News in brief

Three out of six American ‘psychiatric survivors’ were still on hunger strike in California as healthmatters went to press, as part of a battle for improved choice and human rights in psychiatry. The strikers challenged US psychiatric authorities, including the American Psychiatric Association, to prove that mental illness is biologically based. Strikers argue that the pharmaceutical industry and psychiatry are medicalising a widening spectrum of human emotion and behaviour. The AMA says the strikers’ action is ‘ill considered’ and answers to their questions ‘are widely available in the scientific literature’.

www.mindfreedom.org

***

A new left-of-centre health policy group, Politics of Health, which aims to be a focus for debate on health politics and inequalities is due to hold two conferences this autumn, in London and Liverpool. Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, director of Liverpool university’s Equal (Equity in Health Research and Development Unit) said the Politics of Health email group already had about 200 members.

‘When people talk about politics and health they generally mean government health policy and its implementation but in our view there is a discipline waiting to be investigated which is about the whole range of political determinants of health and health outcomes,’ he said.

For information email: alexss@liverpool.ac.uk

***

Scottish nursing and midwifery staff numbers increased during the six months from September 2002 to March 2003, says the Scottish Executive. The number of whole time equivalent qualified nurses and midwives rose from 37,216 to 38,144. Health minister Malcolm Chisholm said he was concerned about the rising cost of using specialist agency

Harriet Gaze