Health e News
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Workers that smoke cost their employers nearly $6 000 (around R60 000) more each year than their non-smoking counterparts. A new study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that smokers incurred more costs through taking time off, smoke breaks and additional health care costs than non-smokers. These findings could have implications for smoking policies in the workplace, the researchers suggest. “Employees who smoke impose significant excess costs on private employers,” Micah Berman, from the College of Public Health and Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University (US), and colleagues wrote. “The results of this study may help inform employer decisions about tobacco-related policies.” To estimate the costs associated with employing a smoker the researchers analysed previous studies on the issue. For this calculation they analysed absenteeism, presenteeism (lower productivity while working due to smoking-related health problems), smoking breaks, health care costs and pension benefits for smokers. The study
MEDIA RELEASE: The announcement last week that the World Health Organization (WHO) prequalified the PrePex device for non-surgical voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) offers another important option for expansion of VMMC programs in countries hard hit by the HIV epidemic. VMMC, as part of comprehensive HIV prevention programs, is starting to make an impact on the HIV epidemic in many communities and countries. The impact of PrePex, and other non-surgical devices that could also be prequalified, will depend on several factors including the cost of the devices, the quality and scope of data available to guide decisions about product introduction, and sustained investment in product introduction including pilot projects and social marketing. “PrePex and other devices could help expand VMMC programs to meet the HIV prevention needs of more men in Africa. But without strong programs, even the best products have little or no impact,” said Mitchell Warren, AVAC executive
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The most significant lifestyle change people can make to protect their health is to stop smoking, researchers reported in the American Journal of Epidemiology. The new study shows that although regular exercise and a healthy diet have clear health benefits, the best thing you can do for your health is to quit smoking. “Of all the lifestyle factors, we found that smoking avoidance played the largest role in reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and mortality,” study senior author Dr Roger Blumenthal, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine said in a news release. “Smokers who adopted two or more of the healthy behaviours still had lower survival rates after 7.6 years than did non-smokers who were sedentary and obese.” The study followed more than 6 200 men and women between the ages of 44 to 84 for an average of eight
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Aeras, a non-profit organisation, advancing the critical search for a TB vaccine, has a produced a four-part series on TB and the search for a vaccine. Watch Chapters 1 – 3, including a focus on the trial site in Worcester, SouthAfrica, here. EXPOSED: The Race Against Tuberculosis Watch the four-part series of short films on the deadly global TB epidemic and the race to develop new tools to prevent it. Website: http://exposed.aeras.org/
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Exposure to anti-smoking messages help motivate smokers to quit, a recent survey found. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Global Adult Tobacco Survey tracked attitudes in 17 countries across Europe, Asia and South America. Overall, exposure to anti-smoking messages in print media or on television, radio or billboards “significantly increased the odds that current smokers intend to quit” in 14 of the 17 countries included in the survey, the CDC said in a news release. These findings support previous research showing antismoking campaigns encourage smokers to quit. In concert with other proven tobacco control strategies tobacco education ad campaigns are needed to counter the millions of dollars spent every hour on marketing cigarettes around the world. The CDC notes that its own campaign, “Tips from Former Smokers” – in which people with serious health issues linked to smoking tell their stories – is one such outreach effort.
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MEDIA RELEASE: —The Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Michel Sidibé today announced the appointment of South African scientist, Professor Salim S. Abdool Karim as Chair of the newly established UNAIDS Scientific Expert Panel. Mr Sidibe made the announcement in Durban, South Africa during his opening address at a UNAIDS Scientific Symposium on the implications of the “Mississippi baby” for public health programmes on mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The panel will advise UNAIDS on major new scientific discoveries, as well as gaps and strategic needs in AIDS research and on how UNAIDS can adjust its policies to address these needs and shape the AIDS response. “In the thirty years since HIV was identified, the progress made by science has been extraordinary and its benefits have been felt far beyond those directly affected by HIV,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé. “To reach the end of
OPINION: In development, there are lots of statistics. Sometimes, the digits start to cross in your head, but every once in a while a number jumps out at you because it expresses a complicated truth in simple terms. Here’s one that jumped out at me: 20 percent. That’s how much more likely it is that a child will survive when its family’s budget is controlled by the mother. By Melinda Gates Women know what’s best for their families. They invest in health care, nutritious food, and education. The tragedy is not just that most women don’t control household budgets; it’s that many don’t control the circumstances of their own lives. If women everywhere had the power to determine their futures, the world would be forever transformed. That’s why I’m proud to attend the Women Deliver conference this week in Kuala Lumpur. I’ll be joined by more than 3,000 people who
Health-e News Service is very proud to announce that our television producer, Fathima Simjee was named the Young Health Journalist of the Year last night, and our former radio reporter, Ayanda Mkhwanazi, was named Health Radio Reporter of the Year at the Discovery Health Journalism awards. “Fathima’s commentary is carefully thought out and easily digestible. She exploits the television medium to its fullest potential and delivers a succinct, hard-hitting piece of excellent journalism,” according to the judges. Fatz’s winning story focused on tuberculosis in children, and her award is sponsored by loveLife. Ayanda’s winning story was on cervical cancer, told through Mam Emily Monchonjana of Orange Farm who encourages young women to go for pap smears to detect this cancer. Describing the story as “a gripping piece of journalism”, the judges said: “As a piece of radio journalism, this story is evocative, well-researched and brings us the voices of women
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Dr Neliswa Gogela, a physician from the University of Cape Town, has become the first recipient of a R2-million grant that will enable her to study liver transplants at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. Announcing the inaugural Discovery Foundation MGH Fellowship Award aimed at bolstering academic medicine yesterday, Discovery Health CEO Dr Jonathan Broomberg, said there was an urgent need to “boost our diminishing pool of medical academics and develop global experts in the academic healthcare field.” The average age of medical specialists in South Africa is 55, said Broomberg, which indicated an urgent need to develop a new generation. The 36-year-old Gogela specialises in hepatology (liver disease) and is working toward her PhD. There is a severe shortage of hepatologists trained in liver transplantation in South Africa, as the burden of liver disease and the complexity of available treatments have increased significantly. Gogela will spend a
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