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933 FOCUS.qxp_Layout 1 10/12/2019 11:47 Page 2020 FocusPLASTIC RECYCLING BAGS FROM CHELMSFORD CITY COUNCILRegarding Chelmsford plastic bags for recycling plastic waste, the Town Council has been advised by Chelmsford City Council there is going to bea potential change which may mean the arrangements for supplies will be changing.Supplies of cardboard and paper sacks will remain unchanged.The Town Council holds a supply of paper/cardboard and dog waste bags which can be obtained from Champions Manor Hall Community Centre(first floor), Hullbridge Road from Monday to Friday 9am to 4.00pm.For food waste bags and a replacement recycling calendar, please contact Chelmsford City Council Recycling Department at 01245 615 800.CONTACT USSouth Woodham Ferrers Town Council opening hours are – Monday to Friday 9.00am to 4.00pm.Champions Manor Hall booking enquiries, please contact us on 01245 429 442Garden of Remembrance enquiries, please contact Karen Atkins 01245 429 446General enquiries 01245 321 817www.southwoodhamferrerstc.gov.ukWe are situated at Champions Manor Hall Community Centre in Hullbridge Road on the first floor(lift available).DATES FOR YOUR DIARY – Meetings of the Town CouncilTuesday 17th December at 7pm Planning CommitteeTuesday 17th December at 8pm Environment CommitteeTuesday 14th January at 7pm Planning CommitteeTuesday 14th January at 8pm CouncilTuesday 28th January at 7pm Planning CommitteeTuesday 28th January at 7pm Leisure CommitteeAll meetings of the Council and its Committees are open to the public and take place at Champions Manor Hall Community Centre, Hullbridge Road.Agendas are displayed on the notice board in Champions Manor Hall Community Centre and are available at the Library, Trinity Square for threedays before the meeting. Agendas and Minutes may also be viewed on the Town Council’s website or viewed at the Town Council Office at ChampionsManor Hall Community Centre.VE Day 75 2020Should anybody be running events for VE Day next year please do get in touch so that we may help to coordinate and advertiseevents.Season’s GreetingsFrom the Town Mayor, Councillors and Staff at South Woodham Ferrers Town Council, The Town Council office at Champions ManorHall Community Centre will close at 4pm on Monday 23rd December 2019 and re-open at 9am on Thursday 2nd January 2020NO SILENT NIGHT!Many people gathered at the local Evangelical church to sharethe Salvation Army's Annual Carols at Christmas, which is alwaysenhanced by the presence of a group of happy children from theElmwood Primary School, and the presence of brass music toaccompany the congregational singing. This year, twenty ninechildren brilliantly contributed "Christmas Tree" and "All I Wantfor Christmas is You." During the singing of "Away In A Manger"some of them, suitably dressed in costume, made a beautifultableau around the manger bed. Pictures were taken, but we havebeen requested not to publish these as some parents used theirright to stop any photographs of their children put into publicdomain, and we honour that. This year, the band members werefrom Wickford and Rayleigh Salvation Army Corps, under theleadership of Deputy Bandmaster David Spencer (Rayleigh) andgave a much appreciated musical contribution.entered our world .. and the peace He can bring to each one of ustoday.May this Christmas, although there is so much strife and unrestaround us, bring calm to us as we realise the great love that Godhas for each one of us, in the giving of His Son, Jesus Christ. Maywe personally receive the greatest gift we could ever have in life,and open our hearts and lives to Him. A Happy and BlessedChristmas to everyone!A sketch entitled "Silent Night" was presented by Home Leagueladies together with Daniel Parker, who played the part of Joseph.It dealt with all the noises occurring on the night of Christ's birth,including those of animals stabled in the inn, (the childrendelighting in performing those at the right time!) until baby Jesuscries and all other noises cease. Mary hushes the baby, and speaksof the noises to come in His later life- cheering crowds, angrymobs, clash of steel, hammering of nails. She ends "but.. that isnot now .. now we praise God, and treasure in our hearts thetransforming peace your birth has brought us!" After a moment'ssilence, everyone sang the carol "Silent Night" thinking more ofthe reality of that first night-the noise as the Prince of PeaceFOCUS
933 FOCUS.qxp_Layout 1 10/12/2019 11:47 Page 21FOCUS ON HEALTH0South Focus Woodham FocusSouth Woodham Focus 21LIVING WITH CANCER: The search for a cancer cure is overshadowing"huge" progress being made in allowing sufferers of the disease to livelonger, the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) has warned. A report inThe Telegraph goes on to say: "Survival time from cancer has roughlydoubled in a decade, with the average patient now living more than10 years after first being diagnosed. But experts said those focusingexclusively on a breakthrough to eliminate the disease meant positiveadvancements in treatment were being "masked".Just 28 per cent of people believe the disease can be controlled in thelong-term, according to an ICR-commissioned YouGov poll of membersof the public and cancer patients. In comparison, 46 per cent of peoplesaid they believed heart disease can be managed in the long-term, and77 per cent said the same for diabetes."Caroline Davies in The Guardian picks up the story: The charity (ICR) iscalling for more attention to be given to cancer’s ability to resisttreatment so more people can live longer. One third of peoplemisunderstood the widely used term “all clear” to mean the disease iscompletely cured, rather than simply undetectable and with thepotential to still return, the poll of 2,103 members of public and 366patients found.Only 60% understood the term “drug resistance” means cancertreatment has stopped working, with many assuming the term relatedto antibiotic treatment. Fifteen per cent of the public, and 16% ofcancer patients, were not aware that cancer can resist treatment andreturn.The ICR is launching the world’s first “Darwinian” drug discoveryprogramme at its new cancer centre aimed at increasing the proportionof patients whose disease can be controlled long term. A final £14mneeds to be raised to finish the Centre of Cancer Drug Discovery, andequip it with the state-of-the-art facilities needed for it ambitiousDarwinian drug programme. Scientists who will