Dementia drug research aided by $100 million global fund, backed by British government

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Dementia drug research aided by $100 million global fund, backed by British government

Dementia is recognised as one of the world’s biggest health and care challenges.

It affects more than 47 million people worldwide and at a cost to the global economy of over US $604 billion every year.

Yet in spite of the huge social and economic cost, only three dementia drugs have come to market in the past 15 years.

To address this, the government has been working with J.P. Morgan to structure the Dementia Discovery Fund as an innovative method for financing dementia research.  

The ultimate aim is to develop pioneering new drugs to treat the condition.

Major pharmaceutical companies Biogen, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Lilly and Pfizer have all committed in principle to investing in the project, along with a leading dementia research charity Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Speaking at the World Health Organisation’s first ever conference on dementia today the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is expected to say: “Dementia is a global threat and we have taken enormous steps in putting this condition firmly on the international health agenda.

“But there is still much more we need to do to give people with dementia hope for the future.

“That’s why I am delighted to announce today that we have secured commitments from major partners to develop a new global Fund to make sure that innovative research turns into the development and manufacture of new drugs.

“This is another significant step forward in our fight against this condition."

The new Fund is a unique collaboration, bringing together the combined expertise of government, financial, industry and charity partners.

It marks a global consensus that research needs greater priority and that new sources of finance are needed to translate the best science into effective treatments.

The organisations will be working closely over the coming months to develop the Fund further.

The money committed by investors today includes the £15m that the UK government announced for the Fund in the autumn.

In February 2015, the Prime Minister expanded on this to announce that private, public and philanthropic sectors were uniting to establish a multi-million pound fund to discover new drugs and treatment that could slow down the onset of dementia or even deliver a cure by 2025.

An opportunity for additional interested investors to participate in the Fund is planned for a later stage.

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'I'm lucky I don't have to retire so long as I keep fit' Larry Lamb on overcoming old age

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Larry suffered joint pain for years

THERE was one health mishap Larry Lamb used to dread when he was on the road for the One Show or filming his latest exploration of history - that the bottle of cod liver oil he packed to prevent aches and pains would break and saturate his smalls.

He says: "I started taking fish oil for joint pain a few years back and it worked pretty well," he says. "Yet the worst thing was lugging around this great big bottle of the stuff and being terrified it was going to leak. It smells horrible."

Now he has discovered a solution for age-related aches which comes up roses, literally. Taking a tip from choreographer and former Strictly Come Dancing judge Arlene Phillips, Larry tried a supplement made from rose hips and believes it has done the trick.

Larry, 67, says he started to suffer joint pain when he returned to running seven years ago. "I'm conscientious about my health. As an older father it is your job to run around after your children even if your body is telling you otherwise.

"I've never been one for extreme sports but I did start running. It's an easy way to exercise," he says.

"I was doing about three miles a day for two or three years but then I started to get terrible knee and hip pains. I had proper running shoes made which helped a bit but I was still getting a lot of twinges and sometimes burning bursts of pain through my knees.

"It dawned on me that a hip or joint replacement at my age was a possibility and that was something I was keen to avoid."So the actor, best known for playing Archie Mitchell in EastEnders and Michael "Mick" Shipman in Gavin & Stacey, hung up his running shoes and started taking a daily dose of fish oil. "It helped but I still had a lot of twinges and cod liver oil is just as unpleasant now as it was when I was five years old."

Then he read an interview with Arlene Phillips talking about GOPO, a supplement made from rose hips. "Being a former dancer I thought she would know what she was talking about."

So Larry decided to put it to the test. "If I'm going to do something I go for it," he explains. "I knew that if I didn't take the fish oil for a couple of days I would really feel it so I stopped taking the cod liver oil and the next day I started taking the GOPO to see if it really was any good."

He says: "I am not a great taker of pills but the GOPO has really made a difference. I don't have any twinges at all. I can honestly say I have never felt better."

