A recent study published in the Lancet finds a link between living close to a major road and dementia. The study looked at 2.2 million residents aged 55-85 years in Ontario in Canada. Initially, all of these people were free of neurological diseases. Between 2001 and 2012, 243,611 cases of dementia were identified among the group. A […]
Three deaths a week in Switzerland from a lack of organ donors
Le Matin. According to statistics published by Swiss Transplant, three people died per week waiting for organs over the first quarter of 2016, up from two a week previously. The problem largely stems from a lack of organ donors. At the end of September 2016, more than 1,500 patients were on a growing organ-waiting list. At […]
No increase in Swiss cigarette tax likely in 2017
20 Minutes. Switzerland’s parliament voted 117 to 60 to reject the Federal Council’s plan to increase the tax on a packet of cigarettes in 2017. The Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, will give its verdict next. From 2005 to 2015, the price of a packet of the most widely sold cigarettes has risen from […]
Swiss government plan to reduce doctors’ visits
20 Minutes. Some Swiss politicians would like to focus minds on the costs of going to the doctor to reduce the number going for the most minor of reasons. Their plan would require deductibles to rise annually in line with increases in the cost of basic health insurance. Higher deductibles, they think, would put people off […]
Swiss parliament rejects tobacco advertising ban
20 Minutes. According to a study published by the Swiss federal office of public health last December1, two thirds of the Swiss public were in favour of banning tobacco advertising, everywhere except at the point of sale. 58% were even in favour of a blanket ban, while one in six wanted to see cigarette price increases. Switzerland’s […]
Nearly one person in five in Switzerland has slept with 20 people or more
In Switzerland, a typical adult female has sex with six people over the course of her life, while an average Swiss man has on average seven sexual partners. A survey conducted in July and August 2016 by Blick and Le Matin, conducted as part of the Swiss government sponsored “Love Life, Stop AIDS” campaign, designed […]
A high fat diet can stunt the development of young brains, says Swiss research
A study, published in the medical journal “Molecular Psychiatry”, and released today by researchers at ETH Zurich, seems to suggest yet again that we are what we eat. This study is focussed not on waistlines but brainwaves. The results suggest an excessively fatty diet can prevent adolescent brains from fully maturing. The pre-frontal cortex, a late-to-develop […]
Plan to reduce health premiums for 26 to 35 year-olds rejected by cabinet
20 Minutes. A government commission has been developing a package of changes to Switzerland’s compulsory basic health insurance for the last five years. The group recently agreed on changes that would reduce the premiums paid by younger adults, who consume less health resource, and reduce the amount children pay. Part of this plan, which the commission […]
Swiss health insurance hikes announced for 2017
On 26 September 2016, the Federal Public Health Office (OFSP) announced Swiss health insurance premiums for 2017. The average increase across all cantons and insurance companies will be 4.5%, ranging from 3.5% to 7.3% depending on the canton. These figures are for standard cover for an adult with a deductible of CHF 300, including accident […]
Switzerland facing a shortage of doctors
24 Heures. Over 60% of family doctors will retire over the next ten years. By 2020, this will lead to a shortfall of 2,000. Talking to 24 Heures, Pierre-Alexandre Bart, professor of medicine at UNIL says “There is no time to lose”. Adding that UNIL has increased its training capacity from 110 to 120 medical students […]
