Ten years backwards—this was the journey through time that representatives from governments around the world took last week when they gathered at the World Health Organization (WHO) to discuss the recommendations of a 2012 WHO expert group report on how to address the medical research and development (R&D) system’s failures in meeting the needs of […]
Lifebox Q and A: Rwanda—unmet surgical need and a surgical safety crisis.
Just 3.5% of the 234 million major operations taking place each year are in low-resource settings, often carried out in very dangerous conditions due to lack of resources and training. Lifebox Foundation, the BMJ’s christmas charity, works in more than 70 countries to improve the quality and safety of surgical care. They spoke recently with […]
Pritpal S Tamber: It’s time for a few good punch-ups in the NHS
The National Health Service in England needs a goal, and a plan on how to get there. Its local leaders should be appreciated more, not constantly pilloried. Primary care is on the brink of failure and needs to truly understand its role within integrated care. And we all need a few good punch-ups to get […]
Aser Garcia Rada: The turning point for healthcare workers’ protests in Spain
Spain is currently experiencing the biggest protest by healthcare workers ever known. It has been triggered by a plan by Ignacio González, a member of the conservative People’s Party (PP) and president of the government of Madrid. He plans to privatise regional public healthcare further as part of the regional budget for 2013. The plan […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: To screen or not to screen—mixed messages on mammography
You might not know this, but I am over 40 and I am a woman. In the US having breasts and being over 40 means something to doctors and patients. It is a healthcare trigger to start having annual mammograms. If you are reading this in the UK, Canada, or Europe, you might be surprised […]
Tony Waterston: Children seeking asylum in the UK
She was a mature 16 and could be taken for an adult. Indeed it was with the words of an adult that she expressed the fears, anxiety, and stress she felt when she came to UK at the age of 11 as an asylum seeker from Pakistan. Fears, as she was not treated with consideration; […]
Rakhal Gaitonde et al: The mortar that holds the BRICS together
We are young researchers from Brazil, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). Given our collective experience as citizens and researchers in these countries, and deeper understanding gathered during our three weeks in Beijing as part of the “Emerging Voices” at the second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, we would like to share our vision […]
Nicola While: The EU impact on UK healthcare
The May 2010 coalition agreement in the UK promised to examine the balance of competences between Britain and the European Union (EU) with a view to assessing how the UK’s national interests interact with the EU. The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) duly launched this review in July 2012. It will be broken down […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Jonathan Miller, Maeve Binchy, and the neurophysiology of general practice
Jonathan Miller is in the news again. His biography pushed him back into the limelight, and although the media focused on his ongoing spat with Sir Peter Hall, it reminded us again that while he was a gifted author, actor, artist, and theatre and opera director, he was first a doctor. He never quite escaped […]
Douglas Noble: US healthcare and the Harkness fellowship
Having decided to write a blog during this academic year living in the US, I hadn’t anticipated my tardiness would be because moving the family overseas was vastly more effort than I anticipated. A stroke in a family member at home came suddenly and unexpectedly, and a hurricane hit the city I’m currently calling home. […]