I am a man. Really I am. And men don’t cry—correct? Well this one does—not very often, but when I do it is usually a good moment to pause and reflect on the circumstances. Just to check, you know, that I’m still a real man. Shortly after the birth of our first child, I stayed […]
Category: Guest writers
Helen M Nwaba on transforming the grassroots response to Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS epidemic
When a village in North Western Nigeria, which has one of the highest HIV rates in the state, is effectively cut off from other communities and the rest of the country because it lacks a bridge spanning a turbulent river, it took “STAR” power to tackle the problem. That “STAR” is a community led initiative—Society […]
Wayne Koff: Will new approaches for AIDS vaccine design lead us into a new era for vaccinology?
Vaccines are among the greatest success stories in the history of individual and public health. Since the eradication of smallpox, the near eradication of polio, and control of several other infectious diseases, they have saved millions of lives and cost, and have boosted societal and economic progress. Yet for some pathogens, like HIV, with multiple […]
Nick Fahy: Is spending money on health an investment or a cost?
In these times of financial austerity, can we convince governments that spending money on health is an investment, not a cost? This was the aim of a conference on 19 – 20 November, with the prime minister himself arguing that investment in healthy people is essential to ensure that they can develop their full potential […]
Philip Wilson: 10 years of change in medicine
BMJ Learning is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and we wanted to do something special to mark the occasion. As we talked over ideas, we kept coming back to the theme of 10 years, and how much medicine had changed during that time. HIV has gone from being a terminal illness to a chronic […]
Olga Rostkowska: How can we spread the message about climate change in an engaging way?
There is nothing more mundane than trying to educate people to, “lose weight, exercise, and eat vegetables,” right? Yet, there was a breath of fresh air with Alessandro Demaio’s appearance at the Climate and Health Summit 2013. A medical doctor from Melbourne, master in public health, and author of Introduction to Global Health, Demaio cast […]
Pat Harrold on why Ireland is forging ahead with plain packaging for cigarettes
We Irish are good at many things. We are world leaders in literature, music and, occasionally, rugby. Lately we have become famous for tobacco control. Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in public places after some groundbreaking research into the health of Galway bar staff. We are now set to […]
Katherine Sleeman: Dying people need care, not just care plans
Exactly three months after Julia Neuberger recommended that the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) should be phased out in the UK, the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the LCP was published in the Lancet. [1] The cluster randomised trial, carried out in Italy among patients with cancer, showed little benefit of the LCP in improving […]
David McCoy: Ecology, politics, economics, and violence—the wider role of health professionals
Last Saturday saw more than 250 people attend a Medact conference on the interfaces between health, politics, ecology, economics, and violence. There were about 30 speakers including well known figures from the world of health (Richard Horton, Iain Chalmers, Allyson Pollock, Andy Haines, John Lister, and Jacky Davis). But there were also speakers from other […]
Mike Davis: Is a team leader born or made?
I am writing this after attending the 25th European Resuscitation Council Symposium in Krakow, where colleagues from Europe and beyond, and across a range of specialties, gathered to explore developments in understanding the management of cardiac arrest. It will come as no surprise that one of the topics of discussion was non-technical skills, particularly team […]