Donie's news Ireland Blog Tuesday

The Coalition is still running scared of tackling Ireland’s 'alcohol abuse problem'

  

The Euro 2012 Survival Guide, launched by Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and developed by the drinks industry, advises fans to avoid “any appearance of being drunk”.

When it comes to laws curbing drink-related problems, the Coalition like earlier governments frets about upsetting the drinks industry,

SINCE THE early noughties, successive Irish governments have made noises in relation to tackling our ongoing and dysfunctional relationship with alcohol. And each occasion government has bottled it at the behest of the drinks industry, vintners or related lobby groups.

Those who have contributed to the debate on our engagement with alcohol did feel a sense of hope and optimism with the manner in which Minister of State at the Department of Health Róisín Shortall took to her brief, pushing the idea of banning below-cost selling of alcohol as well as highlighting lax parental attitudes to underage drinking in the home.

Shortall, in an interview in this newspaper in January, said: “We have an unhealthy relationship with drink and it is clearly a cultural issue.”

For me, that sense of hope and optimism turned to exasperation last week when Tánaiste and Labour leader Eamon Gilmore, launched a Euro 2012 Survival Guide which was developed by the drinks industry, through the organisation Meas (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society) and Drinkaware.ie.

Meas was established and funded by the drinks industry in 2002, at a time when there was a large spike in binge drinking, and it has developed the drinkaware.iewebsite and campaigns.

The launch was also attended by Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney as well as Fionnuala Sheehan, chief executive of Meas. Presumably, the Tánaiste felt it was appropriate to attend as the guide was developed in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

A press release on the survival guide and the launch remains on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website. I’ll return to the contents of the survival guide in a moment.

Earlier this year, the National Substance Misuse Strategy Steering Group issued a detailed report intended to inform public health policy with regards to alcohol in this country.

The group was set up in 2009 and had for the first time included alcohol in its considerations. Its members were drawn from representatives of the drinks industry, Garda, health services, public sector, youth organisations and alcohol campaigners.

Meas withdrew from the final recommendations of the group and issued its own minority report, claiming that some members of the steering group were “ideologically prejudiced against Meas” and were “unwilling to acknowledge the contribution of Meas to tackling alcohol abuse”.

Meas had problems with much of the final report, including minimum pricing and a proposed social responsibility levy on the drinks industry. The steering group had called for a levy on alcohol, legislation separating sale and promotion of alcohol from food products, the ending of alcohol sponsorship in sporting and cultural events from 2016 and an increase in the price of alcohol in the medium term.

What happens the recommendations of the steering group is now unclear and at least one member of the group, alcohol addiction councillor Rolande Anderson, has concerns: “Every time with this issue, we hear the same thing of let’s set up a strategy. And then we don’t implement it. The reason is because we have very few conviction politicians. For whatever reason, they are worried about upsetting the drinks industry.”

While consumption of alcohol in Ireland has declined since record levels at the turn of the noughties, adults in 2010 were still drinking more than twice the average amount of alcohol consumed in 1960. We also binge drink more than most other European Union countries. And somewhere in the region of 2,000 hospital beds are occupied in Ireland every night due to alcohol-related factors.

Bearing all this in mind, let’s return to the Euro 2012 survival guide (why is travelling abroad something that has to be survived and not experienced?) and the particular content in relation to alcohol and sex.

The guide suggests that travellers should avoid “any appearance of being drunk” and warns that too many in-flight drinks can lead to a “killer hangover”.

In a section on food and alcohol, we are told “eating is not cheating”. Nowhere in the guide does it say to drink in moderation, or even define what binge drinking is or the harmful side effects in relation to liver disease, cancer, mental health or a host of other conditions.

In fact, Meas and drinkaware.iehave difficulties with the Health Service Executive position on binge drinking (six or more standard drinks in one sitting) and also disagree with the Government’s position on reducing weekly alcohol consumption levels in this country.

At a time when the Government is supposed to be considering implementing the recommendations of the expert steering group, why did the Tánaiste decide to launch a survival guide so closely associated with the drinks industry?

