British medical bulletin
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British medical bulletin · Jan 2013
Regulation and safe adoption of new medical devices and procedures.
Recent problems with medical devices have highlighted the need for improved surveillance. New procedures are largely unregulated. ⋯ How to accrue more and better evidence about devices and procedures through clinical trials and various avenues of observational data collection.
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While social media interactions are currently not fully understood, as individual health behaviors and outcomes are shared online, social media offers an increasingly clear picture of the dynamics of these processes. ⋯ Further work is needed on social media as a valid data source for detecting or predicting diseases or conditions. Also, whether or not it is an effective tool for communicating key public health messages and engaging both, the general public and policy-makers.
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The incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer are rapidly rising in several countries in Asia. However, screening guidelines are lacking. ⋯ Screening for colorectal cancer should be a national health priority in most Asian countries. Studies on barriers to screening, education of the public and engagement of family physicians are important strategies in promoting colorectal cancer screening. With more health-care support, increased public acceptance and better access to the general population, colorectal cancer screening in Asia can be rewarding.
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British medical bulletin · Jan 2013
Policy reform to realize the commitments of the Political Declaration on noncommunicable diseases.
Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) caused an estimated 36 million deaths in 2008. Recognizing that NCDs are a global health and development priority, Heads of State and government adopted the Political Declaration on NCDs (resolution A/RES/66/2) at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2011. ⋯ Policy reform and accelerated national scale-up action, particularly in low-and-middle-income countries, must be guided by translation research and feedback information from monitoring and evaluation.
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The public assumes that if euthanasia and assisted suicide were to be legalized they would be carried out by physicians. ⋯ The impact of characterizing euthanasia as 'medical treatment' on physicians' professional identity and on the institutions of medicine and law should be examined in jurisdictions where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been de-criminalized.