Lars von Trier has made no secret of the fact he’s suffered from depression. At the beginning of 1997 he was hospitalised with the condition, saying it left him incapacitated for six months. Whilst the film he wrote during this period, Antichrist, was an explicit nightmare borne from the experience (genital self-mutilation, graphic torture, talking […]
Tiago Villanueva: Learning about European general practice research in Krakow, Poland
Last week I left the 30ºC heat of Lisbon for the almost sub-zero temperatures of Krakow, and made premature use of my winter gear. But the cold was not enough to deter me from attending one of my favourite conferences, the biannual meeting of the European general practice research network, which gathers dozens of people interested and involved in primary […]
Desmond O’Neill: Death and the composer: Thanatos as muse?
Even though my clinical life is enmeshed with an active arts and health programme with music in pole position –a composer in residence in the Stroke Unit and a hospital residency by a chamber orchestra – taking part in a three day musicology conference dedicated to the late music of Schubert seemed hugely daunting at […]
Richard Smith: “End of the world” and the under 40s
The BMJ meeting on climate change keeps reverberating through my mind, and the apocalyptic feel of the meeting was deeply unsettling. Is the end of the world nigh? And what does that mean for those under 40? People have been predicting “the end of the world” ever since there has been a written historical record, […]
Martin McShane: Care and cure
We are coming up to the annual contracting round. This year it will be led by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). Last year GPs were involved in the difficult, detailed negotiations with the acute sector alongside PCT staff. As one of them said, emerging into daylight, somewhat pale and drained, “I never realised how hard it […]
Fran Baum: The conclusion of the Rio conference
The final day of the Rio conference was on Friday and the official declaration from the conference still doesn’t deal with the underlying factors that are driving health inequalities between and within countries. Perhaps this is not surprising as addressing these factors (which include trade policy and the need to redistribute wealth more fairly) would directly challenge the […]
Richard Lehman’s journal review – 24 October 2011
JAMA 19 Oct 2011 Vol 306 There are definite green shoots of recovery in this week’s JAMA. Howard Bauchner hasn’t yet made the sweeping changes he’s promised, but there’s a nice mix of papers and the poetry remains as thrillingly bad as ever. 1659 A few weeks ago, The Lancet ran a couple of papers […]
Domhnall MacAuley: The high metal fences at work
There are high metal fences around both my places of work, at the BMJ, there is a lovely commemorative ornamental railing. At our surgery, a security barrier. Two places far apart both geographically and economically. David Taylor-Robinson (Liverpool), highlighted the socioeconomic differences within the UK in his recent talk at the Centre for Excellence in […]
Babatunde Osotimehin: Helping families in the Horn of Africa to make better choices
I was pleased to learn that Hawa Ali, a 27 year old woman whom I met at a maternity shelter in Garissa, in Northern Kenya, recently delivered triplets. Hawa had been in the shelter for four months because of the high risks associated with her pregnancy. Dozens of other mothers who also arrived in the […]
Fran Baum on the alternative Rio declaration
60 health ministers and 1000 participants from around the world are attending the Rio Conference. Wednesday afternoon was a plenary session which featured contributions from a panel of speakers. Margaret Chan, the director general of the WHO, addressed the conference and took part in a panel discussion facilitated by Zeinab Badawi (BBC World). Chan has […]