Surely, if Irish fans are in need of advice, either in relation to public health matters, or travel overseas, then this information should be issued by the Department of Health and Children, the HSE or solely by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

It beggars belief that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade could support and promote a guide which contains the following advice: “Hooking up abroad is one of travel’s greatest pleasures, not to mention one of the main reasons we go anywhere . . . ”

As a married man, I happen to enjoy the way travel broadens my cultural horizons and I would expect I’m not alone in that regard.

I believe the Tánaiste’s presence at the press launch sends out the wrong message to his cabinet colleagues, and to Ms Shortall, who may have to make some difficult policy decisions regarding alcohol in the coming months.

The sad fact is I don’t think this Coalition has the resolve to tackle this issue. And like practically every other government we have had in recent years, they will most likely continue to kick the can, pint, bottle and keg etc down the road.

Oil prices set to double by 2022, 

IMF (International Monetary Fund) report paper warns

 IMF 

Oil prices could double over the next decade with sweeping implications for the global economy, according to a report commissioned by the International Monetary Fund.

As oil prices remain at historically high levels of around $110 (£68) a barrel, the working paper warned a combination of rising demand and constrained supply could have major consequences.

“Our prediction of small further increases in world oil production comes at the expense of a near doubling, permanently, of real oil prices over the coming decade,” the report’s authors concluded.

“This is uncharted territory for the world economy, which has never experienced such prices for more than a few months.”

They said that research suggested energy accounted for up to 50pc of overall gross domestic product, meaning “the implications of lower oil output growth for GDP could be very large.”

Persistently high oil prices are already threatening the global economic recovery according to a director of the International Energy Agency.

Maria van der Hoeven said that although prices had eased somewhat in recent weeks, the threat of heightened political tension over Iran, limited spare production capacity, and unplanned supply outages remained.

“Prices remain very high,” she told a conference in Australia. “High prices pose a real threat to the economic recovery.”

Brent crude oil spiked to above $120 a barrel in the early part of 2012 but was trading yesterday at about $110 a barrel. That was the lowest since January, but still very high by historical standards.

Sligo Senator Marc MacSharry welcomes the formal link with the Abbey Theatre

         
Fianna Fáil Senator, Marc MacSharry, has welcomed the formal launch of the Yeats Design Residency, which will be a partnership between the Abbey Theatre and IT Sligo.

Senator Marc MacSharry who called for such a formal link in the Autumn commented: “I welcome the enhancement and formalisation of links between Sligo Institute of Technology and The National Theatre of Ireland, The Abbey. In the first instance it is a fitting tribute to the quality of the course as well as the teaching and vision of Frank Conway, Rhona Trench and their colleagues at IT Sligo, not least the excellent output of the students.

“Having met with the Theatre Director, Senator Fiach MacConghail and Technical Director, Gavin Harding back in September, both had high praise for the quality of teaching and graduate from the BA honours in performing Arts Programme at IT Sligo. While there were informal links between both institutions and the National Theatre previously, a formal relationship was one that I, among others, actively sought and greatly welcome.

“With the work of the Factory, Blue Rain Coat professional groups and the many amateur theatre companies throughout our region, as well as extraordinary achievements of Dervish, Westlife, Conor & Maria McDermott Roe and others, we have always known Sligo to be rich in the fruits of artistic brilliance. Through Frank Conway and IT Sligo’s delivery of this partnership with The National Theatre the north west has an excellent vehicle to further underpin the regions prowess in culture and the arts.”

Did you know? Fat reaches your waist just three hours after a big meal

     

Fat can reach the waist much sooner after eating than previously thought

Anyone who has had to loosen their belt after enjoying a big meal may be reassured to know their weight gain was not in their imagination, as scientists find fat reaches the waistline as little as three hours after a big meal.

Researchers at Oxford University have discovered the fat in foods can be converted into tissue around the plumpest parts of the body within hours.

For a large meal containing 30g of fat, two to three teaspoons of the substance can be added to waists much quicker than previously thought.

If one continues to overeat, the fat will also be moved into tissue around the hips, rear and thighs for storage.

The study, by Fredrik Karpe and Keith Frayne, found the first fat from any meal enters the blood around an hour after being ingested.

By the time three or four hours has passed, they found, most of it had been incorporated into the adipose tissue, much of which lies in the short-term fat stores in the waist.

