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Ukraine sets grain export quotas

wheat fieldUkraine – one of the world’s leading grain producers – has put a temporary limit on exports

Ukraine has set quotas for grain exports following a severe drought in the summer

The deputy agriculture minister Serhiy Melnyk said the quota would remain in place until the end of the year

The government will allow the export of two million tonnes of maize, 500,000 tonnes of wheat and 500,000 tonnes of barley,

Ukraine’s quotas follow an export ban by Russia and could put further pressure on grain prices.

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Wheat in particular is in shorter supply this year.

In August, Ukraine’s government reduced its forecast for the year’s grain harvest to 39 million tonnes from 46 million in 2009.

Ukraine, the world’s top producer of barley and sixth biggest of wheat, was hit hard by this summer’s heatwave.

News of the export quotas caused wholesale wheat prices to rise by 1% on Thursday.

Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat exporter last year, has a ban on exports until after next year’s harvest.

The United Nations is concerned about food prices and availability.

Rising food prices sparked civil unrest in September, notably in Mozambique where riots over food prices left more than 100 people dead.

Although experts at a UN meeting at the end of last month ruled out a looming world food crisis, they acknowledged that unexpected price rises could threaten food security.

It recommended exploring measures to prevent sudden price upswings.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UK interest rates on hold at 0.5%

A man walking past the Bank of EnglandInterest rates have been at 0.5% since March 2009

The Bank of England has held UK interest rates at a record low of 0.5% for the 19th consecutive month.

The Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision had been expected, despite repeated calls from one member to raise rates to combat inflation.

The Bank also said it would not be expanding its £200bn quantitative easing (QE) programme.

Last month, another member of the MPC called for an increase in QE to boost the economic recovery.

Minutes from last month’s MPC meeting showed that Andrew Sentance had voted for a rate rise for a fourth straight month.

However, fellow MPC member Andrew Posen gave a speech last month in which he called for QE to be expanded. He argued that additional stimulus measures would be needed to secure the recovery.

QE is the Bank’s policy of pumping money into the economy in order to increase the supply of money and stimulate demand.

Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser to the CBI business group, said: “There is a lively debate between MPC members. Some fear that the weakness of the domestic economy will drive inflation well below target, thus requiring further monetary stimulus.

“Others think the medium-term inflation outlook is less benign owing to imported raw material costs and loosening inflation expectations. With the economy likely to be sluggish over the winter, this debate is unlikely to be resolved in the near term.”

“We still believe there are strong arguments for injecting additional quantitative easing”

David Kern British Chambers of Commerce

Consumer Prices Inflation (CPI) is currently 3.1%, well above the government’s 2% target rate. However, the Bank has stressed that it believes prices will start falling in the medium term.

It believes that keeping interest rates low to help stimulate demand to secure the recovery is a more pressing issue than high inflation.

Many economists are concerned that upcoming government spending cuts will undermine economic growth.

Some agree with Mr Posen that the Bank should pump more money into the economy.

“We still believe there are strong arguments for injecting additional QE, with VAT due to increase to 20% over the next few months and the fiscal austerity programme to be implemented more forcefully,” said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce.

“Persistent dangers of global setbacks and the huge pressures likely to face British business as the budget deficit is cut, make it important for the MPC to intensify its expansionary policies in the short-term.”

Graham Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, also argued that further stimulus measures should be introduced.

“Money supply growth is not strong enough to be confident of a sustained economic recovery.

“We need to see an established private sector recovery before the public sector recession begins. A further extension in quantitative easing before year end could help avoid that double-dip.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Pakistan condemns US drone hits

Burning fuel tankers near Nowshera (7 October 2010)Attacks on Nato convoys have risen dramatically since a key crossing was shut

Nato says its war effort in Afghanistan has not been impeded by its supply problems in Pakistan.

Attacks on convoys have soared since Pakistan shut a key border-crossing because of a Nato air-strike which killed at least two soldiers.

