Society daily 02.03.2010

Child cocaine treatment rises by more than 65% GMC begins consultation on MOT for doctors Yorkshire Ripper launches bid for prison release Deborah Orr: Lambeth is Britain's angriest borough All today's Society stories Other news According to a new survey, a fifth of men are turned down for prostate cancer screening, the Daily Telegraph reports. The paper also cites research claiming that elderly people with a strong sense of purpose in life have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease . Poverty of ideas Tackling poverty has been a major plank of Labour's policy since coming to power in 1997. But according to a new report by the charity Action for Children , the debate on how to lift families out of deprivation has been too simplistic, concentrating on income alone when the most vulnerable families have a range of severe needs and difficulties. Focusing on policies that merely aim to increase income won't do the trick, argues the report, Deprivation and Risk: the case for early intervention . Estimates suggest that up to 1 million children are at risk of being trapped in the same cycle of deprivation and neglect as their parents, especially if other risk factors such as violence, drug or alcohol misuse, mental ill-health and child neglect are involved. The report examines how inequality, health and wellbeing, education, housing and social mobility influence social deprivation. Action for Children argues that what's needed is much earlier intervention, particularly with very young children, not least because children living in deprived families have less support and fewer resources from outside the family and struggle to build up resilience and self-esteem. All very valid points, but in an era of swingeing cuts, it's hard to believe that arguing for spending money now to help ease costs further down the line, when children are older, will curry any favour with cash-strapped finance departments. Society Guardian events Managing New Realities 2010: integrated places – health, housing and social care for the community. London, Tuesday 2 and Wednesday 3 March. Speakers include: Lord Warner, Sir Bob Kerslake, David Halpern, Polly Toynbee. Society Links Sign up to Society daily email briefing Society on Twitter SocietyGuardian.co.uk Public: The Guardian's website for senior public sector executives Get ahead: the Guardian's public and voluntary sector careers page Hundreds of public and voluntary sector jobs Email the SocietyGuardian editor: [email protected]