The results, which may require the adaptation the clichéd adage “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips”, have resulted in a greater understanding of how weight gain works.

Previously, many have believed the process is much more gradual with food travelling from the gut into the blood, where is was used by muscles, with any excess being stored as fat.

But the Oxford University research suggests the fat is instead moved quickly around the body in the bloodstream before being “caught” and stored.

Karpe, professor of metabolic medicine, said: “The process is very fast. The cells in the adipose tissue around the waist catch the fat droplets as the blood carries them and incorporates them into the cells for storage.

“If you eat too much, you don’t get into this phase of starting to mobilise it. There will just be constant accumulation and you will start to put on weight.”

In a paper published in the Physiological Reviews, the scientists also suggested fit people found it easier to get rid of unwanted fat, as exercise gives a long-term boost to fat-burning mechanisms.

The results of the research come just days after British researchers advised people should use their waist measurements to determine the risk of suffering weight-related problems.

Dr Margaret Ashwell told the European Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France, that keeping waist circumference to half one’s height would help increase life expectancy.

An Egg breakfast ‘could help you to lose weight’

   

‘As they say go to work on an egg’, and as the no-nonsense 1950s advertising campaign promoted. But now obesity experts have found out that not only does an egg keep you going longer, it could also help keep you slim.

A test of 20 overweight or obese volunteers discovered that those given an egg for breakfast, rather than cereal, felt less hungry come lunchtime, and consequently consumed less at an ‘all-you-can eat’ buffet.

Researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre in Louisiana, US, found those given an egg had significantly lower levels of ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite, in their blood three hours after breakfast.

They also had significantly higher levels of another hormone, called PYY3-36, which signals we are full.

Dr Nikhil Dhurandhar, who led the study, said: “This study shows that diets with higher protein quality may enhance satiety, leading to better compliance and success of a weight loss diet.”

He added: “This study raises the question: are some foods with higher protein quality nature’s appetite suppressants?”

Longer-term research was needed to see if high quality protein breakfasts could help people lose weight, he said.

Results of the study are being presented today (Saturday) at the European Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France.

Tracy Parker, heart health dietitian at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: “This finding could help people who are trying to lose weight or stop snacking. It shows the quality of protein in your diet, rather than the quantity, can affect how full you feel.

“However, as the study was funded by the American Egg Board, it did not look into other high quality proteins. Further comparison of the effect of lean meat, poultry and fish on appetite should be explored.

“An egg breakfast could keep you from mid-morning snacking but remember to use healthier cooking methods. Try boiling or poaching eggs rather than frying and avoid a

€600m unclaimed Irish Lottery money - Check it out it could be yours?

 

It’s probably safe to say if you won the Lotto you’d know about it. Hey, you’d be shouting it from the rooftops, right? So it’s hard to believe that there’s millions sitting in unclaimed prizes in Lottery HQ, including 11 jackpot winners!

Not just that, but thousands of insurance policies, bank deposits and post office accounts are all lying there, dormant, waiting on their owners to claim their money. The Prize Bond people have €1.9m in unclaimed prizes.

In fact, there’s a total of €600m estimated to be in dormant accounts in the past nine years which has either been forgotten about or the owner has died.

If you think you might have one, contact the Irish Banking Federation (ibf.ie).

Our biggest bugbear is the €1.9m owing to customers of Dublin Bus who overpaid their fares — it’s only refundable by a trip to Head Office. Why make it so hard?

Donie's all Ireland news Thursday

Minister Roisin Shortall announces a phased introduction of the free GP care scheme

‘Approved by the Irish Government’ 

         

THE PHASED INTRODUCTION of free GP care has been approved, the Minister of State for Primary Care revealed today.

Roisin Shortall announced that the Government has given its approval to the preparation by the Department of Health of Heads of a Bill to progress the phased introduction of a free GP care in line with the commitment in the Programme for Government.

The first phase will allow for the extension of access to free GP services for those with illnesses or disabilities to be prescribed by regulations under the new legislation.

Shortall said she intended to have the legislation drafted and enacted before the summer recess.

