UK Committee Warns on Food Shortages Due to Flu Epidemic
The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has issued a warning that if a bird flu pandemic were to hit Britain, there would be a severe shortage of food. // The Committe has called on ministers to step-up efforts to collaborate on an international level and has asked the Government to prepare alternative plans to combat an epidemic should the need arise. As staff continue to...UK Doctors Fear Shortages Could Hit Public Health Drive
The drive to boost public health in the UK could be hit by a shortage of doctors. Public health trainee doctors say government primary care reforms mean stalling of their careers and withdrawal of consultant posts. // The uncertainty surrounding primary care trust mergers in England under Commissioning a Patient-led NHS has prompted some primary care trusts to freeze public hea...Canada Faces Skin Donation Shortages
Canada: Doctors are experiencing a nationwide shortage of donated skin, causing concerns as Christmas holidays arrive.// Earlier this month, due to shortage of skin at Sunnybrook health sciences center in Toronto, more skin had flown from Calgary for treating a man with severe burns in more than 80% of his body. Skin, one of the body’s largest organs, protects us against infe...Osteopathic Medical Education Will Help With Shortages
First-year enrollment at the nation’s colleges of osteopathic medicine is projected to increase// to more than 4,474 in 2011-12, a 45.3 percent increase since 2002-03. With the addition of COM Mesa of AT Still University of Health Sciences, in Mesa, Arizona; the Debusk College of Osteopathic Medicine of Lincoln Memorial University, in Harrogate, Tennessee; and the TOURO College of Os...Is Presumed Consent the Answer to Organ Shortages?
The supply of organ donors cannot keep up with demand. Two experts in this weeks BMJ debate whether presumed consent assuming people want to donate unless there is evidence to the contrary is the answer. Surveys show that 90% of the UK population support organ donation, yet only 23% have registered their wish to donate, writes Veronica English, Deputy Head of Medical Ethics at th...