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Larry at a premiere with partner Claire Burt and daughter Eloise

GOPO is made from the seeds and husk of the Rosa canina or dog-rose. Rose hips are rich in vitamin C and have been used in traditional remedies for centuries. Dr Kaj Winther, a Danish biochemist with a special interest in them, says: "There is emerging evidence that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant compounds in rose hips might have quite a wide therapeutic effect."

His study of 94 Danes with arthritis in their hips, knees or hands found that eight out of 10 reported a "significant" reduction in pain after taking the supplement for three weeks.

The trial, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology, also reported that the volunteers halved their use of over-the-counter painkillers such as paracetamol.

A second study, presented at the World Congress of the Osteoarthritis Research Society, found that GOPO switches off genes which make proteins and enzymes implicated in inflammatory joint damage while turning on another group of genes which help produce collagen and cartilage, key components of healthy joints. Dr Rod Hughes, a consultant rheumatologist at St Peter's Hospital in Surrey, has studied the trials for GOPO and believes: "There is enough evidence of efficacy to make it worthwhile for patients to use it for a trial period, perhaps one to three months."

That worked for Larry who says: "Within six weeks I noticed a difference and it definitely helped me scramble across Roman ruins."

That's because the self-confessed history geek was in the Italian capital to film Rome: The World's First Superpower, a four-part series for Channel 5 which allowed him to explore his favourite city - after London, of course.

Larry admits he felt like a "kid at Christmas" during filming but reveals there were some surreal moments when the Welsh valleys met the Eternal City. "I was interviewing an American academic in the Piazza Navona. There was me and him sitting on a marble bench when a coach full of children from Wales pulled up.

"It was pandemonium. All the academic knew was that I was some guy from Channel 5 but if you have been in Gavin & Stacey you become part of Welsh culture and every single one of the kids wanted a photograph with 'Mick'."

SO THE interview was abandoned while the bemused academic was asked to take dozens of shots of the actor with his legion of fans. In a business where many find themselves "between jobs" Larry has had an extraordinary career.

Aside from EastEnders and Gavin & Stacey, Larry was a regular on the North Sea ferry soap Triangle, notched up credits in hit shows The Professionals, Minder, Lovejoy, Midsomer Murders and many more and still finds time for radio, film, Shakespeare and other stage productions.

Now he is joining the cast of New Tricks, the BBC One comedy-drama which follows a team of oddball veteran cops who investigate cold cases. He says: "I don't know what I'd do if I retired, there's no way I could sit around doing nothing, I would go bonkers. Luckily I'm in a job where I don't have to retire so long as I can keep myself in shape."

He works out on an exercise bike, watches what he eats and has given up alcohol. "I've had my share but drinking was hugely debilitating, it's wasted so much of my life." Now he says: "It's all about sustaining yourself to the best possible level."

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Outlaw 'designer vagina' surgery, say MPs

Home affairs committee says FGM Act should be expanded to cover cosmetic procedures that have no medical purpose, though government says this is already covered in law

Genital surgery to create so-called “designer vaginas” should be outlawed under legislation designed to prevent female genital mutilation, according to a group of MPs.

A report from the home affairs select committee has called the laws governing female genital cosmetic surgery ambiguous and said the 2003 FGM law must be changed so it covers the procedures, which have no medical purpose.

“We cannot tell communities in Sierra Leone and Somalia to stop a practice which is freely permitted on Harley Street,” said Keith Vaz, the chairman of the select committee. 

The government has previously stated that the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003 does not contain any exemption for cosmetic surgery, and it had no plans to amend the act. But “evidence demonstrates that the police, midwives and campaigners would all like to see greater clarity on this point,” stated the report.

The select committee also risked creating a diplomatic spat with the Royal Colleges – which represent medical professionals – accusing their members of not doing enough “to encourage their members to report cases of FGM”.