The US has now apologised for the attack.

Nato says it expects the problem to be resolved soon.

But relations with Islamabad have been placed in further doubt by a White House report that has questioned Pakistan’s willingness to curb militants.

Tanker attacks

In the latest attacks blamed on militants, at least 40 tankers carrying fuel for Nato were destroyed on Wednesday.

Brigadier-General Josef Blotz, a spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told the Reuters news agency operations were “not impeded at all by these incidents”.

He added the publication of a joint inquiry into last week’s Nato helicopter attack could help bring about the reopening of the border route through the Khyber Pass.

Analysis

The latest White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan suggests the Pakistani military’s reluctance to take on the Taliban or al-Qaeda on its side of the border is as much a political choice as a reflection of an under-resourced military choosing what it can or cannot do.

This summer’s devastating floods clearly gave the Pakistani authorities yet another headache, but the White House assessment paints a picture of a military that stays close to main roads, disrupting and displacing militants but not willing or able to stabilise areas afterwards.

The report also criticises Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, for travelling to Europe after the August flooding, saying this had damaged his image at home and abroad, as well as exacerbating inter-party tensions and civil-military relations.

Confidence in the civilian government, it says, has dropped steeply throughout the year, although confidence in the military has actually climbed.

Suspicion over Nato tanker attacks

“We do expect that with the closure of the assessment… we are closer to a resolution of all the problems,” he said.

The American apology to the dead and injured in the air strike came in a statement from US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson who paid tribute to Pakistan’s “brave security forces”.

Nato’s Gen David Petraeus also apologised and vowed to work to stop similar incidents happening in the future.

However, a White House report to the US Congress questioned Pakistan’s willingness to tackle militants operating in the tribal areas of North Waziristan, close to the Afghan border.

The report said Pakistan’s military stayed close to the main roads, avoiding “military engagements that would put it in direct conflict with Afghan Taliban or al-Qaeda forces in North Waziristan”.

This was “as much a political choice” as a question of military ability, the report said.

Although it said operations against insurgents had continued in South Waziristan, soldiers had stayed close to roads and progress was slow.

Khyber crossing

Pakistan said three of its soldiers were killed in the helicopter strike on 30 September and responded by closing the Torkham crossing, seen as vital for supplying the US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.

More than 100 tankers destined for Afghanistan have since been destroyed.

The Chaman crossing in Balochistan remains open, but this is not as convenient for supplies bound for Kabul.

Supplies can also be brought into northern Afghanistan via Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

Map

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Asthma boy’s head teacher resigns

Sam LintonAn inquest ruled neglect contributed to Sam’s death

A head teacher due to face a disciplinary panel over the death of a schoolboy from an asthma attack has resigned.

Stockport Council confirmed governors at Offerton High School had accepted Evelyn Leslie’s resignation.

Sam Linton, 11, was left in a corridor struggling for breath at Offerton High School in Stockport, in December 2007.

An inquest previously heard how staff failed to call 999. In July, governors called for Ms Leslie’s sacking.

Ms Leslie had been suspended since March, with four other members of staff, after an inquest found their actions “significantly contributed” to the boy’s death.

The other suspended staff members have kept their jobs, including first aider Deborah Bouckley, who was sacked but later reinstated after an appeal.

Janet Ford, the teacher who was supervising Sam when he became ill, and two student services assistants received formal warnings.

A Stockport Council spokesman said: “The staff concerned have been through due process and, apart from the head teacher Ms Evelyn Leslie, are now back at school.

“During the formal process, the head teacher chose to offer her resignation, with effect from 31st December 2010, to the governing body and this has been accepted.

“We again offer our sincere condolences to the family.”

Earlier this year an inquest heard that Sam, of Dalby Grove, Offerton, was wheezing and using his inhaler at school, but staff failed to dial 999 and told him to sit in a corridor.

