The title is a quote from a discussion between Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis, the Minister of Health, Lithuania, and Spyridon-Adonis Georgiades, the Minister of Health, Greece, and it set the tone at the opening plenary of the 16th European Health Forum, which kicked off on Wednesday 2 October at 12.30 sharp in Bad Hofgastein, Austria. Dr […]
Veena Rao: The link between agriculture and nutrition in India
Agriculture is intrinsic to nutrition. It is like stating the obvious—and no formal education or training is required to see the linkage. But the simplicity ends here. While “agriculture” is universally understood by everyone, “nutrition,” and “malnutrition,” are not that clearly understood by many, including the well informed. The subject might provide a feast for […]
Simon Williams: What the ASDA and Tesco “mental patient” costume tell us about misassumptions of mental health
Recently, the British supermarket chain ASDA hit the headlines for selling a controversial “mental patient” Halloween costume. Although the costume was quickly withdrawn following complaints by notable mental health charities, criticism has continued to pour in as many asked how the company could have stocked the product in the first place. Although the product itself […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review—7 October 2013
NEJM 3 Oct 2013 Vol 369 1295 The human birth canal, it has often been observed, is not particularly well designed for the passage of one baby, let alone two. So in an age of safety first, caesarean section has become almost routine for all twin pregnancies. Gut feeling and a number of cohort studies […]
Suchita Shah: HIV and health in the Navajo Nation: why historical trauma matters
The dry New Mexico wind whips up a dust cloud in the distance. Alone on a highway that stretches for miles through expanses of arid desert soil, I am travelling to visit Donald Chee, a public health community liaison at Diné College, the first Indian*-owned college in the USA. “Diné,” in Navajo, means “The People,” […]
Sophie Cook: The pitfalls of consultation skills models
Have GPs become too pre-occupied with consultation skills models? According to Roger Neighbour, author of “The inner consultation” a book familiar to most generations of GPs, while consultation models are a helpful guide, the key to being a good consulter lies not only in the technique of the consultation, but in the ability to listen […]
Gerry Stimson: A life or death moment for tobacco policy
European Union politics occasionally produces a humiliating own goal, but few are likely to be as deadly and unethical as a proposed new approach to tobacco policy. On 8 October, the European parliament will consider a new Tobacco Products Directive. If the preferred approach of the lead scrutiny committee (Environment, public health, and food safety […]
Richard Cook: 1984
1984 was a great year—and not just for George Orwell lovers, or for me as I embarked on my medical education. Daley Thompson won his second Olympic gold medal in the decathlon event. Breaking the world record, he secured his place in athletics history. Picture the scene afterwards if you can, as journalists jostled to […]
Tony Waterston: Chemical weapons and the health response in Palestine
The man on the flagpole in Arafat Square was no nearer the top (see previous blog) and the mood in relation to peace talks is not hopeful. But the MA in child health at Al Quds in Jerusalem is making good progress after seven months of operation. We are now on the 4th module which […]
Desmond O’Neill: Clinical glasshouses and stones
One of the positive aspects of working in smaller hospitals in Ireland is the professional mingling that takes place in local clinical societies. Living and working in a smaller pond means that consultants and GPs tend to know each other better. The mutual sympathy engendered for the challenges of working in other sectors of the […]