America’s Best Hospitals Way Ahead of World Health Organization on Surgical Checklist Use. Top U.S. hospitals have prevented thousands of deaths and complications by having surgeons use surgical safety checklists. – Recent hoopla surrounding published research citing the patient safety benefits of surgery checklists would suggest medical experts have stumbled onto a startling new tactic to prevent medical error.
Canadian Medical Association – CMA challenges airlines’ demand for doctor’s note for travellers. – Air Canada and WestJet announced Jan. 8 they will follow a directive from the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) and make free extra seating available to disabled and obese passengers who qualify, but only if they have a doctor’s certificate.
Health Minister invites diaspora to join in developing healthcare – Indian Health Minister Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss has called for public-private partnership in health sector to meet the gap between supply and demand.
Transplanted kidneys preserved and transported in a specially designed machine (LifePort Kidney Transporter) the odds for experiencing a delay in recovery of kidney function are 43% lower. – Use of a specially designed machine to store kidneys for transplantation offers significant benefits in kidney survival and function when compared to those stored in a traditional “ice box”, or cold storage, revealed by researchers.
Aesthetic Medicine has seen a dramatic increase in the diversity of the patients treated over the past decade and this trend is expected to continue to grow stronger than ever, with applications that cater to all people. – The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), the leading national organization of board-certified plastic surgeons who specialize in cosmetic surgery, offers its predictions for cosmetic surgery in 2009.
Ebola haemorrhagic fever in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, says WHO. – The Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared on 25 December an outbreak of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in Mweka District, Kasai Occidental province based on laboratory results from the Centre International de Recherches M?dicales de Franceville (CIRMF) in Gabon.
Clinical trial results on the sleep-promoting effects of Vanda Pharmaceuticals’ circadian regulator tasimelteon (VEC-162) published in the Lancet. – Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: VNDA) reports publication in The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, results of clinical trials of its novel circadian regulator, experimental compound tasimelteon (VEC-162).
The UK is a leader in the global effort to tackle AIDS. In South Africa, DFID Is concluding a major 5-year programme on AIDS and has spent ?30 million to strengthen AIDS responses at national and provincial level. – South Africa’s revitalised drive against AIDS today received a ?15 million boost which could help save millions of lives and stop the spread of HIV across the country.
X PRIZE Foundation to help fight tuberculosis worldwide with Gates Foundation support. Gates Foundation providing grant to explore prize for innovative breakthroughs in TB Diagnostics. – The X PRIZE Foundation has received a planning grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop an X PRIZE for effective diagnosis of tuberculosis in the developing world.
New research provides support for the use of St. John’s wort extracts in treating major depression. A Cochrane Systematic Review backs up previous research that showed the plant extract is effective in treating mild to moderate depressive disorders. – The herbal medicine St. John’s wort appears to work just as well as some prescribed antidepressants for treating patients with major depression, a new review finds. However, patients in German-speaking countries might experience the best benefits.
