A round-up of this weeks other health news, in brief ...
Call for help to enable people to age well
There is no secret ingredient for ageing well and the Government must play its part, consultant geriatrician Dr Diarmuid O’Shea will tell a meeting on ageing this evening.
Speaking before the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) meeting in Dublin, Dr O’Shea stressed the importance of a healthy diet and the need to keep the mind in good shape by finding new interests.
“However, we will not see the beneficial effects of these personal efforts if it is not matched by appropriate Government policy and adequate financial support, which enable people to age successfully,” he said.
The meeting is part of a RCPI series on promoting a healthy nation. It starts tonight at 6.30pm at 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2.
Special evening on adoption
Adopted people have been encouraged to attend a special information evening tomorrow organised by Barnardos, the children’s charity.
The meeting is for people who are thinking about searching for a birth relative, on a waiting list with an adoption agency, or seeking a reunion with a birth relative.
It begins at 7.30pm at the Central Hotel on Dublin’s Exchequer Street.
Nurses for sexual assault victims
The first nurses to be trained specifically to conduct forensic examinations on victims of sexual assault graduated from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) yesterday with Higher Diplomas in Nursing Sexual Assault Forensic Examination.
The chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, said she hoped the addition of the eight forensic nurses to teams working around the country and the opening of a new sexual assault treatment unit in Mullingar would help more people report these crimes. The national 24-hour helpline for the victims of rape and sexual abuse is 1800 778888.