Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Map showing news reports in Lancashire Evening post
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This map features short news summaries linked to the place where the event reported on actually happened.
Measles cases reach record high in 2007
Recently released figures show that there were 971 cases in England and Wales in 2007, up on the 740 recorded in 2006 and the highest level since records began in 1995.
This comes mostly as a a result of a drop in the uptake of the MMR vaccine. The number of MMR vaccinations first fell in the late 1990s and though theories linking MMR to autism have since been disproved, the number of children receiving the jab is still below the recommended level.
Dr Mary Ramsay, a consultant epidemiologist at the HPA, which released the figures, said "This increase in measles cases is of concern." She said that large numbers of children are still not fully protected so we expect to see more large outbreaks of measles in the future.
Measles can be fatal as proved by the death of a 13-year-old boy from measles in 2005.
Most of the major serious news providers covered the story. None of the reports that I found were negative about the MMR jab though most simply printed the negative facts and figures about measles cases allowing the facts to speak for themselves.
Many like the Guardian and Channel four news reported doctors advice prominantly, suggesting that these opinions are to be trusted. They seemed to use the doctors opinions in order to support there own positive slant on the MMR vaccine.
The BBC reported A spokeswoman for the Department of Health. This person said "MMR uptake has increased in recent years", but "We want to see more children protected against these potentially serious diseases."
This comes mostly as a a result of a drop in the uptake of the MMR vaccine. The number of MMR vaccinations first fell in the late 1990s and though theories linking MMR to autism have since been disproved, the number of children receiving the jab is still below the recommended level.
Dr Mary Ramsay, a consultant epidemiologist at the HPA, which released the figures, said "This increase in measles cases is of concern." She said that large numbers of children are still not fully protected so we expect to see more large outbreaks of measles in the future.
Measles can be fatal as proved by the death of a 13-year-old boy from measles in 2005.
Most of the major serious news providers covered the story. None of the reports that I found were negative about the MMR jab though most simply printed the negative facts and figures about measles cases allowing the facts to speak for themselves.
Many like the Guardian and Channel four news reported doctors advice prominantly, suggesting that these opinions are to be trusted. They seemed to use the doctors opinions in order to support there own positive slant on the MMR vaccine.
The BBC reported A spokeswoman for the Department of Health. This person said "MMR uptake has increased in recent years", but "We want to see more children protected against these potentially serious diseases."
Alan Johnson and the Well Notes
Alan Johnson has now decided that in order to tackle what he calls our 'sick note culture', doctors need to help by issuing 'well notes'.
An estimated 175m working days are lost to sickness each year, at a cost of £13bn. This shows that somthing needs to be done, but is this the answer?
I would say no, but this blog isn't about my opinions its about what every one else is saying. So, i'll start with what the BBC said when it covered the story.
Though the BBC is mostly impartial they do publish other peoples opinions. In a story dealing with this they published the view of Dr Peter Holden, of the BMA's GPs committee.
He said that GP's are often put in difficult positions when they have to decide whether to issue sick notes. He goes on to say that doing this is very different from deciding whether patients are ready to go back to work. He said "GPs should not be there to police the system."
Dr John Canning was quoted in the Independant's coverage of the story. He said that in his experience employers only want there employees back at work if they are fully fit. And so the current situation is in there interest.
Prof Khan said on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme however that he thinks no one likes the current situation and that it is worthwhile to try something new.
The Telegraph gave the story particularly negative coverage. One headline was "GP well notes 'doomed to fail', says doctor". This story focuses on the opinion of a doctor who was involved in drawing up the plans called Dr George Moncrieff, a GP, who practices in Oxfordshire.
He said Independent occupation health specialists should be introduced to adjudicate on sick notes instead of GPs. He also said that GPs central role in 'policing' the sick note system which they have had for sixty years has been counterproductive. So, he can't see how suddenly telling them to right well notes instead, could help.
Most of the opinion on this story seems to agree with me that this new well note system will probably not make much difference.
An estimated 175m working days are lost to sickness each year, at a cost of £13bn. This shows that somthing needs to be done, but is this the answer?
I would say no, but this blog isn't about my opinions its about what every one else is saying. So, i'll start with what the BBC said when it covered the story.
