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(2) TRAINING
GPS TO MANAGE OBESITY DOES
NOT AFFECT
WEIGHT LOSS
(3) ADDRESSING
MEDICAL STUDENTS AS
'STUDENT DOCTORS'
MAY HELP QUELL
PATIENT FEARS
(4) AIDS
EPIDEMIC SHOULD BE TREATED AS A
DISASTER
(1) 1 IN 3 INJECTIONS
GIVEN IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES IS UNSAFE
(Use of injections in healthcare
settings worldwide,
2000: literature review and regional
estimates)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7423/1075
Overuse of injections and unsafe practices
are still
common in developing and transitional
countries, find
researchers in this week's BMJ.
They reviewed published studies and unpublished
reports to describe the frequency and
safety of injection
practices in 14 regions of the world.
They found that up to 75% of injections
were given with
reused, unsterilised equipment. Reuse
was highest in the
South East Asia region, the Middle East,
and the
Western Pacific region.
An urgent need exists to reduce the overuse
of injections
and promote injection safety to prevent
unnecessary
infections, conclude the authors.
Contact:
Yvan Hutin, Medical Officer, Department
of Blood
Safety and Clinical Technology, World
Health
Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
Email: hutiny@who.int
(2) TRAINING GPS
TO MANAGE OBESITY DOES
NOT AFFECT WEIGHT LOSS
(Improving management of obesity
in primary care:
cluster randomised trial)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7423/1085
The usefulness of providing training in
obesity
management to general practice teams is
questioned by
researchers in this week's BMJ.
Moore and colleagues evaluated the impact
of a training
programme intended to improve the management
of
obesity. The study involved 44 general
practices (22
completed the training and 22 acted as
controls) and
843 obese adult patients. Control practices
were asked
to provide usual care to their patients.
After 12 months, there was no difference
in weight
between those patients attending trained
practices and
controls.
Implementation of obesity management was
low and did
not achieve improved patient weight loss,
say the
authors. Other strategies to manage obesity
in primary
care urgently need to be considered and
evaluated.
These might include motivated and dedicated
obesity
specialists, use of leisure services,
and use of the
commercial weight loss sector.
Contact:
Helen Moore, Director of Yorkshire Primary
Care
Research Network, Centre for Research
in Primary
Care, University of Leeds, UK
Email: h.moore@leeds.ac.uk
(3) ADDRESSING
MEDICAL STUDENTS AS
'STUDENT DOCTORS' MAY HELP QUELL
PATIENT FEARS
(Letter: Switch to title of student
or trainee doctor may
be helpful)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7423/1110
Simple semantics may help quell patient's
fears about
taking part in medical education, according
to a letter to
this week's BMJ.
Surprisingly, patients tend to accept a
trainee's presence
in a consultation if they are addressed
as student doctor
or trainee doctor, as opposed to medical
student, writes
Dr Hany George El-Sayeh. This may be because
of
fears about being seen by a scruffy, disinterested
youth
who may well later report their intimacies
in the bar.
He also recommends introducing a "donor
card" system
in education, whereby patients attending
clinics are
warned in advance of a trainee's potential
presence, and
the onus is put on them to opt out of
the process.
Currently patients are usually asked (rather
embarrassingly) in clinics if they mind
a trainee being
present.
Trainees themselves could counter stereotypes
by
making a greater effort to appear interested,
smart, and
punctual ± all in line with their new
"student doctor"
status, he concludes.
Contact:
Hany George El-Sayeh, Specialist Registrar,
Psychiatry,
Leeds Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust,
Leeds, UK
Email: hanyelsayeh@doctors.org.uk
(4) AIDS EPIDEMIC
SHOULD BE TREATED AS A
DISASTER
(Reframing HIV and AIDS)
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7423/1101
In September, the World Health Organization
(WHO)
declared the HIV/AIDS epidemic a global
health
emergency requiring a rapid scaled-up
treatment
response, but researchers in this week's
BMJ argue that
governments should go one step further
and treat it as a
disaster.
In fact, governments should be encouraged
and
rewarded for adopting a disaster response
to HIV and
AIDS, they say.
Declaring a state of emergency in a country
plagued by
HIV and AIDS could speed up the response.
It would
overcome barriers to co-operation and
facilitate access
to cheaper drugs. Resources could also
be better
co-ordinated, eliminating duplication
and ensuring
everyone is working to the same goal.
However, declaring a state of emergency
forces the
government to publicly admit that their
country is in a
vulnerable condition, which may lead to
strained
international trade ties, add the authors.
"We hope, however, that our suggestions
will provide a
basis for generating new thinking and
a better
co-ordinated, more effective and timely
response to the
mounting HIV/AIDS crisis," they conclude.
Contact:
Shevin Jacob, Medical Student, Oregon Health
and
Science University, School of Medicine,
Portland,
Oregon, USA
Email: sjacob@post.harvard.edu
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