"To deliver maximum benefits, this funding needs to be used to fix the gaps in the current system and to address the areas of greatest need. This requires a consultative planning process, involving all levels of government, the hospital sector and consumers. This process needs to be transparent and accountable and should not be open to any political interference. It is also important that the funding can be used flexibly and not restricted to a particular type of service or facility. For example, it should cover information technology infrastructure, as well as physical infrastructure, to ensure that it can be used to support developments in information management in the hospital sector.

ALP National Health Reform Plan
The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) welcomed Labor's announcement last Thursday of a $2 billion National Health Reform Plan to improve Australia’s health system and ensure better health services for patients in hospitals. "Labor has recognised that Australia's health system is in need of reform and has responded to many of the issues raised by AHHA and other stakeholders," Ms Prue Power, AHHA Executive Director, said. "In particular, AHHA welcomes Labor's planned and comprehensive approach to health system reform. This is the only way to fix the real problems with the health system. Throwing money at problems in isolation, without addressing the underlying issues, will not work," Ms Power said.

"This plan recognises the need to invest both in the hospital and community care sectors and to engage stakeholders and consumers in developing options for reform. AHHA welcomes the additional funding for hospitals to ensure that our hospital system can continue to provide high quality care to the community. Public hospitals have been significantly under-funded by the current Federal Government and as a result struggle to meet the growing demand for care.

"Increasing the focus on primary care is also vital and AHHA strongly supports Labor's focus on preventive health and chronic disease management. Our health system performs poorly in both these areas, resulting in a large number of preventable hospital admissions. Keeping people out of hospital for longer, through better community-based care, will provide both health and economic benefits to the community.

"The commitment to establish a National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission responds to calls from AHHA and other health groups to engage the health sector and the community in developing a health reform agenda. This is long overdue and will be welcomed by the health sector.

"The proposal to increase accountability for hospital funding also responds to AHHA's calls for greater transparency around health financing. We have strongly advocated an approach to the Australian Health Care Agreements that addresses the drivers of demand for hospital services and ensures funding is allocated where it can deliver maximum benefits. AHHA agrees with Labor's proposal to progress reforms through COAG and its commitment to end the 'blame game' in health. It's time to stop using the public hospital system as a political whipping boy and start focussing on giving the Australian community the high quality health care they deserve," Ms Power said.

Health And Economic Benefits From GP Super Clinics - AHHA
Labor's $220 million commitment to establish GP Super Clinics will provide health and economic benefits to the community and take the pressure off the public hospital system, according to the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association. "With an ageing population and increasing rates of chronic disease, it is vital that we increase our investment in primary care," Ms Prue Power, AHHA Executive Director, said.

"Delivering better preventive health care and chronic disease management through primary care will take pressure of our over-stretched hospital system and deliver better health outcomes for consumers. Currently over 500 000 Australians every year have to go to hospital for conditions that could have been prevented or treated in the community. "This makes no health or economic sense.

"Labor's plan for GP Super Clinics focuses on some of the underlying problems with our primary care system. Many health professionals do not want to establish their own practices in rural, regional and outer-metro areas and this contributes to the workforce shortages in these areas. This proposal will attract health professionals to areas of need and help address the current inequity of access to health care in our community.

"AHHA also welcomes the focus on multi-disciplinary care within the Labor proposal. Delivering high quality primary care today requires a team approach. Providing GPs with the support of practice nurses, practice managers and allied health professionals will help them deliver better health care, and in particular enable them to focus on preventive health and chronic disease management.

"Problems with primary care affect the entire health system and result in poor health outcomes and higher health care costs. AHHA welcomes Labor's GP Super Clinics proposal to address many of these problems and to provide the community with a fairer and more efficient health system," Ms Power said.

Australian Health Review Recognised For International Index
AHHA is pleased to announce that our peer-reviewed journal, Australian Health Review, has been selected for coverage in the Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE) of Thomson Scientific. The goal of Thomson Scientific, according to their website, is to cover ‘the world’s most important and influential research’. The journals they select meet standards for publishing, editing, diversity and citation data and we are proud that AHR has received this recognition.

In addition, a journal covered in the SCIE receives an impact factor and Australian Health Review will get its first impact factor in 2009. Impact factors are calculated by the Institute for Scientific Information and published in the Journal Citation Reports. The impact factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the tracked literature that a research journal receives, by the number of articles it publishes. Academics and authors are more likely to publish in journals with higher impact factors. We are pleased that AHR is embarking on this journey to further establish THE Australian journal for health policy and management.

