 60 per cent of people diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer live for at least five years after diagnosis.
Source: The Telegraph, 22 November 2022
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Republic of Ireland: Under 18s to be banned from buying vapes in major crackdown and law shake-up
Under-18s will no longer be allowed to buy vapes under new Government plans to crack down on the sale of e-cigarettes.
Plans to be brought to Cabinet this morning [Tuesday] by Health Minister Stephen Donnelly would also see vapes banned from vending machines.
The proposed legislation includes a number of measures, including banning the sale of nicotine-inhaling products to those aged under 18.
The Government is now planning to restrict the types of retailers that can sell these products.
The Programme for Government commits to prohibiting the sale of e-cigarettes from temporary or moveable premises, at places or events for children and from vending machines.
The new legislation will also curb the advertising of vapes near schools and other settings frequented by children and teenagers.
If Minister Donnelly receives Cabinet approval today, the legislation could be introduced in the Oireachtas early next year.
Source: Irish Mirror, 22 November 2022
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