NEWS: Smoking Ban Rift Revealed

NEWS: Prescribing Powers Reviewed

NEWS: Reid issues warning over working hours

NEWS: Commons Committee calls for urgent action on obesity

NEWS: Ministers to cut health quangos

NEWS: Centre considers three Rs

NEWS: New Group to advise on sudden cardiac death

NEWS: New vCJD blood test hope

NEWS: Ministers miss mixed ward target

NEWS: In Brief

BOOK REVIEW
Dr Michael Crawford reviews: Should I be Tested for Cancer? Maybe Not and Here’s Why, by H.Gilbert Welch, £10.86, University of California Press
Dr S Michael Crawford

BOOK REVIEW
Adrienne Willcox reviews Healthy Travel: Effective Communication to Improve Travel Health Outcomes, by Rachel Briggs and Najibullah Habib, 2004, available free from www.demos.co.uk/catalogue/healthy travel/
Adrienne Wilcox

BOOK REVIEW
Jearelle Wolhuter reviews The Mould in Dr Florey’s Coat: The Remarkable True Story of the Penicillin Miracle, by Eric Lax, £16,99, Little Brown
Jearelle Wolhunter

Quarterly Check-Up

The price of failure
If Britain’s obesity trend goes unchecked it could easily put an end to the progress which has been made in tackling heart disease, warns Peter Hollins
Peter Hollins

Counter Culture
Chris Ruane MP comments on the government’s decision to allow statins to be made available without prescription
Chris Ruane MP

A New Chapter
Dari Taylor MP welcomes the government’s decision to include recommendations from her Cardiac Risk in the Young private member’s bill in the National Service Framework
Dari Taylor MP

Affairs of the Heart
Of the 75,000 people who die unexpectedly in the UK each year, many are killed by sudden cardiac death. But despite the fact that there is a new generation of "astonishingly" effective therapies, shamefully most of those at risk go unrecognised until it is too late to help. Professor John Camm reports.
Professor John Camm

Reckoning with the Risk-Takers
With new evidence that chlamydia may actually damage men’s fertility, Jolyon Kimble asks if it about time the government targeted male sexual attitudes

Dodging the Doctor
Embarrassment and ignorance prevent men from seeking help despite the possible risks of cancer, writes Martin McGlown

The Real Deal?
Dr Ian Gibson MP and Dr Cath Robnison examine the contents of the new GP contract
Dr Ian Gibson MP & Dr Cath Robinson

Out of circulation
Worldwide, anaemia is the most common evidence of nutritional deficiency. But, reports Dr Thomas Stuttaford, the condition is not confined to the children of the third-world but is fequently found in the children of our inner cities.
Dr Thomas Stuttaford

Over-Exposed?
Sarah Revell reports on the controversial debate over the possible health risks of passive smoking
Sarah Revell

Craic-Down: NO Fags, No Fun?
Fiona Tyrell reports on the impact of Ireland’s controversial public smoking ban
Fiona Tyrell

Fag Break
Lord Faulkner outlines the aims of his Tobacco Smoking (Public Places and Workplaces) Private Members' Bill
Lord Faulkner of Worcester

Smoke Screen
Baroness Trumpington examines the detail of the Tobacco Smoking (Public Places and Workplaces) Private Members Bill
Baroness Trumpington

Burning Issue
It is the single biggest cause of health inequalities and avoidable death in the UK. Paul Hooper outlines why we must tackle tobacco
Paul Hooper

Fat Chance of co-operation?
The health select committee recommends working with the food industry on a voluntary basis. But if the tobacco companies are anything to go by, writes David Taylor MP, then the precedents are far from encouraging
David Taylor MP

Taking the biscuit
Whilst it’s true that chocolate vending machines have no place in a school, it is up to parents – first and foremost – to influence the eating habits of their children, argues Claire Ward MP
Claire Ward MP

Reckless Abondonment
The latest figures for the UK were the worst on record, and yet primary care trusts no longer give HIV a priority. And whilst it’s good that so many British people and organisations are giving their support to developing countries, we must not neglect our own people living with HIV in our own communities, argues Baroness Masham
Baroness Masham of Ilton

End to the Hard Graft?
New synthetic alternatives to human bone look set to provide a cheaper and less painful solution to the rise in joint revision surgery, reports Sally Dawson
Sally Dawson

Counter Attack
Shop workers are subject to increasing levels of violence and intimidation from the public, writes Bob Blizzard MP. And the impact on their health can be devastating
Bob Blizzard MP

Changing the record?
Richard Sarson asks whether Richard Granger’s ruthless ways of treating suppliers of IT systems is being endangered by old-style NHS internal planning
Richard Sarson

COCAINE: A High Price for Fun
The widespread practice of sharing banknotes to snort drugs may be contributing to the spread of a deadly virus, reports Sally Dawson
Sally Dawson

FAILED, SCARRED AND MUTILIATED: The Woment victims of a forgotten war of horror
Deliberate mass rape on an unprecedented scale has been carried out against women during the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Yet these brutal events have gone widely unreported. Munizha Ahmad on a crime the world has chosen to ignore
Munizha Ahmad

THE MIND: The 21st Century Battleground?
It is the fundamental psychology of terrorism which has been neglected in most current analyses, reports Dr Raj Persaud
Dr Raj Persaud

Primary Considerations
The changing health economy will guide priorities and work practices, reports Dr Prasanna de Silva
Dr Prasanna de Silva

Fighting the resistance
Society's dependence on antibiotics causes more promlems than in solves, argues Jearelle Wolhunter
Jearelle Wolhunter

Strains in the system
Successfully meeting healthcare targets can actually create the ideal environment for transmitting MRSA, writes Christine Perry
Christine Perry