The owners of the Belvedere Park Nursing Home in Melbourne claimed they had been unfairly targeted and audited after laying a complaint against an inspector from the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency's Victorian office. The owners now want the agency to bring in a team of inspectors from interstate to conduct an independent audit of the nursing home, which was found earlier this month to have failed 42 out of 44 accreditation standards.

The Shadow Minister for Ageing, Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, said the release of the assessment report and sanctions on the Nursing Home leave significant questions yet to be answered by the Minister for Ageing. The sanction report states that there was "Immediate and severe risk to the health, safety and well-being of care recipients including widespread non-compliance across all the Accreditation Standards".

Report On Older People In Hospital Sheds Light On Future Hospital Needs
A report on older people in hospitals, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare examines the reasons why older people go to hospital, the type of care they receive and how long they stay. Report co-author, Ms Rosemary Karmel said it is well-known that as people get older they tend to have more health problems and so are increasingly likely to use hospital services. However, limited information is readily available on why and how older Australians use hospitals, or how their hospital use varies with illness, age or sex. Knowledge of these issues is an important aid for planning effective health services, she said. The report, Older Australians in hospital, shows that on the night of 30 June 2004, around 55,200 people spent the night in hospital and over half (53% or 29,000 people) were aged 65 and over.

Doctors Over Prescribing For The Elderly
Sydney Morning Herald, 18/08/2007 A major study has found that 400,000 Australians aged 70 or over were prescribed at least one drug in 2005 that is considered potentially harmful to the elderly - and for which there is a safer alternative. The drugs most often implicated are long-acting benzodiazepines, tranquillisers used to treat sleeplessness and anxiety. Specialists warn that these can increase confusion and drowsiness, leading to falls and broken bones. Others include amitriptyline and doxepine, tri-cyclic antidepressants; amiodarone, used for heart conditions; and oxybutynin, used for bladder ailments. The drugs appear on a list developed by a panel of US experts to flag medicines, doses, or frequencies that should be avoided in the elderly. The so-called Beers-listed medicines are ineffective or put the elderly at higher risk of adverse effects.

The Australian study, published in the Internal Medicine Journal, reviewed medicines dispensed to more than 192,000 veterans and war widows. It found 21% had been prescribed at least one of the potentially harmful medicines in the first six months of 2005. Dr Elizabeth Roughead, associate professor in pharmacy at the Sansom Institute, at the University of South Australia, said: "These results are disturbing, and once again reaffirm the need for more to be done to prevent adverse drug events. Between 85,000 and 110,000 Australians over 65 are admitted to hospital each year because of adverse reactions to prescribed drugs”, she said. Many of the admissions were preventable.

Labor Announces Ambassador For Ageing
At the National Press Club, the Shadow Minister for Ageing, Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, announced that a Rudd Labor Government will establish an Ambassador for Ageing to positively promote respect for and the value of older Australians. Labor will also establish a Ministerial Council on Ageing reporting to COAG -as we do in education, health and justice to ensure that policies and programs in State and Territory governments are also focussed on inclusion of older people, Senator McLucas said.

Dementia Initiative Supported Into The Future
The Australian Government reaffirmed its commitment to people with dementia, their carers and families by announcing that the Dementia Initiative would be funded beyond 2009. Dementia is a growing issue in the health and ageing sectors as the incidence of dementia is expected to rise exponentially over the coming years,” the Minister for Ageing, Christopher Pyne, said. Our ongoing support to the Dementia Initiative includes Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia Packages worth more than $90 million a year by 2009-10, he said. Furthermore, each year we’ll continue to provide $30 million for dementia research, early intervention programs, improved care initiatives, and training.

Liberal And Labor Fail On Aged Care, Say Industry Leaders
Both of Australia’s major parties have failed to grasp the urgency of the crisis in aged care, industry leaders said this week. Greg Mundy and Rod Young, from the Aged Care Industry Council, said today’s debate at the National Press Club between Aged Care Minister Christopher Pyne and Opposition spokeswoman Senator Jan McLucas showed both parties were out of touch on aged care. “Neither Party offered a satisfactory solution to the capital funding challenges which must be met if the industry is to meet the needs of an ageing population,” Mr Young said. “Minister Pyne said he stood on the Government’s record and while Senator McLucas would only commit to a two year review process if the ALP wins government. “Aged Care Industry Council research shows that 76% of voters say that aged care issues will influence their vote at this year’s election. Both parties therefore need to provide answers to the challenges facing aged care.”