The report notes that in Heartlands hospital in Birmingham, 1,500 cases of FGM were recorded over the past five years, with doctors seeing six patients who have undergone the procedure each week. “There seems to be a chasm between the amount of reported cases and the lack of prosecutions,” it says. “Someone, somewhere is not doing their job effectively.”

The first ever FGM case was brought to trial this year, but in February the NHS doctor Dhanuson Dharmasena, 32, was acquitted in less than 30 minutes amid claims that the Crown Prosecution Service had brought the case because of political pressure.

Given the failure of the prosecution, there may be an “even greater reluctance” to report, the study said, but it urged the Royal College of GPs to give training to every doctor about FGM: “Doctors are on the front line. Their professional organisations must do more to encourage their members to report cases of FGM. Without their active reporting of these cases, the full extent of FGM will remain hidden.”

Decrying the prevalence of FGM in the UK and the lack of prosecutions, the report accused the Crown Prosecution Service, police and health professionals of playing pass the parcel.

“The DPP informed the committee that she could only prosecute on the basis of evidence, the police said that they could only investigate on the basis of referral, and the health professionals told us that they could not refer cases because their members were not fully trained and aware of the procedure,” it states. “While agencies play pass the parcel of responsibility, young girls are being mutilated every hour of every day. This is deplorable.”

The select committee welcomed the government’s decision to make reporting FGM mandatory, but said it remained unclear what would happen in the event that a professional should fail to make a report. It called on the government to set out the sanctions that would apply and establish an advisory panel of FGM campaigners, to be consulted before any major policy decisions are taken.

Equality Now, a campaign group, said the focus should not be on prosecution, but prevention.

“Mandatory reporting should go hand-in-hand with mandatory training of those professionals who have a child safeguarding obligation,” said Mary Wandia, the FGM programme manager at Equality Now. “Such training is urgently needed and is the next step. It should come before holding those people to account.”

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Sexual relationship lessons: How young is too young?

The Personal Social Health and Economic Education Association (PSHEA) has stated that the new government plans for consensual sexual relationship lessons for children as young as eleven, do not go far enough. 

Sexual relationship lessons

Amongst the eight lessons that form part of the course to be taught by trained teachers, pupils will understand what sexual consent is and the importance of a healthy relationship. It will be emphasised that consent is “on going” and if it is later withdrawn then this must be respected. Pupils will also be asked to “challenge rape myths” that seek to justify sexual assault, such as the way a person is dressed or the amount of alcohol consumption.

A report leaked to The Sunday Times regarding the government’s plans, suggested that the lessons would not be mandatory. The Education secretary Nicky Morgan said the optional proposed lessons will better prepare pupils and suggested that they would give teachers more confidence to tackle difficult subjects. However, the PSHEA stated that it “needed to be added to the national curriculum to help tackle issues such as exploitation” and they accused the government of “saying nice things, but not making any meaningful change. It needs to be taught in every school and by trained teachers.”

Sex education

Sex education, especially consent, should be taught rather like numeracy is, that would be my argument. We teach pupils from an early age that 2+2 = 4. When they go out in the world no one can tell them that 2+2=6, since they have been informed otherwise. Vulnerable children who have been threatened by adults – or others – suggesting that they have no say over their own bodies need to be made aware that yes, they can say “no” and more importantly that it means no. According to the recent Jay report, many of the victims from the child exploitation cases in Rotherham and Oxford have been “scathing” of the sexual education that they had received.

There is an argument that to discuss sexual activity before children are 16 will encourage under age sex. To me this is a blinkered view. To inform children of both sexes about healthy sexual relationships is to empower them and put them in control. It also can take the mystique out of it and as a result children may be less likely to experiment. They certainly will know they have a choice. It makes one wonder if children from previous decades had been spoken to about consent, then maybe they too would have stood a chance to stand up to the perpetrators of these abhorrent crimes that have recently been flooding the courts.  

