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Newsbrief
September 2007

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SOCIETY NEWS (6 items)

1. SHAPING THE FUTURE ANNOUNCES AN INDUSTRY FIRST
The Shaping the Future partnership is developing a new Health Promoting Organization awards scheme, thought to be the first of its kind in public health. The awards will acknowledge excellence in development and implementation of health promotion initiatives. 5 PCTs have already been chosen to pilot the scheme with the award ceremony planned to be at the Royal Society of Health AGM. For more information, see the Shaping the Future website and the RSH website. Shaping the Future also encourages feedback and asks you to join Electronic Network Group to leave your views and comments. A second Shaping the Future conference is being organized for mid-December 2007.

2. RSH TO Lead ON HPV VACCINE EDUCATION PROGRAMME
The Royal Society of Health has set up a steering group to guide the development of education materials to complement a possible human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme. The education programme aims to raise the level of public understanding about HPV and the current and potential role of HPV vaccination and other methods of prevention. Working with health and education experts, young people and the pharmaceutical sector, the Society hopes this project will give people the facts on the health risks of HPV and demonstrate the benefits of joint working between public health and the pharmaceutical industry (see Newsbrief June 07). HPV causes all cases of cervical cancer, which kills approximately 1,100 women per year in the UK.

3. NGO FORUM REVEALS SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER
The NGO Forum have confirmed Professor Sir Michel Marmot as the special guest speaker at their next national conference. The theme for the national NGO Forum Conference is Social Determinants of Health and will take place on 30 January 2008. For more details on how to get involved, click here.

4. EXCLUSIVE 20% BOOK DISCOUNT FOR RSH MEMBERS
Public Health: Social Context and Action
Angela Scriven and Sebastian Garman
August 2007 ISBN 9780335221509
Special price £15.99
Visit the Open University Press website and quote promotional code: SCRIVEN.

5. CLIMATE CHANGE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Online Exclusive - JRSH presents a series of three online articles discussing the public health impacts of climate change. The first of the series, Warming to Food Bugs, is online now, with features on sun safety and flood risk coming later this month.

6. IS SHAPING THE FUTURE LEADING US TO HEALTH PROMOTION APARTHEID?
Shaping the future – the movement hailed as a renaissance for health promotion – is leading us to ‘health promotion apartheid’, according to John Ashton, Director of Public Health Cumbria Primary Care Trust and Cumbria County Council writing in the latest issue of JRSH. The September 'Shaping the Future' special issue is the most authoritative collection of articles on the movement yet published. Contributors include Jim McEwen and Lillian Somervaille, Jenny Griffiths, Caroline Coen and Jane Wills, Sian Griffiths and Allison Thorpe, Fiona Sim, Jane South, Jenny Woodward and Diane Lowcock. Click here for more.

HEALTH NEWS (3 Items)

1. NEW WEB-TOOL FOR TACKLING HEALTH INEQUALITY
The Government are launching a web-based tool that aims to improve life expectancy in disadvantaged areas. The Health Inequalities Intervention Tool is an interactive website designed for Primary Care Trusts to help identify likely health problems and high impact interventions in ‘spearhead areas’. ‘We have set targets that need to be achieved by 2010, including a 10% reduction in the difference in life expectancy at birth between the fifth of areas with the worst health and deprivation and England as a whole,’ said Dawn Primarolo, Public Health Minister. Life expectancy as a whole is rising, but the gap between the rest of England and the spearhead areas is widening. ‘Our tool is the first of its kind to provide hard-edged, local evidence to planners and commissioners, on the causes of their life expectancy gap and how it can be reduced,’ said Dr Bobbie Jacobson, Vice-chair of the Association of Public Health Observatories (APHO). For more information, click here.

2. cancer PREVENTION vaccine MORE THAN JUST NEEDLES
The cervical cancer prevention vaccine needs public awareness, planning and monitoring, according to public health specialists. A national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program is being considered by Government for girls aged between 12 and 13, to offer full protection against cervical cancer. ‘Careful planning, adequate education, and long term monitoring will be needed,’ says Angela Raffle, a consultant in public health at Bristol Primary Care Trust, and adds that the only method of determining long-term effects is the close monitoring of vaccinated women over a period of decades. Her views were reiterated by Bernard Lo, a Professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco. He explains a successful vaccination program is not merely increasing numbers but using a broader approach, including issues about adolescent sexuality, parental control and protection of children. Three HPV articles are published in the BMJ. For Angela Raffle's original article click here; for a commentary from Professor Eduardo L Franco click here and for an editorial from Professor Bernard Lo click here.

3. MILLIONS OF SOUTH AFRICAN CONDOMS RECALLED
South African health officials have recalled 20 million condoms for being potentially defective. The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) said that the condoms were ‘non-conforming’ and warned consumers off a number of brands, including 'Randy Rat' and 'Positions'. An SABS official and two directors of the condom manufacturer, Latex Surgical Products (LSP), were arrested on charges of fraud and corruption. All three are currently released on bail and are scheduled to appear in court in September. The government are also taking legal action against LSP. ‘An official of the South African Bureau of Standards, has put millions of people at risk,’ said health department spokesman Sibani Mngadi, according to Reuters. This news is especially devastating to South Africa, a country that has one of the world’s highest HIV infection rates with an estimated 12% of its 47 million population infected. There are up to 1000 AIDS related deaths a day and free condom distribution is one of the ways the government is trying to combat the epidemic. Please click here for the original SABS press release.

FOOD SAFETY & NUTRITION (1 item)

1. CHILDREN PREFER MCBURGER TO BURGER
Fast food branding has a big impact on children’s choices. New studies show that kids aged between three to five years old overwhelmingly prefer McDonald wrapped food. ‘It's no surprise that branding works,’ says Dina Borzekowski at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health in Baltimore USA. ‘What's interesting about these results is to see how strongly it affects the three- to five-year-olds,’ she told New Scientist. The researchers bought identical meals from a local McDonalds and presented them to the children. Only one meal had the original packaging, the other in plain wrappers. The children then tasted the food and asked for their opinion. The majority clearly preferred the McDonald wrapped version. In tests, 76% favoured the branded fries, compared with 13% who liked the unbranded fries better. And while 60% of the children preferred the McDonalds wrapped chicken nuggets, only 10% favoured the nuggets with plain wrapping. The study comes after junk food ads were banned from children’s TV earlier this year, with even more restrictions aimed at teenaged programs planned to come into force in January 2008. To view the original paper, click here. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2007;161(8):792-7.

EVENTS (3 items)

Fitness for work – Scottish launch of 4th edition of the Faculty's seminal publication on occupational medicine
6 September 2007, Faculty of Occupational Medicine, Edinburgh, UK
The Faculty of Occupational Medicine is joining with the Society of Occupational Medicine (SOM) in Scotland for a Scottish launch of Fitness for Work. The keynote speaker will be the National Director for Health and Work, Professor Dame Carol Black and the conference will be followed by the SOM Scottish Group’s AGM and by a dinner. Click here for more information.

Delivering Multidisciplinary Care in Pain Medicine
14 September 2007, The Royal Society of Medicine, London, UK
An evidence-based, broad approach to delivering multidisciplinary care by multi-professional and patient training and research through all the stages of the pain experience. Click here for more information.

The NT Leadership Challenge
14 November 2007, Nursing Times, Northampton, UK
The Nursing Times Leadership Challenge is a unique learning experience for senior nurses. It provides them with an innovative way of developing their leadership skills and gain valuable insights into working collaboratively across the health service. For more information, email conferences@emap.com.

Please visit rsph.org for more events listings

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