SMC Heads-Up: Press council stoush, immunisation and prizes

SMC Heads-Up: Press council stoush, immunisation success and science prizes

Issue 228 26 April - 2 May 2013

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Bloggers decry Press Council ruling
A Press Council ruling against current affairs magazine North & South has alarmed scientists concerned the decision hands a victory to those pushing unproven homeopathic remedies.

North & South editor Virginia Larsen used her editorial in the May issue to describe an "extraordinary" judgement that went against the magazine over an article on homeopathy written by Stacey Anyan.

The article published last year claimed that, "homeopathic remedies have failed every randomised, evidence-based scientific study seeking to verify their claims of healing powers".

Taking issue with that was Tauranga-based homeopath Clive Stuart, who in August complained to the Press Council.

The Press Council upheld his key complaint about Anyan's statement on the efficacy of homeopathy. But Larsen claims the Press Council broke its own rules of process in accepting a science-based submission from Dr David St George, chief advisor integrative care at the Ministry of Health, who quoted a 2005 study in The Lancet which ironically concluded that "this finding is compatible with the notion that the clinical effects of homeopathy are placebo effects."

Scientists check the evidence

Writing on Sciblogs, microbilogist Dr. Siouxsie Wiles referenced a UK House of Commons scientific "evidence check" on homeopathy which, she said, pointed to "...homeopathy having no effect beyond placebo, when evaluated using methodologically sound protocols by people without a vested interest in homeopathy."

Fellow Sciblogger and CPIT chemistry lecturer Dr Michael Edmonds added:

"While supporters of homeopathy are often quick to point to a few studies where the data appear to show that homeopathy might have some small beneficial effects, they ignore the many studies which show that homeopathy has no benefits beyond that of the placebo effect."

Professor Richard Easther, head of the University of Auckland's physics department, blogged that the "broad thrust" of Anyan's statement was correct, but that the submission from Dr St George raised questions about the advice the Government is receiving on alternative medicine.

"...can we ask exactly what the Ministry of Health's involvement with 'alternative medicine' might be, and whether the public money spent in this area would be better deployed elsewhere?"

That blog post went global when it was picked up by Guardian science columnist George Monbiot.

Use of third-party experts

The Science Media Centre has written to the Press Council to ask for clarification on its use of scientific expertise in considering complaints. While the Press Council will not consider scientific data, it has sought third-party scientific expertise before, including approaching the Science Media Centre for advice on experts to approach.

Larsen sounded a defiant note in her North & South editorial titled "press ganged":

"Extraordinary claims (like sugar pills have healing powers or water has 'memory') require extraordinary, or at least very, very good, evidence: specifically, well-conducted, reproducible experiments.

"The homeopaths cannot produce one, not in an animal nor a test- tube, never mind in a human. Until they do, it is a fact - not an opinion - that homeopathic remedies work no better than placebo."

NZ 'flu jabs: 1 million and counting...
More than one million New Zealanders have been immunised against influenza this flu season following an an increased uptake of vaccinations.

Announcing the milestone today, Associate Health Minister Jo Goodhew said this level of immunisation so early in the flu season is unprecedented.
"It looks like we will easily reach the goal of immunising 1.2 million New Zealanders by the end of July when the flu immunisation programme finishes.

"In fact it is likely we will exceed this, which will mean the highest numbers of Kiwis ever have been immunised against the flu."

Compared to this time last year, 250,000 more Kiwis have been vaccinated and 350,000 more than in 2009.

"It is fantastic to know one in four New Zealanders has taken heed of the message that the flu is a serious disease and that the best way to protect yourself from it is to immunise," Said Mrs Goodhew.

She also expressed her appreciation for all the health professionals whose work had helped flu immunisations hit the million mark.

The announcement comes at an apt time as World Immunisation Awareness Week, a WHO initiative, draws to a close.
New Sciblogger gets to the point
As World Immunisation Awareness Week wraps up, Sciblogs welcomes a new blogger to the fold with the addition of immunisation expert Dr Helen Petousis-Harris.

Dr Petousis-Harris, who will blog under the banner Diplomatic Immunity, kicks off with a look at dramatic progress on combatting genital warts in Australia and the narrowing gap between ethnic groups and rich and poor here in New Zealand when it comes to infant immunisation.

A Senior Lecturer in the Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care at the University of Auckland, Dr Petousis-Harris is also research director at the Immunisation Advisory Center (IMAC). You can follow her new blog here.

On the science radar...
British 'big cat' rediscovered, 'space harpoon' to catch junk satellites, old whales learn new tricks, flood resistant grass and can Google predict the stockmarket?
PM's Sciences Prizes
Applications the Prime Minister's Science Prizes -- recognising the nation's best scientists, teachers, students and communicators -- are now open.

The prizes recognise the impact of science on New Zealanders' lives, celebrate the contribution of current scientists and encourage those of the future.
There are five prizes in total with a combined value of 1 million dollars.