His mother was eventually called and took him to Stepping Hill Hospital, Stockport, where he died two hours later.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Rare Roman helmet found in Cumbria sells for £2m

Crosby Garrett Helmet

The helmet has been described as “the discovery of a lifetime”

Historic find sparks cash appeal

A Roman helmet found in a field in Cumbria has been sold at auction for £2m.

The helmet was unearthed by a metal detector enthusiast in Crosby Garrett, near Kirkby Stephen, in May.

It had been expected to fetch up to £300,000 when it went under the hammer at Christie’s in London.

The buyer has not been revealed so it is not yet known if Carlisle’s Tullie House Museum’s campaign to keep it in Cumbria was successful.

An announcement is due later.

The museum’s appeal attracted public donations of more than £100,000.

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This includes £50,000 from an anonymous businessman who pledged that amount if the public matched it.

Tourism chiefs have said they believe keeping the helmet in the county would result in a £3m boost to the local economy.

They said they thought the helmet would have a “Mona Lisa” effect in drawing visitors to the region.

The helmet is believed to be one of only three of its kind to be found in Britain.

It would have been worn, possibly with colourful streamers attached, as a mark of excellence by Roman soldiers at sport parades.

Christie’s described the find as an “extraordinary example of Roman metalwork at its zenith” and “the discovery of a lifetime” for a metal detectorist.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Titanic survivor’s story is published for the first time

Titantic survivors picked up by the Carpathia, including Laura Francatelli (back, second right).Titantic survivors picked up by the Carpathia, including Laura Francatelli (second right).

A woman’s account of escaping the sinking Titanic in 1912 has been published for the first time.

Laura Francatelli from London said she heard an “awful rumbling” as the liner went down and “then came screams and cries” from 1,500 drowning passengers.

Her account was recorded in a signed affidavit for the official British inquiry into the disaster.

The historic document is expected to sell for up to £15,000 when it is auctioned in Wiltshire on 16 October.

Miss Francatelli, who was 31 at the time, was travelling with baronet Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon and his wife Lady Lucy Christiana, as his secretary.

The account describes how they boarded one of the last lifeboats containing just five passengers and seven crew, admitting they did not consider going back for survivors.

‘We’re sinking’

Sir Cosmo later paid the crew members £5 each – now worth about £300 – which some have described as blood money for saving their lives.

Miss Francatelli said she woke her employers when water seeped into her cabin after the liner struck an iceberg the night of 14 April.

She wrote: “A man came to me and put a life preserver on me assuring me it was only taking precautions and not to be alarmed.

“There was an awful rumbling when she went. Then came the screams and cries”

Miss Francatelli

“When we got on the top deck, the lifeboats were being lowered on the starboard side.

“I then noticed that the sea was nearer to us than during the day, and I said to Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon ‘We are sinking’ and he said ‘Nonsense, come away’.”

The group refused to go into a lifeboat at first as Sir Cosmo was not allowed on, as they were designated for women and children only. But they were then offered places on a smaller rowing boat.

“There were no other women there by that time. The officer saw us and ordered us in, and we said we would go if Sir Cosmo could come also,” Miss Francatelli said.

“Just as they were lowering the boat, two American gentlemen came along the deck and got in also. The officers gave orders to us to row away from ship.”

She said they “were a long way off” when they saw the Titanic go right up at the back and plunge down.

“There was an awful rumbling when she went. Then came the screams and cries. I do not know how long they lasted.

“We had hardly any talk. The men spoke about God and prayers and wives. We were all in the darkness.”

She wrote how the survivors huddled in the bottom of the boat to keep warm until they were rescued two hours after the sinking by the ship Carpathia.

Miss Francatelli died in 1967. The document remained in her family until after her death and has since been owned by two private collectors.

The auction is being conducted by Henry Aldridge and Son, of Devizes, Wiltshire.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

MEPs: EU must act to save species

Esther de Lange

MEPs held a debate ahead of a forthcoming conference on biodiversity

The EU needs to adopt a global leadership role in order to halt global biodiversity loss, say MEPs.

