A key focus of work in the field of safe motherhood has been on increasing deliveries in medical facilities with access to skilled birth assistants and emergency obstetric care. In many places more and more women are reaching clinics to deliver. However, there has been too little focus on the quality of services, on the […]
Amanda Glassman on the difficult task of setting priorities at the WHO
As country delegations prepare for the 65th session of the World Health Assembly next week, the reform of the institution itself is only one topic on a list of 20 agenda items and 52 sub-items to be considered by the organisation’s governing bodies. Setting priorities and fully funding those priorities has been a challenge for the […]
Lesley Henderson: Gender, sexuality and mental illness in Homeland
The American television network Showtime is becoming synonymous with highly acclaimed drama and post 9/11 series Homeland (2011) is no exception. Barack Obama is reportedly a huge fan of the programme and millions of UK viewers watched the tense series finale on Sunday 6 May. The plot concerns Marine Sergeant Nicholas Brody who has recently returned […]
Elizabeth Loder on tackling unnecessary treatment in the US: This time “it feels different”
US healthcare costs are unsustainable and a large amount of money is being wasted on unnecessary treatment. There was general agreement about these statements among the audience, speakers and panelists at the recent Avoiding Avoidable Care conference, held in Boston. The summit was organized by the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation, the New America Foundation, and […]
Carl Heneghan and Deborah Cohen on PiP breast implants: implants need rigorous and transparent assessment of the evidence in future
A Department of Health review into the Poly Implant Prothèse (PiP) breast implant scandal has found that although the UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), acted appropriately and followed scientific and clinical advice, there are “areas where improvement can and should be made for the future.” Back in March 2010 the […]
Florian Sparr on strengthening the global R&D system: innovation for health needs in developing countries
On Friday 4 May 2012 “Strengthening the Global R&D System: Innovation for Health Needs in Developing Countries” took place in Geneva. The keynote address, “Investing in Global Public Goods” was given by Joseph E Stiglitz, recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2001) and professor at Columbia University. […]
Richard Smith: Will economic problems finally fix London healthcare?
There were no dissenters from the view at last week’s Cambridge Health Network meeting that London has chronic overcapacity in its acute hospitals. It’s been the case for decades. One reason for the continuing failure to reform lies in the story of one woman that all three local candidates in her constituency in the last […]
Deborah Cohen on Nestlé and the International Diabetes Federation: comfortable bedfellows?
Nestlé has just announced a three year partnership with the International Diabetes Federation (IDF)—an umbrella organisation representing national diabetes societies from around the world— as part of its contribution to the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Such diseases include cardiovascular disease, cancer respiratory illness and diabetes. […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 14 May 2012
JAMA 9 May 2012 Vol 307 1925 In a wonderful letter to Humphry Davy in 1800, Coleridge declared that science, as a human activity, “being necessarily performed with the Passion of hope, is poetical.” All good science is inspired with the poetry of hope; but, alas, so also is a lot of bad science. If […]
Jeremy Sare: Drug driving in the Queen’s Speech
Enforcing the law on drug driving has not been a problem historically of either political will, or policing priorities. The main issue has always been applying the science and technology to make the law work. This week’s announcement of a “crackdown” on the “blight” of drug driving has all the hallmarks of a New Labour […]