As congratulations come in from around the world to the Duke and the Duchess of Cambridge on the safe delivery of their son, all parents would share the hope that at the end of the nine months of waiting and planning, they would have a healthy and happy prince or princess. However, we still live […]
Category: Guest writers
Alejandro Madrazo Lajous: Little Uruguay’s big experiment
All eyes are on the tiny South American nation of Uruguay this week following its historic approval for the world’s first nationally controlled marijuana market. While the plan still needs to pass the Senate, there may be cause for optimism that the country of 3.4 million can make it work. The Uruguayan government, after […]
Aser Garcia Rada: Ideological limits to public assisted reproduction in Spain
Since the conservative government of Mariano Rajoy´s People´s Party (PP) took office with an absolute majority on November 2011, healthcare has repeatedly been the setting for implementing ideological decisions that often contradict scientific evidence, social reality, or both. With the PP collapsing in the polls due to its cooperation with the austericide imposed by the international authorities and the […]
Nassim Parvizi on being a junior doctor on the Keogh Review
As junior doctors, we all see and hear things that work well or that could work better as we rotate between different departments across a number of hospital trusts. So we are in a privileged position to contribute to the safety of the healthcare we deliver to our patients. I previously found raising concerns a […]
Aser Garcia Rada: Exporting the Spanish and European organ donation system
Most Europeans support organ donation, but there is still a need for more organ donors, according to several experts at a recent international meeting on donation and transplantation, organized in Madrid by the European Commission and the Spanish Minister of Health, Social Services, and Equality. By the end of 2011, 61 500 patients were on […]
Jane Parry: Why are we so resistant to calling sugar the enemy?
Sparing developing countries the fate of obesity associated diseases that plague the developed world is currently one of the most pressing global public health issues. Before we export wholesale the “follow the food pyramid, exercise, and eat no more calories than you burn” approach, it may be time to review how effective it actually is. […]
Jen Gunter: The great Kate wait is a lesson for maternal health providers and pregnant women alike
The press and much of the world, or so it seems, has been on edge waiting for the Duchess of Cambridge to go into labor and finally that day has arrived. The historic event spawned a flurry of articles, some very concerned that the Duchess was post dates. Reporters have been camped out for weeks […]
Martin McKee: Coalition u-turns and how the EU is leading the way on smoking legislation
Is the UK coalition government losing its touch? It has just revealed how weak it is when faced with demands from its own supporters in big business and, specifically, in the alcohol and tobacco industries. Firstly, it announced a u-turn on the pledge to introduce minimum unit pricing of alcohol made personally by the prime […]
Yusef Azad: The changing face of injecting drug use in the UK
One of the major successes in UK HIV prevention is the low rate of HIV amongst people who inject drugs (around 1%). However, there are a number of developments that threaten this success. Newer demographics of people are starting to inject drugs and the government has made worrying comments which appear critical of opioid substitution […]
Deon Louw: The doctor, the environmentalist, and the gospel of sustainable healthcare
Let’s be honest. Lester Brown sounds like the name of a musician from the Deep South. In fact, Brown is an acclaimed scientist and I had the pleasure of attending one of his lectures. He has 25 honorary degrees and has published more than 50 books on how human systems (e.g. food systems) react to […]