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They voiced “deep concern” about an apparent lack of urgency among nations to protect habitats and species.

They also said the value of services provided by the natural world, such as clean water, was being overlooked.

Ahead of a key UN summit in Japan later this month, the MEPs said the EU had failed to meet its own target of halting biodiversity loss by 2010.

During a debate in Brussels, a number of speakers highlighted the importance of natural resources to the world’s poorest people.

What is biodiversity?UN defines biodiversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems”Considered to provide value to humanity in four ways:Provisioning – providing timber, fish, etcRegulating – disposing of pollutants, regulating rainfallCultural – sacred sites, tourism, enjoyment of countrysideSupporting – maintaining soils and plant growth

Gay Mitchell, MEP for Dublin, told the parliament that ensuring environmental sustainability was part of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

“The reduction in biodiversity loss is therefore a key component of the MDGs,” he said.

“Seventy percent of the world’s poor live in rural areas and depend directly on biodiversity for their survival and well-being.

“The urban poor also rely on biodiversity for ecosystem services such as the maintenance of air and water quality and the breakdown of waste.”

He added that there was “little doubt that biodiversity and climate change will affect the world’s poor first”.

Chambo, a fish species endemic to Africa's Lake Malawi (Getty Images)Many species, such as these endangered chambo, are vital as sources of food and income for some of the world’s poorest communities

On Thursday, MEPs voted in favour of a resolution that outlined the strategy they felt the EU should adopt, and offered a number of suggested objectives.

“Our common future is at stake as a family of nations”

Ahmed Djoghlaf CBD executive director

These included eliminating subsidies harmful to biodiversity; zero net deforestation; the end of destructive fishing practices; and preventing the extinction of known threatened species.

As 2010 was the International Year of Biodiversity, they added that this could help build the political momentum at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10), which is being held in Nagoya, Japan, from 18 October.

The CBD is an international treaty, which came into force in 1993, that has three main goals: conservation of biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; and ensuring the benefits from genetic resources are fairly shared.

Against a backdrop of failing to meet the target of achieving a “significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss” by 2010, representatives from 193 nations are expected to adopt a new strategy to protect the planet’s fragile and dwindling natural resources.

Ahmed Djoghlaf, the CBD’s executive director, said COP 10 would be a “landmark event”.

“Our common future is at stake as a family of nations; we need to rise up individually and collectively to meet the unprecedented challenges of the loss of biodiversity,” he said in a statement on COP 10’s official website.

However, the scale of the challenges facing the international community were highlighted in a report published by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL).

It warned that while it would be necessary to expand the world’s protected areas, it would not be enough to “attain a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss, worldwide”.

Population growth and increasing prosperity would combine to increase pressure on global ecosystems, the Rethinking Global Biodiversity Strategies report observed.

The authors said it would be necessary for structural changes in the global agriculture, forestry, fishery and energy supply sectors, adding that it would only be possible to slow down biodiversity loss through reduced expansion of agricultural land, stopping overexploitation of terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and limiting climate change.

The Agency said the findings would be presented at the CBD gathering in Japan.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

UN’s Haiti quake camps condemned

Bill Clinton meets Haitians during a tour of a camp on 6 OctoberBill Clinton is helping to co-ordinate the international aid response

Haitians are enduring increasingly squalid and violent conditions in the tent cities that sprang up after January’s quake, a rights group says.

Refugees International says gangs are running many camps, with women being forced to exchange sex for food.

More than one million people were left homeless by the quake.

Former US President Bill Clinton says he is frustrated by the slow release of promised funds but said the US would soon make “a big down payment”.

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The US-based organisation, Refugees International, says the situation in Haiti has become more squalid as the months have passed.

“The camps are overcrowded, the tent material has become degraded and people don’t have proper shelter,” Melanie Teff, a spokeswoman for the group, who took part in a recent fact-finding trip to Haiti, told the BBC.

