Suchergebnisse

Roy Turner's life was one dedicated to the law & to a wide variety of public service. He was profoundly respected as a solicitor & member of the Legislative Council of New South Wales between 1976 & 1984. He died on 15 June 2004. Adapted from the source document.

Etravirine (ETV) is licensed in the UK for treatment‐experienced patients and existing data suggest ETV is an effective switch for patients intolerant of efavirenz (EFV). ETV has a favourable tolerability profile and therefore may be an attractive non‐nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI) option in first line therapy. We present data of ETV use as a once‐daily first‐line treatment option in naïve patients. 26 treatment‐naïve patients commenced on ETV were identified through pharmacy records up until May 2012. Demographic data were collected with information on hepatitis B and C status, CD4, viral load (VL), liver function and lipids. Patients were followed for 6‐monthly intervals and outcomes recorded. Of the 26 patients identified 25 were male and one female. 19 identified as men who have sex with men (MSM), 4 heterosexual and 3 bisexual. 19 were white British and 3 black African. There were no hepatitis B or C co‐infections. ETV was prescribed as 400 mg once daily, co‐prescribed with Truvada in 24 (92.3%) patients, Kivexa in one patient, and tenofovir/abacavir combination in one patient. 3 (11.5%) patients discontinued ETV therapy, 2 due to erythematous rashes in the first 16 days and one after 5 months due to reports of unpalatability. 10 (38.5%) patients chose to dissolve ETV. Median CD4 count at ETV initiation was 326 and median VL was 30,000c/ml. 6 (23.1%) patients had a starting VL>100,000. 6‐month follow‐up data for 19 (73.1%) patients showed a median CD4 of 461 and 18 (94.7%) patients had a VL<40c/mL. One patient had a viral load of 53c/ml with a reduction from a baseline of>1,000,000c/ml. 12‐month data for 17 (65.4%) patients revealed a median CD4 count of 518 and all with VLs <40c/ml at a year. 18‐month follow‐up data of 11 (42.3%) patients showed a median CD4 of 587 and 9 with a VL<40c/ml. 2 patients had a detectable VL due to documented poor adherence. There was no significant change in median alanine transaminase (ALT), bilirubin, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein or triglycerides from baseline to 6‐, 12‐ or 18‐month levels. Patient preference was towards a once‐daily treatment for ETV. The availability of 200mg tablets and the ease of dissolvability have further increased acceptability. VL suppression was excellent with 100%<40c/ml at 12 months without any virological failures or significant adverse events. This data has shown that ETV is a highly acceptable, effective and well tolerated first‐line treatment option.

This report describes a scoping study to understand more about the nature of the 'costs of compliance' that claimants of social security benefits and (personal) tax credits incur, and discusses possible ways of measuring such costs. 'Costs of compliance' refers to the costs - time, money and psychological costs - that are imposed on applicants for, and recipients of, benefits and tax credits and on others by meeting all the various requirements placed on them by social security and tax credit law and statutory authorities. Our main purpose in this report is to make the case for taking compliance costs into account in considering the impact of, and changes to, benefits and tax credits. The study aimed to investigate the extent to which the principles underlying methods of establishing 'costs of compliance' in other areas can be applied to applicants for, and recipients of, benefits and tax credits. These existing methods include valuing individuals' and companies' administrative costs of complying with the tax authorities; valuing companies' costs in complying with government regulations; and estimating the time spent by individuals in complying with government regulations of various kinds. But we also think it is important for governments to consider claimants' own perceptions and priorities in terms of the 'costs of compliance'. Currently, the government recommends that cost-benefit analysis should be used when assessing the impact of potential policy changes and it produces guidance for departments on how to put this into practice. New impact assessments have been introduced recently, which, in principle, should take into account the monetary value of all the effects of changes, including allocating a value to non-market items such as people's time. This kind of assessment should therefore include analysis of the 'costs of compliance' for benefits and tax credits claimants. In practice, however, impact assessments do not usually include such exercises. It is important to know about the scale and distribution of the compliance costs of benefits and tax credits, as well as taxes, for several reasons. Time spent by recipients fulfilling their obligations cannot be spent engaged in other activities; a more rounded measure of the productivity of the benefits and tax credits system would include such costs; and we could understand more about the reasons behind non-take-up of entitlements. There could be advantages, too, in terms of improving citizens' relationship with government. A concern about the 'burdens on citizens' imposed by their interactions with government is now moving quickly up the policy agenda in the UK, and a few attempts to measure claimants' compliance costs were initiated whilst this scoping study was being undertaken. Within the European Union, member states have also begun to exchange information and experiences about reducing burdens on citizens more generally. The Netherlands has developed both its policies and its measurement methods further than many other countries. This is a scoping study and does not set out to measure the costs of compliance incurred by benefits and tax credits claimants. Instead, it explores the nature of the costs of compliance for claimants of benefits and tax credits; assesses whether such costs can be measured and, if so, to what extent; and discusses whether impact assessments of policy changes could include such measurements. We also hope that this report will act as a catalyst for the further development of these techniques to improve policy assessment in the benefits and tax credits systems.

This Commentary provides an update on trends in poverty and inequality in Great Britain, based on the latest official government statistics. It uses the same approach to measuring incomes and poverty in Great Britain as the government employs in its Households Below Average Income (HBAI) publication.

In this Election Briefing Note, we assess what has happened to living standards under Labour, setting out how average incomes, income inequality and poverty have changed since 1996- 97. We compare these changes with what happened under previous governments, and highlight where there have been differences between Labour's first and second terms.

The privatisation programme pursued by successive Conservative administrations in the 1979–97 period was based on neoliberal values, and was aimed at the reduction of public sector involvement in industry by the promotion of a competitive 'free' market. However, despite this ideological objective, several large utility companies were privatised as regulated monopolies. Against this background, in a notable reorientation of privatisation policy, the Major administration attempted to secure a genuine movement towards market liberalisation when it divested British Rail (BR). An elaborate methodology was used to break BR's monopoly and establish a competitive market for the provision of passenger rail services. The authors argue that, notwithstanding the complexity of the rail sell-off, competition has not materialised and BR's monopoly has to ail intents and purposes been reconstituted in the private sector.

Based on research carried out with a group of adults with Cerebral Palsy in Birmingham, UK, we consider the complex inter-relationship between the accessibility of the urban environment for those with impaired gross motor skills, and the ability of these people to lead full and independent lives. Drawing on a framework that considers mobility as movement, meaning-making and political, we demonstrate the reality of differentiated mobility. For those with bodies that function outside the presumed operating parameters of the model subjects of urban design, mobility may be possible, but is often uncomfortable and even dangerous, with significant associated effects for impaired people's autonomy. Our study details social and structural, or design, barriers to people's mobility, demonstrating the inter-connection between individuals' behaviour and urban design in a manner that questions a clear distinction between the two. We draw upon the notions of emotional work and a commoning approach to mobility in suggesting that further investment in urban accessibility is squarely an issue of social justice.