The developed world only woke up to the fact that there was a problem, when the first cases of Ebola arrived in the USA and Europe. Until then, the Ebola epidemic was merely another quaint story from darkest Africa. Apparently, this outbreak was caught from fruit bats, who were being trapped for food. It was […]
Miriam Fine-Goulden: Adults are just big children—lessons from paediatric medicine
One of the earliest adages drummed into trainees in paediatrics is the advice and warning: “children are not small adults.” The implication is that we cannot simply scale down what we have learned in adult medicine to apply to children, who are different beings entirely with respect to physiology, pharmacology, and psychology. I would suggest, […]
Richard Smith: The hypocrisy of medical journals over transparency
Medical journals generally favour transparency, but we’ve recently discovered that when there’s a trade-off between transparency and their financial interest they opt for the money. The International Committee of Medical Journals Editors, the Roman Curia of editors, wants all clinical trials to be registered and data to be shared. The BMJ is so keen on […]
Corinna Hawkes: Reducing sugar—major supermarkets should start competing on health
Going to my local supermarket recently it struck me just how far we are from helping people eat well. A Krispy Kreme donut stand immediately greeted me and baskets of cut price chocolate bars and packets of crisps lurked close by. End of aisle displays—well-known to produce sales uplifts—were full of chocolate and salty snacks. […]
Farrah Kashfipour: The waiting room art gallery
We collected hundreds of drawings—snapshots of an often overlooked corner of the world through the eyes of sick children […]
Kieran Walsh: How will we learn in the future?
I crashed a plane three times today. The first time I crashed into a tree, the second time into a river, and the third time into a bridge. But it is all okay as it only happened on my son’s virtual reality console. I think that I learned a bit—as I managed to stay airborne […]
Derek Yach: Building a Foundation to accelerate an end to smoking
The Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, Inc. (the “Foundation”) was established to accelerate an end to smoking. The rationale for the Foundation and initial thinking on its activities have previously been described. It arose out of extended discussions with Philip Morris International (PMI). Discussions that I never thought I would have based on a deep justifiable […]
Matt Morgan and Peter Brindley: Why negative trials are usually positive
There are many benefits to patients from negative trial results […]
Harrison Carter: Asking medical students to volunteer in A&E paints a woeful picture of the NHS
Medical students have similar asks to their senior colleagues: to have adequate time and resources to look after patients in the way they deserve […]
Jules Bowring: Strengthening sexual and reproductive health services is crucial to revert falling cervical screening rates
Last November, the publication of data on the NHS Cervical Screening Programme by NHS Digital presented concerning figures once again regarding cervical screening coverage rates. With rates at their lowest in two decades, groups including Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust have come out in force to highlight the consequences that will result from poor uptake in […]