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NHS

One of the UK's most senior doctors, Professor Stephen Powis, has written in The Telegraph that weight loss advertisements which are celebrity-endorsed should be banned.

Professor Powis is currently the NHS' medical director, and has criticised well-known celebrities such as the Kardashians for promoting weight-loss products and aids such as teas, shakes and pills on social media, and has even called for Instagram to oppose them.

The doctor referenced the troubling statistic that more than one in 10 young people are affected by mental health issues in the UK, and are heavily influenced by body insecurity and famous faces encouraging them to lose weight.

He emphasised that mental health issues are one of the "most pressing issues facing out country".

SHEmazing recently wrote about the level of profit which people like the Kardashians can gain from the insecurity of their fans. 

Poor messaging can lead to dangerous consequences, and numerous organisations such as the National Eating Disorder Association have branded the Kardashian family’s representation of weight loss products as ‘triggering’ for those who struggle with eating disorders.

Professor Powis made sure to emphasise that impressionable young people look to these people for lifestyle guidance; "At what is already a sensitive and important time in their development, this group is especially vulnerable to pressures which trigger or exacerbate mental ill health," he writes.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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A post shared by  (@kimkardashian) on

A shocking HALF of young girls say that they feel under pressure to lose weight, the doctor says that social media's ascension has escalated this pressure and both celebrities and the platforms themselves must take responsibility for their posts.

"Our young people are bombarded with ideas, images and advertising which set such a high bar for what they should feel and look like," he writes. "And yet there is little accountability for the impact this has.

"Where celebrities and the platforms which promote them exploit this vulnerability by pushing products like laxative teas, diet pills and other get-thin-quick solutions, they are taking the health of our young people in their hands and should act with far greater responsibility."

Activist and actress Jameela Jamil tweeted her support for Professor Powis:

Prof. Powis also suggested that practical measures should be taken to stamp out the 'exploitation' of youth, such as online platforms "banning adverts for products with a known health risk". YAS KING.

He argued that the NHS is working on understanding and treating mental health conditions in young people;

"Everyone, especially those engaging with young people like social media firms, and celebrities who profit from them, have a duty of care to do more for our health and wellbeing".

"The NHS can't keep putting out fires if some parts of society keep lighting matches," he concluded, using a pretty effective allegory. 

Kim Kardashian West has an especially long history of promoting weight loss products on social media, as well as her sisters, Kylie and Kourtney. Kim faced backlash in May for promoting appetite suppressant lollipops on her Instagram.

One of the world's most powerful women was literally telling other women and young girls NOT TO EAT.  The Good Place actress Jameela Jamil founded the i Weigh body positivity social media movement and Kardashian West "a terrible and toxic influence on young girls".

Jamil has consistently called out celebrities including Cardi B and Iggy Azalea for promoting 'detox' teas, claiming they're just selling digestion problems instead.

She also called Kardashian 'an agent of the patriarchy', for her incessant need to 'recycle self-hatred.'

Jamil herself experienced an eating disorder as a teenager, and skipped meals for years at a time. She spent money on "miracle cures and laxatives and tips from celebrities" which later left her with "digestion and metabolism problems for life".

The Competition and Markets Authority has announced a clampdown on celebrities who don't label their posts as promotional advertisements, but solid rules aren't in place.

NHS England's national mental health director Claire Murdoch expressed concern over the influence which these celebrities have young people at an "impressionable" stage in their lives.

"Both the celebrities themselves and these social media companies themselves should be more responsible," she told BBC Breakfast.

We're so glad the NSH are finally using their influential platform to steer people in the right direction. Time will tell what type of future diet fads will hold, but they're looking highly unpopular right now.

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Love Island’s Dr Alex George has confirmed that he is returning to his day job. The doctor turned reality star admitted he has missed working in A&E and has been longing to go back over the past few months.

The A&E doctor explained why he made this major decision: “Love Island was the experience of a lifetime, but ever since I left the villa I've genuinely missed working for the NHS.”

“That's why this week, I'm going back to A&E. I trained for years for the opportunity to help people, and I can't wait to get back to doing what I love,” he added.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dr Alex (@dralexgeorge) on

“I'll be using my platform to raise awareness around health issues among young people,” he explained.

