Chris Hyde

Wairoa is picking up the pieces from another flooding event in its streets as drains were overwhelmed by torrential Saturday rain.

The coronial inquest into deaths in Hawke's Bay during Cyclone Gabrielle has provided a timely reminder of just why the preparation for Cyclone Vaianu was so important.

OPINION: If you're asked to leave in a state of emergency, the answer is simple. Leave.

The "Man of Steel" star is picking up a sword again after exiting Netflix's "The Witcher."

The Enhanced Games promise to be history in the making with athletes allowed to dope and use performance enhancing drugs.

The first step to a perfect trip is choosing the right location.

Bethany Shinkins and colleagues outline a consensus set of principles and evidence requirements for evaluating multicancer detection tests in screening programmes to inform UK policyMulticancer detection (MCD) tests, which can identify multiple cancers from a single sample (eg, blood, urine, stool, or imaging), are a potential new approach to cancer screening.12 Several MCD tests are being developed, each at different stages of development and evaluation.345 Notably, in England, the NHS Galleri trial, a randomised controlled trial with 142 000 participants, is evaluating a blood based MCD test in a screening context.6In the UK, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) makes recommendations to the government regarding whether a new screening programme should be introduced. A topic can enter their horizon scanning process through multiple routes—for example, routine reviews of existing recommendations, the open call for screening proposals,7 or referrals from external bodies.8 The UK NSC then applies a structured evidence review process, progressing from evidence mapping to more detailed evidence summaries.When making recommendations, the UK NSC applies a multicriteria deliberative approach, considering factors such as disease burden, test performance, potential benefits and harms, cost effectiveness, and feasibility of delivery within the health system.9 This framework is designed to ensure that screening programmes deliver net population benefit and represent good value for public investment, while recognising the importance of minimising harms. Once implemented at scale, screening programmes can be difficult to modify or disinvest from,10 making it important to generate robust evidence before implementation.Organised screening programmes are currently in place for a few cancers, including breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung cancer.11 Although MCD tests are available through private purchase in some places, no country has yet implemented MCD tests within an organised screening programme.9 Generating robust …

Surrogate outcomes may offer earlier evidence of benefit and initiate further evaluative work, but they cannot yet replace mortality as the definitive outcome in cancer screening trials, say Sian Taylor-Phillips and colleaguesScreening can reduce mortality and morbidity by enabling earlier detection and treatment of cancer, but may also cause harm, including false positive results and diagnosis and treatment of cancers that would never have caused harm. The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises the four UK governments on all matters relating to systematic screening programmes, including their introduction, modification, and cessation. Its recommendations are made through a multicriteria assessment that considers evidence on mortality and morbidity benefit alongside potential harms, equity, acceptability, feasibility, and cost effectiveness to determine overall balance of benefit and harm to the population.The UK NSC research and methodology group supports funders and researchers by advising on research requirements to inform UK NSC advice. This position statement, intended for developers of screening tests, researchers, and funders, outlines our approach and current assessment of the evidence on surrogate outcomes in adult cancer screening, in advance of cancer mortality. It aims to support timelier evidence generation and translation, while ensuring methodological rigour in UK NSC decisions.Early cancer diagnosis by screening is an area of enormous public, clinical, and policy interest, motivated by the aim of improving outcomes. The most reliable way to determine if cancer screening reduces cancer mortality is through adequately powered and well designed randomised controlled trials comparing outcomes in people offered screening with those who were not. Both groups are followed over time to see whether fewer people in the screening arm die from the cancer of interest. Trials can also show what else might happen to people who are screened, such as the frequency of false positive results and other potential …

South of the Circle Deluxe Edition contains an additional set of digital goods including the complete game soundtrack, Eighty Two Nineteen - South of the Circle e-book written by the game's director, and Circles EP created in collaboration with the Frostpunk OST composer. This package includes: Sou...

With Europe and the Americas becoming pricier and trickier to reach, Noosa proves that, when seeking culinary gems, it's worth looking closer to home, writes Chris Hyde.