Having spoken to parents about these plans, I found there was a mixed response. Robyn, a mother of three boys, aged 12, 10 and 7 years said that she felt her children may well be embarrassed about the discussions. However she added, “I do want my boys to know that if a girl says “no” then she means “no”. And if she had girls? “Absolutely, I would want them to attend these lessons. I want them to be aware.” Others argue that it should be parents educating their children about these facts. But what, (and I appreciate it isn’t a pleasant thought, but unfortunately this happens) if it is the parents who are exploiting their children? There needs to be lessons taught at school. Knowledge is power.

This is modern Britain

And I think that is the obvious answer to the sometimes tricky question of when and what children should know.  We may not like the fact that children are becoming sexually aware and active at a younger age, but this is modern Britain today. Let us prepare them and put them back in control of their bodies. No one is suggesting that the schools and parents can’t work together. The type of discussions that could arise from these lessons can only help young children be more aware that everyone has the right to say no.  An important lesson for both sexes. It should not be pushed out of the curriculum; education is not just about numeracy and literacy. It is about ensuring our children are aware of all the lessons to be learnt in life.

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Cutting out late night snacks will lead to weight loss, experts suggest

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CUTTING out late night snacks may be the best way to lose weight and boost health, experts said yesterday.

Scientists found that fruit flies fed for 12 hours a day slept better, gained less weight and had much healthier circulatory systems than those allowed to eat at any time.

The effect appeared to be linked to body clock genes that exist in many species, including humans.

Scientists at San Diego State University performed the experiment several times before they were convinced that the group of flies fed for only half the day were much healthier.

Dr Girish Melkani said: “Time-restricted feeding would not require people to drastically change their lifestyles, just the times of day they eat.

"The message then would be to cut down on the late-night snacks.”

The research was published in the journal Science. 

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10 ways to get more sleep before your wedding

Beauty sleep isn't just a myth. It affects your long-term health and energy levels, but also has an impact on your physical appearance – probably one of the most important concerns for brides-to-be before their big day.

During sleep, the body goes into "repair" mode. It does this by producing growth hormones, which help to rebuild damaged cells, including those of the skin, hair and nails. So the more sleep we get, the longer our bodies can continue with this repairing, restoring and rebalancing process.

For brides-to-be this can be a challenge as the wedding day looms closer and closer, turning nerves and stress into restless nights.

Read on for ten ways to get the right amount of sleep before your wedding, as recommended by bed specialist Dreams...

1) Say no to the champers

Although many people claim alcohol helps them to fall asleep more quickly, it actually reduces REM sleep. This is the phase of sleep associated with deep dreaming. Losing out on REM sleep can cause drowsiness when awake, so it's best to avoid it altogether during the run-up to the wedding. Swap alcohol for herbal teas and non-caffeinated soft drinks, which will also help with hydration.

2) Avoid coffee and other stimulants

Caffeine is obviously well known for keeping people awake, but many other snacks and drinks also contain caffeine, such as chocolate, tea and cola drinks. It's best to steer clear of food and drinks containing stimulants, or make sure they are consumed early in the day, as even in moderate doses, they can block sleep neurotransmitters, causing insomnia.

3) Light exercise

Although time is always tight in the weeks building up to the wedding, the bride should allow herself some light exercise every day. She should avoid too much strenuous activity late in the day, however, as this is more likely to cause her to wake in the night.

4) Eat foods that contain tryptophan

If the bride feels she needs an energy boost, it is best to snack on foods that contain tryptophan. This is an amino acid, which is required for the production of serotonin in the body, which in turn produces melatonin – a hormone that helps with sleep. Yoghurt, bananas, milk and eggs are all high in tryptophan. Other foods that improve your sleep quality include toast, porridge, oily fish, carrots, squash, tomatoes, rice and cherry juice.

5) Put that phone away

Although the days before a wedding can be frantic with so much to do and people to contact, brides should try to avoid using their smartphone, tablet or laptop late at night. Gadgets like this emit blue light, which is said to delay the production of melatonin, so keeping the body awake.