In January, The Minister for Health Dr James Reilly told the Dáil that all claimants of free drugs on the Long-Term Illness Scheme would have free access to GP care by the summer. Those who are signed onto the High-Tech Drugs Scheme would receive care from GPs without cost from 2013, he added.

Unemployed in Ireland “two or three times more likely” to die by suicide – Says Fine Gael TD

   

Mr. Dan Neville above left in his capacity as President of the Irish Association of Suicidology at the opening of its annual conference in 2005.

THE PRESIDENT OF the Irish Association of Irish Suicidology has warned that unemployed people are two to three times more likely to die by suicide than those who are in employment.

Dan Neville, who is also a Fine Gael TD for Limerick, was speaking at a conference in the county this week. He said that unemployment is a factor which is associated with a 70 per cent higher risk of suicide. However, he did say that “the high rate of suicide among the unemployed is partly because people with a psychiatric illness are more likely to lose their jobs”.

Despite this, said Neville at the Working Together to Prevent Suicide event in Templeglantine, “even among people with no history of serious mental illness, unemployment is associated with a 70 per cent higher suicide risk”.

He also made a link between the rise in alcohol consumption during a recession, saying that people in despair can often turn to substance misuse. He said:

When someone loses their job, there is a perceived loss of social worth. Job loss, insecurity and uncertainty coupled with economic strain and the possible threat of home repossession can have a severe impact on mental well-being.

It should be noted that there are often inter-related factors in cases of suicide – some of these are detailed in the list of factors on the Association of Suicidology’s website.

Neville said that implementation of a vision for change, recommendations from an expert group in 2006 on improving mental health services  in Ireland, is “essential”. HSE updates on implementation of those changes can be seen here but according to the recent annual report of the Inspector of Mental Health Service, there was an increase in admissions to mental health services last year.

Dr Edmund O’Dea, chairman of the Service, said that it “remains to be seen” whether the €35 million ring-fenced for improvements in 2012 will actually have to be used to keep current services running smoothly.

Education cutbacks: Over 200 primary schools win a reprieve and won’t lose a teacher

   

The Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has been criticised after he announced that small and rural schools could face cuts and lose teachers, after appeals & protests OVER 200 primary schools who were scheduled to lose a teacher this year, have now won their appeals against the decision.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said fears that many smaller schools would be badly hit have been allayed.

A total of 367 schools appealed the planned staff reduction to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board and 200 appeals were upheld.

Seventy-two small schools submitted applications to the appeals board and 34 of those were upheld so in fact there hasn’t been the massive decimation of rural Ireland, as had been claimed by some spokespersons,” Mr Quinn said.

The cutbacks, where schools needed 14 rather than 12 pupils to secure a second teacher, provoked major protests in areas such as Donegal, where it was claimed that 100 schools would be closed, and in Roscommon, where similar numbers were cited.

Mr Quinn said the response to the issue had been marked by “grossly exaggerated scaremongering for political advantage”.

Affected schools were able to appeal the loss of teachers to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board on the basis that future enrolments justified the retention of their current roster of teachers.

Outpatients failed to turn up for 35,000 appointments 

in Galway’s (UHG and Merlin Park) last year

  

Patients did not show up for 35,000 outpatient appointments at Galway University Hospitals (UHG and Merlin Park) last year.

That’s according to Bill Maher, the newly appointed chief executive of the Galway Roscommon University Hospital Group.

Addressing a meeting of the HSE West’s regional health forum in Merlin Park earlier this week he said this resulted in a reduction in the hospital’s capacity to see new patients and added considerably to waiting lists.

He hoped all patients would make every effort to attend their designated appointments or would notify the hospitals concerned in advance so that their slots may be offered to other patients.

Mr Maher, who briefed members of the forum – all councillors – about the new hospital group which was set up in January and comprises Galway University Hospitals, Portiuncula Hospital Ballinasloe and Roscommon County Hospital – stated the new structure brings the hospitals together as a single unit.

Its aim is to reduce emergency department admission waiting times; to meet the Department of Health’s targets for inpatient waiting lists and to deliver the 2012 service plan.

So far this year Galway University Hospitals is making “significant progress” with the number of patients who have to wait for a bed and the length of time they have to wait.

Tony Canavan, chief operating officer of the Galway Roscommon University Hospital Group said it has been steadily reducing the waiting times for admission from the ED since the beginning of the year.