Prime Minister's Science Prize
Prime Minister's MacDiarmid Emerging Scientist PrizePrime Minister's Science Teacher Prize
Prime Minister's Science Media Communication Prize
Prime Minister's Future Scientist Prize

To find out more, visit www.pmscienceprizes.org.nz . Prizes close 17th July, 2013.

Women in science to be recognised
Applications are closing soon for the L'Oréal Australia and New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowships, recognising emerging women scientists.

The three $25,000 (AUD) L'Oréal Australia and New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowships are intended to help early career women scientists to consolidate their careers and rise to leadership positions in science.

The Fellowships are awarded to women who have shown scientific excellence in their career to date and who have an appropriate research plan that will be assisted by the one-year Fellowship.
Last year, New Zealander Dr Suetonia Palmer was awarded a fellowship for her dedication to improving the treatment of people with chronic kidney disease.

Applications for the2013 Fellowships close on the 6th of May.

Find out more about the Fellowships and how to apply on the Science in Public website.

Quoted: New Zealand Herald

"The important thing to remember when dealing with flu is to expect the unexpected."

Dr Lance Jennings reflects on the Chinese bird flu outbreak

New from the SMC

Experts Respond:

Global climate record: A group of international scientists, including New Zealanders, have for the first time reconstructed temperatures for seven continental-scale regions for the past 2,000 years.

In the news:

Eco-compensation: The New Zealand Herald's Jamie Morton highlights new research detailing a lack of follow-through on "ecological compensation" under the Resource Management Act.

Reflections on Science:

Evidence based medicine: Physicist Richard Easther blogs about a Press Council decision against North & South magazine regarding an article on homeopathy.

Sciblogs highlights

Some of the highlights from this week's posts:

"But a Study has Shown ..." - When citing research in debate, Rule #1 is 'Make sure the study actually exists', writes Michael Edmonds.
Molecular Matters

Fiddling with census figures for religion in New Zealand- No number gets away un-crunched in Ken Perrott's analysis of religion stats from the NZ census.
Open Parachute

Can the surge in elephant killing be stopped? - Brendan Moyle highlights the plight of the pachyderms in the wake of an international conference.
Chthonic Wildlife Ramblings

Problemsourcing initiative gets the academic once-over - Peter Kerr looks at a review picking apart a government innovation initiative.
sticK

Research highlights

Please note: hyperlinks point, where possible, to the relevant abstract or paper.

A fistful of memories: Clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an event or action, and clenching your left may help you recollect the memory later, according to new research. Based on a recall experiment and previous work, the authors suggest that this effect of hand-clenching on memory may be because clenching a fist activates specific brain regions that are also associated with memory formation.
PLOS One
Clot-busting light: A non-invasive technique to trap, or move, cells in living mice has been developed. The method, based on infrared "optical tweezers", can restore blood flow in mice by clearing blocked capillaries. The tweezers, focussed laserbeams which are able to penetrate the skin, were able to induce and break apart blood clots in small capillaries.
Nature Communications

Cheeky NZ parrot gets a filetype: Move over TIFF files, a new image format named KEA, after the New Zealand bird, has been proposed for the storing of remote sensing and earth observation image data. The format is already used by Landcare Research and collaborators in other institutes, significantly reducing the on disk storage requirements of key geospatial datasets.
Computers & Geosciences

Faith affects mental illness outcomes: Belief in God may significantly improve the outcome of those receiving short-term treatment for psychiatric illness, according to a recent study. In a sample Of hospital patients, more than 30 percent claimed no specific religious affiliation yet still saw the same benefits in treatment if their belief in a higher power was rated as moderately or very high. Patients with "no" or only "slight" belief in God were twice as likely not to respond to treatment than patients with higher levels of belief.
Journal of Affective Disorders

Taking pollution to heart: Long term exposure to air pollution may be linked to heart attacks and strokes by speeding up atherosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries", according to a large US study. Researchers found that higher concentrations of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) were linked to a faster thickening of the inner two layers of the common carotid artery, an important blood vessel that provides blood to the head, neck and brain.
PLOS Medicine

Policy updates

Some of the policy highlights from this week:

Tongariro: The full Tongariro Alpine Crossing will re-open early next month in time for the winter trekking season, Conservation Minister Nick Smith announced this week.

Seabird plan: The Ministry for Primary Industries has this week launched their National Plan of Action for Seabirds 2013. The plan sets out objectives for five years to guide management of incidental seabird catch in fisheries.

Upcoming sci-tech events
• The Climate Reality Project - Presentation from Catherine Leining - 29 April, Wellington.
• A Bro-fessor in the Whare - Professor John Broughton inaugural professorial lecture - 30 April, Dunedin.
• Mastering molecular chess to mine nature's medicine chest - 2013 Rutherford Lecture from Prof Margaret Brimble - 30 April, Napier; 1 May, Wellington; 2 May, Palmerston North.

For these and more upcoming events, and more details about them, visit the SMC's Events Calendar.

ENDS

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