News Bites

IFH India conference
The final programme for the second IFH international conference is now available and downloadable from this site! The conference will take place in New Delhi, 15^th and 16^th April 2002, and will cover all the main hygiene areas related to the home: water, sanitation, food hygiene, handwashing and hygiene practice in the domestic and peri-domestic settings. The central conference theme comes from recognition of the need to ensure that public-funded programmes relating to community hygiene are integrated with the promotion of hygiene practice within the community, the home and its immediate surroundings if the health benefits from such programmes are to be commensurate with the investment made. The importance of building effective partnerships that can really work to deliver behaviour change at all levels of rural and urban society will also be a key focus of the conference. To receive a hard copy of the final programme, please contact us.

New strategy emphasises importance of Infectious Disease Control in England
The Chief Medical Officer of Health, Sir Liam Donaldson, has just published a new 146-page strategy document, which emphasises the threat from infectious diseases and the importance of measures to prevent them. Although the proposals naturally don't particularly stress home hygiene, the document contains a great deal that emphasises that infectious disease remains an important threat. The role of hygiene in the health revolution of the last century is however recognised, and "the threat from poor hygiene" is highlighted. "Good hygiene practice" is listed as one of the core measures on which response to the challenge of infectious disease must be based.

Preparing turkey spreads bacteria
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) published research showing that traditional ways of preparing a turkey are not always the safest. For example, 86% of UK thinks they are correct in washing the turkey before cooking it. The FSA points out that washing it can splash harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning, around the kitchen and on to other foods. Proper cooking will eliminate any bacteria on or in your turkey. The FSA has published an online guide about food poisoning at its new website: www.food.gov.uk.

European Food Safety Authority approved
The European Parliament approved the creation of an independent European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on 11/12/01. The EFSA's mandate will include a wide range of scientific and technical support tasks on all matters directly or indirectly impacting food safety. The EFSA's mission includes the provision of scientific opinions on all issues in relation to animal health and welfare, plant health, and genetically modified organisms. The location of the new authority is to be decided and will be hosted in the interim in Brussels.


Increase in multi-resistant Salmonella in the Netherlands
The RIVM (National Institute of Public Health and the Environment) noted that in 2001 the number of isolates of Salmonella typhimurium DT104 from humans was double that of previous years. The proportion of cases of DT104 infection in the Netherlands is now among the highest in Europe. Salmonella typhimurium DT104 is resistant to many antibiotics and infection is usually more serious compared with other salmonella infections. From April 2002, there will be further studies on all patients with a salmonella infection (reported to RIVM) to study the illness, risk factors, source foodstuffs, and routes of transmission.