Specialisterne Scotland, a new social enterprise expected to create up to 50 jobs for people with autism has been launched in Glasgow for providing software testing services to leading blue chip companies.

A Scottish health board is planning to bring in enforcement officers for fining people up to £50 for defying its ban on smoking.

For three years, Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital has been a smoke-free zone, and not only in-patients, but members of the public are also prohibited from smoking outside the acutely busy hospital.

Official statistics show women living in Scotland’s most deprived areas, are the least likely to get vital breast cancer screening done,

NHS in Scotland reveals screening rates countrywide exceed national targets, the uptake dependent solely on where women lived, with the most affluent areas of Scotland having the highest rates.

Scotland’s only respite care centre catering to people with multiple sclerosis faces closure by year end .

Following a year-long review to assess whether Leauchie House near North Berwick met the needs of those living with MS, it will be shut in November.

A study analysis of data collected from 6,574 people who participated in the 2003 Scottish Health Survey, reveals unhealthy living is universal in Scotland.

The researchers from Glasgow identified five contributing factors to most diseases in developed countries, such as, drinking, smoking, poor diet, physical inactivity and obesity.

A spokesperson for Motor Neurone Disease Scotland (MND Scotland) said the first-ever stem cell research programme could help in early diagnosis, including finding a cause and cure for those suffering from motor neurone disease (MND).

In Scotland, a strategy allowing nurses to spend more time caring for patients has been launched. Already being run by eight health boards, releasing Time to Care aims to see 40 percent more dedicated to patients.

Buckfast, a tonic wine made by monks has been at the heart of the controversy surrounding Scotland’s problems with drink and crime, and which campaigners in USA highlighted as the worst product.

Buckfast tonic wine, BBC reveals following a freedom of information request linked to a 18th January programme about it, has been mentioned in 5,638 Strathclyde Police crime reports during the 2006 – 2009 period.