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No Shriners Hospitals Closing; Some May Be Outpatient-Only
"All 22 Shriners Hospitals for Children will stay open, but some eventually might become outpatient-only surgery facilities, the system that offers free specialty pediatric care said Thursday," CNN reports. "The system, which has covered all costs of its patients" care throughout its 87-year history, eventually will accept insurance from patients who have it, members of the Shriners fraternity decided in their annual convention in San Antonio, Texas. Accepting money from insurers and finding other ways to cut costs will help Shriners retain their presence in all 22 locations, said Doug Maxwell, the new president and CEO of Shriners Hospitals."
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IFPMA R&D Status Report 2009: Industry Research Increasing In Less Well-known Tropical Diseases
The IFPMA has just published the 2009 edition of its Status Report on Pharmaceutical Industry R&D for Diseases of the Developing World(1). This documents research and development projects by IFPMA member companies(2), alone or with partners, to develop medicines and vaccines for the 10 diseases of the developing world (DDW)(3) prioritized by the United Nations" TDR tropical disease research and training organization(4). Member company DDW medicine and vaccine projects have increased from 67 last year to a total of 84 this year. While the number of tuberculosis and malaria projects has grown slightly, projects for the remaining eight tropical diseases have increased markedly from 11 in 2008 to 25 in 2009.
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Malaria Cases Reported In Cambodian Public Facilities Drop More Than 50%
There was more than a 50 percent drop in the total number of malaria cases reported by public facilities in Cambodia between 2003 and 2008, according to the National Centre for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control"s annual report, which was released on Tuesday, the Phnom Penh Post reports. Officials are attributing the decrease to village-based treatment and education programs.
Mental Health

Intensive In-Hospital Support Doubles Likelihood Of Smoking Cessation In Heart Patients

Patients admitted to hospital with coronary artery disease are twice as likely to quit smoking after receiving intensive smoking cessation support compared to minimal support, found a new study in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). The study, a randomized clinical trial, compared intensive intervention with minimal intervention and found that patients admitted for open heart surgery (coronary artery bypass grafts) had significantly higher long-term abstinence rates at 1 year compared with those admitted for heart attacks (acute myocardial infarctions.) Other factors that contributed to successful long-term smoking cessation included absence of a previous heart attack, postsecondary education and at least some smoking restrictions at home. The intervention used in the study resulted in the highest rates of 1-year confirmed smoking cessation in previous tests in the US. This Canadian study involved 45-60 minutes of bedside education and counselling sessions in hospital followed by 7 telephone counselling sessions with a nurse at specific intervals over 2 months. These calls helped patients to problem-solve by developing cognitive, behavioural and social support strategies for use when they found themselves in high-risk situations; in doing so the patients could maintain their smoke-free status. "The rates of confirmed long-term abstinence rates observed in this trial are among the highest rates reported in cardiac populations and are among the highest reported absolute differences between minimal and intensive interventions," write Dr. Patricia Smith, Northern Ontario School of Medicine and Dr. Ellen Burgess, University of Calgary. "Our results suggest that intensive counselling provided during the hospital stay is more effective than a stepped-care approach that provides intensive counselling only after a patient has relapsed," write the authors. They suggest inpatient programs have the potential to significantly reduce cardiac events and hospital costs and should become standard practice in hospitals. In a related commentary, Dr. Nancy Rigotti from Massachusetts General Hospital writes that despite numerous studies pointing to the potential of reducing overall cardiovascular illness and deaths with smoking cessation interventions, these have not yet become standard care. She states a major problem is that the intensive intervention model does not fit into the current health care delivery system. Maintaining health care during the transition from inpatient to outpatient settings is a key challenge for the management of all chronic diseases, including tobacco. She calls for the development of new creative ways to move the research findings into routine practice, a move that she calls overdue. Kim Barnhardt Canadian Medical Association Journal


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