SICKO , Michael Moore’s new film,

reveals the terrible healthcare

decisions that some Americans

have to make. For example, one

man stitched up a gash in his own

knee because professional care

would be too costly.

But the World Health

Organization says people in poorer

countries have to make similar

decisions far more regularly, and

the impact is often devastating.

WHO researchers studied

89 national surveys of domestic

spending and found that

worldwide, 150 million households

suffer “financial catastrophe”

each year due to healthcare costs.

The biggest impact is in Brazil

and Vietnam, where 10 per cent

of households each year are

affected. Families in richer

nations also suffer: rates for

Switzerland and the US exceed

0.5 per cent (Health Affairs, DOI:

10.1377/hlthaff.26.4.972). In each

case the severity of the problem is

linked to how much people have

to pay for treatment relative to

public funding.

Government-run healthcare

systems, such as the UK’s National

Health Service, may be one answer,

though many poorer nations

cannot afford to implement

them, the researchers say.

ASTRONOMERS, they say, do it

on mountain tops, and it’s on a

2400-metre peak on La Palma in

the Canary Islands where the

largest telescope in the world has

now been built.

The Great Canary Telescope

(GCT) opened its eye to the sky

on 13 July. With a main mirror

10.4 metres across, it narrowly beats

its closest rivals, the twin Keck

telescopes on Mauna Kea, Hawaii,

which have 10-metre mirrors.

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope

near Fort Davis, Texas, and the

South African Large Telescope

(SALT) near Sutherland, South

Africa both have slightly larger

main mirrors, measuring 11.1 by

9.8 metres, respectively,

but because of the way they are

constructed only a patch 9.2

metres across can be used for

observations at any given time.

The GCT is currently under

test, and scientific observations

are planned to begin around

the middle of next year. Its

huge light-gathering area

means it should excel at studying

faint objects, such as infant

galaxies in the early universe.

It will also study black holes and

“150 million households suffer financial catastrophe each year due to healthcare costs”

“The GCT should excel at studying faint objects, such as galaxies in the early universe”

YOUNG women with chest pain

beware: the latest medical

imaging technology might do you

more harm than good.

Researchers led by Andrew

Einstein of Columbia University

in New York have studied a

technology called Computed

Tomography Coronary

Angiography (CTCA), which looks

for coronary artery disease by

building up a 3D picture of the

heart. The snag is that the cancer

risk from CTCA for women in their

twenties seems to be much higher

than for other groups .

Like conventional CT scans,

CTCA involves X-rays, but uses

around double the radiation dose.

To determine whether the risks

vary with age and sex, Einstein’s

team used the latest data from the

US National Academies. They

estimate that the lifetime cancer

risk from a single dose ranges

from 1 in 3261 for an 80-year-old

man to 1 in 143 for a 20-year-old

woman (JAMA, vol 298, p 317 ).

CESA

R BO

RJA/

EFE/

CORB

IS

planets around other stars. To

compensate for the distortion

of light by the atmosphere, the

GCT will make use of shape-

changing mirrors.

The telescope cost $180 million

to build, most of it coming from

the Spanish government, with

additional funds from Mexico

and the University of Florida.

PUNC

HSTO

CK

–Seeking alien worlds–

–Infinitely one-sided–

60 SECONDS

North America BSE ban

Canada has banned brain and other

potentially BSE-infected cattle tissues

from all animal feed and fertiliser. A US

ban will follow. Scientists have long

recommended the move, which was

needed to stop BSE spreading in Europe.

Autism hearing opens

Doctors who claimed to have found a

link between autism and the MMR

vaccine are appearing this week before

a panel of the UK’s General Medical

Council. The panel has until 19 October

to decide whether Andrew Wakefield,

John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch

should be struck off the GMC register

for alleged irregularities in the studies

which led to the claims.

To spy or not to spy

US government officials argued

during the 1960s and 1970s about

whether to come clean about the

country’s spy satellite programme.

Declassified documents posted by

the National Security Archive on

13 July reveal that some felt greater

openness would help legitimise

space reconnaissance and encourage

the use of satellite imagery for national

security and civilian purposes.

China cries fowl

US exports of chicken feet, pigs’ ears

and pork ribs are the latest casualties in

a trade war between the US and China.

Chinese authorities suspended imports

on 13 July, claiming products were

tainted with salmonella or with

ractopamine, a feed additive banned in

China – claims the companies are

investigating. The row began in March

when US pets fell ill after eating

contaminated food from China.

Dust storm clouds rovers

Spirit and Opportunity are under a bit

of a cloud. The two Mars rovers have

been swamped by a storm since late

June, with dust reducing the amount

of light falling on their solar arrays.

NASA officials hope to drive

Opportunity into a deep crater called

Victoria as soon as the storm breaks.

Don’t get sick

Star turn

Risky scan?

www.newscientist.com 21 July 2007 | NewScientist | 7

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