WHO gives Chinese health minister award for battling smoking in country addicted to tobacco

BEIJING, China - The World Health Organization is giving China's health minister an award for battling smoking in a country whose people and government remain prodigiously addicted to tobacco.

China has stepped up efforts to curb tobacco use in recent years. The Health Ministry released the country's first official report on the harms of smoking in May, banned smoking in its office building and hospitals, and is lobbying for airports and other indoor public facilities to do the same.

WHO said Health Minister Chen Zhu will be presented a certificate of recognition at a ceremony on Wednesday attended by WHO chief Margaret Chan.

Tobacco control is a difficult task in a nation where huge revenues from the state-owned tobacco monopoly hinder anti-smoking measures. Nearly 30 per cent of adults in China smoke — about 300 million people, roughly equal to the entire U.S. population — a percentage that has not changed significantly.

The tobacco monopoly's influence is pervasive, with cigarette companies sponsoring schools, sports events and fostering close ties with the academic community.

In December, a tobacco scientist who specializes in adding traditional Chinese herbs to cigarettes in an attempt to reduce their harmful effects was appointed to the prestigious Chinese Academy of Engineering in a move that was criticized by other academics, several of whom sent letters to the academy in protest.

Despite the many challenges that remain in stamping out tobacco use, anti-smoking activists welcomed the WHO award.

"Among the government departments, the Health Ministry is the one that has made the biggest efforts in promoting tobacco control," said Xu Guihua, vice-president of the government-affiliated Chinese Association on Tobacco Control. "On many occasions, Minister Chen Zhu has told the public that tobacco is harmful and asked people to give up smoking. He also called on the government to step up tobacco control legislation."

Xu said China still needs to issue a national tobacco control plan, raise prices of cigarettes and better educate the public on the health risks of smoking.

She criticized the apparent conflict of interest in the dual role that China's State Tobacco Monopoly Administration plays as both tobacco policymaker and overseer of the China National Tobacco Corp. — the world's largest cigarette maker.

Health officials have warned that smoking-related deaths could hit 3 million per year by 2030 without greater efforts.

Last year's certificate for anti-smoking efforts was awarded to Australian Attorney General Nicola Roxon, who as health minister led a campaign to make Australia the first country in the world to require cigarettes to be sold in plain packages with large, graphic warnings.

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Associated Press researcher Yu Bing contributed to this report.

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British minister heckled over health reforms

LONDON (AP) — Britain's health minister was angrily heckled Monday over health care reforms that the government says will improve efficiency but opponents claim threaten the foundation of the country's state-funded health care service.

Protesters jostled Health Secretary Andrew Lansley as he arrived for the 10 Downing Street meeting on the reforms. Demonstrator June Hautot, 75, accused Lansley of trying to privatize the National Health Service.

"The NHS is not for sale. There is no privatization," Lansley told her — but the government is still struggling to convince skeptics of that.

Britain's Conservative-led government is planning a major overhaul of the NHS, which provides free treatment to all Britons. The government says the reforms will cut bureaucracy, improve treatment and give doctors more control over health care management.

Opponents say the changes will give private companies a bigger share of heath care and undermine the system's universality.

The overstretched health service is Britain's biggest employer, costing more than 100 billion pounds ($158 billion) a year, and is a source of both constant complaints and national pride.

Making the system more efficient has proved an elusive goal since the NHS was established in 1948. The latest reforms come as Britain seeks to trim spending by 80 billion pounds ($127 billion) by 2015 in a bid to cut the country's deficit.

The proposed law is meeting stiff resistance in Parliament, and more than 150,000 people have signed an online petition calling for it to be scrapped.

The sweeping reforms are opposed by several large medical organizations, including the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing and health care unions.

They said they were not invited to Monday's meeting, which was attended by government officials and the new consortia of doctors that will take over health management from local health care trusts.

"There are quite a few myths that we need to bust about this reform," Prime Minister David Cameron said Monday, insisting he would push the changes through. "We need to do everything we can to explain to people that this is about improving and enhancing our NHS, not in any way endangering it."

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Bihar health minister threatens to chop off doctors hands

Its a shocker from Bihar. State Minister of Health, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey warned doctors in Patna on Saturday, that he could "chop off their hands", should they go ahead with a proposed strike. The dire warning came as the minister was inaugurating his three month long Jan Chetna Yatra.For More Logon to -- http://alpha.newsx.com/

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Health Minister Simon Burns defends NHS reforms

Health Minister Simon Burns defends the Government's NHS reforms, insisting they are on track to make £70bn worth of savings over four years. Report by Sophie Foster. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn

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Romanian deputy health minister reappointed; protests continue

Romanian police walk past a fire lit by protesters in the center of Bucharest on January 15, 2012.Raed Arafat withdraws his resignation after meeting, speaking with officialsProtests continue across Romania on Monday, with thousands taking to the streetsDemonstrators are protesting against government austerity measures

Bucharest, Romania (CNN) -- Romania's deputy health minister, whose resignation last week triggered ongoing protests across the nation, was reappointed to his post on Tuesday after meeting with the prime minister.

