As the Third People’s Health Assembly (PHA) develops, it’s more and more obvious that global forces impact at a country level. Conversations about WHO reform, universal health coverage, and human resource constraints, among others, gave me an opportunity to reflect on how global forces shape issues at a national level. Some of these were raised […]
Fran Baum blogs from the People’s Health Assembly
Day two of the People’s Health Assembly focused on social and physical environments that destroy or promote health. Brian Ashley, South Africa, spoke eloquently about the shape of the climate crisis and its impact on health. I spoke about the reasons why there is so little action on the social determinants of health equity despite […]
Liz Wager on the launch of the concordat to support research integrity
I just attended the launch of the concordat to support research integrity developed by some major UK funders and Universities UK. It’s easy to quibble at documents that try to achieve consensus on big issues. Invariably there are some recommendations I’d prefer to be stronger, but instead of carping I’ll focus on some highly positive […]
Marge Berer: All I had to do was take a pill every day, I was told, and hey presto, I didn’t have to worry about getting pregnant
I was among the first generation of women in the 1960s to experience the miracle of the pill just at the age when I was wanting to start having sex. All I had to do was take a pill every day, I was told, and hey presto, I didn’t have to worry about getting pregnant […]
Edzard Ernst: The “middle ground” fallacy
When we are confronted with two opposing views, we tend to look for the comfort of the middle ground hoping the truth might lie somewhere between the two extremes. For instance, if someone describes a play, a book, or a restaurant as brilliant and another person thinks it is awful, we might feel that, in […]
Ike Anya: Can public health hold it all together in the new fragmented English NHS?
Following the recent Health and Social Care Act, which profoundly changes the structure of the NHS in England, one of the concerns that persists is the potential fragmentation of services and the impact of this fragmentation on patient pathways and care. Under the old system, each Primary Care Trust had the clearly defined responsibility of […]
Annie Neo Parsons: Ensuring access to healthcare for all
Health systems around the world are designed for the rich, but our development goals, such as the millenium development goals, are focused on the poor. The solution? Reform our health systems so they work for the poor, in line with the Alma Ata message. Speaking at the opening of the 3rd People’s Health Assembly, organised […]
Fran Baum: Demanding health for all now
The Third People’s Health Assembly got off to a rousing start yesterday with a plenary session addressed by the South African Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, who spoke of the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on his country and also by Pat Anderson, chairperson of the Australian Lowitja Institute, who spoke passionately about the struggle […]
Richard Smith: “Whole of government and whole of society”: making it real
Have you heard the phrase “whole of government and whole of society?” If you haven’t you soon will. It’s the summary of the formula for fixing many of the world’s most intractable problems—like climate change (or climate disruption, as Martin McShane suggests we call it). I heard it first at the United Nations meeting on […]
Martin McShane: New job
I got a new job last week. My daughter was appearing in Annie at the Retford Majestic Theatre. She belongs to the Mini-Operatic Bunch (MOB), the junior branch of the Retford Operatic Society and each year the kids (upper age limit 18) put on a show which the public pay to see. I was recruited […]