75% of Irish beaches 'excellent' for swimming - EPA
Six beaches failed to meet the legally required minimum standard For the third year in a row three-quarters of Ireland's designated bathing waters have been classified as excellent by the Environmental Protection Agency in its annual report.
One hundred and thirty beaches were deemed excellent, good or of satisfactory standard. However six failed to meet the legally required minimum standard.
Three of the six were in Dublin at Merrion Strand, Loughshinny, and Portrane and three in Galway at Clifden, Trá na Forbacha, and Ballyloughane.
Sewage and drainage misconnections, as well as septic tank discharges, contamination with dog and seagull faeces, and river inputs were the causes of the failures.
Dublin and Galway local authorities are now obliged to advise the public not to swim at those locations this summer.
The Environmental Protection Agency said the public can help by taking their rubbish home from the beach, and bagging dog poo rather than burying it in the sand.
140 beaches are continually tested by the EPA for bugs that can cause a sick stomach, a respiratory illness, or swimmers itch.
The EU sets the standards and the tests are twice as strict as they used to be.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, EPA Senior Scientific Officer Peter Webster said there are still 43 areas of concern from around the coastline where raw sewage is pouring into the sea.
He said, fortunately, not many of them are near identified beaches, with the possible exception of Youghal.
Mr Webster said the intention of Irish Water is to spend around €350 million between now and 2020 to address issues.
Experts Criticised for Saturated Fat Claim The authors said 'the conceptual model of dietary saturated fat clogging a pipe is just plain wrong'
Heart experts have been criticised for claiming it is "plain wrong" to believe that saturated fat clogs up arteries.
Three specialists argued that eating "real food", taking exercise and reducing stress are better ways to stave off heart disease than cutting out dietary saturated fat.
Writing in a respected journal, they maintained that inflammation is the chief threat to arteries and there is little evidence linking saturated fat consumption with heart disease, diabetes and premature death.
But the editorial, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, attracted scathing criticism for being "simplistic", "muddled" and "misleading".
The authors, led by Dr Aseem Malhotra, from Lister Hospital, Stevenage, wrote: "Despite popular belief among doctors and the public, the conceptual model of dietary saturated fat clogging a pipe is just plain wrong."
Dr Malhotra and colleagues Professor Rita Redberg, from the University of California at San Francisco, and Pascal Meier from University Hospital Geneva in Switzerland and University College London, cited a "landmark" review of evidence that appeared to exonerate saturated fat.
They said relative levels of "good" cholesterol, or high density lipoprotein (HDL), were a better predictor of heart disease risk than levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as "bad" cholesterol.
High consumption of foods rich in saturated fat such as butter, cakes and fatty meat has been shown to increase blood levels of LDL.
The experts wrote: "It is time to shift the public health message in the prevention and treatment of coronary artery disease away from measuring serum lipids (blood fats) and reducing dietary saturated fat.
"Coronary artery disease is a chronic inflammatory disease and it can be reduced effectively by walking 22 minutes a day and eating real food."
They pointed out that in clinical trials widening narrow arteries with stents, stainless steel mesh devices, failed to reduce the risk of heart attacks.
Dr Aseem spelled out a similar message in another opinion piece published in the British Medical Journal in 2013.
However the authors found an ally in Dr Mary Hannon-Fletcher, head of the school of health sciences at the University of Ulster, who described the editorial as "the best dietary and exercise advice I have read in recent years".
She added: "Walking 22 minutes a day and eating real food. This is an excellent public health message; the modern idea of a healthy diet where we eat low-fat and low-calorie foods is simply not a healthy option."
Doctors have spotted cancer coming back up to a year before normal scans in an "exciting" discovery.
The UK team was able to scour the blood for signs of cancer while it was just a tiny cluster of cells invisible to X-ray or CT scans.
It should allow doctors to hit the tumour earlier and increase the chances of a cure.
They also have new ideas for drugs after finding how unstable DNA fuels rampant cancer development.
The research project was on lung cancer, but the processes studied are so fundamental that they should apply across all cancer types.
Lung cancer kills more people than any other type of tumour and the point of the study is to track how it can "evolve" into a killer that spreads through the body.
Blood test
In order to test for cancer coming back, doctors need to know what to look for.
In the trial, funded by Cancer Research UK, samples were taken from the lung tumour when it was removed during surgery.
A team at the Francis Crick Institute, in London, then analysed the tumour's defective DNA to build up a genetic fingerprint of each patient's cancer.
Then blood tests were taken every three months after the surgery to see if tiny traces of cancer DNA re-emerged.
The results, outlined in the journal Nature, showed cancer recurrence could be detected up to a year before any other method available to medicine.
The tumours are thought to have a volume of just 0.3 cubic millimetres when the blood test catches them.
One in three hospital doctors have experienced burnout, according to a new survey. The National Study of Wellbeing of Hospital Doctors in Ireland, published today, also found up to 10% reported severe to extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress.
This is despite the finding that over 70% of doctors are strongly motivated to practice medicine.
Four out of five doctors reported going to work at times, when they were ill or injured.
The same proportion reported significant work stress and felt the effort put into their work, exceeded the rewards gained.
The study found that, on average, doctors worked 57 hours a week and just 20% said they had enough time for family and personal life.
The research study was led by Dr Blánaid Hayes, Dean of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland's Faculty of Occupational Medicine.
Her study, which was launched in 2014, surveyed hospital doctors in Ireland at trainee and consultant level across all specialties. It aimed to explore the topics of lifestyle behaviours, personal well-being and workplace well-being.
The findings were positive in some areas such as the very high number of doctors (over 70%) who expressed a strong desire to practise medicine and eight in ten reporting good or better overall health and general quality of life.
It found 80% reported less than optimal levels of physical activity, one in ten drank alcohol to excess occasionally and 10% smoked.
Commenting on her research, Dr Hayes said that she sees many front line health professionals at her practice who require care and support. "This study has addressed a gap in the knowledge-base on the health and well-being of hospital doctors in this country, including the challenges posed by stress and mental ill health.
"As an occupational physician, I know first-hand that this is a problem because I see it in my practice and I hear it from my colleagues in other hospitals too.
