Early morning and a young lad, hooded, trainers, hugs his bottle as he staggers home. Last night it started early; cider, beer, and tonic wine. Blue bags on a Friday […]
Tag: alcohol
Richard Smith: Battling over safe alcohol limits
Advice on smoking is simple: don’t smoke. But what should be the advice on alcohol? It can’t be “don’t drink,” nor can it be “drink less.” Doctors and governments think […]
Rebecca Coombes: UN summit in New York – a view from the sidelines
What’s the mood among delegates on the eve of the UN summit on non-communicable diseases as they gather in hotel bars and the confusion of side events in New York […]
Deborah Cohen: The final declaration for the UN summit on NCDs
After months of negotiations, lobbying from industry and NGOs and public health experts, international governments have finally agreed the political declaration that will form the spine of the UN’s summit […]
Richard Smith: Are alcohol companies doomed to cause harm?
Tobacco companies clearly cause harm, and we will always need food companies. But what about alcohol companies? Can they produce net benefit? I’ve been pondering this question for three decades, […]
Neil Chanchlani: Conscientious objection
“See one, do one, teach one?” Gone are the days when medical students did what they were told, learnt what was on the syllabus, and spoke when spoken to. “See […]
Tracey Koehlmoss on being policy makers in our own lives
I am writing to you not from Bangladesh but rather from the Institute of Medicine’s workshop on country-level decision making for control of chronic diseases being held from 19-21 July […]
Domhnall MacAuley: Public health summer school
Does your research really matter? Most VIP introductions are bland and unchallenging. Not this time. When (Professor Sir) Peter Gregson, vice chancellor at Queen’s University Belfast, introduced the joint summer […]
Research highlights – 25 February 2011
“Research highlights” is a weekly round-up of research papers appearing in the print BMJ. We start off with this week’s research questions, before providing more detail on some individual research […]
Julian Sheather: Oh for a beaker of mirth
Being a self-sacrificing soul I recently enrolled myself in a critical piece of public health research: I gave up alcohol for January. If appetite is the new front-line in health, […]