PR and Med Ed news in brief

Beach Boy heads campaign

The Department of Health's hepatitis C awareness campaign is to be unveiled by former Beach Boy David Marks. Also a hepatitis C sufferer, he will be unveiling a display of large-scale portraits of people with the illness from across England. The event is taking place on the north terrace of Leicester Square on 16th March 2005 at 9.00am. The two-day event will be followed by a photography exhibition, which will be staged in other major cities across England later in the year.

NCT rolls out campaign

A campaign has been launched to raise awareness of piles by Anusol and the National Childbirth Trust (NCT). The leaflet, Are you Sitting Comfortably?, contains helpful hints and tips for parents to be and will be available to health care professionals and selected antenatal classes. There will also be the Valley Cushion hiring scheme - providing cushions that ease the pain of piles - which will be available to new mums through the NCT nationwide.

MMR-autism fears crushed

Concerns over the possible link between autism and MMR has been dispelled by a new study that found withdrawing the vaccine did nothing to slow the rise in children diagnosed with the condition. Scientists have examined rates of autism among children in Japan, where the MMR vaccine was withdrawn in 1993. They found that the number of children with autism continued to rise after the MMR vaccine was replaced with single-shot vaccines.

Smoking bans continue

More than 30 cities and towns in England are considering local bans on smoking in public places following the government's refusal to implement national rules. Some are expected to follow the example of Liverpool and the Greater London authority, which have started parliamentary steps to enable them to implement a ban in 2006. At least nine local authorities are said by the SmokeFree Liverpool campaign to be examining this route or other measures including changing bylaws, licensing laws or health and safety legislation.