"Front line healthcare workers and clinicians are presenting with mood disorders and stress-related conditions which are at least in part related to working conditions including staff shortages."
New maternity hospital will provide standard of care expected by women - Taoiseach Artist's impression of new National Maternity Hospital at St Vincent's
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said agreement on the new National Maternity Hospital will conclude in the next number of weeks and the hospital will provide the standard of care women are entitled to expect in this day and age.
Mr Kenny said if issues arise that mean women need hospital treatment "it will be on the campus of St Vincent’s".
"What we want to do is put in place a legally waterproof situation where it will be perfectly clear for everybody that what's at stake here is proper world class facilities for expectant mothers and pregnant women," he said.
The Taoiseach added that the breathing space requested by Minister for Health Simon Harris on the issue has been given to him.
Former master of the National Maternity Hospital Dr Peter Boylan resigned with immediate effect from its board yesterday morning.
Mr Kenny said the decision by Dr Boylan to resign from the board is one for himself.
Europe's drugmakers pushed for a decision as early as June on the new location for the headquarters of the bloc's medicines watchdog.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is due to relocate from London after Britain's decision to leave the EU.
The EMA, employing nearly 900 staff, acts as a one-stop-shop for approving new treatments and monitoring the safety of drugs and veterinary products across the region.
The new location will be decided by the EU's heads of state, whose next meeting as the European Council is scheduled for June 22-23.
"The Council's deliberations on the agency's future location need to be conducted on the basis of very essential criteria and put for decision as early on as possible, preferably at its meeting in June this year," European pharma lobby group, EFPIA said in a statement.
The statement was signed by 19 top executives at member companies including Pfizer, Novartis, Sanofi and Roche.
The European Medicines Agency is due to relocate from London, after Britain's decision to leave the EU
The industry warned that getting it wrong could impact the region's high level of public health.
"Were a rapid resolution on the future location of the EMA not to materialise, or if the future seat of the European Medicines Agency were to fail in terms of establishing its minimum prerequisites, the quality of its work and the future of the European Medicines Regulatory Network would be placed in jeopardy," the statement said.
EMA's executive director Guido Rasi earlier this month also called for a decision in June and for a carefully planned relocation so as not to disrupt the body's work.
The EMA, the largest EU body in Britain, has been based in London since its birth in 1995 and it moved into new premises in Canary Wharf on a 25-year lease less than three years ago.
No fewer than 21 EU member states have expressed their interest in hosting the EMA, including Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, France and Poland.
The new location would have to offer sufficient transport infrastructure and accommodation for EMA staff and its tens of thousands of annual visitors and quality housing, schools and employment opportunities for spouses and family to retain its staff.
Cycling to work, cuts the risk of developing heart disease and cancer by almost half, research suggests.
Walking to work is also good for you, although it does not offer the same benefits as taking a bike, experts from the University of Glasgow found.
The new study on 264,337 people, 52% of whom were women, found cycling to work is linked to a 45% lower risk of developing cancer and a 46% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to driving to work or taking public transport.
Overall, cyclists had a 41% lower risk of premature death from any cause.
The study also found some health benefits, if people cycled part of their journey
Walking to work was also associated with a 27% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 36% lower risk of dying from it.
But there was no link with a lower risk of cancer or dying early from any cause in walkers, the study found.
People who preferred to stroll to work also had to walk for two hours a week in total to see health benefits, at an average speed of three miles per hour.
Experts behind the study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), said the lower benefits seen for walking compared to cycling could be down to several factors.
These include the fact cyclists covered longer distances in their commutes than the walkers, cycling is a higher intensity exercise and cyclists were generally more fit.
Dr Carlos Celis-Morales, from the University of Glasgow, said: "Walking to work was associated with lower risk of heart disease, but unlike cycling was not associated with a significantly lower risk of cancer or overall death.
"This may be because walkers commuted shorter distances than cyclists, typically six miles per week, compared with 30 miles per week, and walking is generally a lower intensity of exercise than cycling."
The study also found some health benefits if people cycled part of their journey and took public transport or drove the rest of the way.
The people taking part in the research were aged 52 on average at the start of the study and were followed for five years.
About 2,430 people died during the study period, with 496 deaths related to cardiovascular disease, which covers all diseases of the heart and circulation, and 1,126 deaths from cancer.
Overall, 3,748 people developed cancer over the five years, and 1,110 had an event related to cardiovascular disease, such as a heart attack or stroke.
The Master of the National Maternity Hospital has said that the agreement reached for locating the new maternity hospital at St Vincent’s is unequivocal, that the hospital will be entirely independent, and that that is written down in black and white.
Dr. Rhona Mahony said the ethos of the hospital will be clinical excellence and that contraception, IVF services, and abortions will be carried out when necessary.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Dr. Mahony stressed that nuns will not be involved in the operation or running of the hospital.
She said the fundamental principle during the mediation process for the National Maternity Hospital, currently based in Holles Street, was that it would retain its independence and autonomy.
It was important to locate the hospital on the St. Vincent’s campus, because they want patients to have access to wide range of services available there, Dr. Mahony added.
Dr. Rhona Mahony said the ownership of the hospital is a technical detailThe St Vincent's Healthcare Group, owned by the Sisters of Charity, will own the €300m building.
Dr. Mahony said the ownership is a technical detail.
She said that abortions will be carried out, without hesitation, if needed to save a woman's life.
Asked if a woman wants to be sterilised, out of personal need, Dr. Mahony said it will be done.
She said the new maternity hospital will not be practising in St Vincent’s Hospital, but on the campus. This, she said, was in the agreement and there is no doubt about this.
The Irish Medical Organisation has said most doctors would see free GP care for all in five years as pie in the sky, unless it is properly costed.
Speaking at the union's annual conference in Galway, IMO President Dr John Duddy said it would be disappointing if the final report of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare does not provide costings and the funding system on the proposal.
Dr Duddy said that in principle the idea of free GP care for all is a good one.
But who would pay for it was the big issue, whether through general taxation, a health levy, or an increase health insurance premiums.
Dr Duddy said the cost would certainly be a seven-figure sum.
Meanwhile, the IMO has said the talks on a new GP contract, which have started with the Government, will be a long process.
The union said it involves a complex change to a contract first established in 1970.
