Health

Information about deafblindness will be available during a special event at Kingsbury Library Plus in Stag Lane, Kingsbury, later this month.
People will be able to learn how to communicate with older people who cannot see and hear very well and get advice for deafblind people, families, friends and carers.
Alison Asafu-Adjaye, a specialist deafblind access worker, will also be on hand to offer her expertise on April 20 between 10am and 1pm.
For more details contact Sense on 0845 127 0076, minicom 0845 127 0078 or email alison.asafu-adjaye@sense.org.uk

More Brent residents caught measles last year than the whole population of Wales.

Figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show 55 out of 125 suspected cases were confirmed in 2008, an increase of over 75 per cent from 2007.

This is compared to just 37 cases in Wales. NHS Brent, Brent Council and the HPA have teamed up to highlight awareness of the rising numbers in the borough.

A report on the 2008 figures show that East European, Somali and Afro-Caribbean communities are worse affected.

Leaflets and posters were distributed in November of last year but it is too early to tell whether they have been successful in encouraging more people to get vaccinated.

Dr Deepti Kumar, Consultant in communicable disease control from the North West London Health Protection Unit said: "It is incredibly important to continue to remind parents about the benefits of having a child vaccinated with two doses of MMR for optimum protection."

The HPA also reported that Harrow had 10 out of 26 confirmed cases of measles in 2008, an increase of over 66 per cent from 2007. Although its figures are one of the lowest in London, these figures are almost as high as the North East of England.

Numbers of measles cases have rocketed all over England and Wales by almost 20 per cent. There were 990 cases reported in 2007 compared with 1,217 cases in 2008.

However, it is London where the most dramatic rise has been seen, from 424 cases in 2007 to 721 in 2008, an increase of just over 35 per cent.

Brian McCloskey, HPA regional director for London, said: "We are seeing high rates of measles in London because uptake of the MMR vaccine has dropped in the last 10 years, mainly due to unfounded stories about its safety. We all lead very busy lives but making sure your child has been vaccinated must be a priority. Measles should be virtually non-existent in a modern city such as London."

Brent Council is currently operating an air quality text service you can use to receive alerts to your home phone, mobile or by email on days of high air pollution.

AirTEXT is a free service and the alerts will give you advance warning so that you can take extra measures if your health is normally worse on these days. The service is recommended for people with asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, heart disease and angina, who are more at risk from high levels of air pollution.

You can receive alerts for the area where you work, go to school or live - even if this is not in Brent.

These free alerts go straight to your mobile phone and/or email on days of elevated air pollution and you can choose whether to receive your airTEXT alert on the evening before or on the actual morning of days when elevated air pollution is forecast.

Contact Brent Council's airTEXT coordinator to sign up on 020 8937 5252 or on www.airtext.info

NHS Brent, Brent Council and the Health Protection Agency have teamed up to roll out a borough-wide awareness campaign to highlight the worrying fact that measles is spreading in the borough.

Brent has the highest level of confirmed measles cases in the North West London. From January to September 2008 a total of 87 cases within the eight boroughs of the North West London sector were confirmed. Forty five of these children were from Brent.

Low levels of immunisation uptake over the last decade have led to a significant increase in the number of children who are not protected against measles. The more children that are not protected, the more rapidly measles will spread.

Dollis Hill, Harlesden, Kensal Green and Willesden Green had the highest number of cases for this totally preventable disease in Brent. A report on this year's measles cases also found that the Eastern European, Somali, and Afro Caribbean communities were worse affected.

About one in every 15 children with measles will develop more serious complications. These can include diarrhoea, pneumonia, fits, encephalitis (infection of the brain, and brain damage). In some cases measles can kill.

The safest way to protect children against measles is by getting two doses of the MMR vaccine, available at all GPs throughout the borough.

Dr Deepti Kumar, Consultant in communicable disease control from the North West London Health Protection Unit said: "Measles is a very serious infection as it can lead to pneumonia and encephalitis. It is not possible to tell who will be seriously affected by measles. This is why it's incredibly important to continue to remind parents about the benefits of having their child vaccinated with two doses of MMR for optimum protection. It is never too late to get vaccinated."

A series of posters, leaflets and adverts will be hitting the streets of Brent during this six week campaign which started on Monday November 3.

A football project designed to entertain bored youngsters in Wembley has been launched.

Sessions will take place every Wednesday from 5-7pm, at Vale Farm Sports Centre.

We have been preached at by our 'powers that be' about the distinct lack of dental services in our fair land.
Having been born in India to an English Dad and a Finnish Mum, I developed a penchant for all the sweet products available in that country and, obviously, acquired a bunch of rotten teeth.
In those far off days, dentists were thought of as some form of torture experts and I firmly believe mine had a hand cranked drill to perform excavations on my molars.
By the age of seven, I had so much metal in my mouth, I firmly believed that if I fell over, my head would automatically point north.
Some 56 years later, living in Wembley, two of my front teeth, wobbled and then fell out, which to me was like losing two members of my family.
I panicked.
Following the government warning, I feared there were no available NHS dentists in Brent so I rang a midnight programme on Radio Five Live to chat to their dental consultant.
He advised me to visit my local library, who would have a list of all dentists in my area with available space in their surgeries.
Certainly easier than my thought of traipsing the streets around my home, knocking on dentist's doors pleading to get admitted.
With list in hand the next morning, after only one call, I had secured my place a couple of days later for a visit to a very cheerful lass in my own street only one hundred houses away.
Some two weeks after that. I could again talk without whistling and chew my food properly.
My daughter has been complaining at me for weeks since, because I am smiling too much.
So, now you know, if you need a dentist, visit your local library!

A heart charity is looking for volunteers to help with collecting donations in the Harrow area.