Good health/bad health
Britain is slowly heading towards an obesity timebomb
Also In The News
|
A stunning goal by former  |
Monday, 24, Dec 2007 05:21
We take a look at some of the biggest health developments in 2007, including obesity, smoking bans and doctors' recruitment.
Obesity
Among the year's biggest headline-grabbing health issues was the realisation that Britain is slowly heading towards an obesity timebomb thanks to sedentary lifestyles.
Government statistics predicted that there could be more than 12 million adults and one million children classified as obese in Britain by 2010 unless action is taken, but a report by Foresight in October showed that the issue was worse than imagined.
It claimed that modern lifestyles have led to being seriously overweight becoming normalised and estimated that if current levels continue about a quarter of children, 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women will be obese by 2050.
As the nation's expanding waistlines began to weigh heavily on the government, initiatives emerged to get people off their sofas and into active lifestyles - with the Department of Health (DoH) promising to "provide the leadership, vision and sustained commitment" in the coming years to bring about the much-needed cultural shift.
Hospital superbugs
One of the other issues giving the government and medical professions a headache this year has been hospital-acquired infections (HCAIs) - also sometimes referred to as hospital superbugs.
Healthcare trusts have increased efforts to target MRSA and Clostridium difficile during 2007 (C.diff) but a damning review of infection control highlighted the fact that the UK still has a long way to go before rates of HCAIs fall to less worrying levels. The Healthcare Commission's report issued in October found that a quarter of trusts are not meeting control standards and need to improve their efforts.
Adding to the anger over some trusts' failure to reduce HCAIs was the revelation in the autumn that at least 90 people died from C.diff at three different hospitals in Kent because of poor cleanliness standards between April 2004 and September 2006.
Stepping into the role of superbug saviour was the health secretary Alan Johnson - although some medical professionals questioned whether his proposals were well-advised or simply headline-grabbing gimmicks. Included in his HCAI crackdown plan is for a 'deep-clean' of every hospital to be carried out by next spring and for the traditional long-sleeved doctors' white coat to be banned from the wards to promote hygiene on hands and wrists.
Whether these work will be evident in much-anticipated figures on rates of HCAIs in 2008.
Doctors' reform
Before Mr Johnson took over at the DoH helm Patricia Hewitt had the task of running the country's health-related issues. And what a time she had. Her attempts at reforming the way doctors are recruited met with anger and as the medical profession's concerns fell on dead ears, a review of reforms was conducted in the summer and an apology for the chaos issued by Ms Hewitt in the House of Commons.
Protests and judicial review resulted and few eyebrows were raised when she announced her retirement from Cabinet before Gordon Brown took over as prime minister.
Smoking
One ray of light in the beleaguered Ms Hewitt's time at the DoH was the ban on smoking in public places in England and Wales. Medical professionals publicly thanked her for driving the reform through at the NHS Confederation conference in June.
Since the ban came into force on July 1st most businesses have demonstrated their support for it, with a report in November revealing that of the 275,000 businesses inspected between July 1st and the end of September, 98 per cent were found to be compliant with the new law.
As well as surveys showing most of the public are happier with smokefree pubs, bars and restaurants, a report from the Tobacco Control Collaborating Centre in October found that hospitality workers are exposed to 95 per cent less secondhand smoke than before the smoking ban in England and Wales.
A further crackdown on the number of people who take up smoking was attempted in October when the law was changed so that shopkeepers cannot sell tobacco products to people under the age of 18 - a rise of two years.
Health professionals hope the rise will reduce the number of smoking-related deaths, as the younger a smoker starts, the more likely they are to be killed by their addiction.
2008 could see even further steps to reduce smoking, as the start of December saw the government announce plans to consider a ban on cigarette vending machines in the new year.
inthenews.co.uk wishes you a happy and very healthy Christmas and new year.
Carolyn Robertson