SLEEP APNOEA: The Health Service Executive and the Department of Health have been accused of ignoring the plight of sleep apnoea sufferers.
Speaking at the Irish Sleep Apnoea Trust (ISAT) annual conference in Croke Park on Saturday, outgoing chairman Dan Smyth complained that both organisations had failed to respond in over a year to the ISAT's detailed case for the inclusion of nasal masks and accessories under the Drug Payments Scheme and to a funding request for the patients' group.
Earlier, Prof Walter McNicholas of St Vincent's Hospital told the conference that with a prevalence rate of 1-4 per cent in the population, sleep apnoea represented a huge invisible problem in Ireland with only about 5-10 per cent of the country's likely 40,000-100,000 sufferers diagnosed and receiving treatment.
The condition, which is second only to asthma in the ranks of major respiratory diseases, has been clearly linked to high rates of heart disease, stroke and sudden death among sufferers, he said.
LABEL TECHNOLOGY: Spending extra time in the grocery store reading labels and scrutinising ingredients lists could be a thing of the past for people with diet restrictions, illnesses or allergies if three Dublin technology students turn their award-winning concept into a commercial reality, writes Leah McBride.
Psychology students Nick Earley, Mairead McDermott and Barry Mulrooney from the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art and Design Technology have started the ball rolling in the direction of a registered trademark for their work-in-progress, the Nutrastick, a concept for a portable diet assistant.
It took fourth place at the CHI International Congress in Montreal, Canada last week.
The Nutrastick is a small, programmable barcode scanner. If its owner is allergic to peanuts, for example, it can be programmed to blink red if there are peanuts in a product and green if there is none. The user would take the Nutrastick to the shop and scan bar codes on foods to test if it blinks red or green.
Although the Nutrastick is not yet a working prototype, judges at the congress, including representatives from NASA, Google and academic institutions from around the world, ranked it fourth in the international competition out of 50 entries, 12 of which were selected to travel to the competition last month.
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY CONFERENCE: The annual conference of the Association of Occupational Therapists in Ireland (AOTI) will take place at the Stillorgan Park Hotel, Stillorgan, Co Dublin this month from Wednesday 17th to Friday 19th.
Celebrating 40 years in existence, the Tánaiste and Minister for Health, Mary Harney, will open the association's conference which aims to reflect the changing face of occupational therapy and the developments in the profession. Among the guest speakers will be Bernie McNally, chief therapist adviser in the Therapy Advisory Unit, Department of Health & Children, as well as representatives from the Mental Health Commission and Health Information and Quality Authority. For details, contact Karen at 01 635 1524 or e-mail karen@happen.co.uk
ST JAMES'S APPOINTMENT: Ian Carter has been appointed chief executive officer of St James's Hospital. He was previously the hospital's deputy chief executive and operations manager and prior to this was general manager of Acute Hospitals with the Mid-Western Health Board. Mr Carter has also held senior hospital management posts in the UK and Saudi Arabia.
St James's is a 945-bed academic teaching hospital, the largest of its type in Ireland.
HEALTHY OPTIONS: The Conrad Hotel in Dublin has added a selection of healthy options to its menu, aimed at those who are conscious about what they eat. Known as Essence of Being, the hotel has introduced a selection of dishes to help people cut down on sugar, salt and fat, as well as taking fibre, minerals and vitamins into consideration. Executive chef Brian Meehan worked with food nutrition consultant and Health Supplement contributor Paula Mee to introduce the dishes.
AUTISM SUPPORT DAY: Look into my eyes is the title of a support day for, by and with parents of children on the autism spectrum in Galway on May 19th.
The initiative follows a highly successful session on the same theme last year, co-ordinated by Mari Caulfield, speech and language therapist, and facilitated by Sherri Cawn, speech and language pathologist, and Beth Osten, occupational therapist.
The event takes place in the Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill, from 9.30am to 5.30pm on Friday, May 19th. For more details, contact Mari Caulfield at Training Ways, 34 Nun's Island, Galway, tel: (091) 538111.