Health

Health insurer Menzis will now pay for depression treatments based on result, instead of on the number of treatments. The insurer signed a contract on this new approach with 18 mental health institutions. This involves treatments that last for less than a year, for patients who do not have chronic depression, NOS reports.

The number of Dutch people who object to organ donation increased from 1.7 million in 2017 to 1.9 million this year, Statistics Netherlands reported on Thursday. The number of people who gave consent to have their organs donated after death also increased, from 3.6 million to 3.7 million.

Some 700 thousand people decided to leave the decision of organ donation up to their next of kin.

There are plans in motion to ban smoking on multiple Rotterdam streets in the area around Erasmus MC, the Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences and the Erasmiaans Gymnasium, AD reports. According to non-smokers association Clean Air Nederland, if these plans succeed, Rotterdam will be the first municipality to implement a smoking ban for entire streets.

The chance of smog formation is increasing due to the persistently high temperatures, public health institute RIVM warns. Air quality will be bad in the middle and east of the country while the high temperatures last, NU.nl reports.

The RIVM advises people sensitive to smog to stay indoors and limit physical exertion, especially in the late afternoon and the early evening, as air pollution is at its worst at those times.

About 10 to 15 pregnant women who participated in a medical study on the effect of sildenafil, better known as Viagra, on the growth of too small fetuses do not know whether their unborn child will survive the now halted test, ANP reports.

International AIDS conference AIDS2018 is starting in Amsterdam on Monday. In addition to scientists and policymakers, expected attendees include big names like Britain's Prince Harry, the Netherlands' Princess Mabel, former United States president Bill Clinton, and Eurivision winner Conchita Wurst, the Telegraaf reports.

The theme for AIDS2018 is 'Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges'. 

The government is pushing an extra 2 million euros per year into suicide prevention foundation 113 Zelfmoordpreventie, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health announced on Wednesday. He hopes that this extra money will help reduce the number of suicides and attempts thereto in the Netherlands, NOS reports.

Until now 113 received an annual subsidy of 3.4 million euros. That amount is now increasing to 5.4 million euros. "Every suicide represents a world of sorrow and powerlessness", Blokhuis said. "We must continue to make every effort to reduce the number of suicides."

The three Dutch who were hurt in a plane crash in South Africa on Tuesday are still in hospital, but it is expected that they will be released soon, a spokesperson for their employer Aviodrome said to NU.nl on Wednesday. All three sustained relatively minor injuries.

One person was killed when the Convair 340 from 1954 crashed in Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon. Around 20 people were injured. 

Cancer was the most common cause of death in the Netherlands last year, with 31 percent of the 150 thousand people who passed away dying of the disease, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday.

More men than women died of cancer last year. 35 percent of the men who died in 2017 died of cancer, compared to 27 percent of women. The number of people who died of cancer also increased. Last year 47 thousand people in the Netherlands died of cancer, compared to 45,279 in 2016, 44,195 in 2015 nd 42,984 in 2014. 

Some 19 thousand Dutch teenagers drink too many energy drinks and therefore run health risks, public health institute RIVM concluded after a study. State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health is talking with various organizations about measures, NOS reports.

According to the RIVM, the consumption of energy drinks among teenagers declined over the past years. But about 1 to 2 percent of teens between the ages of 13 and 18 years drink three cans or more per day. They therefore run an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmia and their central nervous system being affected. 

Minister Arie Slob for Primary and Secondary Education was admitted to a hospital in Zwolle on Wednesday due to a bacterial infection, Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven of Education, Culture and Science said to parliament on Thursday, AD reports.