At the European Health Forum in Gastein, Austria, mental health figured prominently in the programme. The first two sessions centred on “Mental health—the motor for a healthy economy,” at which the link to unemployment was highlighted and ways discussed in which employers could take a more imaginative approach to their (physical and mental) health at […]
Martin Brunet: 10 minutes for the patient
Mr Jones comes to see me. He is only 62, but has high blood pressure, had a stroke two years ago and still has a noticeable limp as he walks down the corridor to my room. Like most patients, Mr Jones knows that he has 10 minutes for the appointment and has spent the time […]
William Cayley: Caring about the patient’s story
Who do you care about? The authors of guidelines? The producers of evidence? Those who audit your practice? Or perhaps your patients? Sophie Cook’s recent post on consultation skills finally provided the impetus for me to put pen to paper (or rather, fingers to keyboard) regarding my own recent ponderings on these issues. I trained […]
Richard Smith: Doctors should think less about drugs and more about food
Doctors, who prescribe drugs, are at the top of the health hierarchy, whereas nutritionists are near the bottom. At medical school students learn a huge amount about drugs, but little or nothing about food. When managing patients doctors think drugs first and any other response a long way second. We’ve had pharmacopeias for over a […]
Jennifer Hislop: Florence Nightingale and Mae West – the unsung pioneers of health policy?
The second part of the session “Investing in health. From health to wealth” at the European Health Forum Gastein was devoted to “Resolving the efficiency and quality dilemma.” Olivia Wigzell, Deputy Director General of Health and Social Affairs in Sweden, spoke eloquently on the topic of health systems performance assessment (HSPA), citing Florence Nightingale as […]
Georgios Lyratzopoulos reports from the diagnostic error in medicine conference
Amidst justified concerns about the potential for overdiagnosis it is easy to forget the great challenges associated with establishing a timely and accurate diagnosis in the first place. Many thousands of patients each year are believed to die or suffer serious harm because of missed diagnoses. In the US, in the last 25 years diagnostic […]
Tiago Villanueva: The obesity epidemic in Mexico
I recently learned that about 38% of the calories consumed by pregnant women in Mexico comes from the consumption of sugary drinks, like sodas. Mexico also has the highest consumption of Coca-cola per capita of anywhere else in the world. Not surprisingly, Mexico also has the highest growth of obesity rates in the world. Mexico’s […]
Jennifer Hislop: Running healthcare systems in an age of austerity—riding the “rodeo bull”
This was the analogy put to delegates by Hungarian Minister of State for Health, Miklos Szocska, during the first session of the European Health Forum panel on “Investing for health. From health to wealth.” But can all European countries make sure they stay in the saddle? DG SANCO director general Paola Testori Coggi focused her […]
Richard Smith: Moving from global heath 3.0 to global health 4.0
Global health 1.0 was called tropical medicine and was primarily concerned with keeping white men alive in the tropics. Global health 2.0 was called international health and comprised clever people in rich countries doing something to help people in poor countries. It had Cold War overtones. Global health 3.0, which is still the main manifestation […]
Kristine Sorensen: The challenge of publishing health research
We live in an information rich society, where information is produced and communicated faster and faster. New technologies and ways of communicating, combined with a high demand for health related news, increases the necessity of health experts, and science and health journalists to collaborate. But what can they expect from one another? Scientists are trained […]