6) Turn off the TV

An estimated 38 per cent of people watch television to wind down before they sleep. However, this can actually harm the sleep cycle, as watching TV before bedtime encourages you to stay up later than you would naturally.

7) Listen to sounds that aid sleep

If the bride is anxious and is finding it particularly difficult to get to sleep at night, she could try one of several devices and apps available that generate white noise, such as White Noise Ambience Lite. White noise devices work two ways: by blocking distracting noises, and by producing soothing sounds that are relaxing and help to induce sleep.

8) Consider sleeping with lighter clothing

It's always tempting to wrap up in cosy pyjamas on cooler nights, but going to bed with fewer clothes on can have several benefits. Studies have shown that having the wrong body temperature at night can stop the dozing-off process. Not allowing the body to regulate its temperature (by wearing thick clothing, for example) can also prevent people from reaching the deeper stages of sleep.

9) Turn the bed into a sleep haven

Don't compromise on comfort. The bride should ensure her bed is as comfortable as possible – even if it is just to change the bed linen for something luxurious, or swap a thick duvet for clean, cotton sheets to ensure she has a cool and calm night's sleep before the wedding.

10) Try an alternative sleeping cycle

If planning the wedding several months in advance, there is time for the bride to consider changing her sleeping cycle altogether. The Dreams Sleep Matters Club offers four alternative sleeping cycles as an alternative to the common Monophasic cycle that most people practice: Biphasic, Everyman, Dymaxion and Uberman.

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Throwback Thursday – When Bugatti bit the dust

Prior to its takeover by the mighty Volkswagen Group, once-illustrious French manufacturer Bugatti wasn't in such rude health

Bugatti has recently sold the 450th and final Veyron, bringing to a close a storied 10-year life for the outrageous W16-powered machine. However, the car wouldn’t have existed had the Volkswagen Group not bought the company in 1998 and, in so doing, rescued it from oblivion.

Prior to its intervention, a spirited revival attempt, led by Italian entrepreneur Romano Artioli, had hit the skids, scuppered by a stuttering global economy and some breathtaking profligacy by Bugatti’s owners. Consider, for example, the relaunch of the brand. In September 1991, Bugatti had lavished £160,000 on a dinner for 1600 guests, hiring Louis XIV’s Versailles palace for the occasion.

By September 1995, however, Bugatti’s Campogalliano factory near Modena was silent, the workers sent home after the company was declared bankrupt and the gates locked.

Only one man had a key: Gian Luigi Rossini, the bankruptcy trustee appointed to handle Bugatti’s affairs. On a spring day in 1997, he invited Autocar’s European editor, Peter Robinson, to have a poke around inside.

“A thin film of dust covers everything and proves that not even the cleaners have been given access,” described Robinson in his subsequent article. “Office staff desks are littered with holiday postcards, in-trays hold fading faxes, old cigarette butts fill ashtrays, and rubbish bins carry the last day’s detritus.

“Search and you’ll find poignant lists of things to do tomorrow, phone calls that were never returned. Only Artioli’s desk is free of debris, but then it was always like this.”

In the workshop, there were signs that Bugatti’s workers had been putting together the firm’s EB110 supercar right up until the day the factory closed.

“Five sit forlornly in various stages of completion in the air conditioned assembly area,” wrote Robinson. “Four ready-to-ship EB110s sit in the final road testing area. Bit by bit, part by part, the factory and its contents are being sold off in an attempt to pay back some of the firm’s liabilities, estimated to be £36 million.

“A Luxembourg company paid £476,000 for the four finished EB110s, the first production car and another EB110 that’s minus the engine. At little more than £90,000 each (forgetting the incomplete car), that’s reasonable enough when you remember that Bugatti was asking £285,000 for an EB110 GT in 1995.”

