We Irish are good at many things. We are world leaders in literature, music and, occasionally, rugby. Lately we have become famous for tobacco control. Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in public places after some groundbreaking research into the health of Galway bar staff. We are now set to […]
Edward Davies: Open data – are you a great big hypocrite?
During the Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association I spoke to several people and attended a session with several speakers on the importance of open data. On the availability of patient level data, every talk and conversation has had the same two competing threads: 1) Making data more open is hugely important to the […]
Tony Waterston: Opening the Black Box on weapons of mass destruction?
Probably, chemical weapons aren’t at the top of most doctors’ minds in the UK. In the Middle East, where they have been used extensively in recent years and most tragically in August in Syria, doctors have had to inform themselves of protective measures since the threat is a daily reality. […]
William Cayley: Doing more with less in healthcare
The newer the better—or so it seems in much of commercialized medicine. At least in “developed” or “higher income” countries, medical innovation seems inextricably tied with commercial endeavors, which often translate to more expensive ways to do the same things (sometimes, even if we’re not sure the outcomes are truly better) The Bulletin of the […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—18 November 2013
NEJM 14 Nov 2013 Vol 369 1880 As the Affordable Care Act splutters into action in the USA, JAMA devotes a whole issue to discussing the problems of healthcare in America. But for sheer gut-wrenching impact, there is nothing to beat this free-access article in the NEJM, Dead Man Walking. An uninsured man has just […]
Jim Murray: Will governments support transparency for clinical trials?
Criticism of EU law is often aimed at an amorphous “Brussels,” but in many cases member states are the problem—as with the proposal to revise the Clinical Trials Directive. The proposal envisages a central EU portal and database of applications, assessments, safety reports, and other information about clinical trials. How comprehensive will that information be, […]
Gopi Gopinath: The future of India’s urban health
The healthcare scenario in India is one of the most serious concerns facing the nation today. Although globally India has earned a reputation for its inexpensive medical tourism (healthcare costs are 1/10 of the cost of the West), the country has serious problems attending to its own people. Out of all Indian citizens needing medical […]
Yueju Liu et al: The past and present of government funded healthcare in China
Yueju Liu,Yanling Su, Han Li, Juan Wang, and Yingze Zhang reflect on the past and present of government funded healthcare in China. Urban healthcare reform from 1949 to 1993 After the People’s Republic of China was established on 1 October 1949, Chairman Mao Tse-tung and the Chinese central government created a healthcare system, which provided […]
Tiago Villanueva: Is active travel good for health?
If you thought Australia was the envy of the rest of the world in terms of having the most physically active people, think again. Peter McCue, executive officer for the New South Wales Premier’s Council for Active Living, recently gave a talk entitled, “Walk hand in hand: health and transport collaborations,” organised by C3 Collaborating […]
Katherine Sleeman: Dying people need care, not just care plans
Exactly three months after Julia Neuberger recommended that the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) should be phased out in the UK, the first randomised controlled trial (RCT) of the LCP was published in the Lancet. [1] The cluster randomised trial, carried out in Italy among patients with cancer, showed little benefit of the LCP in improving […]