Greg Mundy, who is the CEO of Aged and Community Services Australia, said the sector needed a better deal if it was to meet the needs of an ageing population. “We need solutions on capital and sufficient recurrent funds to provide the quality care the industry wants to provide to our clients in both residential and community care,” he said.

Rod Young, CEO of Aged Care Association Australia, called on the Government to create an aged care capital trust, similar to the education and health trusts already announced, with the capacity to provide funding needed to support the future capital needs of the industry.

Access Card Bill Makes Progress In Promoting Privacy, Says Privacy Commissioner
The Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, has acknowledged the progress made with the second public exposure draft of the Human Services (Enhanced Service Delivery) Bill 2007, in advancing privacy protections for the Government's proposed Access Card. "While there are still a number of steps that can be taken to enhance the Access Card's privacy safeguards, the Bill provides protections for confidentiality and information integrity which usefully adds to what was in the first Bill," Ms Curtis said.

Taking Responsibility - Federal Labor's $2 Billion National Health And Hospitals Reform Plan
The Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd, and the Shadow Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, announced a Labor Government will undertake one of the most significant reforms of Australia's health and hospital system since Federation. Federal Labor will establish a $2 billion National Health Reform Plan over four years to improve Australia's health system and ensure better health services for patients in hospitals. Federal Labor's National Health Reform Plan will have two central elements: $2 billion in investments to deliver improved health outcomes for patients in Australia's health care and hospital system; and a commitment that a Rudd Labor Government will seek to take financial control of Australia's 750 public hospitals if State and Territory Governments have not begun implementing an agreed National Health Reform Plan by mid-2009.

Goals for the plan are:

• Reducing preventable hospital admissions through greater emphasis on primary care by doctors, nurses and others outside hospitals;
• Improving management of chronic diseases such as diabetes;
• Reducing waiting times for elective surgery by increasing "capacity and throughput" - this is aimed at reducing delays for operations like hip replacement surgery which can mean public patients wait in pain for months;
• Fewer and shorter stays for frequent hospital users, particularly the elderly, by improving facilities for transition to outside hospital care;
• Increasing access to medical and specialist services.

Given the huge costs inherent in such enterprises, Mr Rudd is putting much store on ending the state-federal blame game and duplication to open a new era of collaborative efficiencies.

Labor Announces GP Super-clinics Pan
On Sunday, the Federal Opposition released the more details about its $2 billion plan to reform the health system. As part of the plan, Labor will spend $220 million to establish GP super-clinics in local communities. Opposition leader, Mr Rudd, says $220 million would be set aside in a special fund to provide infrastructure funding.

Labor says the move will ensure that more families have access to doctors, nurses, specialists and other health professionals, by bringing them all under the same roof. It says the funding will be allocated to infrastructure projects to establish a greater range of services, particularly in regional or remote areas. The clinics would allow health professionals to work from a single centre, to ensure communities get the services they need while easing the burden on accident and emergency wards.

Health Advisory Group To Identify Urgent Hospital Needs
The Leader of the Opposition, Kevin Rudd, and the Shadow Minister for Health, Nicola Roxon, said Federal Labor has established a Health and Hospitals Advisory Group (HHAG) to identify the urgent capital needs of hospitals and health services in the community which will improve the operation of our health system and promote preventative health care. It will be chaired by Ms Roxon. The HHAG will undertake a national tour of Australia over the coming weeks - consulting with hospital administrators, health care professionals, industry bodies and Australian families.

ACT
The ACT Government says so far there is no evidence that patients caught up in a sterilisation scare at the Canberra Hospital have contracted infections. It was feared nearly 100 people may have been infected with hepatitis or even HIV. At the centre of the scare were biopsy forceps that were not properly sterilised for two decades. They were used in bowel operations on babies between 1987 and late last year, and in February, testing began. Health Minister Katy Gallagher says of the 103 children affected, 91 were offered follow-up care. "Of those that had pursued testing, there's no evidence of any infection of those children," she said. The Government has been handed an interim report, (External Review into Reusable Medical and Surgical Devices at The Canberra Hospital) on hospital sterilisation procedures and says it is already implementing the recommendations. They include an electronic tracking mechanism for all surgical equipment.