be working therebelieve its pioneering approach can deliver long-term control andeffective cures for cancer comparable to progress made in HIV."The article highlights the experience of Barbara Ritchie Lines who"underwent eight years of treatment after being diagnosed with breastcancer in 2005. Her cancer is now undetectable. She said: “When I firstgot diagnosed, I was told that I had maybe only 12 months – but it’sbeen 14 years, and here I am. I’m so grateful that I now have all thistime to spend with my new grandchildren.”CD quotes a couple of experts. Dr Olivia Rossanese, who will be headof biology at the centre, said: “We believe cancer should no longer bea case of ‘cure or nothing’. At the ICR our aim is to discover many moreanti-evolution treatments to overcome drug resistance, so we can notonly cure a greater proportion of patients but also to give others withadvanced disease the chance of a much longer and better life”.Prof Paul Workman, the ICR chief executive, said: “Overcoming thechallenge of cancer evolution and drug resistance is the key todefeating cancer. If we can finish off cancer evolution, we willeffectively finish cancer.”During my time in practice, several cancers were moved from the'incurable' or 'difficult to cure' to the 'curable' category. Some yearsago I presented a programme on cancer for Channel 4 and, since thattime, advances such as immunotherapy have turned hopeless situationsinto the upbeat scenarios of the sort described by Barbara RitchieLines. Whilst this group of diseases still takes its toll, many patients donow enjoy a good quality of life for many years after their diagnosis. InSeptember 'Lancet Oncology' reported that cancer survival in the UKis improving ... although there's still room for further progress. Astreatment of the disease after initial diagnosis AND management ofrecurrences improve, it's time for all of us to take a new 'allencompassing' view of the state of play.FLU JABS. Vaccines are in the news this week ... and the BBC's DuncanSleightholme has unearthed a worrying story. He reports that: "KevinMutch was offered a flu vaccine by his GP because he has asthma, buthe declined it. When he then contracted the flu earlier this year, he hadto be put into an induced coma for three months to help his body tofight the infection, during which he also contracted sepsis. Nowrecovering, Kevin from Weymouth in Dorset, wants to share his storyto encourage others to take flu vaccines seriously."Thanks Kevin for making the point! Sounds like you had a lucky escape.It has been pointed out, though, that there is a heavy bill to be paidby the NHS. One estimate is that the cost to the health service of thissort of 'high tech' treatment over three months would be around£80,000, possibly more. Even if you take the view that you've got tobe rather unlucky to suffer the same fate as Kevin, you have to admitthat it's a whole lot cheaper (and less traumatic) to have a flu jab so, ifyou're at risk, (Google 'Who should have the flu vaccine? - NHS' to findout if you are) you can see if your GP still has a supply. Failing that manypharmacies still seem to have stocks.DEATHS IN CHILDREN. The World Health Organization (WHO) is upin arms ... again ... and it doesn't mince its words. It says that the Antivaxxmovement was complicit in 140,000 global measles deaths in2018, mostly in children ... and the 'US Centers for Diseases Controland Prevention' endorses this claim.Pharmafile reports that: "Several countries lost their measleselimination status in 2018. This included the UK, Albania, the CzechRepublic and Greece, while the US has been reporting its highestnumber of cases for 25 years. This rise is in large part due to theprominence of anti-vaxx misinformation campaigns.Anti-vaccine movements have been around for centuries but themodern incarnation has its roots in the 1990s. A study by AndrewWakefield, now widely debunked, said there was a link betweenvaccines and ‘contracting’ autism. This false study has been parrotedand spread by notable individuals like Robert DeNiro, Robert FKennedy Jr and President Donald Trump.Having a US President who often leans towards being a vaccine sceptic,has helped garner legitimacy for a movement based on manufacturedevidence, and the results have been devastating. Other anti-vaccinemovements use isolated cases of vaccines causing death to spreadmisinformation. One of the worst recent examples of a measlesepidemic is Samoa, where 39 people have died since October. TheWorld Health Organisation has blamed an anti-vaccine campaign formost of the casualties. In 2015, immunisation rates were measured at84% but in 2018 it had fallen dramatically to 31%."Professor Heidi Larson, from the London School of Hygiene & TropicalMedicine, said: “These numbers are staggering. Measles is the mostcontagious of all vaccine-preventable disease threats and should be awake-up call.”We're told that it's likely the number of measles deaths will increase,with 413,000 reported cases by mid-November this year compared to353,000 for the whole of last year.Changing tack, I recently wrote about the damage measles does tokids' ability to resist other infectious diseases. The Sanger Institutereminds us of the problem: "Scientists have shown how measles causeslong-term damage to the immune system, leaving people vulnerableto other infections. Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute,University of Amsterdam and their collaborators revealed that themeasles virus deletes part of the immune system’s memory, removingpreviously existing immunity to other infections, in both humans andferrets. Importantly, the team showed for the first time that measlesresets the human immune system back to an immature baby-like statewith only limited ability to respond to new infections."Needless to say this is just one more strong reason why patients shouldensure their kids are fully vaccinated. As for advising those of you whokeep ferrets ... a Mid-Essex spokes-ferret tells me that: "There is atpresent no agreed vaccination policy for protecting us ferrets againstmeasles. Fortunately the disease is rare in our community but there isalways the potential for infections to cross the species barrier,particularly when we draw blood by giving you a friendly nip, so werecommend that those of you who love and cherish your furry friendsshould make sure your family is protected against measles. If you don'tget it, we won't get it!"Dr JohnFOCUS
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