Proposals include a new independent regulating body. Patients need protection to ensure they receive safe care. The new body will have the power to stop hospitals undertaking procedures they are not equipped or qualified to do. However, the small number of people who go private also deserve protection'. A report in the Health Service Journal says there is inequitable funding of services for AIDS and HIV patients in different parts of England.
Service provision is best in the North Thames area.
Funding per patient in, for example, Chelsea is four times higher than in Manchester. The government has published, for consultation, new laws to end tobacco advertising on billboards, in newspapers, and in magazines. Most tobacco sponsorship of sports and the arts will end after July 2003. An additional three years grace will be given, however, to 'exceptional global events with a high dependency on tobacco sponsorship, such as Formula 1 racing'. The British government is the first to publish details of how it intends to implement the EU directive on tobacco advertising.