Dr Duddy said it would be nice to have a timescale for the negotiations, but they should not be limited either.
The union has today called for a major investment in the health system to end emergency department overcrowding and long waiting lists, especially given the rise in the population shown by recent census data.
Minister for Health Simon Harris will address the two-day conference tomorrow.
Vaccine complacency could cost lives in Ireland, as Europe sees large measles outbreaks, and related deaths.
Complacency in relation to vaccines could cause deaths in Ireland as large measles outbreaks and related deaths take place in Europe, warned the HSE today, Monday April 24th.
Many European countries are reporting measles outbreaks - over 4000 cases and 18 measles related deaths have been reported in Romania in the past six months, according to the Head of the HSE National Immunisation Office, Dr Brenda Corcoran.
“Other countries with recent measles outbreaks include, Italy, France, Germany, Poland and Belgium. An outbreak involving 40 cases occurred in Ireland as recently as 2016.
“Measles is one of the most infectious diseases. It is spread by coughing and sneezing, and by close contact with an infected individual. With today’s travel patterns, no person or country is beyond the reach of the measles virus.
“The only protection against measles is the MMR vaccine. Two doses of MMR vaccine (at 12 months and 4-5 years of age) are required to be fully vaccinated. While uptake in Ireland has remained steady at around 92%, we need to increase uptake rates to the target of 95% to make sure that measles does not circulate here. This is important for everybody but is particularly vital to protect young babies as they cannot receive the MMR vaccine until they are 12 months old so they are vulnerable to complications, including death if they are exposed to measles infection.
“MMR vaccine along with many other vaccines saves lives and protects against serious illness. Due to good vaccine uptake, we have thankfully not seen outbreaks of other infectious diseases in Ireland that we witnessed in the past but we must not let complacency creep in. We have seen a recent fall in the uptake of HPV vaccine because of unsubstantiated safety concerns. This serves as a reminder that on-going efforts are required to reach and maintain high vaccine uptake levels. The theme for this year’s European Immunisation Week is “Vaccines Work” and we must continue to remind ourselves that vaccines are a simple, effective and safe way to save lives and prevent serious illness”, said Dr Corcoran.
Irish medical students are predominantly from financially better-off families, and almost certainly will get a job in Ireland when they graduate or will pursue further study, a report from the Higher Education Authority says.
The HEA says there is a challenge to the higher education system and to the medical profession to do more to ensure greater diversity in medicine.
It finds that slightly more medical students are likely to be female.
Almost two thirds (64%) of non-Irish students come from Asia, with Malaysia (37%) forming the biggest cohort.
The study looked at all medicine students in the universities, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - during 2015/16
Of the Irish graduates, 94% are employed in Ireland.
The study looked at all medicine students in the universities and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland during 2015/16 and then also surveyed graduates, nine months after they left college.
The Netherlands has made a formal bid to become the new home of the European Medicines Agency which will likely have to relocate from London after Britain leaves the European Union.
"It is my pleasure to inform you of the Netherlands' candidacy to host the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in Amsterdam," Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said in a letter to EU president Donald Tusk.
Ireland has also expressed an interest in hosting the EMA in Dublin, while several other European cities are thought to be in the running to provide a new home for the EMA, including Barcelona and Copenhagen.
The agency and its 900 staff of pharmacists, biologists and doctors are tasked with researching and evaluating all new medicines, to see if they are ready to be rolled out across the European bloc
Amsterdam has "outstanding international travel connections and excellent working and living conditions," Mr Rutte said, adding it "meets all the requirements of the agency and its staff".
EU agencies like the EMA are meant to be located within the bloc, causing uncertainty for the agency currently based in London's Canary Wharf business district.
"The Netherlands will do everything in its power to facilitate a smooth and efficient transition from the UK to our country, in order to ensure full operational continuity both for the agency and the large number of scientific experts involved," Mr Rutte vowed.
He said "uncertainty about the move" was already affecting the agency's work and staff and he urged the European Council to "decide on the EMA's new location as swiftly as possible".
European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said yesterday the "real political" negotiations on Brexit will start after Britain's snap June 8 elections.
He told reporters that both the EMA and the European Banking Authority "must be based in the territory of the European Union" once Brexit is complete.
The British government will have "no say" on the issue because it is not part of the Brexit negotiations, but "will have to ease the burden of relocating" staff to EU cities, he added.
Mr Rutte also took to Twitter to press his country's case saying on his official account: "I firmly believe that NL is best equipped to provide all conditions necessary to enable the EMA to perform its work as effectively as possible."
Since its creation in 1995, the agency has approved 1,100 medicines, including 82 last year.
Of those which gained approval in 2016, 17 were for treating cancer, 14 for infections, and nine for heart disease.
An opinion poll suggests that half the country's adults have experienced the abuse of vulnerable adults, either through suffering abuse themselves or seeing somebody close to them abused.
The independent National Safeguarding Committee, which commissioned the research, has for stronger safeguarding laws and for the Government to progress the establishment of a service, already provided for in 2015 legislation, to support adults whose capacity for making decisions is in question.
The state-wide opinion poll, conducted by Red C last December, interviewed by phone a sample of 1,004 adults who were demographically representative of the rest of the Republic's over 18's.
Although 61% felt vulnerable adults are well protected here, 38% said they are badly treated.
Red C said this and other data suggests, the public perceives a problem around safeguarding people who have a limited capacity for self-protection.
There was uncertainty around what constitutes psychological and financial abuse and one-in-three people did not know clearly that they should report concerns about vulnerable adult abuse to a health care professional or to an HSE Safeguarding and Protection Team.
The pollsters said that suggests more public education is required.
Half the respondents claimed to have experienced abuse directly or indirectly, with emotional abuse mentioned by one in three of them.
The same number witnessed or suspected physical abuse, while the incidence was highest in private dwellings.
Adults who may be vulnerable are those who may be restricted in their capacity to guard themselves against harm or exploitation, possibly as a result of illness, dementia, mental health problems, physical disability or intellectual disability.
The first tele-medicine service that allows patients be treated by their GPs using a smartphone has been launched.
