About twice a week somebody asks me: “What exactly do you do these days?” Many doctors knew me as the editor of the BMJ, and they have a vague memory that I left to do something disreputable. My brother advises me to answer: “I’m back laying pavements for the council.” That stops further inquiries, he […]
It’s easy to assume that things are as they’ve always been. This of course is not the case and recently I discovered that the rate of economic growth during the UK’s industrial revolution, one of my native land’s most significant upheavals, rarely exceeded 1%. Nowadays, for a country’s economy to be admired, economic growth needs […]
Former UK drugs tsar Mike Trace spoke out last week about what he perceives to be a territorial dispute between two Whitehall departments over the most appropriate treatment for heroin-addicted prisoners. The alleged in-fighting between the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Department of Health (DoH) centres on methadone prescription in prisons and, Trace claims, exposes […]
The team and I have a new project. We are embarking on a multi-country study that is looking at the Impact of Measles Eradication Activities on Immunization Services and Health Systems. To that end we hosted a meeting with the key stakeholders in Bangladesh on immunization activities (EPI, Expanded Programme on Immunization) to include multiple […]
Last week the British Medical Association (BMA) published an updated statement on the international migration of health workers. In the BMA’s view individuals have the right to migrate for personal and professional reasons. As Michael Clemens writes in his paper for the Center for Global Development from August 2009, health workers, educated and trained at […]
Six years ago the UK government made an important reversal in its policy towards HIV/AIDS treatment. Whereas previously the UK approach was to fund the building of general health care infrastructure, Hilary Benn, the then development secretary, announced that supporting drug treatment for the millions infected by HIV/AIDS in Africa was a priority. “We should […]
They were waiting for me when I returned to Dhaka in late July. My office is not easily found, so the small group of older gentlemen must have been determined in their efforts. Without an appointment but bearing chocolate, the request was clear: surely I had access to the H1N1 vaccine and they wanted it […]
It might seem odd that the most challenging folk to work with here are not the Sierra Leonean ones. Sometimes the toughest part is dealing with the endeavours of my fellow “whiteman”. […]
Ineffectively communicated clinical information has been estimated to be responsible for up to 10% of all preventable medical errors. Stanton et al, in their recent book on clinical leadership, reveal that 70% of information is communicated non-verbally. […]
A debate on the harms of drugs and alcohol hosted in a pub – surely not? This week I was lucky enough to visit the epicentre of drinking and critical thinking at what claims to the be the world’s largest regular pub meeting. An open invitation to join a garrulous group of sceptics at a […]