Abstract
Hand washing vital for controlling disease
The UN’s Global Hand Washing Day has stimulated new research to raise awareness of the importance of hand washing. Published to promote this day, research conducted by scientists from Queen Mary, University of London and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has shown that, for many of us, our hands are as “grossly contaminated” as a dirty toilet bowl.
In the UK-wide study, it was found that faecal matter is present on 26% of hands, 14% of banknotes and 10% of credit cards. The findings clearly illustrate that when it comes to washing our hands, we simply aren’t doing a very good job. In another UK study this was proved by surveying and studying people using motorway service station toilets: whilst 99% claimed to have washed their hands, in fact only 32% of men and 64% of women actually had.
The UN has stated that hand washing alone could be the most cost-effective intervention for the control of infectious disease, and could potentially save millions of lives. So the question remains – why are we in the UK just not washing our hands adequately? Dr Lisa Ackerley, a co-founder of Hygiene Audit Systems, says that “many people in the UK don’t think they carry any diseases”, and it certainly appears that people just don’t realise they aren’t washing their hands properly. When washing your hands – which should be done particularly before eating and after using the toilet – soap should always be used, and it should take a few minutes to properly scrub both hands.
For more information: www.lshtm.ac.uk
IFH dispels hygiene hypothesis in new report
The myth that there is an increased number of allergies due to the public being ‘too clean’ and living in sterile homes has been disproved by the latest report released by the International Scientific Forum on Home Hygiene, as reported on the RSPH website.
The report did find that the rise in the number of cases of some diseases may be down to ‘losing touch’ with microbes from the past as regular microbial exposure is necessary for proper regulation of the immune system. The report says that the idea that people living in cleaner homes makes them more likely to be allergic or to contract other chronic inflammatory disorders is unfounded. While our change of environment does seem to have increased the prevalence of some conditions, due to the fact that we are coming into contact with different microbes than we would have done traditionally, it is not something that we can easily replace and we would be putting ourselves at more risk by trying to expose ourselves to pathogens. With the threat from infectious disease rising due to issues such as antibiotic resistance, good personal and environmental hygiene is increasingly important.
For more information: www.ifh-homehygiene.org
JCPMH launch new mental health commissioning guidance
The Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health (JCPMH) is a collaboration between a range of important organisations including Royal College of Psychiatrists, Royal College of General Practitioners, Department of Health, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, NHS Confederation, Mental Health Providers Forum, Mind, National Involvement Partnership, Rethink Mental Illness, service users and carers. It publishes briefings supporting the commissioning of mental health care to deliver the best possible outcomes for health and wellbeing.
In December 2012, the JCPMH published public mental health commissioning guidance which has also been endorsed by RSPH, Faculty of Public Health, Association of Directors of Public Health and the Local Government Association. The guidance outlines the case for appropriate levels of commissioning to promote mental health, prevent disorder and intervene as soon as mental disorder arises. It can inform the local JSNA and Health and Wellbeing Strategy. It includes links to locally available data sets which enables: estimation of risk factors and protective factors; estimation of numbers from groups at higher risk of mental disorder; estimation of levels of disorder; information on interventions to promote mental health, prevent mental disorder and treat it as soon as it arises, including impacts on other public health priorities as well as associated economic savings; local proportion receiving interventions to promote mental health and prevent/treat mental disorder to determine level of unmet need; and links to relevant outcome measures.
For more information: www.jcpmh.info
NHS pushes for more organ donation
Approximately 1000 people in the UK die every year waiting for an organ transplant. This is the key driving force behind the new push by the NHS for a shake up of the organ donation system, in the hope that more people will join the organ donor register.
Ideas for the new strategy, which will be published in April, could see organ donation become a more widely discussed topic and could even see it incentivised. Not only will this challenge ethical and legal rules, it is feared that it could also change the doctor-patient relationship: patients’ are afraid that their care might be jeopardised if they have healthy organs which may be eligible for donation. However, doctors are keen to reassure the public, stating that their primary concern is saving lives and giving patients the best possible quality of care.
Possible strategies currently being discussed by the NHS and the organ donation service include asking patients on admission to hospital whether they wish to be placed on the donor register; recording the wishes of those put into ‘end of life care’; including tick boxes on forms other than driving license applications such as marriage applications and passport forms; incentivising donations by offering state subsidy of funeral costs; making organ donation a subject on the school curriculum; and by aiming to get families discussing the topic with each other to reduce the likelihood of a grieving family overriding the deceased’s decision. In a recent survey, it was found that over half of those wishing to donate their organs after death hadn’t told any of their family or friends.
There is medical support for many of these ideas, including one which would establish presumed consent unless the patient actively opted out of donating. Welsh ministers in particular feel strongly about this idea, and hope to implement this in Wales by 2015. Whilst the new strategies may mean the development of fewer, but more specialist, transplant centres around the country, they can only help to improve the quality of life for the many people in the UK on organ transplant waiting lists.
For more information: www.organdonation.nhs.uk/ukt
One in six over 50s feel socially isolated
Led by scientists at UCL, research published in a report for the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) shows that many over 50s now feel socially isolated, with them having few hobbies or social networks and little involvement in society.
It was found that the least wealthy often suffer the most from social isolation: wealthier over 50s are half as likely to suffer from this as their less wealthy counterparts. These observations have led ELSA to recommend focusing any future public health interventions for the over 50s on the least wealthy people who might also be suffering from ill health, in order to open up transport and social facilities to them.
For more information: www.ifs.org.uk/ELSA
Institute of Healthcare Management becomes part of the Royal Society for Public Health
The Institute of Healthcare Management (IHM) joined the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) on Friday 26th October 2012.
Chief Executive of the IHM Sue Hodgetts said: “Strategically, joining RSPH is a very positive step for the IHM and will help us to continue our work enhancing and promoting high standards of professional health and care management. We have been significantly impressed by the RSPH, especially as a membership body, and they are the perfect partner to help us develop and improve our membership services.”
Chief Executive of the RSPH Professor Richard Parish said: “There are great similarities between the goals and vision of RSPH and the IHM. We believe this opportunity to combine our resources and years of experience in public health is valuable, not only for our collective members, but also the public health community and population as a whole. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the IHM and I am looking forward to seeing where this new collaboration will take us.”
IHM will be based at RSPH’s headquarters at John Snow House, 59 Mansell Street, London, E1 8AN.
For more information please contact Kate Sanger,