In brief

Part of HIV prevention trial is stopped early: The tenofovir gel microbicide arm of a major HIV prevention study has been stopped early for lack of efficacy, the US National Institutes of Health said. The five arm trial of vaginal and oral interventions to control the epidemic (VOICE) had enrolled more than 5000 women in Africa. Researchers were surprised, because an earlier study had shown a 39% reduced rate of infection (BMJ 2010;341:c3944, doi:10.1136/bmj.c3944).

Kenyan doctors to strike for 300% pay rise: Kenyan doctors are to strike on 5 December for better pay and conditions. Currently the monthly gross salary for an entry level doctor is 60 000 shillings (£430; €500; $670), but unions are demanding a rise to 180 000 shillings—still below the monthly average salary of their Botswanan peers (219 000 shillings). The union leader Boniface Chitayi said that Kenya has a shortage of 40 000 doctors, many having moved to Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa for better pay.

Governments urged to tighten regulations on food industry: The European Heart Network is demanding stronger controls on the food industry to reduce the amount of salt, saturated fats, and sugar used. The call came with publication in Brussels on 23 November of a comprehensive new report, Diet, Physical Activity and Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Europe (www.ehnheart.org).

Leprosy law is withdrawn: Bangladesh has rescinded century old legislation isolating people with leprosy. Some 50 000 people should now be freed from the stigma and discrimination imposed by the 1898 Lepers Act, which was based on the incorrect premise that leprosy is both infectious and incurable.

Heart procedures are shown on iPad: A new iPad system developed by interventional cardiologists at the Rabin Medical Centre in Petah Tikva near Tel Aviv, Israel, has made it possible for patients undergoing a coronary catheterisation, angioplasty, and stent insertion—and their worried relatives—to watch the whole process in real time on their iPad tablets. The system also allows consultations anywhere with doctors, who can perform measurements during procedures.

Use of landmines is at record high: Although a record number of countries have now banned anti-personnel mines, their use is at a seven year high, says the 2011 landmine monitor report (www.the-monitor.org), which estimates that at least 4000 people were killed or injured by such devices last year.

New UK-Africa partnerships focus on patient safety: Five new partnerships between hospitals in Africa (in Ghana, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zambia) and the United Kingdom launched this week with the aim of improving patient safety. Set up by African Partnerships for Patient Safety, the partnerships follow on from the first wave of similar schemes set up in 2009. They focus on sharing tools, processes, and learning on three core objectives: partnership strength, hospital patient safety improvements, and spreading patient safety.

Poetry prize is honoured for linking medicine and humanities: Warwick University’s Hippocrates prize for poetry, and its associated medicine and poetry research forum, won a Times Higher Education award on 24 November for its contribution to forging links between medicine and the humanities. In the previous two years the prize has attracted more than 3000 entries from 31 countries.

Spanish pharmacies offer rapid syphilis test: The health department of the Basque region in Spain is extending its programme of rapid testing in pharmacies for HIV, launched last year to improve diagnosis, to include a rapid syphilis test. This extension is only for men who have sex with men, because of the increased incidence of the disease in this group.