The service, GP Online, is being piloted in six doctor surgeries in urban and rural locations and it will be rolled out nationwide during the year. Online Medical consultation is a major growth area in health and several national and international companies are active in the Irish market. This is the first service to allow patients to talk to their own GP from the comfort of their home or office. The advantage is that patients are talking to the doctor who is familiar with their medical history and has all their records to hand, GP Online chief executive, Aidan Callaly said.
A new study says there is not enough current evidence to show that e-cigarettes are an effective aid to help people stop smoking. The Health Information and Quality Authority has published the first analysis comparing the cost-effectiveness of various smoking cessation interventions.
Almost one in three people use e-cigarettes, to help cease smoking
The cost to the healthcare system of smoking is about €460m a year.
There are around 820,000 smokers in Ireland, with half making at least one quit attempt each year.
Almost one in three people use e-cigarettes to try to stop smoking.
HIQA’s study says that while early evidence for e-cigarettes is promising, the Minister for Health should await the results of on-going trials before recommending them as a smoking cessation method.
The health watchdog says that the most effective intervention is the prescription only drug Varenicline, either alone, or alongside nicotine replacement therapy.
Furthermore, it recommends that the HSE increase the uptake of the drug.
"Today, almost two billion people use a source of drinking-water contaminated with faeces, putting them at risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio," Maria Neira, who head's WHO's public health department, said in a statement.
"Contaminated drinking-water is estimated to cause more than 500,000 diarrhoeal deaths each year and is a major factor in several neglected tropical diseases, including intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and trachoma," she added.
Local people collecting water from a muddy waterhole in Mexico
The report welcomed the fact that countries had on average raised their annual budgets for water, sanitation and hygiene by 4.9% over the past three years.
But it says 80% of countries acknowledge that their financing is still not enough to meet their nationally-set targets for increasing access to safe water and sanitation.
"In many developing countries, current national coverage targets are based on achieving access to basic infrastructure, which may not always provide continuously safe and reliable services," the WHO warned in a statement.
Guy Ryder, Chair of UN-Water and head of the International Labour Organisation, says "increased investments in water and sanitation can yield substantial benefits for human health and development, generate employment and make sure that we leave no one behind".
In the mid 1980s, HIV/Aids terrified the world because of a lack of understanding, as well as misinformation.
In April 1987, Princess Diana opened the UK's first purpose built HIV/Aids unit that exclusively cared for patients infected with the virus, at London Middlesex Hospital.
In front of the world's media, Princess Diana shook the hand of a man suffering with the illness.
She did so without gloves, publicly challenging the notion that HIV/Aids was passed from person to person by touch.
She showed in a single gesture that this was a condition needing compassion and understanding, not fear and ignorance.
John O'Reilly was a nurse on the ward at the time of the Princess of Wales' visit.
He spoke to Witness about a landmark moment in the fight against HIV/Aids.
Scientists in Belfast have found a potential new mechanism - making antibiotics for treating cystic fibrosis (CF) more effective, in the face of growing resistance.
The Queen's University Belfast researchers have found that fat soluble vitamins, could stop the antibiotics from becoming impeded.
The scientists found fat soluble vitamins can stop antibiotics from being impeded
The cause of many severe lung infections in those with CF, Burkholderia cenocepacia bacteria have become very resistant to antibiotics.
The team, led by Professor Miguel Valvano from the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen's, found the problem lay with lipocalins.
These are proteins which latch onto antibiotics, preventing them from destroying the bacteria.
But the scientists found that fat-soluble vitamins, like Vitamin E, can get over this problem, because they stick to the lipocalins more strongly than they do to the antibiotics.
Details of the study are published in the journal mBio.
The team is now examining ways of reformulating antibiotics with vitamins in order to improve their efficacy.
"This is an exciting and potentially life-changing finding, particularly relevant for cystic fibrosis patients who are chronically infected with multi-resistant bacteria," said Professor Valvano.
"Armed with this knowledge, we can focus our efforts on finding alternative solutions to more effectively treat the infection in these patients."
Professional athletes may be in a different league when it comes to sport, but new research suggests they also have markedly different gut bacteria.
A study of professional rugby players, carried out by researchers in Cork and London, found the bugs in their digestive system, known as the microbiome, are primed to repair tissue.
The research also discovered that the players' microbiome is also particularly good at harnessing energy from the diet.
The findings suggest, the researchers say, that the fitness of a person is not just limited to their physical abilities, but also to their gut health.
It also found the microorganisms that reside in the gut of these full-time athletes are noticeably distinct functionally and metabolically.
Scientists from the APC Microbiome Institute, Teagasc and Imperial College London were involved in the research, results of which were published in the journal Gut.
The study was carried out by researchers in Cork and London
The discoveries build on earlier findings of a study by the scientists of the microbiome of the Irish rugby squad.
It found there was a connection between the exercise and diet of individuals and their gut health.
The scientist say there is now a good reason to further explore the make-up of this exercise and diet-microbiome paradigm, which could then help with exercise and fitness programmes.
"Our earlier work, also published in Gut, had shown that the microbiome of the athletes differed in composition from that of non-athletes," said Professor Fergus Shanahan, Director of the APC Microbiome Institute in a statement.
"But now we have found that the functional behaviour of the microbiome separates the athletes and controls to an even greater degree."
Children in Northern Ireland are eating three times as much sugar as they should, the Food Standards Agency has warned. Most of the sugar comes in breakfast cereals, yoghurts and biscuits.
Adults are consuming double the recommended amount of sugar, the organisation added.
The FSA welcomed new guidelines published by Public Health England, which promised to remove around 200,000 tonnes of sugar from UK diets, per year by 2020.
FSA chairman Heather Hancock said: "The FSA is also working with local cafes and restaurants to encourage displays of calories on menus so that people have the information they need to make healthy choices when eating out.
"The FSA's aim is to have healthier choices widely available and easy for consumers to make wherever they eat."
The Public Health England guidance sets out the recommended sugar limits for nine food groups including biscuits, breakfast cereals and yoghurt, and how reductions could be achieved by the food industry.
Most of the sugar comes in breakfast cereals, yoghurts and biscuits
In Northern Ireland, the FSA has been working with small and medium-sized businesses on reducing sugar content.
Ms Hancock added: "We know that adults and children in Northern Ireland are eating too much sugar and that most of it comes from everyday foods such as breakfast cereals and yoghurts as well as from foods such as confectionery and biscuits.