“There were overwhelming smells from the latrines because there are not enough.”

At the same time, Ms Teff said there was little or no protection for vulnerable people. UN police patrols had begun in several camps but many of the 1,000 or more estimated camps for displaced people have no police presence, she said.

“I spoke with women’s groups, who told me of women being forced to exchange sex for food because they were so desperate, in order to support their families,” Ms Teff said.

Reports of gang rape were common, she said. In some camps, the security committees are run by members of the local gang.

“There is also fear of local landowners who are now demanding that they get their property back,” Ms Teff said.

Mr Clinton, who co-chairs the UN commission overseeing Haiti’s reconstruction, heard the concerns of Haitians on Wednesday as he toured a large camp in the capital, Port-au-Prince which had been inundated the night before.

A girl stands next to tents destroyed by heavy rains in Port-au-Prince on 25 SeptemberThe tent shelters cannot cope with heavy rains

“The tents no longer hold up under such torrential rains. We cannot continue living in these dreadful conditions,” one woman said.

Mr Clinton’s foundation pledged $500,000 (£313,000) to help the camp which is located on a former golf course.

The former US president spoke of his frustration about the slow arrival of promised funding.

The US, which pledged $1.15bn at a donors’ conference in March out of a total of $5.3bn, has yet to deliver any of its promised funding.

“In the next day or so, it will become obvious that the United States is making a huge down payment on that,” Mr Clinton said, without elaborating.

The former president said that under a “rather bizarre system of rules in the United States Senate”, the money was being held up.

“Since I believe that we are still essentially a sane as well as a humane country, I believe the money will be released, and when that happens that will also give a lot of others donors encouragement to raise their money,” he said.

“About $460m of the $777m of projects have already been funded. We are going to now move to be much more strategic and emphasise the areas of greatest needs: the housing, the rubble removal, the jobs,” he said, referring to projects approved by the recovery commission.

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Afghan Peace Council begins work

Peace Council being inaugurated in Kabul, 7 October 2010Questions are being raised about the composition of the council

The Afghan president has opened the first session of the High Peace Council, the body recently set up to start a dialogue with the Taliban.

Hamid Karzai described the council as the greatest hope for the Afghan people and called on the Taliban to seize the opportunity and help bring peace.

It comes amid growing reports of secret peace talks with the insurgents.

Correspondents say this is Mr Karzai’s most significant attempt yet to make peace with the Taliban.

But some of the 70 members of the council are former warlords who spent years fighting the Taliban and their inclusion has led to doubts as to whether it can succeed in its mission.

President Karzai announced the creation of the council in June at a Kabul peace conference. It includes two women.

“I wish you, respected members, success, and I wish our hopes come true – the hope for peace and stability in the country,” Mr Karzai told the opening session at the heavily fortified presidential palace.

“To the opposition, be they the Taliban or anyone who wants to serve his country, we call on them to take the opportunity and respond to this effort and help bring peace to this country,” he said.

While the Peace Council will work in public, there is growing evidence that behind the scenes there are renewed moves to establish contact between the Afghan government and the Taliban, the BBC’s Nicholas Witchell reports from Kabul.

The government, and the Americans, believe the Taliban may finally be feeling the pressure from its military operations.

SOME PEACE COUNCIL FACESSibghatullah Mojaddedi: First Afghan president after 1992 fall of communist regime; recently elected leader of upper house of parliamentBurhanuddin Rabbani: Succeeded Mojaddedi as president; now leads Afghan National Front, main political opposition to KarzaiHajji Mohammad Mohaqiq: Mujahideen fighter during war against Soviet invasion of 1979; later fought the TalibanAbdul Hakeem Mujahed: Was made Taliban’s permanent representative to the UN in 1996Ustad Abdul Rabi Rasul Sayyaf: Former Mujahideen leader said to have been the one who first invited Osama Bin Laden to Afghanistan

They are hoping the Taliban leadership – or at least some elements of it – will conclude that this is an appropriate moment to enter into negotiations, our correspondent adds.

