Hague 'concerned' at Syria deaths

30 April 2011 Last updated at 16:59 GMT Mr Hague said those responsible for the violence would be held personally to account Foreign Secretary William Hague has expressed concern at "credible" reports that more than 500 people have been killed in ongoing violence in Syria.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 539 people have been killed since protests calling for political reform began on 15 March.

Mr Hague said the Syrian government needed to respond with "reform not repression".

President Bashar al-Assad's government blames extremists for the unrest.

Activists say at least six people were killed by security forces in the southern city of Deraa on Saturday.

They also said more than 60 protesters were killed across the country on Friday - more than half of them in Deraa.

Officials said the number of dead was far lower, and included four soldiers. They say 80 security personnel have been killed in the unrest.

Foreign journalists are not being allowed into the country, and the exact picture of what is happening remains unclear.

International community

In a statement released on Saturday, Mr Hague said he was "extremely concerned by ongoing violence and repression."

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I welcome the EU's decision to accelerate work on targeted measures against those responsible”

End Quote William Hague Foreign Secretary "There are credible reports that over 500 people have been killed in recent weeks," he said.

"The Syrian government has failed to heed repeated calls by the international community for restraint. As I have stressed it is vital to respond with reform not repression."

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council condemned the violence, in a US-led resolution by 26 votes to nine with seven abstentions.

The council, based in Geneva, said it would ask the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to dispatch a mission to investigate "all alleged violations of international human rights law and to establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes perpetrated".

Nations demanded that President Assad's government stops the violence, releases political prisoners and lifts restrictions on the media and access to the internet.

Mr Hague welcomed the UN resolution and also the European Union's decision to launch an arms embargo against Syria and to review all EU co-operation with the country.

"We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that those responsible for the violence are held personally to account," he added.

"In this context, I welcome the EU's decision last night to accelerate work on targeted measures against those responsible. The United Kingdom will again be in the forefront of pushing for such measures."

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VIDEO: Florida gun deaths suspect named

18 April 2011 Last updated at 12:26 GMT Help

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Fuel billing 'leading to deaths'

11 February 2011 Last updated at 00:49 GMT By Adam Brimelow Health Correspondent, BBC News Prof Ashton says the energy pricing structure is 'mad'

The system for calculating most domestic fuel bills in the UK is contributing to thousands of deaths each winter, public health experts say.

The UK Public Health Association says two-tier tariffs - where the first units cost more - penalise the poorest.

It wants the "iniquitous" price system changed so cheaper units come first.

Energy firms say this would hit many vulnerable people who are at home all day and that they spent £150m helping vulnerable customers last year.

Every year the cold weather brings illness and death. Across the UK each winter there are, on average, more than 30,000 fatalities caused by low temperatures.

Pneumonia

Some are from falls and road accidents. But most are caused by heart attacks, chest infections and strokes.

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This is something that we ought to be able to do quite simply and one of the things is addressing this iniquitous pricing structure"”

End Quote Professor John Ashton Chairman, UK Public Health Association UK Public Health Association chairman Professor John Ashton says winter death rates are much higher in Britain than in Scandinavia and should be a matter of of shame.

"What's happening in a lot of these houses is that you'll have an elderly person, perhaps a widow on their own on a low pension, struggling to keep the house warm," he said.

"She'll keep one room warm and then at bedtime she'll go up to her bedroom which is cold. She'll get chilled, and then she'll get a chest infection, go on to get pneumonia and that's it."

Domestic fuel costs have risen sharply in recent years, but Prof Ashton says the problem is compounded by the two-tier tariff used by most energy companies, with a high initial unit cost which falls when more energy is used.

"We spend a lot of effort trying to prevent premature deaths at all ages but particularly in the elderly.

"This is something that we ought to be able to do quite simply, and one of the things is addressing this iniquitous pricing structure."

The lethal impact of the recent cold snap is already emerging in death figures. In Cumbria there were nearly 200 extra deaths in just over a month over Christmas and the New Year.

