As we are nearing the end of another year, I would like to take a few moments to look back over selected developments in health and medicine during 2018. We saw a continued focus on the promotion of antimicrobial stewardship, with NICE publishing a UTI antimicrobial prescribing strategy for lower UTIs and recurrent UTIs—both feature…
Coeliac Disease (CD) is not only under-diagnosed but also an under-managed condition, associated with serious long-term complications. Patients can present with the classical ‘symptomatic’ features of CD or they can present with secondary CD, where the pathology occurs with no overt gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms; commonly picked up by case-finding. Who to test Examples of co-morbid…
San Francisco and Oakland to host AIDS 2020 The world’s largest HIV conference returns 30 years later to where the AIDS epidemic first emerged in the US 13 March 2018 (Geneva, Switzerland) – The International AIDS Society (IAS) has announced that San Francisco, California, in partnership with nearby Oakland, will host the 23rd International AIDS…
Improvements in the treatments offered to people with HIV mean that it is now manageable as a chronic condition. HIV is mostly managed in secondary care but there are some aspects that GPs need to be aware of, which Dr Toni Hazell discusses in this week’s featured article. Early diagnosis of HIV vastly improves prognosis,…
On behalf of the International AIDS Society (IAS), we, the IAS Governing Council Africa Regional Representatives, express our grave concern regarding the reported anti-gay initiative underway in Tanzania. On 31 October 2018, the Regional Commissioner for the capital city, Dar es Salaam, Paul Makonda, announced the creation of a task force to identify and arrest…
WMA CONDEMNS ‘SHAMEFUL’ MOVE TO BAN DOCTORS FROM WORKING The World Medical Association has condemned as ‘shameful’ a new move by the Turkish authorities to restrict the freedom of Turkish physicians to practice medicine. Under a new law approved yesterday by Turkey’s Health Commission, thousands of physicians will be barred from working in either the…
This week’s featured article is a top tips article on the primary care assessment and management of adults with community-acquired pneumonia. Identifying which patients with a lower respiratory tract infection have pneumonia, and which of those with pneumonia require admission to hospital, can prove challenging. Dr Sinan Eccles provides advice on diagnosing pneumonia based on…
Physicians are being urged by the World Medical Association to “Go Green”. The WMA is offering physicians and their national medical associations a free online service, My Green Doctor, to add environmental measures and climate change awareness to their medical practices. Dr. Todd Sack, managing director of the service, said that most physicians and other…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PrEP is safe and effective for widespread use, research shows 29 October 2018 (Glasgow, Scotland) – New research presented at the HIV Drug Therapy Conference in Glasgow today shows that pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) could be given to millions of people worldwide with no increased risk of safety issues during treatment.PrEP is a combination…
Since CCGs came into being, it has become more necessary for GPs to get involved with business development aspects of primary care, such as commissioning, bid writing, and procuring services. General practice is very much patient-centred, so primary care clinicians will have a good understanding of their patients’ needs, and this knowledge is invaluable when…