World Aids Day: FT Ask the experts Q&A

November 27, 2009 10:23 am by Financial Times

What are the prospects for improving prevention and treatment of HIV, what more needs to be done and how can we balance efforts to tackle the infection with other health and development priorities?

Email a question now to ask@ft.com for

Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria, a doctor and France’s former Aids ambassador and
Peter Piot, head of the Institute for Global Health at Imperial College, London, and former executive director of UNAids, the United Nations’ Aids agency

They will post answers to your questions on this page:

www.ft.com/q&a/aids

On Tuesday December 1, betweeen 17:00 and 18:00 GMT

More healthy scepticism about scares and cures is needed

November 25, 2009 11:26 am by Financial Times

By Rebecca Knight

Have you ever read a newspaper article about cancer risk and felt anxious that something you do – or neglect to do – puts you in danger of developing a terrible disease? Or have you ever watched a television news report about a new cancer drug and felt optimistic – perhaps too optimistic – about a promising breakthrough?

It happens every day, according to an editorial published earlier this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The editorial, written by the editor and researchers at the Center for Medicine and the Media at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hampshire, discusses the exaggerated fears and hopes that often appear in news coverage of cancer research. Promoting Healthy Skepticism in the News: Helping Journalists Get It Right

Continue reading: “More healthy scepticism about scares and cures is needed”

Posted in Cancer, Media, Public Health, Research | Permalink

To sleep better all you need to do is…retire

November 6, 2009 4:42 pm by Financial Times

By Rebecca Knight

Work invades my sleep. I lie in bed thinking about editors I should email, sources I need to call, and story ideas I ought to follow up on.

To be honest, sleep has never been my strong suit. I suffered terrible insomnia as a kid and into early adulthood. I’ve tried quiet yoga, warm milk, and long, languorous bubble baths before bed. I feel relaxed and cosy as I climb under the sheets, but once my head hits the pillow, it’s all over.

Apparently, the remedy to my restlessness is simple: I should stop working. According to a study by researchers at the University of Turku in Finland, retirement is followed by a sharp decrease in the prevalence of sleep disturbances.

Continue reading: “To sleep better all you need to do is…retire”

Posted in Public Health, Research, Work-life balance | Permalink

French healthcare could benefit from more ‘Saint Bernards’

October 30, 2009 3:31 pm by Financial Times

By Ross Tieman

France’s vociferous Committees for the Defence of local Hospital and Maternity Units are getting their marching boots back on after the country’s Health Ministry confirmed it will announce a raft of hospital operating theatre closures by the year end.

The Ministry says the decree will target about 180 theatres which each carry out fewer than 1,500 operations a year. Theatres that carry out fewer than 100 gynaecological operations a year are also thought to be threatened, though the Ministry wouldn’t confirm it.

National opposition to closures of this sort began back in 2004, at the instigation of defenders of my “local” hospital in Saint-Affrique, southern Aveyron. Although it’s not much bigger than a cottage hospital, it still seems to be functioning, five years on, though I’d never dream of going there.

Continue reading: “French healthcare could benefit from more ‘Saint Bernards’”

Posted in Delivery, Economics, Effectiveness, Politics, Public Health | Permalink

Can social networking help with health?

October 19, 2009 11:14 am by Financial Times

By Rebecca Knight

My daughter woke up three days ago with a runny nose, a fever of 101, and a wheezy, puffing cough that made her sound as though she’d smoked a pack a day for the past thirty years. My girl – age 22 months – is precocious, but I was confident that she hadn’t been sneaking cigarettes.

So I did what any novice mother in my situation would do: I went straight to the internet. I logged on to my favourite medical site and dutifully typed in her symptoms. Immediately I got a diagnosis: croup.

“Croup is a condition that causes an inflammation of the upper airways, and it often leads to a barking cough or hoarseness especially when a child cries,” the site said. “Most cases of croup are caused by viruses, and it is most common in children 6 months to 3 years old, but can affect older kids, too.”

Continue reading: “Can social networking help with health?”

Posted in Children, Delivery, Media, Parenting, Public Health | Permalink

Emergency details should be first priority on hospital websites

October 9, 2009 2:58 pm by Financial Times

By Ross Tieman

Fishing around for information on hospital rankings, I came across a Spanish state research body that monitors the quality of 18,000 hospital websites worldwide. At first, the idea seemed bizarre – something dreamed up by a hypochondriac with an IT addiction.

But in fact the Cybermetrics Lab, an arm of the Spanish National Research Council, ranks websites of many kinds that are sources of scientific information, helping save time for researchers, and hopefully, by benchmarking, aiming to improve availability of information.

But that begs some questions. What’s the point of hospital websites? Who are they trying to reach, with what information?

Continue reading: “Emergency details should be first priority on hospital websites”

Posted in Effectiveness, Public Health, Technology | Permalink

Healthcare podcast: Interview with Armin Fidler, lead adviser, health policy and strategy at the World Bank

October 6, 2009 3:19 pm by Financial Times

Andrew Jack, the FT’s pharmaceuticals correspondent, talks to Armin Fidler, lead adviser, health policy and strategy at the World Bank

Launch in Pop-up

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Add to iTunes |

Audio Home

Posted in Delivery, Economics, Policy, Public Health | Permalink

Healthcare podcast: Interview with Rifat Atun the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria

October 5, 2009 2:31 pm by Financial Times

Andrew Jack, the FT’s pharmaceutical correspondent, talks to Rifat Atun, director; strategy, performance and evaluation cluster; the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria

Launch in Pop-up

Download mp3 |

RSS Feed |

Add to iTunes |

Audio Home

Posted in Delivery, Economics, HIV and Aids, Policy, Public Health | Permalink

Healthcare and the Recovery – an FT special report

September 30, 2009 3:08 pm by Financial Times

Read the FT Healthcare and the Recovery report

• Political interests and lobbying vie with economic pressures
• After a decade of growth, austerity looms in the NHS
• The financial crisis is redefining the Gates Foundation’s priorities

Posted in Business, Delivery, Economics, Funding, Policy, Public Health, Research | Permalink

French hospital rankings give pause for thought

September 28, 2009 5:17 pm by Financial Times

By Ross Tieman

French news magazine Le Point has published its third annual ranking of the “best” hospitals in France.

The survey raises interesting questions that go beyond whether a patient in Nice would do best to jump on the high-speed train to Lille to get his or her stomach complaint sorted out.

What is the purpose of such rankings, are they an effective barometer of hospital competence, and what effect might they have on the quality of care hospitals provide?

Continue reading: “French hospital rankings give pause for thought”

Posted in Effectiveness, Markets, Research | Permalink