The US Supreme Court recently ruled in a 5:4 decision against an emergency application to stop a Texas law that requires doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. The basis for the Supreme Court ruling is that this restriction doesn’t place an “undue burden” on a woman seeking […]
Navjoyt Ladher on the success of the #hellomynameis campaign
“I’m going to start a ‘Hello. My name is…’ campaign. Sent Chris home to design the logo… #hellomynameis” Kate Granger sent that tweet on the 31 August 2013 during a hospital admission when she found that only a minority of the doctors and nurses she encountered during her stay would properly introduce themselves. It started […]
Tessa Richards: Leadership matters—lessons from Lithuania
At this year’s European Health Forum Gastein, the wannabe Davos for health, a call went out for “stronger leadership on health.” Europe needs health ministers who can advocate to protect the health of its citizens as effectively as their counterparts in finance and industry speak up for and guard it’s economic interests. Tweets from the […]
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 […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—25 November 2013
NEJM 21 Nov 2013 Vol 369 1981 “The 2011 outbreak in China showed that poliomyelitis-free countries remain at risk for outbreaks while the poliovirus circulates anywhere in the world. Global eradication of poliomyelitis will benefit all countries, even those that are currently free of poliomyelitis.” So concludes a study of the said Chinese outbreak, which […]
Richard Smith: Why do doctors make great tyrants?
Simon Sebag Montefiore, the son of a doctor, recently argued that doctors make highly effective tyrants. Is he right and if he is why might it be? His article was not a systematic review but rather a brutal case study. The doctor tyrant of the moment is Bashar al-Assad. His regime has killed tens if […]
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 […]
Tejshri Shah: Children and adolescents in conflict—survival alone is not enough
When I was asked to write about the research gaps in paediatric mental health research in conflict settings my first reaction was to shout about the unmet need in mental health services for children and adolescents. I often hear my health peers in the UK saying, “this child needs help but, with services as they […]
Edward Davies: The assassination of JFK and cholesterol
The American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions have rolled into Dallas this week and the city is awash with two conversations: whether the latest cholesterol guidelines will result in the gross over-prescription of statins to the healthy masses, and the assassination of JFK which happened here 50 years ago this week. And while these two disparate […]