Also in the workshop was a part-built EB112, a Giugiaro-designed saloon that looked like an ahead-of-its-time Porsche Panamera when it was shown in concept form at the 1993 Geneva motor show. The stillborn car featured an early iteration of the Bugatti grille that would be seen on the Veyron years later.

Less than a year after Autocar’s tour of the factory, Volkswagenswooped in to buy Bugatti and followed through on a vision of building grandiose luxury cars – a vision, as it turned out, that wasn’t a million miles from Artioli’s.

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Ebola controls learnt on fly at Dallas hospital

Staff at the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas had to work out how best to protect themselves as it was several days before full protective gear arrived. Photo: AP

• Mark Zuckerberg gives $US25 million to fight Ebola

Dallas: The Texas hospital that treated Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan had to learn on the fly how to control the deadly virus, adding new layers of protective gear for workers in what became a losing battle to keep the contagion from spreading, a top official with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

"They kept adding more protective equipment as the patient deteriorated. They had masks first, then face shields, then the positive-pressure respirator. They added a second pair of gloves," CDC epidemiologist Pierre Rollin said.

Ebola victim Thomas Eric Duncan. Photo: AP

A nurse, Nina Pham, 26, contracted Ebola at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas while caring for Mr Duncan, a Liberian man who flew to the United States.

Ms Pham, who is being treated at the same hospital, was reported to be in a good condition.

CDC director Thomas Frieden expressed regret that his agency had not done more to help the hospital control the infection.

He said that, from now on, "Ebola response teams" would travel within hours to any hospital in the US with a confirmed Ebola case.

Already, one of those teams is in Texas and

has put in place a site manager system, requiring that someone monitor the use of personal protective equipment.

"I wish we had put a team like this on the ground the day the first patient was diagnosed," he said. "That might have prevented this infection."

Nurses and others caring for Ebola patients at the end of their lives were at high risk of infection because the virus replicated wildly as the disease became more advanced, said Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine in Houston and a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Professor Hotez said "when you are first infected, you are actually not contagious", because levels of the virus in blood were too low to spread the infection.

"Even in the early days of an infection, the virus is not easily transmitted from person to person because it requires direct contact," he said.

The risk goes up exponentially as the virus gains ground in the body, so Ebola patients treated in intensive care units are far more infectious than those at earlier stages of illness.

"When you are working with Ebola in an ICU, there can be no margin of error," he said.

Dr Rollin said protocols evolved at the hospital while Mr Duncan was being treated.

Labour organisation National Nurses United read a statement from nurses at the hospital who said Mr Duncan sat for "several hours" in a room with other patients before being put in isolation.

The nurses said they were essentially left to figure things out for themselves as they dealt with "copious amounts" of body fluids from Mr Duncan while wearing gloves with no wrist tapes, gowns that did not cover their necks, and no surgical booties.

Protective gear eventually arrived but not until three days after Mr Duncan's admission to the hospital, they said.

The Ebola news in the US came amid warnings from the World Health Organisation that the disease is spreading to new areas in West Africa and is still rampant in the capital cities of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.

Bruce Aylward, the WHO assistant director general, said that without a strong response, the virus could be infecting as many as 10,000 people a week in West Africa by December 1.

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Jim Wells says stopping Ebola reaching Northern Ireland a priority

Volunteers arrive to pick up bodies of those who have died from Ebola in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone

Health Minister Jim Wells has told the assembly that preventing the spread of the Ebola virus to Northern Ireland is "an absolute priority".

He said he had been informed by his Westminster counterpart that there were about 600 frontline UK medical staff treating Ebola victims in west Africa.

Mr Wells estimated 15-20 of them are likely to be from Northern Ireland.

"Given the history of Northern Ireland people in helping those in need in the third world it might be more," he said.

Mr Wells said that anyone entering Northern Ireland from an affected region in west Africa would likely have travelled through London or Dublin.