“Since January the highest number of patients waiting in the ED for longer than 18 hours was 12 and this occurred on February 21. The situation improved in March when we had 21 days when there were no patients waiting longer than 18 hours and this pattern has continued into April.

“We monitor the bed situation very closely with an initial report every morning at 6.30am followed by a meeting at 8am to decide what actions need to be taken. One of the key differences in our approach this year is the introduction and implementation of the Full Capacity Protocol. The protocol comes into effect when the number of patients on trolleys in the ED reaches a certain threshold and we then transfer a maximum of two patients to each ward from the ED. This approach has reduced the time that it takes to admit a patient to an actual bed on a hospital ward.”

The opening of a medical assessment unit and a short stay medical ward at GUH in January means that patients are admitted under the correct speciality and into the appropriate ward which has improved the efficiency of the hospital considerably, he added.

Another priority is to meet the inpatient waiting list targets set by the Department of Health’s special delivery unit. This stipulates that patients should wait no longer than nine months for an inpatient or daycase procedure.

Mr Maher outlined that a range of measures has been introduced which is helping the organisation achieve this target. These include waiting list validation, improved reporting and focus, more effective use of resources across all of the hospitals in the group, patient education and engagement as well as increasing theatre capacity by opening previously closed theatres.

“In January, GUH had 9,901 patients who would potentially breach the target of waiting longer than nine months if they were not seen by the target date of 30 September. As of the 19 April, we have reduced the number waiting to 5,524 patients and we are on course to achieve the special delivery unit target in September. This is a tremendous achievement and I would like to thank all the staff throughout the group who have helped us get this position and who remain focused on achieving the target.”

The SDU launched an initiative to deal with the outpatient waiting list in March, similar to the project to deal with inpatient waiting lists.

“We are currently preparing to take part in the latest SDU initiative and our aim is to use the resources of all the hospitals in the group to reduce the numbers waiting,” said Mr Maher. “Currently there are 40,517 patients on the outpatient waiting list for GUH; this is an unvalidated list and may include duplicate patients as we know that some patients are routinely referred for the same or similar services to a number of hospitals. We expect the actual number of patients waiting to reduce following the validation exercise.

“We will then look at managing capacity and demand by converting follow-up clinics so that new patients can be seen and also where need be by adding additional clinics.”

‘Pizza topping herb Oregano’ can help with treatment of prostate cancer

     

The herb oregano, often used as a pizza ingredient, could help fight prostate cancer, according to researchers in the US.

The common pizza topping, which is also used to season pasta, could potentially be used to treat prostate cancer, according to researchers at Long Island University (LIU) in New York.

The herb has been long renowned for its various health benefits and now scientists at the university are testing carvacrol, a constituent of oregano, on prostate cancer cells.

The results of the study demonstrate that carvacrol induces apoptosis in these cells, according to Dr Supriya Bavadekar, who is Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at LIU’s Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

Apoptosis is programmed cell death, or simply ‘cell suicide’.

“We know that oregano possesses anti-bacterial as well as anti-inflammatory properties, but its effects on cancer cells really elevate the spice to the level of a super-spice like turmeric,” said Dr Bavadekar.

The research team is now working to determine the signaling pathways that the compound carvacrol uses to bring about cancer cell suicide.

Although the study is at an early stage, the scientists believe that the initial results indicate a huge potential in terms of carvacrol’s use as an anti-cancer agent.

“A significant advantage is that oregano is commonly used in food and has a ‘Generally Recognized As Safe’ status in the US. We expect this to translate into a decreased risk of severe toxic effects,” said Dr Bavadekar.

“Some researchers have previously shown that eating pizza may cut down cancer risk. This effect has been mostly attributed to lycopene, a substance found in tomato sauce, but we now feel that even the oregano seasoning may play a role.”

“If the study continues to yield positive results, this super-spice may represent a very promising therapy for patients with prostate cancer,” she added.

Recent data shows that about 1 in 36 men will die of prostate cancer. The disease usually occurs in older men.

It starts in the prostate gland and is conventionally treated with surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy, and immune therapy.

However, these treatment options are linked with unfortunate complications and severe side effects.