"That is why the Food Standards Agency's work with the Northern Ireland food industry is vital in reducing the levels of sugar, saturated fat and salt in the food they manufacture, serve or sell, as well as reducing portion sizes in general."
She said healthy choices should be easy to make.
"Eating a healthy, balanced diet is a key factor in having good health and achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
"We are committed to collaborating across government and industry in tackling obesity and providing consumers with the opportunities to support and access a healthier lifestyle."
A French teenager's sickle cell disease has been reversed, using a pioneering treatment, to change his DNA.
The world-first procedure at Necker Children's Hospital in Paris offers hope to millions of people with the blood disorder.
Scientists altered the genetic instructions in his bone marrow so it made healthy red blood cells.
So far, the therapy has worked for 15 months and the child is no longer on any medication.
Sickle cell disease causes normally round red blood cells, which carry oxygen around the body, to become shaped like a sickle.
These deformed cells can lock together to block the flow of blood around the body. This can cause intense pain, organ damage and can be fatal.
The teenager who received the treatment had so much internal damage he needed to have his spleen removed and his hips replaced.
Every month he had to go into hospital to have a blood transfusion to dilute his defective blood.
But when he was 13, doctors at the Necker Children's Hospital in Paris did something unique.
Healthy red blood cells are round, but the genetic defect makes them sickle shaped
'No sign of disease'
Doctors removed his bone marrow - the part of the body that makes blood. They then genetically altered it in a lab to compensate for the defect in his DNA that caused the disease.
Sickle cell is caused by a typo in the instructions for making the protein haemoglobin, which is densely packed into red blood cells.
A virus was used to infect the bone marrow with new, correct instructions.
The corrected bone marrow was then put back into the patient.
The results in the New England Journal of Medicine showed the teenager has been making normal blood since the procedure 15 months ago.
Philippe Leboulch, a professor of medicine at the University of Paris, told the BBC News website: "So far the patient has no sign of the disease, no pain, no hospitalisation. He no longer requires a transfusion so we are quite pleased with that.
"But of course we need to perform the same therapy in many patients to feel confident that it is robust enough to propose it as a mainstream therapy."
'Given his life back'
Prof. Leboulch is nervous about using the word "cure" as this is just the first patient to come through clinical trials.
But the study does show the potential power of gene therapy to transform the lives of people with sickle cell.
"I think it's very significant, essential they've given him his life back," said Dr Deborah Gill from the gene medicine research group at the University of Oxford.
She told the BBC: "I've worked in gene therapy for a long time and we make small steps and know there's years more work.
"But here you have someone who has received gene therapy and has complete clinical remission - that's a huge step forward."
However, the expensive procedure can only be carried out in cutting-edge hospitals and laboratories, while most sickle cell patients are in Africa.
The next big challenge will be to transform this pioneering science into something that really can help millions of people.
British actress Emma Thompson has said she never moved to Los Angeles, because she felt she was deemed "too fat" when she visited.
"It is a strange place and I couldn't live there," she told Swedish chat show Skavlan.
The Oscar winner also condemned the pressure on actresses to be thin.
"The anorexia - there are so many kids, girls and boys now, and actresses who are very, very thin, who are into their 30s, [and] simply don't eat," she said. 'It's getting worse'
The star also revealed she threatened to quit working on 2008 film Brideshead Revisited, in reaction to a co-star who had been told to shed the pounds.
She said: "The producers said to her, 'Will you lose some weight?'. She was absolutely exquisite.
"I said to them, 'If you speak to her about this again, on any level, I will leave this picture. You are never to do that'.
"It's evil, what's happening, what's going on out there, and it's getting worse."
A special report by the Environmental Protection Agency has found that drinking water quality in private water supplies is consistently poorer, than public water supplies.
It also found that almost 40% of private water supplies were not monitored for E. coli contamination.
However, 70 of the supplies that were tested were found to be contaminated by human or animal waste at least once during the reporting year.
The EPA said that the lack of regular monitoring for E. coli is worrying as users may unwittingly be drinking water that is of poor quality which could expose them to serious illness.
It said this is especially so for people who are vulnerable, such as children, older people, or those with low immunity or underlying medical conditions.
One fifth of the population in Ireland, mostly in rural areas, get their drinking water from the country's 2,700 private water supplies.
It is provided by group water schemes, small supplies, or wells operated by the owners of buildings or businesses as part of a public or commercial activity.
According to the EPA report the water supplied to 270 hotels, restaurants, or other premises serving food, as well as 99 national schools or childcare centres, and 23 nursing homes are not monitored for E. coli contamination.
It also said that over 50,000 household wells in Ireland are contaminated with the E. coli bacteria arising from animal or human waste.
EPA said that the lack of regular monitoring for E. coli is worrying
The report pointed out that the HSE has reported that the number of cases of VTEC, which is a pathogenic form of E. coli, has more than doubled in Ireland since 2011.
It said that Ireland has the highest incidence of VTEC in Europe and that patients infected with this strain of the E. coli the bacteria are four times more likely to have consumed water from household wells.
Boil water notices were imposed on 94 private water supplies during 2015 affecting 5,400 people, which is more than are currently affected by boil water notices in public water supplies today.
The boil water notices affected six counties. However, 85% of those affected lived in just three counties, Wicklow, Limerick, and Offaly. The other counties were Laois, Sligo, and Cork.
The EPA said that further improvements are required to ensure that people on private water supplies have access to clean and wholesome drinking water.
Senior Inspector Darragh Page said local authorities have extensive enforcement powers to ensure that action is taken where water quality issues are identified and they should exercise these powers to ensure that consumers are protected.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Page said: "We know that almost 40% of those supplies were not monitored last year. We are also calling on local authorites to use their enforecement powers to regulate these supplies.
"To go out, carry out an audit on these supplies, identifying those that are quality deficient and requiring those water supply owners to improve those supplies."
He said penalties can be imposed.
"Local authorities have the power to take a prosecution if they direct a water supplier to improve the water supply and they don't. The fine can be up to €5000 or three months in prison."
He said there are grants available of up to 75% of the cost for people to remediate their wells.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board has removed 2,258 nurses and midwives from the register, for not paying their annual registration fee.
