WHO and WTO discuss cheaper medicines: Experts from the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization met in Norway for the first time to discuss ways to reduce the price of medicines sold to the poorest countries.
Psychiatrists to examine racism: The Royal College of Psychiatrists is to be the first medical royal college to review the extent of institutional racism within its organisation. The three year review by Lancaster University will be accompanied by the establishment of an ethnic issues committee and by appropriate training to ensure that all psychiatrists are culturally sensitive.
Cancer patients sidelined: Most patients with cancer in the United Kingdom are not involved in decisions about their pain control, according to a survey by the charity CancerBACUP, which is campaigning for better access to effective pain relief.
Waiting lists are governed by complexity theory: Hospital waiting lists are subject to the same laws of physics as those governing forest fires and disease epidemics: there are frequent small variations but large scale changes are rare, say researchers at the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham (Nature 2001;410:652-3). They argue that initiatives to tackle long waiting lists can only have a temporary effect.
Patients should report drug side effects: Patients in the United Kingdom should have a role in reporting the side effects of drugs, having been largely excluded from the system so far, says a report in Health Which? (April 2001:8-11).