QLD
The Northern Territory Government has outlined a plan to close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in every area of life within a generation. The Territory Chief Minister has finally released her response to "Little Children Are Sacred", the report which sparked the Federal Government's emergency intervention in remote Indigenous communities in June. By 2030, the Territory Government hopes to raise Aboriginal life expectancy to the same age as for all other Australians. It’s now two months since the Territory Government released its report, "Little Children Are Sacred", the same report which sparked the biggest change in federal policy on Aboriginal affairs for decades.

SA
The South Australian Premier, Mike Rann, has written to Prime Minister John Howard to express his concern about federal funding for state health. Mr Howard says more money is on the way. Mike Rann believes the Australian Health Care Agreement (AHCA) on federal funding for state health has become dysfunctional. Mr Howard disagrees and says funding under the agreement is due for a big increase when it is renewed next year. Mr Rann says the gap between state and federal funding is widening. "Just this year alone the Federal Government shortfall for our hospitals is around $408 million, which means that we have to fill the gap," he said. The Premier says South Australia is spending an extra billion dollars a year on health care, but the Federal Government share has declined.

TAS
Premier Paul Lennon and Health and Human Services Minister Lara Giddings announced the conditions under which the Tasmanian Government would reluctantly accept the Commonwealth’s offer to take over the Mersey Hospital (Monday 20 August). Cabinet decided to agree to the Prime Minister’s proposal on the basis that the Commonwealth purchase the Mersey for use as a private hospital at a nominal cost of $1 and take control as soon as possible. Mr Lennon said the Government also demanded a guarantee that Tasmania’s public health system would not be punished or have its funds reduced as a result of the Commonwealth’s politically-motivated decision to operate the Mersey. “It is important that North West Regional Hospital staff have certainty and that the community knows how and where it will continue to receive high-quality hospital care. “That is why we have sought to transfer ownership and will begin negotiations on the conditions immediately. To provide certainty for current Mersey staff, we will require Commonwealth commitment to transfer all employment and superannuation entitlements to the Australian Government.”

Ms Giddings said the State Government’s health reforms were too important for the future of Tasmania to be undermined. Ms Giddings said Cabinet’s decision meant the Mersey would operate as a private hospital and the State Government may purchase some sub-acute and non-acute services where they could be provided safely and sustainably. “Tasmania’s Health Plan will be reconfigured to reflect the effective removal of the Mersey from our public hospital system. The funds the State Government would have spent on running the Mersey will be redirected into other areas of our hospital system. We will provide the licences required under existing State legislation to allow the Mersey to operate as a private hospital, subject to the Commonwealth meeting our required commitments.

“We will also seek to lease back those parts of the hospital, such as the ambulance station, that are required for the ongoing operation of Tasmania’s public health services. The Department of Health and Human Services, with advice from Treasury, will commence immediate negotiations with the Commonwealth,” Ms Giddings said.

The Minister has also assured Northern residents that the State Government had an absolute commitment to maintaining and enhancing services at the Launceston General Hospital. Ms Giddings said she acknowledged the growing pressure that all of the State’s hospitals were facing. “I acknowledge that rising demand and tight budgets are placing increasing pressure on all of our hospitals and their staff,” Ms Giddings said. “But we must avoid throwing the baby out with the bathwater and damaging the community’s confidence in the quality of care they will receive in our hospitals with alarmist claims”.

VIC
The Victorian Government has announced a new campaign designed to better target mental illness among parents. The Government will spend around half a million dollars a year for the next five years providing training to doctors, maternity and child health workers and those working in public housing to detect mental illness among parents. Statistics show that more than 18,000 Victorian families have a parent who suffers from severe mental illness. The Minister for Mental Health, Lisa Neville, says children can be adversely affected by a parent's mental health problems.

A Victorian Government authority has become the first in Australia to demand a ban on junk food advertising aimed at children, as a way of tackling obesity. The VicHealth call challenges marketing based on the strategy that TV is the best way to reach "grocery buyers with children". "The advertising regulations are letting down consumers, particularly children," said VicHealth chief executive Todd Harper. "They are inadequate for dealing with advertising and marketing of unhealthy food to children. VicHealth wants laws that prohibit all forms of marketing and advertising of unhealthy foods to children via television, print, internet, cinema, outdoor media, direct marketing, sponsorship, product packaging or point of sale promotions.