Though the BBC is mostly impartial they do publish other peoples opinions. In a story dealing with this they published the view of Dr Peter Holden, of the BMA's GPs committee.
He said that GP's are often put in difficult positions when they have to decide whether to issue sick notes. He goes on to say that doing this is very different from deciding whether patients are ready to go back to work. He said "GPs should not be there to police the system."
Dr John Canning was quoted in the Independant's coverage of the story. He said that in his experience employers only want there employees back at work if they are fully fit. And so the current situation is in there interest.
Prof Khan said on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme however that he thinks no one likes the current situation and that it is worthwhile to try something new.
The Telegraph gave the story particularly negative coverage. One headline was "GP well notes 'doomed to fail', says doctor". This story focuses on the opinion of a doctor who was involved in drawing up the plans called Dr George Moncrieff, a GP, who practices in Oxfordshire.
He said Independent occupation health specialists should be introduced to adjudicate on sick notes instead of GPs. He also said that GPs central role in 'policing' the sick note system which they have had for sixty years has been counterproductive. So, he can't see how suddenly telling them to right well notes instead, could help.
Most of the opinion on this story seems to agree with me that this new well note system will probably not make much difference.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Which drug is worst?
This is my first ever blog. I've been told that for a Journalist it is of great importance to be writing a blog, So... this is it!
We were told to choose one of various subjects to base our blogs on and I chose health, I perhaps would have prefered entertainment, but what do you do.
The topic that brings me to this point, on the cusp of writing my first blog is... which is the worst drug. Now, I think this comes under health, i'm pretty sure it does, after all it is your health that would suffer as a negative result of taking drugs.
The inspiration for this "blog" is last weeks horizon, which I happened to watch. They did a countdown over the course of the program revealing which drugs scientists now consider to be the worst drugs in order. Heroin and Cocaine were at the top, no surprise there then. But, Ectsacy -also a class A drug- was 18th and alcohol was fifth and the program suggested if it was a new drug it would be banned.
Now, perhaps you can understand why I chose this program as the basis for my first blog. Of course for a student, alcohol is, you could say... quite important. In the program they stressed how bad binge drinking is for you but they seemed to not quite apreciate how in-grained the culture of binge drinking is amongst young people.
From what I've seen I can determine that virtualy every student and probably most young people binge drink on a regular basis. That is, certainly they do in Preston anyway. Most people I know go out drinking at least twice a week and i've heard tales from people about how they spent whole student loan payments in the space of just a few weeks on alcohol.
I guess my basic point is that many people (who let's see are a little bit older) don't realise that binge drinking is (it pains me to say) quite a major problem. In my opinion, it will take something more than just telling people how bad binge drinking is before people like me will give even a second thought to the idea of cutting down their drinking.
We were told to choose one of various subjects to base our blogs on and I chose health, I perhaps would have prefered entertainment, but what do you do.
The topic that brings me to this point, on the cusp of writing my first blog is... which is the worst drug. Now, I think this comes under health, i'm pretty sure it does, after all it is your health that would suffer as a negative result of taking drugs.
The inspiration for this "blog" is last weeks horizon, which I happened to watch. They did a countdown over the course of the program revealing which drugs scientists now consider to be the worst drugs in order. Heroin and Cocaine were at the top, no surprise there then. But, Ectsacy -also a class A drug- was 18th and alcohol was fifth and the program suggested if it was a new drug it would be banned.
Now, perhaps you can understand why I chose this program as the basis for my first blog. Of course for a student, alcohol is, you could say... quite important. In the program they stressed how bad binge drinking is for you but they seemed to not quite apreciate how in-grained the culture of binge drinking is amongst young people.
From what I've seen I can determine that virtualy every student and probably most young people binge drink on a regular basis. That is, certainly they do in Preston anyway. Most people I know go out drinking at least twice a week and i've heard tales from people about how they spent whole student loan payments in the space of just a few weeks on alcohol.
I guess my basic point is that many people (who let's see are a little bit older) don't realise that binge drinking is (it pains me to say) quite a major problem. In my opinion, it will take something more than just telling people how bad binge drinking is before people like me will give even a second thought to the idea of cutting down their drinking.
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