The €100 fee is paid to stay on the register and once removed, it is an offence to practice nursing or midwifery.
Nurses can reapply to be registered and pay the feeThe Board says it made the decision on 21 March in relation to the 2,258 nurses, and midwives after renewal and reminder notices were sent to the nurses concerned, and the fee was not paid.
The Minister for Health, Health Service Executive, known employers and the nurses and midwives have been notified in writing of the removals from the register.
The Irish Kidney Association has reported an increase in transplants with 298 performed on Irish patients last year. The figures represent a 12% rise on the 266 transplants performed in 2015.
Around 600 people are awaiting life-saving heart, liver, kidney and pancreas transplants.
The association today launched organ donor awareness week, which starts next Saturday.
280 of the transplants were performed in Ireland and a further 11 paediatricorgan transplants and 7 living donor transplants were performed on Irish patients who travelled to the UK, with the Health Service Executive funding the operations.
Irish Kidney Association Chief Executive, Mark Murphy called for an organ donor registry to be set up, in line with the HSE consent policy, to help increase deceased donations.
The IKA said there are now many ways for people to show willingness for organ donation, such as by carrying the organ donor card, downloading the Smartphone App, or allowing Code 115 to be included on a person's driving licence.
280 of the 298 transplants for Irish patients were performed in Ireland
Living kidney donor and RTÉ broadcaster Vivienne Traynor, is continuing in her voluntary role as an ambassador for Organ Donor Awareness Week.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Simon Harris says he has prioritised the development of legislation to provide for an opt-out system of consent for organ donation.
Mr. Harris is planning to bring a memo to Government shortly setting out this policy direction.
He said he will also launch a public consultation on the development of the proposals before the end of the summer.
Under an opt out system, people would be regarded as having consented to organ donation after death, unless they specified otherwise.
The Health Service Executive should be a slimmed-down body "more equipped to lead than to directly control" and "with less management layers between the top and the front line", the Minister for Health has said.
Simon Harris outlined his vision for a less bureaucratic HSE at this morning's meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Future of Healthcare.
During his opening address on the future direction of health policy, Mr Harris said: "Over the next decade we need to get past the stage of constant fire-fighting to a place where we can have a mature debate about how to set priorities and where to develop our services."
Mr Harris also said he hopes political consensus can be agreed on the forthcoming report of the committee.
He said: "Subject to the committee's report, I intend to ask my department to come forward with proposals to improve governance arrangements for the HSE for so long as the HSE continues in its current form.
"This will include examination of the current vesting of governing authority in the HSE Directorate, including the fact that the director general is responsible to the directorate for the performance of his or her functions."
However he stressed his desire for a slimmed-down HSE body.
He said: "We have gained much in recent years through national initiatives in areas such as the cancer programme, the integrated care programmes, the Fair Deal scheme and many other areas. We need to retain such capability and avoid reverting to stand-alone geographically based organisations in the mould of the health boards.
"However, the national health capability which takes the place of the HSE is likely to be a slimmed-down body; one more equipped to lead than to directly control and, accordingly, with less management layers between the top and the front line."
Mr Harris told the committee that the current system that financially incentivises hospital consultants to treat private patients instead of public patients is "perverse" and measures need to be taken quickly to change it.
He was responding to a question from committee chair Róisín Shorthall, who asked about the provision of private care in public hospitals.
Earlier, in his opening address to the committee, the minister suggested that hospital consultants' should no longer be paid through individual "fee-for-service payments" for treating patients. Instead they should be paid for treating private patients as part of their annual salary, he said.
Eric Topol sketches the future for medicine, and also shows some of the dramatic changes in medicine, which have already taken place, over recent decades.
"Topol is one of medicine's most innovative thinkers about the digital future.... [A valuable contribution to a fascinating subject."
Jessica May was moving quickly up the career ladder until she was tripped up by mental illness.
Following the birth of her first child, Jessica developed a problem with her thyroid gland that greatly exacerbated her pre-existing anxiety disorder.
"I've had anxiety my whole life," says the 36-year-old from Canberra, Australia. "The [thyroid] condition meant that my anxiety got out of control."
This was back in 2012, and Jessica decided to return to her civil service job sooner than originally planned, after she and her doctor agreed that getting back to doing the work she loved would keep her focused and hopefully mitigate her anxiety.
But Jessica, who had to reveal her mental health problem to her employers to receive the flexible schedule she needed, claims that her managers and colleagues started to make negative assumptions about her capabilities, and began to exclude her from projects.
"Because of how I was treated... I didn't really get better," she says.
Having previously managed 17 staff, Jessica says she felt disheartened and devalued. Enabled helps people with disabilities find employmentHowever, the bad experience did ultimately have a positive impact - it made Jessica determined to help other people with mental or physical disabilities, and gave her the idea for setting up a business to do this.
"I knew there needed to be something for people with disabilities who just need a little bit of flexibility from their employers," she says.
So she decided to quit her government job and launch Enabled Employment, a recruitment consultancy that helps people with a disability find paid work.
Today, the Canberra-based company helps thousands of people find work at more than 400 businesses in Australia, including accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, taxi hire service Uber, and even the Australian Defence Force.
To help get Enabled up and running, Jessica successfully applied for a small entrepreneurship grant from the Australian Capital Territory government.
She left her civil service job one Friday in December 2012, and started work at Enabled the following Monday, with help and support coming from a local start-up support initiative called the Griffin Accelerator. The number of people and companies using the business then slowly started to grow.
The business is similar to a regular recruitment agency, in that it maintains an online listing of available jobs, and acts as a mediator between would-be employees and hiring managers.
However, Enabled also offers what it calls "accessibility brokering", which means that it works to ensure that businesses are able to offer employees the working conditions they need to perform at their best. This includes checking on flexible working hours and ensuring that offices have disabled access and toilets.
Jessica is keen to stress that the company is not a charity. Instead it is a for-profit business.
She believes that charities that pay businesses to take on disabled staff can reinforce negative stereotypes about disabled people.
"It really devalues people with disabilities who are totally capable," she says. "We don't want anyone to feel like a charity case."