Melbourne's Royal Women's Hospital is the first hospital in Australia to be given approval to prescribe the abortion drug RU486. Victorian health authorities yesterday granted approval to the hospital to prescribe the controversial drug, which will be restricted to cases considered clinically necessary. The decision to approve the use of RU486 comes 18 months after a conscience vote in federal Parliament removed Health Minister Tony Abbott's right to veto the drug. Associate director of the hospital's women's services Chris Bayly says RU486 will be used only in extraordinary cases.

Smoking is to be banned in the grounds of Victorian hospitals. Victorian hospital chief executive officers have met and agreed in principle to uniformly implement the bans. And some hospitals will go as far as to provide nicotine replacement programs for patients to help them quit. Quit Victoria has applauded the move.

Victorian Premier John Brumby wants the Law Reform Commission to consider formalising the state's abortion laws. Mr Brumby wants the Commission to report back early next year before the Government drafts new legislation. The State Government is concerned that current practices are based on a common law ruling rather than laws passed by Parliament. Mr Brumby says formalising the laws on abortion will not change current practices.

"Philips is strongly committed to the support of its current customer base and will work with them to take advantage of an integrated RIS-PACS solution," said Oran Murduroglu, chief executive officer of Philips Medical Systems’ Healthcare Informatics business group. "The RIS-PACS solution of the iSite and XIRIS will be amongst the strongest on the market today and will offer a powerful solution to clinics, doctors and to the patient," said Katitza Gerdau, founder and CEO of XIMIS. Philips officially unveiled its iSite PACS system in March at the European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, Austria. The system has been installed at healthcare facilities in ranging from Scandinavia to South Africa.

Medicare Records To Go Online
Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott says that from next year all Australians will be able to access their Medicare records online. Mr Abbott has told a health conference in Sydney that electronic records help to streamline care for patients, from a range of health professionals. "Patients will have secure access via the internet to a full record of their Medicare rebates," he said. "There will also be a layman's guide to item descriptors so that patients can readily appreciate the services they have received. "Within 12 months there will be similar arrangements to allow online patients access to their PBS claims history."

Federal Labor's University Compacts
The Shadow Minister for Education and Training, Stephen Smith, said a Rudd Labor Government will invest up to $4 million in new Commonwealth supported university places in national priority areas of teaching, nursing, and medicine at Notre Dame University in Western Australia and New South Wales. This is an example of a funding compact or partnership arrangement with a University - an approach flagged in Federal Labor's 2006 Higher Education White Paper.

Shadow Minister for Health Nicola Roxon said new Medicare figures show health costs are still rising. And bulk billing rates are still below where they were eleven years ago under Labor. Furthermore, the cost of visiting the doctor has more than doubled during the life of the Howard Government, from $8.52 in 1996 to $18.83 now.

Funding To Help Patients Manage Their Medication
Health Minister Tony Abbott said older patients and people taking multiple medications are set to benefit from better packaging of their medicines by pharmacists. The Commonwealth Government has provided up to $72.9 million to the Pharmacy Guild of Australia through the Fourth Pharmacy Agreement for the Dose Administration Aids program. The program provides support to community pharmacists to help patients manage their medication by packaging it into individual doses that are arranged according to the dose schedule throughout the day. The packaging can be either a unit-dose pack (one single type of medication per compartment) or a multi-dose pack (different types of medication per compartment).

Herceptin risks 'being ignored'
Nearly six years after Herceptin was first subsidised for late-stage sufferers, an analysis of all Australian women who have taken it has found an urgent need to review guidelines. Despite a compelling body of evidence that the drug can increase the risk of cardiac failure, a University of NSW study (published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology) has found that only 3% of those prescribed Herceptin had their heart checked before and during treatment. "We were all extremely surprised with the results," said Professor Robyn Ward, who examined data on all 1469 women who received Herceptin between December 2001 and March 2005. The study found that some clinicians had ignored the warning labels altogether. Thirty-three women received the drug in combination with a type of chemotherapy known to heighten the risk of heart failure. In all, 22% of the women received Herceptin "off-label", or as part of a combined therapy that was not approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. The study also found that, with dosage based on a patient's weight, more than 3000 litres — about $21 million of taxpayers' money — had been wasted because Herceptin was only sold in 150-millilitre vials. That is nearly a quarter of all Herceptin dispensed over the period.

