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May

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2016
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May

World No Tobacco Day 2016

Posted on May 28, 2016 by

The World #NoTobacco Day is an annual awareness day organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 31st May, aiming at highlighting the health risks of tobacco use and prompting governments to take actions against smoking. According to the WHO, while tobacco use kills nearly 6 million people each year, approximately 1 country in 3 has minimal or no restrictions at all on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

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Over the last three years, the WHO has focused on the advertising ban, increased taxation and tackling the smuggling of tobacco products, all of which are actions based on evidence from epidemiological studies. This year, the World No Tobacco Day promotes the implementation of the standardized plain packaging of tobacco products.

Plain packaging is a proven measure that tackles consumption by making tobacco products less attractive to consumers, curbing the use of promotional material on the package, limiting misleading design techniques suggesting that some products are less harmful than others, and increasing the effectiveness of health warnings. The package should bear only the name of the brand and product name in standardized characters and dark colors.

World No Tobacco Day - Among Doctors

The measure was first adopted in Australia in 2012, where early evidence suggests that it has begun to achieve its public health objectives. Since then plain packaging laws have been passed in France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, while several other countries are evaluating the implementation of such a measure.

Join the AmongDoctors physicians-only professional network and discuss with us different topics on smoking cessation, public health policies and evidence on tobacco use!

Posted in Clinical Highlights public health, smoking, smoking cessation, tobacco, WHO, World No Tobacco Day

WHO establishes a Health Emergencies Programme, adds operational capabilities

Posted on May 26, 2016 by

During the 69th World Health Assembly, the WHO announced the establishment of a new Health Emergencies Programme, which adds operational capabilities for outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies to complement the traditional technical and normative roles of the organisation. The programme aims at delivering support to contexts as they prepare for, face or recover from emergencies, whether disease outbreaks, natural or man-made disasters or conflicts.

Read the press release and comment the story on Among Doctors

Image credit: WHO/L. Cipriani

 

 

Posted in Clinical Highlights emergencies, Global Health, outbreaks, WHA, WHO

A new report launched on NCDs and workplace wellness

Posted on May 25, 2016 by

NCD Alliance and Bupa published a report on the potential of workplaces for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). The report, launched in Geneva, where the 69th World Health Assembly currently takes place, examines the evidence for the effectiveness of existing policy and regulatory measures, presents a set of recommendations, and calls upon governments, civil society and private sector to take shared responsibility for health and wellbeing through innovative partnerships, with a commitment to share expertise and knowledge, and mobilise resources.

Read the report and comment the story on Among Doctors

Posted in Clinical Highlights employer, NCDs, policy, workplace, World Health Assembly

Picks of the Week: Medical error as one of the leading causes of death

Posted on May 14, 2016 by

Over the last days fellow colleagues shared many articles, evidence, opinion papers and other noteworthy news on the Among Doctors network. Let’s have a look at the top picks of these news:

  • Association between rotating night shift work and risk of coronary heart disease among women
    Among women who worked as registered nurses, longer duration of rotating night shift work was associated with a statistically significant but small absolute increase in CHD risk.
  • Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US
    A recently published article in BMJ estimates that medical error is the third biggest cause of death in the US, after heart disease and cancer. The authors mention that medical errors leading to patient death may be under-recognised in many countries, such as the UK and Canada.
  • Systematic review of antibiotic treatment for acute calculous cholecystitis
    Antibiotics are not indicated for the conservative management of acute calculous cholecystitis or in patients scheduled for cholecystectomy.
  • Addition of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors to sulphonylureas and risk of hypoglycaemia
    Addition of DPP-4 inhibitors to sulphonylurea to treat people with type 2 diabetes is associated with a 50% increased risk of hypoglycaemia and to one excess case of hypoglycaemia for every 17 patients in the first six months of treatment.
  • Effects of a mindfulness-based weight loss intervention in adults with obesity
    Mindfulness enhancements to a diet-exercise program did not show substantial weight loss benefit but may promote long-term improvement in some aspects of metabolic health in obesity that requires further study.
  • Short-course oral steroids as an adjunct therapy for chronic rhinosinusitis
    There might be an improvement in symptom severity, polyps size and condition of the sinuses when assessed using CT scans in patients taking oral corticosteroids when these are used as an adjunct therapy to antibiotics or intranasal corticosteroids.
  • Is physician burnout a looming public danger?
    With over 50% of doctors feeling burned out, physician burnout should not be considered as a mere professional problem, as its repercussions may affect patients.

Do you wish to comment on these news or share your own? Join Among Doctors here and start exploring the physician-exclusive social network right away!

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Posted in Picks of the week burnout, coronary heart disease, DDP-4, medical error, oral steroids, professionalism, sulphonylureas, weight loss

More evidence on inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions in outpatient settings

Posted on May 10, 2016 by

An annual antibiotic prescription rate of 506 per 1,000 population was estimated in the United States in 2010-2011 in a study published on JAMA. According to the authors, only 353 antibiotic prescriptions were likely appropriate, supporting the need for establishing a goal for outpatient antibiotic stewardship. Sinusitis, suppurative otitis media and pharyngitis were the diagnosis associated with the most antibiotic prescriptions. Only approximately half of the acute respiratory conditions were estimated to be appropriate for these conditions.

Read the article and comment the story on Among Doctors

Image credit: Bmramon at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9825471

 

Posted in Clinical Highlights antibiotics, appropriateness, otitis media, pharyngitis, sinusitis

Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the US

Posted on May 5, 2016 by

A recently published article in BMJ estimates that medical error is the third biggest cause of death in the US, after heart disease and cancer. The authors mention that medical errors leading to patient death may be under-recognised in many countries, such as the UK and Canada, and call for a scientific approach and a revision of how national statistics are measured to enable a more appropriate recognition and a better understanding of the related deaths.

Read the article and comment the story on Among Doctors

Image credit: SSgt. Derrick C. Goode, U.S. Air Force – http://hq.afnews.af.mil

Posted in Clinical Highlights

Is Physician Burnout a Looming Public Danger?

Posted on May 4, 2016 by

Physician burnout should not be considered as a mere professional problem, as its repercussions may affect patients. Dr Art Caplan, director of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center, noted in a recent video published on Medscape that over 50% of doctors feel burned out. They suffer from compassion fatigue, are unable to empathize with patients, and may commit more potentially harmfully errors as a result. What types of solutions can we propose to improve the conditions and healthcare environments in which physicians work?

Read the article and comment the story on Among Doctors

Image credit: Kilbosh CC BY-SA 3.0

Posted in Clinical Highlights burnout

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