Responding to the publication of the Public Accounts Committee report on Tackling Childhood Obesity Public Health Minister Caroline Flint said:”Childhood obesity is a complex issue as the Public Accounts Committee recognises. There are no easy answers or quick fix solutions. Changing behaviour requires long term action on a number of fronts and that is what we are putting in place. “The evidence on which this report is based was gathered in 2005 and early 2006. [click link for full article]

A recent review of 51 medical studies on allergy shots confirms that this therapy is safe and effective for allergic rhinitis. The review, performed by Dr. Calderon of Royal Brompton…

Do adolescents get enough exercise and eat the right foods? Is there too much fat in their diets? In a study published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers analyzed the behavior of almost 900 11-to-15 year-olds and found that nearly 80% had multiple physical activity and dietary risk behaviors, almost half had at least three risk behaviors, and only 2% met all four of the health guidelines in the study. [click link for full article]

Yale Cancer Center Director Richard Edelson has appointed Edward Chu to the position of Deputy Director of the Center, effective January 1, following completion of 10 years of outstanding service by Jose Costa in that capacity. [click link for full article]

UCB has announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) has issued a positive opinion recommending that the European Commission grants marketing authorisation for Xyrem(REG) (sodium oxybate) in the treatment of narcolepsy with cataplexy in adult patients. The European Commission is expected to issue a decision within approximately six weeks. Narcolepsy is a debilitating, life-long disorder. [click link for full article]

A leading £1.2M funded research project into the treatment of cancer cells by ‘turning off’ key genes is to be carried out at the University of Leicester.Dr Shaun Cowley, who has just moved to the Department of Biochemistry at the University from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute at Cambridge, is about to begin work on the research project which has been funded by the Medical Research Council. [click link for full article]

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has welcomed a US$1.3 million contribution from the European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) to theist operation to prvide food aid to Western Saharan refugees in Algeria. [click link for full article]

“What is so powerful that it can make you overcome your greatest fear, turn your brother into an enemy, and leave wounds that scar long after the fighting is over? What is so potent, it passes effortlessly from mother to child? from generation to generation?” The answer: “Hunger — so deadly it kills 25,000 people a day. [click link for full article]

The Prem Rawat Foundation announced that it made a critical grant to The Indonesian Development of Education and Permaculture Foundation (IDEP) supporting a program that is currently underway to provide relief efforts for the victims of the flash floods and landslides in Aceh and North Sumatra provinces of Indonesia. [click link for full article]

Deaths from liver cancer increased over the past year in both men and women, reported the American Liver Foundation, a national nonprofit organization that provides education, advocacy and research on behalf of the 30 million Americans affected by liver disease. This is despite recent news focusing on the overall decline in the number of deaths due to most cancers. “We are overjoyed at the news about the overall decline in cancer deaths,” said Dr. [click link for full article]