The new EASL guidelines for the management of chronic hepatitis B infection adapted for Swiss physicians.

Since the arrival of several new antivirals and due to the growing molecular and clinical knowledge of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, therapy of hepatitis B has become complex. Clinical guidelines aim at streamlining medical attitudes: in this respect, the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) recently issued clinical practice guidelines for the management of chronic hepatitis B. Guidelines made by international experts need however to be adapted to local health care systems. Here, we summarise the EASL guidelines with some minor modifications in order to be compatible with the particular Swiss situation, while discussing in more detail some aspects. Chronic hepatitis B is a complex disease with several phases where host and viral factors interact: the features of this continuous interplay need to be evaluated when choosing the most appropriate treatment. The EASL guidelines recommend, as first-line agents, using the most potent antivirals available with the optimal resistance profile, in order to abate HBV DNA as rapidly and as sustainably as possible. Once therapy has been started, the infection evolves and resistant viral strains may emerge. Rescue therapy needs to be started early with more potent agents lacking cross-resistance.

Submission from the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine for the National Dementia strategy

The submission from the Irish Society of Physicians in Geriatric Medicine to the Minister for Health and Children for the National Dementia strategy is available to read here

Factsheet on case-law on the rights of older people

The Press Service of the European Court of Human Rights published in June 2014 a factsheet on the Court’s case-law on the human rights of older people. This collection shows that even though the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) does not explicitly refer to older persons nor to age discrimination, the Strasbourg Court can play an important role as a guardian of the rights of older people. Read more here.

Relevé des consultations et des transferts de patients par enquête directe auprès des médecins: méthode d'une enquête, acceptabilité et limites d'interprétation. [Summary of consultations and transfer of patients by a direct survey of physicians: survey methods, acceptability and limits of interpretation].

A survey of medical ambulatory practice was carried out in February-March 1981 in the two Swiss cantons of Vaud and Fribourg (total population: 700,000), in which 205 physicians participated. The methodology used was inspired from the U.S. National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, the data collection instrument of which was adapted to our conditions; in addition, data were gathered on all referrals prescribed by 154 physicians during two weeks. (The instruments used are presented.) The potential and limits of this type of survey are discussed, as well as the representativity of the participating physicians and of the recorded visits, which are a systematic sample of over 43,000 visits.

Forecasting nano law: defining nano

Law and science have partnered together in the recent past to solve major public health issues, ranging from asbestos to averting the threat of a nuclear holocaust. This paper travels to a legal and health policy frontier where no one has gone before, examining the role of precautionary principles under international law as a matter of codified international jurisprudence by examining draft terminology from prominent sources including the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (UK), the Swiss Confederation, the USA (NIOSH) and the OECD. The research questions addressed are how can the benefits of nanotechnology be realized, while minimizing the risk of harm? What law, if any, applies to protect consumers (who comprise the general public, nanotechnology workers and their corporate social partners) and other stakeholders within civil society from liability? What law, if any, applies to prevent harm?