“My problem is your problem.” These were the words of a mother of four who has been waiting for a decision on her asylum claim for 17 years, and who was an attendee and speaker at the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) migrant health conference last Friday. Her declaration was not a demand that the audience recognise or […]
Category: Global health
Shelby Quast: Is cosmetic labiaplasty in adolescents just FGM under a different name?
Labiaplasty in girls younger than 18 has become increasingly popular in the US in recent years. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of girls aged 18 and younger having cosmetic genital surgery increased by 80% between 2014 and 2015 (from 222 girls in 2014 to 400 girls in 2015). While some surgeries […]
Linda Bauld: The road to standardised tobacco packaging in the UK
Every year in the United Kingdom around 200 000 children start smoking. Half of those who try a cigarette will become regular smokers, putting themselves at risk of tobacco related diseases that can shorten their lifespan by at least a decade. Because of this, the UK and other governments have implemented a range of tobacco […]
Jamie and Sue Mumford: Palliative care in Ethiopia
We have recently returned from our fourth visit to Addis Ababa. With less than 1% of the estimated 150,000 new cancer cases annually in Ethiopia receiving specialist oncological treatment [1], the need for affordable palliative care in the country is huge. Hospice Ethiopia, the only palliative care unit in the country providing symptom control treatment, […]
Paul Hunter: Zika virus would be able to spread in Europe
Zika virus is not new. Last year, when I was asked if I knew of an expert on the disease in the UK, I searched for papers written by an author giving a UK address. I found 11 papers, six of which were written before I had started primary school in 1961. Yet in the past […]
Rebecca Coombes: Beware the medicalisation of female genital cutting
I met two remarkable women this week. Actually, I met many such females at the vast Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen—obstetricians, lawyers, midwives, and former presidents (including a possible future one when Hillary Clinton made a live appearance on the big screen). In a cast of thousands, activists Filzah Sumartono, from Singapore, and Mariya Taher, […]
Georg Röggla: Health and migration
I attended a remarkable reception with a focus on health and migration at the UK embassy in Vienna last week. The ambassador Susan le Jeune d’Allegeershecque shared her personal experiences of when the wave of refugees reached the eastern Austrian border in 2015. She had seen completely exhausted and traumatised children and a pregnant woman whose waters […]
Post-it note triage: A little documentation, a big difference
In January this year I spent a fortnight volunteering at the Moria Refugee Camp on the Greek island of Lesbos. At the time Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was the primary care provider in the camp and was supported by other charities such as Médicines Du Monde*. The small, UK based Health Point Project I was […]
Amanda Glassman and Rachel Silverman: Evaluating what works in global health
Around the world, people are benefitting from a global health revolution. More infants are surviving their first months of life; more children are growing and thriving; and more adults around are living longer and healthier lives. This amazing worldwide transformation is cause for huge celebration, but it also begs several questions. What, specifically, are we […]
Tony Waterston: Infant formula once again at the RCPCH
There was nervous expectancy in the huge hall at the Liverpool arena as the gathered paediatricians awaited the count on the motion to ban infant formula funding from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH). The president and council had expressed their opposition to the motion, and wrote a piece that was circulated to […]