Language in Ireland can be tricky and subtle, with many shades of meaning possible for even simple words such as “stroke,” as our minister for health discovered to his chagrin in the last few weeks. A coalition government of moderately right wing and moderately left wing parties assumed office in 2011 in financially difficult circumstances, […]
Category: Guest writers
Alexander Ferris on helping young people make healthy eating choices
Earlier this year, Old Vic New Voices (OVNV) staged an ambitious new musical called Epidemic, devised and performed by over 400 community volunteers. The piece explored some of the UK’s most pressing public health concerns: mental illness, our ageing population, and obesity. Over one third of 11 to 15 year olds are overweight or obese. […]
Tom Yates: Panorama—Britain’s Secret Health Tourists
In my opinion a recent Panorama programme, “Britain’s Secret Health Tourists,” didn’t do justice to a complex issue. With a Department of Health consultation looming on the issue, it’s important doctors understand why. I’ve attempted to summarise the evidence on this issue elsewhere, so here I’ll stick to the key points that I think Panorama […]
Kate Guthrie: Where is Jeremy Hunt’s evidence on abortion?
It may have been a throw away comment as part of a wider interview but the new Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has reiterated his belief in a reduction of the abortion time limit to 12 weeks. This, he says, is his personal view based on evidence. So what is the evidence? Scientific opinion is that […]
Desmond O’Neill: Anthropology, ageing, and medicine
The Meeting Room of the Royal Irish Academy is one of the hidden gems of academic architecture in Dublin, a city belatedly recognising the richness of its Victorian heritage (1). Behind a discreet red-brick façade on a busy street in central Dublin, the prelude to the experience is by way of a hushed procession through […]
Sharon L Camp: It is time for a public health approach to abortion
The global maternal mortality has dropped dramatically during the last decade. This is good news. Sadly, however, too many women continue to die from pregnancy related causes. In part, this is because unsafe abortion—one of the leading preventable causes of maternal death—is a public health crisis that is going largely ignored. Every year, 47 000 […]
Caroline Robinson: Curing TB in Europe is more about politics than science
Despite being considered as a disease of the past, tuberculosis (TB) kills seven people in Europe every hour and, worryingly, rates of multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in the region are the highest in the world. With 81,000 MDR-TB cases in 2010 alone, the European region accounts for nearly 20 % of the global burden. […]
Kieran Walsh: Can we make savings in medical education?
The age of austerity in the NHS has only just begun. The next few years will likely bring closed Casualty departments, downgraded district hospitals, longer waiting times, and rationed treatments. As Whitehall casts around for more targets for efficiency savings, will it look at the £5 billion spent each year on healthcare professionals’ education? Will […]
Desmond O’Neill: René Magritte and the art of geriatric medicine
The addition of a cultural focus to scientific congresses is increasingly common. More often than not the event relates more to the city chosen rather than the subject matter of the congress. However, given that most great art relates to the human condition, it is difficult not to find interesting resonances between the art and […]
Lewis Morrison: BMA Scotland seeks further ballot on pensions strike action
On Friday last week, a leading Scottish national newspaper reported that “Scots doctors break ranks on pensions strike ballot.” This publicised the decision by the BMA in Scotland to seek a ballot of hospital doctors on further industrial action in protest against changes to the NHS pension scheme and particularly highlighted the Scottish government’s handling […]