Although President Karzai made no reference to the date, it was nine years ago on Thursday that the US began its military offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But far from being beaten, the Taliban have been putting up a tough fight and in recent years, have regained in strength and influence.

Their fighters continue to inflict casualties on the US-led Nato forces and resist all attempts to defeat them by military means.

And some, including Mr Karzai, believe that talks with the Taliban are the only way to end the insurgency.

But critics say many of the council members are unlikely peacemakers.

Also, previous attempts to negotiate with the Taliban have failed, partly over their insistence that foreign troops leave the country first.

There are nearly 150,000 foreign troops currently deployed in Afghanistan.

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UK house prices ‘slide by 3.6%’

House prices fell by 3.6% in September compared with the previous month, according to the latest figures from the Halifax.

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Eurostar unveils £700m train deal

Channel Tunnel rail firm Eurostar unveils an order worth more than £700m for new trains from German firm Siemens.

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Alzheimer’s drugs U-turn hailed

Rivastigmine Alzheimer's drugRivastigmine Alzheimer’s drug

Hundreds of thousands more patients in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease could get drugs under proposed changes to guidelines for England and Wales.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence says evidence backs the use of drugs for “mild” symptoms.

The draft guidance will reverse restrictions that stopped NHS doctors prescribing donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine.

Campaigners said the decision represented a “momentous day”.

As many as 465,000 people in the UK have Alzheimer’s disease, and this is expected to rise as the population ages.

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The availability of drugs for the condition on the NHS has been source of controversy for almost a decade.

While there has always been evidence they diminished the symptoms and boosted quality of life for some, it has not always been clear exactly how much improvement they could deliver, to which groups of patients, and for how long.

In 2005, drugs watchdog The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) ruled that no-one should get the drugs on the NHS, then conceded a year later that patients with “moderate” disease should receive them, while still ruling out “mild” patients.

The secret formula used by NICE to calculate how much “value for money” the drugs offer to the NHS was then the subject of a court action by the Alzheimer’s Society and pharmaceutical companies.

The battle over Alzheimer’s drugs2005 Draft NICE guidance recommends no patients should receive Aricept (donepezil), Reminyl (galantamine) or Exelon (rivastigmine)May 2006 Final guidance says those with moderate Alzheimer’s are eligible, but not those with mild diseaseOctober 2006 Internal NICE panel rejects appeals over decision to exclude “mild” patientsJune 2007 High Court backs NICE decision following Judicial ReviewMay 2008 Court of Appeal rules NICE should make public their “economic model” which calculates the financial benefits of a drugJune 2009 NICE admits “technical inaccuracies” in the model, amends it, but does not alter guidanceOctober 2010 Five years on, a fresh review of the guidance backs prescribing three drugs for mild Alzheimer’s, and includes a fourth for more advanced disease

After the case went all the way to the House of Lords, NICE was forced to first disclose the formula, then amend it after admitting “technical inaccuracies”, although it said this did not change the outcome.

That new review now proposes giving the drugs to patients with mild symptoms – which covers people in the early stages of the disease, perhaps suffering memory loss and confusion, but not yet dependent on carers for day-to-day activities.

It has also suggested a fourth drug, Ebixa, be made available for the first time to patients with more advanced disease.

The guidance is subject to appeal.

Chief Executive of NICE, Sir Andrew Dillon, said: “Clinical trials have continued to show the positive effect of these drugs.

“Our increased confidence in the benefits and costs associated with the use of the three drugs for treating mild and moderate stages of the disease has enabled us to make positive recommendation for their use in mild disease.

NICE’s equivalent in Scotland has indicated that it may follow the English decision.