Instead, Enabled charges companies, typically a one-off fee equivalent to 10% of a person's annual salary. By contrast, people who use Enabled to find work don't have to pay it anything. The late Australian comedian Stella Young (centre) was an Enabled Employment ambassador"There's 4.2 million people in Australia with a disability. Many of these people are very competent, it is really about trying to break down their barriers to work," says Jessica.
"We charge businesses for our services because you should be paying for amazingly qualified people, and you should also be paying for the diversity that it brings."
Enabled is valued at more than six million Australian dollars ($4.6m; £3.9m), and has expanded its services to include military veterans and indigenous Australians.
Suzanne Colbert, the founder of the Australian Network on Disability, says that Enabled has "freshened up" the Australian job market's otherwise "stale" attitude towards hiring people with disabilities.
She adds that Enabled has allowed employers to "tap into new sources of talent".
When it comes to its own staff, Enabled practises what it preaches. All seven full-time employees have a disability and work within a schedule that accommodates them best. This was back in 2012, and Jessica decided to return to her civil service job sooner than originally planned, after she and her doctor agreed that getting back to doing the work she loved would keep her focused and hopefully mitigate her anxiety.But Jessica, who had to reveal her mental health problem to her employers to receive the flexible schedule she needed, claims that her managers and colleagues started to make negative assumptions about her capabilities, and began to exclude her from projects.
"Because of how I was treated... I didn't really get better," she says.
Having previously managed 17 staff, Jessica says she felt disheartened and devalued.
However, the bad experience did ultimately have a positive impact - it made Jessica determined to help other people with mental or physical disabilities, and gave her the idea for setting up a business to do this.
"I knew there needed to be something for people with disabilities who just need a little bit of flexibility from their employers," she says.
So she decided to quit her government job and launch Enabled Employment, a recruitment consultancy that helps people with a disability find paid work.
Today, the Canberra-based company helps thousands of people find work at more than 400 businesses in Australia, including accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers, taxi hire service Uber, and even the Australian Defence Force.
To help get Enabled up and running, Jessica successfully applied for a small entrepreneurship grant from the Australian Capital Territory government.
She left her civil service job one Friday in December 2012, and started work at Enabled the following Monday, with help and support coming from a local start-up support initiative called the Griffin Accelerator. The number of people and companies using the business then slowly started to grow.
People with a disability are less likely than the rest of the working-age population to get a job and more likely to leave employment, even when their disability does not create difficulties with everyday activities.
The finding is contained in an ESRI report whose authors calculate that if all people with a disability who wanted to work had a job, half of all disabled people of working age would be in employment instead of the current 31%.
The ESRI study was commissioned by the National Disability Authority and draws on official data spanning the five years up to 2015.
ESRI study was commissioned by the National Disability Authority
It finds that 31% of people aged 20-59 with a disability were at work compared to 71% of those without a disability.
While slightly more than four out of five with a disability were working or had worked at some stage, almost two out of five had not worked for four years or more.
For those without a disability, the rate of job entry picked up during the onset of economic recovery. However, the study found little sign of a recovery for people with a disability by 2015.
The authors calculate that if all people with a disability who wanted to work had a job, half of all disabled people of working age would be in employment instead of the current 31%.
However, the report says specific Government interventions are required, such as allowing people with a disability to retain medical cards when moving into employment.
The Health and Safety Authority has said that two men have died in separate workplace accidents in counties Offaly and Wexford.
Inspectors from the HSA will visit both scenes Both men were farmers.
In County Wexford, a man in his 20s died when the quad bike he was driving overturned into a ditch. In County Offaly, a farmer in his 70s died after he was struck by a tractor on his farm at 8am at Fivealley, outside Birr.
HSA inspectors have arrived on the scene, and an investigation has been launched into the circumstances of the accident.
A measles outbreak in Romania has killed 17 children and infected thousands more since September due to poverty and an anti-vaccination movement.
Romanian health minister, Florian Bodog said that none of the children who died from the highly contagious virus had been vaccinated, adding that the last victim was a one-year-old girl from the northern city of Satu Mare.
More than 3,400 people have been infected since February 2016 compared with the year before when the country registered seven cases but no deaths, Mr Bodog said, according to the Hotnews.ro site.
He urged people to get vaccinated, saying it "is the only effective way to prevent the disease".
Measles is a contagious respiratory illness characterised by high fever and the eruption of small red spots.
The World Health Organization says children in affluent countries have a greater risk of infection because of scepticism about immunisation
The World Health Organisation recommends two doses of vaccination, the first by a child's first birthday, to ensure immunity and prevent outbreaks.
Such vaccinations should cover 95% of the population.
But Mr Bodog said only 80% of Romanians receive the first vaccination dose and just 50% receive the second.
In Romania, poverty, the lack of access to health services, and the percentage of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children are at the heart of the recent epidemic.
Religious organisations and public figures have led recent anti-vaccination campaigns.
According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, while Europe as a whole has made progress against the virus, Romania is still considered high-risk for transmission, along with Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and Poland.
In poor countries, many people simply do not have access to the €1, but the WHO has pointed out that children in affluent countries, have a greater risk of infection because of scepticism about immunisation.
Essential medicines are those that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy and safety, and comparative cost-effectiveness.
Essential medicines are intended to be available within the context of functioning health systems at all times in adequate amounts, in the appropriate dosage forms, with assured quality and adequate information, and at a price the individual and the community can afford.
The Health Information and Quality Authority has said it found a wide variation in the medication safety arrangements in hospitals during the first unannounced inspections of this kind.
Under-reporting of mistakes, non-reporting of near misses with drugs and outdated reference materials were revealed during the series of inspections.
Particular problems were identified in University Hospital Waterford, Bantry General and Nenagh.
University Hospital Waterford did not have essential governance arrangements for medication safety.
HIQA says it was informed that medication-related clinical incidents were likely under-reported at Waterford.
There was also “outdated and potentially conflicting” reference information for using intravenous medication in clinical areas.
HIQA says that in response to the risks it identified, the hospital appointed a medication safety pharmacist.
The health watchdog has published the first inspection reports on medication safety in seven hospitals:
At Bantry General, an immediate high risk was identified with instructions for administering intravenous medications that could be incorrect.
