Encouraging news of a childhood vaccine against rotavirus in this week’s issue. This virus causes severe diarrhoeal disease in infants, especially in tropical areas of Africa and Asia. In a Randomised Trial, investigators from Finland tested a rotavirus vaccine in young infants from France, Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic. The vaccine, given with routine childhood vaccinations, was found to be around 87% protective.

However, Australian authors of a linked Comment caution that a rotavirus vaccine needs testing in African and Asian regions before it can be said that a global rotavirus vaccine has been found.

‘For most people, statins are safe and well tolerated, and their widespread use has the potential to have a major effect on the global burden of cardiovascular disease’.

The cover quote from this week’s issue, taken from a comprehensive Review by Jane Armitage from the University of Oxford, UK. It is well worth a read, as it stresses the importance of low cholesterol to public health, and clarifies that side effects of statins are rare. You can listen to Jane Armitage discussing the topic in this week’s Podcast.

We also publish research highlighting how individuals who develop venous thromboembolism are at an increased long-term risk of cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and stroke

In this week’s World Report our very own Rhona MacDonald writes about a call from experts to a reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Dominique Strauss-Kahn took over as the new head of the IMF this month, amid calls for reform of the organisation’s governance and restrictive policies, which, say experts, hinder health and development in low-income countries.

Australia is about to go to the polls - so naturally we have given space to this in the long Editorial this week. And whilst we rightly point out statistics that show Australia to be in good health: an average life expectancy of 84 years for women, the 3^rd highest worldwide, and 79 years for men, the 2^nd highest worldwide…not to mention a halving of adult tobacco use in the past two decades, these figures mask a severe inequity in Australia’s health-care system. Indigenous people live on average 17 years fewer than white Australians, and there is a poor ratio of doctors to individuals, especially in rural areas. We propose that ‘more of the same’, a continuation of the John Howard, is not an option for Australia, where health reform to address its inequities is needed.   

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This entry was posted on Friday, November 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 pm and is filed under The Lancet Digest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can trackback from your own site.