"That's where controls have to be effectively exercised to ensure that when they then move on to Northern Ireland they have already been screened for this dreadful condition," he said.

He added: "This is an absolute priority - the monitoring of this terrible disease which has killed over 4,000 people in west Africa.

"And whilst the ways of contamination are very specific, it's quite clear that already we have seen health care workers that have returned from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other affected areas are becoming infected - so therefore we have to do absolutely everything to ensure this condition does not spread."

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Downing St: Ebola screening is not optional

1. 14 October 2014 at 5:27pm

Downing Street has rejected suggestions that screening for Ebola is not mandatory for people travelling from affected west African states to the UK via another country.

The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "They are required to go through the screening process,"

Passengers travelling from west Africa are being screened for Ebola at Heathrow. Credit: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

David Cameron acknowledged that screening was not "perfect" but said the extra checks were worthwhile.

"We are doing this on the basis of sound medical advice. Of course we won't catch everybody, of course screening can never be perfect, but it is worthwhile putting in these extra checks," the Prime Minister told LBC radio.

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Denis Kilcommons: Why the NHS is still the best health system in the world

Aneurin Bevan the Health Minister who spearheaded the establishment of the National Health Service

Britain's National Health Service is the envy of the world and yet it seems it is permanently under threat.

Rationalisation has closed wards and moved services from one hospital to another, there is a continual lack of funds and a struggle to break even.

The problems are complex with an organisation with a £95 billion budget.

Suggestions for the future have included part privatisation, changing a structure top heavy with managers, bringing back the matron in all her pomp, glory and efficiency, and investing properly in the nurses and doctors who are the bedrock of the service.

Rob Webster, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which speaks on behalf of all health service commissioners and providers, has warned that if funding fails to keep up with patient demand, hospitals might have to charge for overnight stays on a ward.

“If the NHS cannot afford to fund everything, then it will need to make tough choices about what it does fund,” he said.

A time could come when the public would have to choose between longer waiting times for treatment, or to pay for bed and board. It has been suggested fees could be means-tested and set at around £75 per night.

The NHS was launched in 1948 with the aim of providing health care to all regardless of wealth.

It is now the world’s largest publicly funded health service and is recognised as one of the most efficient, egalitarian and comprehensive.

With a general election next year, the NHS is likely to be one of the major points of debate. But how good is it? And should it be saved?

A 2014 report from the US based

Commonwealth Fund, a private non-partisan organisation that supports independent research on health and social issues, investigated healthcare in 11 wealthy countries.

The NHS in the UK was named best in the world.

Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, France and Canada followed. The healthcare service of the US was last at 11th.

While the US has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, those people who can’t afford it, don’t get it.

Those without medical insurance or who are not rich enough to buy good health, do without. They get ill and die.

Americans with below-average incomes are unlikely to visit a doctor if they become ill or, if they do, they are unable to pay for recommended test, treatment, care or prescription.

“One third or more lower-income adults in the US, said they went without needed care because of costs in the past year.”

We tend to take the NHS, for all its faults, for granted. It is our safety net.

We visit our GP or go to hospital without fear of being priced out of life. I did a quick calculation of the medical attention I’ve received in the last 18 months - treatment I’ve taken for granted - and priced it against average American fees.

I’ve had four eye examinations ($234 each), two cataract operations ($3,230 each), a chest X ray ($370), a flu jab ($25), and visited the doctor five times - average cost for visiting a GP in the States is $104 for 15 minutes.

I also had a heart monitor fitted at HRI for 24 hours but can’t find what the cost of that might be in America.

I work this out at about $8,500, plus the heart monitor. A total of about £5,300.

Add to this the level of professionalism, care, courtesy, good humour and friendliness of all the staff involved and I am not surprised that the National Health Service remains the best in the world and the envy of other nations.

It’s commonsense that it must be protected, unless we want to go the way of America.

It’s an issue worth bearing in mind come the General Election.

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