Ethics of PCT decision making on funding cancer treatments.

We select the letters for these pages from the rapid responses posted on bmj.com favouring those received within five days of publication of the article to which they refer. Letters are thus an early selection of rapid responses on a particular topic. Readers should consult the website for the full list of responses and any authors' replies, which usually arrive after our selection. We compare the self reported sexual activity and satisfaction in Swedish 70 year olds 1 with recent data from the Australian longitudinal study of health and relationships (ALSHR)—a nationally representative random sample of men and women aged 16 to 64 who completed a computer assisted telephone interview. 2 The sample had 635 sexagenarians (60-64), most (80%) with a regular partner, almost all of them married and living with their partner. A quarter of women and 15% of men were not in a regular relationship. Regular sexual activity was the norm for those with a regular partner, both women and men reporting an average of three sexual experiences a month (table). Among the attitudinal statements presented to respondents was: " An active sex life is important for one's sense of wellbeing " ; 78% of women 91% of men agreed with this statement. On a four point scale (not at all, slightly, moderately, and very), respondents in relationships were asked to indicate the degree of physical pleasure in sex with the partner, satisfaction with the sexual relationship, and emotional satisfaction with the relationship. Although women were less likely than men to say that sex was " very " pleasurable (56% v 81%), satisfaction with the sexual relationship differed less (65% women and 72% men reported being very satisfied). Men (86%) were more likely than women (72%) to say that they found the relationship " very " emotionally satisfying. These data and those of Beckman et al are a timely reminder for health providers that older people are still sexually active and enjoying sexual activity. Given the importance of pleasurable sexual activity for these older people, it is important that clinicians consider sexuality as an important aspect of all patients' wellbeing regardless of their age. seroprotection and meningitis c Meningococcal C booster not recommended by evidence Snape et al recommend that a booster dose of meningococcal group C glycoconjugate vaccine (MenC) be administered to children entering adolescence in the UK in the next five years. 1 However, their study …