If every media report of a cure for cancer were true, we should live forever. But, the media like a headline health story, and we cannot really blame the journalists. It is largely the fault of epidemiologists, according to Joe McLaughlin (International Epidemiology Institute, Maryland USA), who laments the change in culture. He feels that […]
Category: Domhnall MacAuley
Domhnall MacAuley: Equity, human rights, and access to care
Often the only visible links between a conference and the host city are the presence of intense young researchers with carefully rolled posters and middle aged delegates with matching bags, wandering aimlessly through the streets. But, by inspired by Zeno Bisoffi, conference chairman, the 6th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health engaged directly […]
Domhnall MacAuley on a dead certainty
So, who gets cancer? Have you a mental image? With heart disease, our classic picture is of an overweight hypertensive smoker, living between the pub and the chip shop. But, you rarely hear that someone “looks a likely candidate for cancer”. […]
Domhnall MacAuley on shared decision making
Democracy means involvement in decision making but it may not always lead to the best outcomes. With this simple analogy, Gerd Gigerenzer (Berlin), captured the potential hazards of clinical shared decision making in his keynote address to the 5th International Shared Decision Making Conference in Boston (June 14-17). […]
Domhnall MacAuley on epicurean epidemiology
Autres pays, autres coeurs? Part of the title of an early paper highlighting the relationship between dietary patterns, risk factors and ischaemic heart disease could have been the title of this meeting. Cardiovascular epidemiologists from Europe and beyond gathered in the land of the Ulster Fry to discuss the Mediterranean diet, the French paradox, and […]
Domhnall MacAuley on public health in Hong Kong
When your fellow passengers wear surgical masks, you complete a health declaration with your landing card and, pass through a line of heat detectors before passport control, you know public health is taken seriously. Travelling to the WONCA 2009 (World Organization of National Colleges, Academies) Asia Pacific conference in Hong Kong was always going to be […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen
An extra 2000 GPs were promised when the Minister of Health in Norway heard Barbara Starfield speak on a previous visit to Scandinavia. Roar Maagaard, in quoting this figure in his introduction, was sorry that the Danish Minister for Health and Prevention, who opened the conference, left before her keynote address at the 16th Nordic […]
Domhnall MacAuley on primary care in Canada
When Davidicus Wong (cool name) told of being asked by a fellow passenger on a plane “Are you a GP or just a just a specialist?”, it set the scene for the Impact BC Canadian Health Improvement Forum, which preceded the Institute for Healthcare Improvement meeting (10th Annual International Summit on Redesigning the Clinical Office […]
Domhnall McAuley: A defining moment in UK primary care research
Ever wondered what it is like to be present at an event that changes history? The Academy of Medical Sciences organised a meeting entitled “Research in General practice; bringing innovation into patient care” on Dec 12, a meeting that will, I suspect, be looked upon in future as a defining moment in UK primary care […]
Domhnall McAuley: Plane crash scare at NAPCRG
The plane didn’t crash. I was pretty sure I had turned it off, but there was no mistaking the message signal and vibration in my jacket pocket as we circled Miami, close to landing. It wasn’t just one message but five in quick succession. I had to do something. I switched it off, conscious of […]