Everyone has an imperfect knowledge of drugs. But where do people find the information on which they base their forthright opinions? An Ipsos poll found the media are the most important source of drug information for 58 percent of the population. Given much of the media’s persistent misrepresentation of the facts that is perhaps why […]
Baroness Hollins: Cost effective vaccines saving millions of lives around the world
Last week a global health event took place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to foster greater political will and explore ways to accelerate results, innovation, sustainability, and equity in the field of immunisation. The meeting also highlighted and promoted the goals of the global vaccine access plan, a worldwide strategy for vaccination and immunisation programmes […]
BMJ Christmas appeal—Tom Bashford: Into thin air
“Can I ask your advice doctor?” The recovery nurse who I had been teaching looked puzzled. “I have been asked by some of my colleagues on the wards how to wake up patients who have not recovered from their anaesthetic after one or two days. What do you suggest?” My heart sank; all of the […]
Tara Lamont: How numbers help—from weather to walk-in clinics
Last week I went off to flood-bound Exeter, for a stimulating two day conference led by Martin Pitt at Peninsula Medical School. It was designed to bring together clinicians, managers, and patients, with researchers practising those strange sciences of systems modelling and simulation. These techniques have been under used in health, but there was a […]
Richard Smith: Database of cases launched
Every 36 hours the NHS treats a million people. Across the world there are billions of interactions between patients and health systems every year. Each of those patients is a “case,” and the potential learning from those cases is huge. Unfortunately most of the learning is lost, unrecorded and unshared. But now the launching of […]
Richard Hurley: A film that brings drug decriminalisation into the mainstream
This new film is narrated by Morgan Freeman. Video teasers feature the likes of Kate Winslet, Richard Branson, and Dizzee Rascal, declaring, “I’m breaking the taboo.” They’re calling for drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, and heroin to be decriminalised because they say that the current, unworkable policy of prohibition causes avoidable harm to users and […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review, 10 December 2012
NEJM 6 Dec 2012 Vol 367 This is the time of year when, as a GP who is still let loose on patients, I have to undergo my annual appraisal. I shall try to demonstrate that knowledge keeps entering my brain at a rate roughly sufficient to replace the increasing amount that leaks out. […]
Simon Leese: Translating genomics—making science work for health
The PHG Foundation’s “Translating Genomics” conference, at Robinson College, Cambridge, on 4 December 2012, was billed as a celebration of 15 years of public health genomics in the UK and an exploration of the future role of genomics in 21st century healthcare: on the day, the focus was very much on the latter. PHG Foundation […]
Is abortion worldwide becoming more restrictive?
In her feature on bmj.com, Sophie Arie has tried to answer the question, “Is abortion worldwide becoming more restrictive?” The answer, as expected, depends on what you’re looking at, and where you’re looking. The good news for women is that in recent decades laws have changed so that, if a woman’s life is at risk, […]
Sophie Cook: NAPCRG in “The Big Easy”
I returned from my first North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) meeting yesterday after a busy five days in New Orleans. As an NAPCRG novice, I was keen to see for myself why this conference continues to expand and draw in new members as well as loyal returners, some of whom have been attending […]