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Cancer drugs for healthy patients, more flu jabs for health workers, and binman MC rubbishes Lansley

By Ellie Broughton

Our roundup of the health news headlines on Monday 28 March.

A new trial suggesting that healthy women take anti-cancer treatments as a preventative measure has caught the attention of the Telegraph, the Independent, the Daily Mail and the Times this morning.

The Lancet report's lead author, Professor Jack Cuzick, from Queen Mary University of London, said GPs should be authorised to prescribe the drug tamoxifen as a preventive therapy in Britain, in a similar way to statins for heart disease.

The Guardian concentrated on the five million patients and health workers , who for whatever reason, missed out on the flu jab last winter. Chief Medical Officer for England Sally Davies has recommended a higher take-up for the flu season in 2011/12 to better serve those at risk of complications from contracting the virus.

The paper also reports on the launch of a scheme to divert mentally ill offenders from prison – part of Justice Minister Ken Clarke's shake-up of the penal system, with most of its £5m funding coming from the health budget. The justice ministry says that existing liaision and diversion services around the country are limited, and hopes the 100 'diversion sites' planned around England and Wales will create a better system to assess and refer patients for treatment.

Meanwhile on the weekend, as coverage of Saturday's march made the front pages – binman MC NxtGen has also been making headlines over his rap attacking Andrew Lansley's health reforms. The rapper made page three of the Saturday Guardian . You heard it here first!

Spotted a story we've missed? Let us know in the comments and we'll update the digest throughout the day...

Daily Digest