MBF To Float On Stock Market
Australia's biggest non-government private health insurer has decided to become a public company and float on the Australian Stock Exchange. The board of MBF Australia says the move is in the best interests of its 800,000 policy holders. It says the change of structure will maximise its future growth potential and enhance is ability to compete in a rapidly changing environment.

Two-Year Growth Surge For Private Health Insurance
Statistics released by the Private Health Insurance Administration Council show that private health hospital insurance has increased for the eighth consecutive quarter – with more than 76,000 additional people covered in the June quarter. The increase of 0.2 percentage points continued the growth of private health insurance coverage. This means that 43.5%, or almost 9.1 million Australians, are now covered for hospital treatment. As well, a record 9.7 million people, or 46.1% of Australians, are covered for private health insurance general treatment (formerly known as ancillary). The total number of people covered by private health insurance, including both hospital treatment and general treatment, is now more than 10.5 million. From 1 April 2007, insurers were permitted to pay benefits for medical services provided out-of-hospital. The June 2007 quarter is the first period in which statistics for these out-of-hospital services were collected.

Since the 1970s new diseases have been identified at the "unprecedented" rate of one or more per year. Other centuries-old threats such as influenza, malaria and tuberculosis were also thriving due to a combination of biological mutations, rising resistance to antibiotics and weak health systems. The report is largely based on the notion that a given health threat is no longer easily confined within a country and can spread around the world swiftly, partly due to the expansion in passenger air travel over the past half-century and to trade.

Heart Foundation Researcher Wins Eureka Prize
A Heart Foundation funded researcher described as the most outstanding medical researcher of his generation has been recognised in this year's Australian Museum Eureka Prizes. Professor Levon Khachigian is one of Australia's most prominent vascular biologists and has been awarded the NSW Office for Science and Medical Research Jamie Callachor Eureka Prize for Medical Research. He is based at the Centre for Vascular Research, UNSW in Sydney. Professor Khachigian was awarded this prestigious honour for his work on the development of DNAzymes. These potential drugs may have far-reaching therapeutic effects on the treatment of cardiovascular disease and other conditions involving inflammation, such as rheumatoid arthritis and both ageing and diabetes-induced-blindness.

Sugar Finding Could Help Fight Flu
Research has shown that a component of the natural sugars in plants could make flu vaccines up to 100 times more effective. The head of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Department at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide, Professor Nikolai Petrovsky, has discovered that it can safely boost the effectiveness of commercial influenza vaccines. He says the natural sugar helps stimulate the human immune system. Professor Petrovsky says it has the potential to offer much higher protection against influenza-A and to extend vaccine supplies. "It actually only requires a much smaller does of vaccine, which means that vaccine supplies which currently can be quite stretched would go a lot further," he said. "Hopefully everyone would be able to receive a vaccine, not just high risk groups." The hospital is looking for people to trial a vaccine containing the substance. "It could potentially be available within a year or two," Professor Petrovsky said. "I think if we did face a flu pandemic then we'd be doing everything we can to see it made available immediately rather than to have to even wait that long." Professor Petrovsky thinks it could work equally well in the avian flu vaccine.

Europe Cancer Survival Up
Cancer survival has improved across Europe, with eastern European nations beginning to close the gap with western neighbours, according to a study covering the decade up to 2002. The study, published in the British journal The Lancet, showed a clear link between high rates of survival and the amount spent on health, but pointed out that Britain lagged well behind other countries with similar national health budgets.

The 23-country study, the largest of its kind, said that the survival rate for the most common cancers - colorectal, lung, breast and prostate - and for ovarian cancer was highest in Nordic countries, with the exception of Denmark, and in central Europe. It was somewhat lower in southern Europe, including Spain and Italy, lower still in Britain and Ireland, and lowest in eastern Europe. Poland and the Czech Republic showed sharp improvement across most major cancers in the period studied, suggesting that eastern European countries were closing the health gap.

Research Underlines Powerline Cancer Risk
People who live close to high-voltage powerlines during childhood are up to five times more likely to develop cancer, according to Australian research. The Tasmanian study of more than 850 patients, published in the Internal Medicine Journal, adds weight to the link between electromagnetic fields and cancers such as leukaemia, lymphoma and multiple myeloma. It is still not known whether there is a cause and effect relationship. Researchers from the University of Tasmania and Bristol University in Britain compared an existing database of all patients in Tasmania diagnosed with lymphatic and bone marrow cancers between 1972 and 1980, with controls matched for sex and age. Residential histories were then gathered.