More interesting stuff re Alcohol Concern...

Posted in the comments by Adam Collyer:

From the Alcohol Concern website:

"The Alcohol Harm Map, produced by Alcohol Concern in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Lundbeck Ltd. The purpose of the map is to reveal the real harm and cost of alcohol at a local level, so that local authorities and local health providers can ensure that alcohol prevention and treatment services are available to those with drinking problems..."

From Lundbeck's website, one of their UK products is called Selincro (generic name nalmefene).

And from the website of NICE, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (the government agency which recommends which products should be used by the NHS):

"NICE has been asked to appraise nalmefene for reducing alcohol consumption in people with alcohol dependence in a single technology appraisal. The expected date of publication of the appraisal is November 2014."

Perfect timing it seems...

Our new Hate Figure on top form

I nominated 'Professor' Mike Kelly (of NICE) as the new 'Sir' Liam Donaldson/Deborah Arnott* a couple of days ago, so I now follow his activities with a keen professional interest (lest I have misjudged him).

It would appear not:

"During pregnancy, smoking puts the health of the women and her unborn baby at great risk both in the short and long-term, and small children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to suffer from respiratory problems," Professor Mike Kelly, Nice director of the centre of public health excellence, said.

"One of our recommendations is for midwives to encourage all pregnant women to have their carbon monoxide levels tested and discuss the results with them. This isn't to penalise them if they have been smoking, but instead will be a useful way to show women that both smoking and passive smoking can lead to having high levels of carbon monoxide in their systems."

* Who must be seething with rage and envy. Until a couple of months ago, nearly every BBC article on the dangers of smoking included a rent-a-quote from her or her husband but this part of the BBC's style guide appears to have been amended.

May I nominate a new Hate Figure?

'Sir' Liam Donaldson appears to have buggered off and Deborah Arnott is still mucking about in the background somewhere but not as strident as she was. I therefore nominate 'Professor' Mike Kelly who was given ten minutes on BBC breakfast telly today to spout his vile gibberish. Even Sian Williams was squirming in her seat with embarrassment.

Particular galling was/is:

1. The way in which 'Professor' Mike Kelly saw himself as part of the proud tradition of 'public health' in this country - he mentioned the Victorians cleaning up the water supplies to prevent cholera etc and the clean air acts of the post-war period (all good stuff, that is truly public health - where there is nothing that any individual can do about it) before slipping in the smoking ban, which he claimed had reduced the number of heart attacks (whether to smoke or not is a personal decision, ergo is not a 'public health' issue, and even if heart attacks had gone down, they are not a 'public health' issue either), and the rounding off by saying that the crowning achievement of all this was inventing new rules on what ingredients food manufaturers are allowed to use (perhaps they are unhealthy, what do I know, but again, this is not a 'public health' issue and none of his f***ing business).

2. The way the BBC describe NICE as an "NHS watchdog". IIRC, they are there to decide which drugs or treatments are safe and/or good value for money, and not to tell people what to eat. Their core responsibility is of course a difficult and thankless task - namely rationing things that are 'free at point of use' - and I'm not qualified to say how often they get it right or wrong.

While I'm on the general topic, I must link to Snowdon's excellent fun with numbers.