16:16 Thousands of A&E attendances could be cut by adding a 1% tax on alcoholic drinks sold in restaurants, pubs and shops, a study has suggested.
Cardiff University researchers said the money raised – about £1bn a year – could also be used to ‘offset the cost of alcohol-related harm to the NHS’, reports ITV News.
The study suggested this would be ‘more effective’ than minimum unit pricing.
13:50 The expectation that global spread of HIV/Aids would end in the near future may have been premature, reports the Guardian.
A UN report shows that 2m people a year have been contracting the virus, since a previous steady decline stalled five years ago – and infections are even rising in some areas.
UNAids executive director Michel Sidibé said: ‘We are sounding the alarm. The power of prevention is not being realised.
‘If there is a resurgence in new HIV infections now, the epidemic will become impossible to control. The world needs to take urgent and immediate action.’
12:08 Kids biting their nails or sucking their thumbs have been shown to suffer from fewer allergies. A thousand New Zealanders were periodically assessed between the age of five and 32, resulting in the findings.
Researchers linked the outcome to the ‘hygiene hypothesis’ – that exposure to some germs strenghten the body’s immune system, reports the BBC.
It had no impact on hay fever or asthma, unfortunately.
10:10 Elsewhere, we are leading this morning on our exclusive story on 400 GPs being left trapped in limbo after repeated failures to pass the MRCGP exam, prompting GP leaders to call for reform of the process.
9:55 Pregnancy multi-vitamins are a waste of money because mothers in waiting do not need to take them, new research has revealed.
According to research published in the Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, researchers claim that after assessing all the evidence, they discovered that the supplements did not boost the health of mothers and babies, the BBC reports.
