The Grand Convergence is the Big Idea of the Lancet Commission on Investing in Health. It is the idea that by 2035 the poor world could have similar mortality to the rich world. Is it achievable? Can it bring the “fractious global health community” together into one aim to replace the Millennium Development Goals? The […]
“After that life changed dramatically.” “I felt completely flattened, like I’d been hit by a truck.” “It was a kind of cushion from all the horrible feelings.” “I felt like a zombie. I felt like almost stoned.” These are just some of the snatches of experience that provide a glimpse into what life on antidepressants […]
The infamous pugilist Mike Tyson doesn’t get a lot of airtime in the BMJ and I wouldn’t normally advise he be used as a paean of common sense. The guy has a big tattoo on his face. But here at the Lown Institute conference in Boston, there’s a quote from his early career that seems […]
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 […]
The BMJ has chosen Doctors of the World for this year’s Christmas charity appeal. Leigh Daynes explains how Doctors of the World are helping to bring care to the most vulnerable people all over the world. The survivors told me their stories before a backdrop resembling a World War One battlefield. A splintered tree trunk […]
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 […]
NEJM 28 Nov 2013 Vol 369 2083 I like it that the NEJM has chosen to start this week’s firework show with a dud. Stand ready to be awed and deafened by the Mighty Thunderboosh! Pssh, sputter, pop. Sorry folks, that was it. So rather than the vaccine that heralds the end of HIV, we […]
“Making geography history,” “making distance meaningless,” “a hospital in your pocket,” “cost effective, need based healthcare for everyone, anytime, anywhere,” are all hyperbole—fertile imagination working overtime and hype. But is it possible that in my lifetime I may actually see this happen? Improbable, yes. Impossible, no. According to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, […]
Recently I was confronted with a medical emergency on board a short haul to Europe. The problem was a case of syncope, which is the most common in-flight medical emergency. It was the first time I heard the phrase “Is there a doctor on board?” and I was apparently the only doctor on that flight. […]
The most effective way we can reduce the global burden of smoking is to target young people. During the debate on standardised packaging of tobacco products, an initiative which has for now been stalled by the government, MP Bob Blackman stressed that, “Two thirds of current smokers began under the age of 18” and that […]