Raed Arafat said Tuesday he had withdrawn his resignation, adding that President Traian Basescu called him over the weekend to discuss the matter.

Protests broke out last Thursday after Arafat, an opponent of health care changes proposed by the government, resigned. Arafat gained popularity after creating what many Romanians see as an efficient medical emergency system.

Facing public pressure, Basescu decided to scrap the changes Friday, saying he made the decision after realizing that a majority of those in the medical system opposed the measure.

Critics had argued that the proposal favored the private health care system by allowing it access to government funds while the state-funded system lacks financial aid.

Arafat said Tuesday he withdrew his resignation because the changes were scrapped. He said he will now focus on creating a new health care bill that does not compromise the nation's health care system, especially the emergency system.

Protests, however, continued on Monday, as thousands took to the streets nationwide to demonstrate against government austerity measures, calling for Basescu's resignation and early elections.

However, officials said there was no violence on Monday. Protests took place under the supervision of thousands of police, and there were arrests for disturbing the peace and criminal acts, officials said. On Sunday, authorities used tear gas on demonstrators.

The demonstrations are the most serious since Basescu's election in 2004. Banks, shops and bus stations in the capital have been vandalized, said Bucharest Mayor Sorin Oprescu.

The protesters blocked traffic over the weekend, waving flags with the centers ripped out to symbolize the 1989 revolution. Others carried signs reading "Liberty" and "Down with President Basescu."

A special parliamentary session is expected this week on the events.

Opposition leaders said Monday a new series of protests is planned. The group disagrees with the government's response to the citizen demonstrations, said Crin Antonescu, liberal opposition leader.

"The National Liberal Party asks the prime minister and his cabinet to resign immediately because they couldn't manage the violent protests held over the last couple of days in Bucharest," Antonescu said Monday.

Government officials have called on opposition leaders to meet with them in the next few days.

The protests also follow several unpopular measures taken by the government over the past two years. After receiving a loan of 20 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in 2009, the government cut salaries in the public sector by 25% a year later to enforce austerity measures recommended by the IMF.

Prime Minister Emil Boc invited trade unions and employers to meet Tuesday on the labor code, but the labor unions refused to participate. After meeting with employers, Boc said the government is focused on creating new jobs for Romanians and providing financial support to those wishing to start businesses.

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Romanian health minister reappointed

Romanian police walk past a fire lit by protesters in the center of Bucharest on January 15, 2012.Raed Arafat withdraws his resignation after meeting, speaking with officialsProtests continue across Romania on Monday, with thousands taking to the streetsDemonstrators are protesting against government austerity measures

Bucharest, Romania (CNN) -- Romania's deputy health minister, whose resignation last week triggered ongoing protests across the nation, was reappointed to his post on Tuesday after meeting with the prime minister.

Raed Arafat said Tuesday he had withdrawn his resignation, adding that President Traian Basescu called him over the weekend to discuss the matter.

Protests broke out last Thursday after Arafat, an opponent of health care changes proposed by the government, resigned. Arafat gained popularity after creating what many Romanians see as an efficient medical emergency system.

Facing public pressure, Basescu decided to scrap the changes Friday, saying he made the decision after realizing that a majority of those in the medical system opposed the measure.

Critics had argued that the proposal favored the private health care system by allowing it access to government funds while the state-funded system lacks financial aid.

Arafat said Tuesday he withdrew his resignation because the changes were scrapped. He said he will now focus on creating a new health care bill that does not compromise the nation's health care system, especially the emergency system.

Protests, however, continued on Monday, as thousands took to the streets nationwide to demonstrate against government austerity measures, calling for Basescu's resignation and early elections.

However, officials said there was no violence on Monday. Protests took place under the supervision of thousands of police, and there were arrests for disturbing the peace and criminal acts, officials said. On Sunday, authorities used tear gas on demonstrators.

The demonstrations are the most serious since Basescu's election in 2004. Banks, shops and bus stations in the capital have been vandalized, said Bucharest Mayor Sorin Oprescu.

The protesters blocked traffic over the weekend, waving flags with the centers ripped out to symbolize the 1989 revolution. Others carried signs reading "Liberty" and "Down with President Basescu."

A special parliamentary session is expected this week on the events.

Opposition leaders said Monday a new series of protests is planned. The group disagrees with the government's response to the citizen demonstrations, said Crin Antonescu, liberal opposition leader.

"The National Liberal Party asks the prime minister and his cabinet to resign immediately because they couldn't manage the violent protests held over the last couple of days in Bucharest," Antonescu said Monday.

Government officials have called on opposition leaders to meet with them in the next few days.

The protests also follow several unpopular measures taken by the government over the past two years. After receiving a loan of 20 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in 2009, the government cut salaries in the public sector by 25% a year later to enforce austerity measures recommended by the IMF.

Prime Minister Emil Boc invited trade unions and employers to meet Tuesday on the labor code, but the labor unions refused to participate. After meeting with employers, Boc said the government is focused on creating new jobs for Romanians and providing financial support to those wishing to start businesses.

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