News@ a glance
==============

* Wayne Kondro

*   © 2007 Canadian Medical Association

**Mumps misery:** Some 460 confirmed cases of mumps have now been reported in 8 Canadian provinces in the ongoing outbreak of the acute viral infection, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. As of June 8, the outbreak remains centred in Nova Scotia, where 350 cases have been confirmed, and New Brunswick, where 88 have contracted the disease. Ontario has 13 confirmed cases, while PEI, Manitoba, Alberta and BC each have 2, and Newfoundland 1. The majority of cases continue to occur among university-aged individuals (see editorial, page [121](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/volpage/177/121?iss=2)).

**On the philanthropic war front:** Hey, Larry! The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated US$105 million to the University of Washington to help create an Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation to analyze and evaluate the relative merits of world health models, programs and spending. World-reknowned health economist Dr. Christopher Murray was promptly raided from the University of Harvard to head the initiative. Murray is none other than the man who was slated to head the once-planned Ellison Institute to assess world health models, programs and spending, until Oracle Corp. founder (and Gates' current philanthropic rival) Larry Ellison rescinded a promised $115 million gift to Harvard because of his concerns over the departure of then-president Lawrence Summers.

**HIV testing:** The World Health Organization and UNAIDS (the joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS) have issued new guidance for HIV testing and counselling within member nations. Rather than client-initiated testing, health care providers are urged to automatically initiate HIV testing and counselling for all patients who attend health facilities in those countries in which there are generalized HIV epidemics, irrespective of whether the patient has symptoms and regardless of his or her reason for attending the facility. In countries in which there are “concentrated or low-level HIV epidemics,” testing should be initiated for “all patients in selected health facilities, (e.g. antenatal, tuberculosis, sexual health, and health services for most-at-risk populations).”

**Liquor labelling:** The British government and alcohol industry have reached a voluntary agreement to place health warning labels on all beer, wine and hard liquor packaging that indicate the number of units of alcohol (1 unit is 1/3 of an ounce) that each drink contains, as well as recommended “safe” drinking levels, commencing next year. “We want to make it as simple as possible for people to keep an eye on how much they are drinking,” said Public Health Minister Caroline Flint.

**Serology lab:** Global giant GlaxoSmithKline will pump $50 million into an upgrade of its Laval, Que., facility, including construction of a serology lab in the vacant basement of the facility and the hiring and equipping of 60 new staff. The move is part of a GlaxoSmithKline plan to designate the Laval facility as the North American headquarters of its innovative vaccines division. The firm has committed itself to developing 5 vaccines by 2010, targeting rotavirus infection, uterine cancer, pneumococcus for babies, the flu for the elderly and meningitis for children under the age of 2.

![Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/https://www.cmaj.ca/content/cmaj/177/2/137/F1.medium.gif)

[Figure1](http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/2/137/F1)

Photo by: Photos.com

**The obesity waltz:** Concerns about expanding obesity rates have prompted the government of China to make dance classes mandatory for elementary and secondary students, commencing Sept. 1. The classes will “suit the physical and psychological characteristics of students at all ages,” according to a notice from the Education Ministry, which also considering the adoption of physical fitness as a criteria for entry in the nation's ultra-competitive university system.

**Double-dipping:** The Montréal-based medical brokerage firm Medicina opted to shut down its operations after the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec ordered it to stop paying medical specialists for offering patients more rapid access to services. The firm had been charging patients $90-$290 for appointments with specialists, who, in turn, were typically paid about $150 for agreeing to see the client. The health insurance board ruled that that contravened the province's public health plan, which prohibits doctors from charging patients for extra costs associated with medical services. Some 15 specialists were caught double-dipping.

**Coalition complaint:** The Coalition of Associations for Foreign Trained Doctors has asked the Quebec Human Rights Commission to investigate whether immigrant physicians are being systematically discriminated against when applying for hospital residency programs. Roughly 200 immigrant physicians in Quebec passed qualifying exams this year but only 54 were granted residency spots, while 87 available positions weren't filled. A class action suit is also being contemplated.

**Wrinkles ironed:** An Anglophone medical training program will be established at the University of New Brunswick's Saint John campus. The New Brunswick government has announced that it has now resolved logistical issues surrounding the establishment of 30 undergraduate training spots at the university (*CMAJ* 2007;176[10]:1405).

**Lord help us:** Ousted New Brunswick Conservative premier Bernard Lord has been named the first “scholar-in-residence” at the newly minted Institute for Strategic Analysis and Innovation, a health care think-tank established at the McGill University Health Centre in Montréal. Lord has been charged with crafting strategic policy plans “focusing on equipping citizens to take control of their own health care management.”

**Burden of proof:** Although studies have found no causal link between autism and childhood vaccines containing thimerosal, the parents of a 12-year-old Arizona girl have asked the US Court of Federal Claims to find that their child's autism was caused by a measles vaccine. A finding in their favour would make the family eligible for monies from the US Vaccine Compensation Fund, which was created to safeguard manufacturers from lawsuits while ensuring adequate vaccine supply. The burden of proof in the Court of Federal Claims is lower, requiring only that plaintiffs prove that an association is “more likely than not, based on a preponderance of evidence.”

**Hip surgery:** Senior citizens who have broken hips and are forced to wait longer than 1 day in hospital for surgery are 22% more likely to die than those treated within a day of admission, according to a Canadian Institute for Health Information study. The higher death rate is typically the product of complications such as urinary tract infections or pneumonia resulting from being immobilized and bed-ridden. There was also a significant variation in the rapidity of treatment relative to size of the hospital. Some 74% of patients admitted to small hospitals received same or next day surgery, compared with 67% in medium and large community hospitals, and 57% in teaching hospitals. The study, which indicated that 25 000 seniors were admitted to hospital because of a broken hip in 2006, is available at [www.cihi.ca](http://www.cihi.ca)

**Foreign credentials:** The federal government has unveiled the first phase of its newly minted Foreign Credentials Referral Office, a $32.2 million, 5-year initiative created in the 2007 federal budget to help International Medical Graduates and other foreign-trained professionals get readier recognition of their credentials. In addition to online information about potential occupations and job opportunities, the new office will provide immigrants with a dedicated phone service at 320 Service Canada outlets by this fall.