HIQA noted the low number of medication errors and near misses reported during 2016, relative to other hospitals.
Medication safety was not systematically monitored and there was no up-to-date local list of medications stocked.
At the Mid-Western Regional Hospital in Nenagh the health watchdog found that near misses were not being reported.
The hospital did not have essential governance arrangements in place and there was “ambiguity” over who was ultimately accountable for patient safety regarding medication.
There was no up-to-date local list of medications stocked in the pharmacy.
At Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown, inspectors found it did not have a defined, multidisciplinary medication safety programme in place at the time of the HIQA visit.
Senior management said there was likely under-reporting of medication errors.
Frontline staff told HIQA inspectors that they had not received feedback on medication-related incidents they had reported.
The health watchdog has published the first inspection reports on medication safety in seven hospitals.
The inspections were carried out between November and December 2016 at Bantry General, Connolly Hospital, Naas General, Nenagh Hospital, the Mater, Sligo University Hospital and University Hospital Waterford.
HIQA says Naas, the Mater and Sligo showed good practice in relation to medications and patient safety and these hospitals had an open incident and near-miss reporting culture.
Sean Egan, HIQA acting head of healthcare regulation, said error associated with medication use constitutes one of the major causes of patient harm in hospitals.
He said that international studies suggest that on average at least one medication error per hospital patient occurs each date.
While most cases do not result in harm, patient harm does occur in a small but significant number .
A Canadian town has apologised after a water treatment plant turned the water supply pink. Residents of Onoway, Alberta, complained to the town office, when taps began running pink water on Monday.
In a statement, Mayor Dale Krasnow said there was no public health risk but the town "could have done a better job communicating what was going on".
The mayor said it was the unfortunate side-effect of a common water-treatment chemical, potassium permanganate.
The chemical is commonly used to remove iron and hydrogen sulphide from water, and the town office said it got into the reservoir when a valve malfunctioned during "normal line flushing and filter backwashing".
"The reservoir was drained, however some of the chemical still made it into the distribution system.
"While it is alarming to see pink water coming from your taps, potassium permanganate is used in normal treatment processes to help remove iron and manganese and residents were never at risk."
The chemical can cause skin irritation, according to the World Health Organization, but there were no reports of any adverse effects.
Complaints were more about being kept in the dark - residents said they were annoyed they were not told why the water was fluorescent pink, until Tuesday morning.
"This is a situation we can certainly learn from and develop a strategy for better response and communication should we ever face the same or similar situation in the future," the mayor said.
Every afternoon, the grandmothers of Phangane village wrap pink saris around themselves and slip abacuses and chalkboard into their backpacks.They are going to school.
Some of them have trouble with seeing the letters, and others feel chest pain when they talk. But every day except Thursday, these women gather to learn from a teacher less than half their age. International Women's Day 2017 is the one-year anniversary of the school, and photographer Satyaki Ghosh has been documenting the women's journey to literacy.
Yogendra Bangar, is the founder of the school.
He started it after women in the village told him that if only they could read, they would be able to read about the life of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, a 17th century king whose life is celebrated in the village every year. "It is said that women have to be respected on Women's Day, so we thought that our grandmothers, who until now have not received respect, shall finally get the respect they deserve," he says. "The people of our grandmothers' generation did not get any opportunity to go to school."
The Health Products Regulatory Authority has recommended access to medicinal cannabis under a monitored, five-year programme, confined to a number of specific illnesses.
HPRA CEO Lorraine Nolan told members of the Oireachtas Health Committee that the authority could not recommend widespread access to cannabis for the treatment of a range of medical conditions.
However, Ms Nolan said that access could be facilitated under appropriately-controlled circumstances where adequate assurance of patient safety and follow-up can be provided.
The HPRA provided an expert report to Minister for Health Simon Harris on the use of medicinal cannabis following cross-party support for legislation proposed by AAA-PBP TD Gino Kenny.
The HPRA specified three conditions that could be part of a monitored pilot programme: spasticity associated with MS, intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy, and severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy.
Ms Nolan said that to date there is an absence of scientific data demonstrating the effectiveness and safety of cannabis products.
"There is insufficient information on the treatment of long-term medical conditions, such as those for which there is a public focus.
"In addition, most cannabis products available under international access schemes do not meet pharmaceutical quality requirements for medicines," Ms Nolan told members.
The HPRA said its position is based on current scientific evidence, and will be kept under review
She also said the review highlighted significant gaps between the public perception of effectiveness and safety, and the regulatory requirement for scientific data which is mandatory to determine the role of cannabis as a medicine.
The HPRA report concluded that cannabis for medical use should only be initiated as part of a structured process of formal on-going clinical evaluation in patients with the clearly defined medical conditions.
This position is based on current scientific evidence and will be kept under review.
The Principal Officer of the Department of Health told the committee that the minister described the HPRA report as a "milestone" in the development of policy on medicinal cannabis.
Eugene Lennon also told members that patients accessing the proposed programme would be required to be under the care of a medical consultant.
"The minister intends to progress the establishment of this access programme as a priority. But to be clear, patients accessing cannabis under the programme, will need to be recommended for cannabis treatment by a relevant medical consultant involved in the patient's care," Mr Lennon said.
He also said that officials were examining legislation required to underpin the programme.
The committee was told that 40 countries were surveyed in the expert report. In Europe, 16 countries do not have any access programmes, nine have programmes for exceptional use similar to that advised by the HPRA, and three countries have wider access programmes.
Mr Lennon confirmed to Sinn Féin deputy Johnathan O'Brien that one licence had been already been granted to a patient for access to medicinal cannabis, while a second application had not been granted.
A mother who has travelled from her home in Cork to Dublin to campaign for greater access to cannabis-based medication has arrived at the Dáil.
Vera Twomey began her 260 km journey on foot, last Monday.
An injury to her knee meant she completed the final stages in a wheelchair.
Hundreds of supporters joined Vera Twomey outside Dáil Éireann
She wants her seven-year-old daughter Ava, who has a rare form of epilepsy, to be allowed access to medicinal cannabis.
The family's request for the medicines, under a special licence was rejected.
The Department of Health has said it is in the process of setting up a compassionate access programme.
She has been accompanied most of the way by PBP-AAA TD - Gino Kenny.
