'Independent' writers win top awards

INDEPENDENT writers have won the top awards for articles on medicine and the environment. Liz Hunt, Medical Correspondent, won first prize in the national awards of the Medical Journalists' Association and Norwich Union Healthcare.

This is the second time she has won the award. Her articles on breast cancer, drug misuse in pregnancy and abortion without consent appeared in the Independent and Independent on Sunday.

Steve Connor, Science Correspondent, took first prize in the national newspaper category of the Bayer Jounalism Awards for Science in the Environment, run by the Environment Council. His article on the link between house dust mites and asthma appeared on the science page of the Independent's Sunday Review.

Geoffrey Lean, Environment Correspondent of the Independent on Sunday, and Fred Pearce, a freelance science writer on the science page of the Sunday Review, were both commended.