Displaying items by tag: Health

In April a group of boys in Ghana was rescued from slavery on fishing boats run by traffickers. While this was an occasion for rejoicing, some of these boys have ongoing medical needs. One boy has a serious heart condition that requires surgery, and another has a kidney and bladder condition that requires further testing. Please pray for the physical, emotional and mental healing of all the children, and for wisdom and strength for the aftercare team which is supporting the boys and their families through to restoration.

We live in a stressful world. It is stressful to hear that British authorities are currently investigating 500 active terrorist plotters, 3,000 persons of interest, and 20,000 others with links to militancy. Security officials say the number of radicalised individuals has become unmanageable and the latest terrorist attacks in Great Britain are ‘just the tip of the iceberg, and it’s an enormous iceberg. Meanwhile a transgender man who stopped taking testosterone is now pregnant, and the CofE is to vote on creating a liturgy to celebrate sex changes (see article above). Are your stress levels increasing when you read the news? A new report indicates that those who attend church services may reduce their mortality risk by 55%. The remedy for stress is not found in our fallen culture but in our risen Lord.

Experts from Microsoft, Audi and others gathered with UN leaders and academics to debate the pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Geneva. ‘AI is probably the most significant technology we will ever create,’ said Peter Diamandis, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. Experts discussed the huge unleashed potential of AI that can heal healthcare, make travel safe, and boost wealth. There is a desire to harness AI for good, but also a stark warning that AI also has the power to harm. Weapons already in service are capable of selecting targets, and there are no technical boundaries to machines making(?) decisions to take a human life. Automation of the battlefield lowers the threshold for the use of deadly force and transparency, meaning that accountability in the use of force is needed to keep these AI tools in check.

Unicef reports that cholera cases in Yemen could quadruple in the next month to 300,000. A runaway epidemic is killing someone nearly every hour and threatening the lives of thousands, says Oxfam. There is an urgent call going out for massive aid efforts and an immediate ceasefire to allow health and aid workers to tackle the outbreak. The World Health Organisation said that between 27 April and 3 June, 676 people died and over 86,000 were suspected of having the disease. Yemen’s neglected medical reporting system and the widespread nature of the epidemic mean that these figures are likely to be under-reporting the full scale of the crisis. The crisis follows two years of war which have decimated water and sanitation systems, restricted imports, and left millions one step away from famine.

Figures about public attitudes to abortion, particularly women’s attitudes, suggest a lot of unease with the current abortion law. Some suggest that this unease is to do with advances in prenatal screening. It is hard to compare a six-month cut-off limit for abortions with ubiquitous images of foetuses at twelve weeks looking embarrassingly, palpably, human. They may not be capable of surviving outside the womb - but they’re human all right. On the most important issue, the period during which abortion is legal, a large majority of women (7 out of 10) are in favour of reducing the time-limit, with nearly six in ten in favour of a limit of 16 weeks or fewer. There is also a large majority wanting parents to be informed when their underage daughter has an abortion, and a very large majority in favour of a ban on sex-selective abortions.

The main political parties have published their manifestos, and leaders have taken to the airwaves to define their ideas and criticise those of their opponents. There is a degree of common ground between Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat proposals on health. With the population living longer and more people living with long-term conditions, more seamless care will become a central challenge in the next parliament. Funding for social care for the elderly and vulnerable has been cut by 16 % recently. Although the Care Act brings clarity and consistency to social care entitlements, it will not end social care rationing. All three manifestos promote the importance of joined-up care, particularly for the elderly and chronically ill. We can praise God that this need is recognised, and pray that positive pledges will be implemented now that all parties have got the message that the NHS needs additional funding to survive.

An estimated 620,000 people in the UK have a faulty gene that puts them at risk of developing coronary heart disease or sudden death, and most are unaware, a charity has warned. The British Heart Foundation said the figure was 100,000 more than had been thought and could be even higher. It said there was now a better grasp of the prevalence of inherited conditions. A child of someone with an inherited heart condition can have a 50% chance of inheriting it themselves. Each week in the UK, around twelve seemingly healthy people aged 35 or under are victims of sudden cardiac death with no explanation, largely due to undiagnosed heart conditions. Former England and Nottinghamshire cricketer James Taylor had to retire last year, at the age of 26, after he was diagnosed with the serious heart condition arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.

Thousands of National Health Service (NHS) patients have had their data accessed by the Home Office as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration. The data are made up of non-clinical information, which includes names, dates of birth and the individual’s last known address. An investigation by the Guardian revealed for the first time the extent and details of Home Office requests for information. Between September and October 20126, 2,224 such requests were made: in 1,659 cases the details were traced, in 516 there was no trace, and in 69 instances requests were turned down. The number of requests has risen threefold since 2014, as the Government has toughened its stance on illegal immigration. Data can be requested about people who have absconded from immigration control, escaped detention, exceeded their time in the UK, sought to obtain leave to remain by deception, or failed to comply with reporting restrictions. It should be noted that NHS Digital retains the right to refuse requests which it deems to be against the public interest.

On Tuesday 3 January a record number of 612 patients in Irish hospitals had to be accommodated on trolleys, falling to 602 the following day. The figures have led to a political outcry, with Labour health spokesman Alan Kelly describing them as a ‘national emergency’. The Department of Health have said the increase in cases of flu and winter-related illnesses is to blame. However, a number of doctors and nurses have said that this increase is only partially responsible for the number of patients on trolleys, and that the system has long been in need of an overhaul. The minister for health, Simon Harris, said that increased opening hours and support services for nursing homes are being considered, as ways of keeping flu patients at home rather than transferring them to hospitals. He also acknowledged the need to recruit more nurses.

More than ten million Britons are at a higher risk of dementia because they live near a busy road, scientists have concluded. Those living in big cities are up to 12 per cent more likely to develop dementia as a result of traffic fumes, according to a study of more than six million people in Ontario, Canada. The closer people live to heavy traffic, the higher the risk. The scientists said that their findings were ‘of real public health significance’. They called for homes to be built further away from traffic, and for levels of traffic-related air pollution to be further reduced. Half the population of Ontario lives within 200 metres of a busy road, and 20 per cent within fifty metres: these figures are likely to be higher in Britain.