“Hopefully I'll be able to give you a bit of insight into what it's like on the front lines of the NHS. I hope you all continue this incredible journey with me. Here we go!” he wrote.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dr Alex (@dralexgeorge) on

Fans commended the Love Island contestant for his decision.

One fan wrote: “Respect for that. You have worked for many years and you don’t throw your hard work in the bin to be famous I love that.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dr Alex (@dralexgeorge) on

“Good man. Doing something real is so much more rewarding. Look out for the fans though. A&E may be inundated with broken nails and twisted ankles,” one joked.

Another said: “Top man Alex, couldn’t care less regarding all them free tracksuits.”

We couldn’t agree more. Power to ya Dr Alex.

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The British government will fund abortions for Northern Irish women who travel to England, it was today announced.

The news, announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond, comes following mounting pressure from MPs calling for the government to provide funds to those women who are forced to travel for terminations.

Northern Ireland remains the only county in the United Kingdom where abortion is illegal, expect in cases where the life or mental health of the mother are at risk.

Should a woman wish to have an abortion, she must do so privately and travel to England at her own expense, despite paying UK taxes, which contribute to the NHS.

A proposed amendment to the Queen's Speech, coordinated by Labour lawmaker, Stella Creasy, gathered widespread support throughout the House of Commons.

The proposal asked the government to ensure "the provision of adequate funding and guidance so that all UK citizens including those from Northern Ireland may access medical services including abortion procedures in England if they so wish without charge."

However, it is thought that today's announcement will be enough to satisfy Tory MPs enough to ensure that Ms Creasy's amendment does not pass, or she withdraws it.

The Labour MP took to Twitter to react to today's announcement:

Charities across the UK and Ireland have also welcomed the move with a spokesperson from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service saying:

"We are absolutely delighted that the government has committed to funding abortion care for women who travel from Northern Ireland to England."

"This is a landmark moment: for years the women of Northern Ireland, despite being UK citizens and taxpayers, have not been entitled to NHS-funded treatment."

Stella Casey has also vowed to help the women of Northern Ireland to fight for their rights in their own country 

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Over 800 women in the UK are to take legal action against the NHS and the makers of the vaginal mesh implants used by the health service. 

Transvaginal tape is a plastic mesh used by the NHS to treat women who suffer from stress incontinence (unintentional loss of urine) and pelvic organ prolapses, symptoms often suffered by women post child birth.

The mesh strip is cut to size and placed through the vagina or abdomen during a supposedly simple 20-minute procedure. 92,000 women underwent the surgery in the UK between April 2007 and March 2015.

For a lot of women the experience is positive and the insert works to alleviate those taboo symptoms with no adverse side effects.

However, the same can’t be said for every woman. According to the BBC, 800 women in the UK are suing the NHS and the manufactures of the inserts after they experienced chronic pain following the procedure.

Struggling to urinate, plastic cutting through the virginal wall and an inability to have sex or use tampons were just some of the symptoms reported by these women.

One of these women, Kath Sansom, spoke to the-pool.com about her experience saying, “If this hadn’t happened to me, and someone told me about it, I’m not sure I would have believed them. It’s like a bizarre horror story.”

Before having the surgery, Kath was and extremely active diver and cyclist.

However, the intense pain that Kath has suffered as a result, left her unable to run or even kneel down for any extended period of time.

Despite having the device removed, she is still unable to live the active lifestyle she was so fond of before entering the operating theatre that day.

According to Kath, the problem with the mesh insert is that it shrinks and erodes once inside the body.

“It should remain the same until the patient dies. But there are studies which show this fabric can shrink, and twist and the edges can fold, it can degrade and have fragments drop off, and it can go brittle or really hard.”

She also claimed that women are often ill-informed about the potential risks of the procedure, and believes no one will take the issue seriously.

“Still surgeons are purporting that the surgery is more beneficial than risky. But what we should be doing, instead of rushing women into procedures like this, which are obviously not working well enough, is looking towards preventative measures. ‘’

Of course, Kath’s story is just one of many.

The scandal involves over 800 effected women who will take legal action against the NHS in an effort to have the mesh tape banned for good. 

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