Listen to The Lancet

Richard Horton, Rhona MacDonald, and Richard Lane review The Lancet's key milestones of 2007, and look ahead to priorities for the coming year. Included in the discussion are highlights from the launches of the Women Deliver Series, Who Counts?, and the Chronic Diseases series which concludes in this week's issue.

Andrew Davenport from University College London's Centre for Nephrology discusses encouraging early results from a study showing how portable haemodialysis machines could have future potential for people with kidney failure.

36 million deaths could be averted by 2015 if the WHO Global Goal for chronic diseases is achieved, states Professor Robert Beaglehole in this week's podcast. Chronic diseases, principally cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes, are all leading causes of global mortality and disability.

Professor Antonio Cassone from Italia University in Rome discusses an unusual outbreak of chikungunya viral disease in Ravenna, northern Italy, in the summer of 2007. The virus was carried in a man visiting from India, and spread through the community by mosquitoes commonly found in southern Europe during summer months.

Statins are safe, well tolerated, and have a proven impact on cardiovascular disease, concludes a Review, discussed in this week's podcast by author Jane Armitage, from the University of Oxford, UK . Given at standard daily doses, statins typically reduce blood concentrations of LDL cholesterol by around 30-45%

Arne Astrup from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, discusses a meta-analysis highlighting how the anti-obesity drug rimonabant is associated with an increased risk of depressive disorders. The meta-analysis pooled data from four randomised trials from the RIO (rimonabant in obesity) programme.

Previous research has shown how women using oral contraceptives are at a small increased risk of cervical cancer. In this week's podcast Jane Green from the University of Oxford, UK, discusses how this risk returns to that of never-users of hormonal contraceptives ten years after cessation of use.

Featuring the launch of the Who Counts? Series in Beijing, China. Also featured is an interview with the co-author of a seminar about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), discussing the possible underlying mechanisms behind SIDS.

Editor Rhona MacDonald discusses The Lancet's contribution to the Council of Science Editor's global poverty theme issue and interviews Daniel Altman, the lead author of a paper which shows that hysterectomy increases the risk of stress-urinary-incontenence surgery.

Dr Nathan Levin from the Renal Research Institute, New York City, USA, discusses a research article suggesting an easier way for controlling anaemia for people with chronic kidney disease. Also discussed are an online study concerning the safety and efficacy of a malaria vaccine.

20 years ago, the Safe Motherhood Initiative was launched by WHO and others to help reduce the severe global burden of pregnancy-related illness and death. Pam Das looks ahead to the international 'Women Deliver' conference which aims to reignite the importance of maternal health worldwide.

Human papillomavirus DNA testing detects lesions which lead to cervical cancer earlier than conventional cytological techniques, and this early detection could lead to the extension of the current screening interval of five years by at least another year, comments Chris Meijer from VU Medical Centre, Amsterdam in this week's podcast. This extension would be advantageous to women because of a r...

Professor Jiang Gu discusses the H5N1 research article in this week's issue. The virus was found in human tissue other than the lungs after autopsy of two avian influenza cases in China. Also discussed is the lead editorial concerning the overuse of surrogate markers in clinical trials

Greg Fegan gives an in-depth interview highlighting how a substantial increase in the use of insecticide treated bednets in Kenya over the past few years is contributing to a reduction in child mortality.

Currently 2 billion people do not have access to clean energy and live in energy poverty. Energy policies worldwide fail to take account of the effect of climate change, our use or misuse of energy sources, and the impact on human health.

Richard Lane and Tony Kirby round up a busy week for The Lancet in this week's podcast, including high-profile publication of the Lancet Mental Health series, the ADVANCE study highlighting the benefit of blood pressure reduction for people with type 2 diabetes, and online publication of new research linking food additives with hyperactivity in children.

An extended podcast for the Sept 1-7 issue focusing on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Discussed in detail is an international study assessing the global prevalence of COPD, the effect of passive smoking and COPD-related mortality in China, and the need for prenatal and infant lung impairment to be studied more closely as a possible precursor of COPD in adulthood.

Whether calcium and vitamin D supplements help prevent bone fractures in older people remains a controversial issue. Benjamin Tang from the University of Western Sydney, Australia, discusses a comprehensive meta-analysis which suggests that such supplements do have a beneficial effect in reducing the risk of osteoporotic fractures among people over 50 years.

Professor Derek Yellon discusses a proof of concept study in this week's issue. This highlights the potential of remote ischaemic preconditioning in the upper arm to reduce myocardial injury among patients about to have coronary artery bypass surgery.

A study highlights how magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is better at detecting ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) than conventional screening mammography. This week's podcast features an extended interview with the lead author of the study.

This week's podcast features an interview with series co-ordinator, Edward Mills, outlining the principles of health as a human right, regardless of the geographical setting.

Cannabis is the most commonly used illegal substance in most countries with up to 20% of young people reporting that they use it at least once a week. This week's podcast features an interview with Stanley Zammit, one of the authors of a meta-analysis on cannabis use and the risk of psychosis.

Infants with acute lymphoblastic leukemia have worse outcomes than older children with the disease. In this week's podcast, Rob Pieters, the lead author in the Interfant-99 study, a collaborative project between 22 countries, discusses a new treatment protocol that has helped to improve survival in infants with ALL.

Appropriate prescribing to elderly people: the topic of a mini-series and a podcast feature. Anne Spinewine explains the issues facing older people and physicians to ensure that drug prescribing is appropriate, and discusses common drug-drug interactions that often contribute to inappropriate prescribing in the geriatric setting.

Pam Das presents highlights from this week's themed HIV issue, ahead of an international HIV meeting taking palce in Sydney later this month. Also featured is an interview with Andrew Grulich about a meta-analysis suggesting that HIV and immunosuppression is more closely linked to a range of cancers than previously thought.