“For the price of a cup of coffee they can mean the difference between recognising your loved ones and playing with your grandchildren”

Ruth Sutherland, Alzheimer’s Society

Ruth Sutherland, the interim chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said that it was “a momentous day”, with approximately half of the 62,000 people who develop the disease every year likely to benefit from the drugs.

She said that the drugs, which cost approximately £2.80 per person per day, were not a “miracle cure”, but made important differences to people’s lives.

She said: “For the price of a cup of coffee they can mean the difference between recognising your loved ones and playing with your grandchildren.

“It is critical that this draft decision becomes a reality and that all people with Alzheimer’s are given the opportunity to benefit.”

The society’s Director of Research, Professor Clive Ballard, said: “If this guidance is issued, doctors will no longer have to watch people deteriorate without being able to treat them.”

Professor Roy Jones, from the Research Institute for the Care of Older People in Bath, described the decision as “an important milestone”.

He said: “Early diagnosis and access to medication is critical to help reduce both the short and long-term impact of this devastating condition on patients, families and carers.”

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‘Pay more’ into public pensions

Members of public sector pension schemes should pay higher contributions, says an independent commission led by Lord Hutton.

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Addicts resell ‘used methadone’

Methadone being measured by a pharmacistPharmacists measure out Methadone doses regularly for addicts

The body which represents Scottish pharmacists is calling for the law to be changed to try to reduce the number of addicts receiving methadone.

Lyndon Braddick, from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said pharmacists were best able to judge whether an addict might benefit from a lower dose.

He said this might help reduce addicts’ reliance on the drug to zero.

Currently, only doctors can change methadone prescriptions.

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Mr Braddick, director of the Society in Scotland, said: “It would help to reduce the dosages of methadone that people were on and help them and support them towards a lifestyle which is less dependent on taking methadone and on taking opiates, because it would put the patient in greater control of their own treatment.”

Mr Braddick said there could be benefits in a more collaborative approach involving all the professionals who are working with a particular addict, including doctors, social workers and pharmacists.

For at least the last two decades, the prescription of methadone to help drug users beat their addictions has been a growing phenomenon.

Latest available figures for Scotland indicate there has been a 19% increase in methadone prescriptions in the five years between 2004 and 2008 and the official estimate is that at least 22,000 people, probably more, are being prescribed the drug.

“I would sell my methadone and I would buy heroin with it”

Former addict

The problem with methadone, according to one point of view, is that it replaces an illegal addiction with a legal one. And in some cases it doesn’t even do that.

Many ex-users say they only used methadone when they couldn’t get heroin, others that they sold their prescription in order to get money for illegal drugs.

One former addict, Billy, who’s now been in a recovery programme for four months, said he was on methadone for 21 years and during that time he was still using illegal drugs like heroin.

“I used to go and pick up 600ml or maybe more and it would go in the fridge unsupervised,” he said.

“And then I would go and sell my methadone and I would go and buy heroin with it. Sometimes I had row after row of bottles, saving it up. I used to save it up and sell it.”

Billy said it was only when he enrolled on a residential recovery programme, run by the organisation Phoenix Futures, that he was able to start getting his life back to normal.

However many experts on drug abuse insist that methadone plays a crucial role in reducing the harm caused by addiction.

They say that without it, more people would be at risk of disease and overdoses because of the dangers inherent in using illegal drugs. Their lives would be more chaotic and they would be more likely to commit crime.

A spokesperson for the British Medical Association Scotland said the idea of giving pharmacists more autonomy required careful consideration because managing patients on methadone required a “multi-faceted approach”.

The Scottish government is now encouraging new strategies to help addicts get their lives back to normal.

The Scottish Drugs Recovery Forum is an initiative set up to promote the idea that a full recovery from addiction is achievable.

It has carried out research which suggests filling addicts’ lives with meaningful activities and relationships is the best way to help them beat their addictions.

You can hear James Shaw’s report on methadone on BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast 0600-0900 BST.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.