'Difficult to understand'

Marianne Hornby lives on her own near Egremont. She is on benefits so money is tight and she struggles to keep warm.

"I can't cut down my bill for my food any more than what I am doing. I'm already on a very low level so I try not to think about it because otherwise I just wouldn't sleep. I just try and do a day at a time."

She was surprised to discover that as a low energy user, a lot of her consumption is charged at the higher tariff.

"They're very difficult to understand these bills. But I was quite shocked when I found that. I can't afford to do that".

Prof Ashton says the tariff should be turned on its head - with a low energy price to cover the basics, and then more expensive for people who use more. He says this approach would also discourage waste.

The charity Age UK has backed the idea, as has the environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth.

But Christine McGourty from Energy UK, which represents energy providers, said restructuring the tariff in this way could be complicated, expensive, and may have no overall benefit for those it is supposed to help.

"Many of those higher users are using a lot of energy for a reason. They are families who are at home a lot through the day with children.

"They need to heat their homes and they need to keep warm. That's why they're using a lot of energy. And for those people, changing it would make things a lot worse.

She said last year the energy industry spent £150m on measures to help their most vulnerable customers, including special discounts, rebates and free insulation.

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Cancer deaths in Europe 'to fall'

9 February 2011 Last updated at 03:28 GMT By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News Lung cancer death rates among European women have been steadily increasing in recent years Experts are predicting a fall in overall cancer death rates for men and women across Europe in 2011.

Using data from the World Health Organization, they say cancer deaths should fall by 7% in men and 6% in women compared with rates in 2007.

Overall, almost 1.3 million people will die from cancer in 2011, they estimate.

Recent declines in stomach, colon, breast, womb, prostate and male lung cancers should continue, the researchers say in Annals of Oncology.

But they say female lung cancer is rising in all major EU countries except the UK.

According to the researchers, the UK has had the highest rates of female lung cancer deaths for a decade and, although they are not going down, they do appear to be levelling off.

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Lung, colorectal and breast cancers are the top causes of cancer deaths, and these are showing major changes”

End Quote The study authors Professor Carlo La Vecchia of the University of Milan in Italy and Professor Fabio Levi from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland reached their calculations by looking at overall cancer rates in the EU as well as individual cancer rates in six major EU countries: France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK.

Based on cancer trends between 1970 and 2007, they predict there will be 1,281,436 cancer deaths in the EU in 2011 (721,252 men and 560,184 women), compared with 1,256,001 (703,872 men and 552,129 women) in 2007.

More survivors

When these figures are converted into world standardised rates per 100,000 of the population, this means there will be a fall from 153.8 per 100,000 to 142.8 per 100,000 in men, and from 90.7 to 85.3 in women - a drop of 7% in men and 6% in women - since 2007.

The overall downward trend in cancer death rates is driven mainly by falls in breast cancer mortality in women, and lung and colorectal cancer in men.

"Lung, colorectal and breast cancers are the top causes of cancer deaths, and these are showing major changes," say the researchers.

But in the EU as a whole, world standardised death rates from lung cancer in women have gone up from 12.55 per 100,000 of the female population in 2007 to 13.12 in 2011.

However, a worrying increase in deaths from pancreatic cancer in women, which had been observed in 2004, appears to have levelled off.

Professor Stephen Spiro, of the British Lung Foundation, said lung cancer remained the most common killing cancer in men and women and was related to smoking in 80% of cases.

"Over the last 30 years, lung cancer rates have dropped in men as they have quit smoking in large numbers. However, this trend is not seen in women as nearly a quarter continue to smoke.

"The rates of lung cancer in women are not falling in the UK and the disease has overtaken breast cancer as the most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK and in many European countries."

Mike Hobday, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, welcomed the fall in death rates but warned the number of people living with cancer in the UK was increasing by 3% every year.

"We know that there are currently two million people in the UK living with a cancer diagnosis, if the current rate continues, the number will have doubled to four million people by 2030.

"Cancer is changing. For many cancer is now a long-term condition and it is important to realise that it is no longer just about people dying quickly of cancer or being cured."

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