In September 2015, on the UN International Day for Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, a medical appeal for nuclear disarmament was presented in Amsterdam (see below). This declaration, signed with remarkable enthusiasm by 100 leading Dutch healthcare executives, clinicians, and scientists, is meant to put the urgent need for nuclear disarmament back on the societal […]
Category: Guest writers
Steve Ruffenach: Tech never forgets—does this make patients less keen to share?
The poet Thomas Moore wrote, “The heart that has truly loved never forgets.” Rocker Bob Seeger crooned, “Rock and Roll never forgets.” And indeed it was well over five years ago that the New York Times reported that the internet never forgets. Rest assured, the digital world remembers everything. My new MA, Tech, is no […]
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce: Nicotine replacement therapy—the evolution of an evidence base
What is “an evidence base?” And when does it become solid? Though it’s reassuring to think of an evidence base as fixed, in reality it’s a shape shifter—changing as new studies come out and adapting to fit the needs of an evolving population and an ever changing set of users. Take, for example, nicotine replacement […]
Jeanne Lenzer: The Backstory—When is patient consent needed?
While I was reporting on a study for The BMJ, I suddenly felt as if I’d walked through Alice’s Looking Glass. You’ve possibly heard about the study by now: researchers found that patients treated by sleep-deprived resident doctors were no more likely to die or suffer serious complications than patients under the care of doctors […]
Miriam Saey Al-Rifai: Midwestern adventures into the mind
My induction was interrupted by a loud siren bellowing out across County Buchannan. My supervisor, consultant forensic psychiatrist, Dr Reynolds, ran me out of the hospital into the courtyard shouting “Tornado!” I stared up at the fast moving grey clouds and, as I set off to dive into the nearest bush, I heard my supervisor […]
What, if anything, does the EuroHealth Consumer Index actually tell us?
Since 2005, the Health Consumer Powerhouse has produced its annual EuroHealth Consumer Index, ranking European health systems according to their performance on a host of indicators around (i) patient rights and information, (ii) accessibility, (iii) outcomes, (iv) range and reach of services, (v) prevention and (vi) pharmaceuticals. In its most recent iteration, the United Kingdom […]
Aeesha NJ Malik: Improving children’s eye health in Pakistan
1.5 million children in Pakistan are blind. Many from eye diseases which are preventable and treatable. Often children don’t know they have a vision problem because they assume they see the way everyone around them sees. However childhood visual impairment or blindness has a huge impact—its effects last a lifetime and affect not just the […]
Tim Lobstein: Community interventions for healthy bodyweight—can we make them work?
Groups like mine which advocate for market interventions to restrict advertising, raise taxes, control fast food outlets and the like, are having a tough time making progress. Governments prefer to change health behaviour at the individual level through education, through subtle nudges and social marketing campaigns, and, especially, by devolving responsibility to local, community-level interventions. […]
Jeanelle de Gruchy: Should David Bowie have spoken out about the cause of his cancer?
David Bowie has died. From cancer. So much outpouring of grief. And yes I participated, posting #RIPBowie tweets and reminiscing about seeing him in concert in Montreal as an 18 year old with all who would listen, shedding a tear listening to the day long radio tributes as I felt my youth slipping away with […]
Paul Sooby: The last of an endangered species? The view of a LAT trainee
In January 2016 NHS employers withdrew locum appointed for training (LAT) posts in England. The numbers of doctors undertaking LATs has fallen since 2014 and there were vacant posts last year. There are concerns that doctors staying in LATs year after year gain pay progression without career progression, and that direct observation and educational supervision […]