• Cancer diagnosis The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released new guidelines to try to speed up the diagnosis of cancer. They recommend that all GPs should have direct access (without referral) to magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, colonoscopy, and occult blood screening. At present, only some […]
Tag: climate change
Scarlett McNally on caring for a world population of 7 billion
A new hard-hitting film “Mother: caring for 7 billion” should be required viewing for all doctors, policy-makers, and other people. Its message is that the exponentially increasing world population is the major cause of poverty, over-consumption, food poverty, riots, wars, de-forestation, ill-health, major crises, conflict, and climate change. It has vignettes from biologists, medics, and […]
Mike Knapton and Tom Pierce: Doctors should take a leading role in tackling climate change
The recent Cambridge University Leadership Programme looked at sustainable development in health services worldwide. It was an opportunity to hear the evidence and arguments which were both persuasive and alarming. The link between population growth and our reliance on a carbon-based economy, leading to rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, and the consequent changes […]
Robin Stott: How to avoid an 18th COP out
Three separate images from the recent 17th conference of the parties (COP 17) in Durban, where I was as an observer on behalf of the climate and health council, frame my view of how we can rescue the COP process from its terminal decline. We might then have a better chance of rescuing the globe from […]
David Pencheon: Sustainability by stealth – 8 steps to heaven
When I used to teach public health to medical students and other health professionals, I tried to set myself the challenge of helping people learn about populations, prevention, screening, social determinants of health, quality of healthcare, and such things without mentioning the words public health at all. You may know why. A great paper by […]
Maya Tickell-Painter: Where is health being included in the UN climate change negotiations?
Recently, you heard from Johnny Meldrum about why health professionals should care about climate change, and their role in the climate change negotiations. More than ever before, health professionals were present and engaging with the UN climate talks in Durban. During this conference there has been: a health summit, 6 official side events, two health-related […]
David Pencheon: What is it about large scale change that makes anaesthetists act?
Change may be the new constant, but it is always important to understand who embraces change most readily, and where. Doctors in general are traditionally conservative, as those outside the profession will be only too happy to confirm. We like to think we pioneer change both via behaviour (witness the change in smoking prevalence amongst […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Climate change, health, and security
On 17 October, I was fortunate to attend a daylong seminar at BMA House on “the health and security perspectives of climate change.” Uniquely, this programme pulled together medical and military professionals along with climatologists, zoologists, and politicians. The morning focused on threats to global climate, health, and security whereas the afternoon sessions focused on […]
David Pencheon: Climate change and health – let’s get professional
I am still proud to be a doctor. This used to be because I looked up to inspirational mentors, tutors, and role models. I still do, although my inspiration is increasingly derived from younger doctors and medical students (a cohort effect). We have a young inspirational medical student working with us currently doing research in his […]
David Pencheon: Future-proof hospitals? Go straight for future-proof systems…
Chris Ham’s article in last week’s Observer newspaper (“Politicians have ducked hard decisions on the NHS for far too long” Sunday 19 June 2011), and a news story in this week’s BMJ (BMJ 2011;342:d3921), claim that up to 20 hospitals, around 10% of the total in England, may not be financially sustainable. This is highly probable […]