Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) argued that, because it is impossible to either prove or disprove the existence of God, it would be best to wager in favour of his existence. In […]
Month: April 2012
Estrella Lasry: Responding to malaria: a view from the ground
Yesterday was World Malaria Day, a day that for me is filled with contradictions. There are many reasons to feel encouraged. Globally the number of malaria deaths is dropping, thanks […]
Gabriel Scally: The flying doctors service of East Africa and Sylvia Pankhurst
The Flying Doctors Service of East Africa sounds like an echo from a romantic, and bygone age. But its formation in 1957 was the first step in the creation of […]
John Clark on engaging leadership: hope for the future lies with a new breed of doctors
With a few exceptions, medical students have little, if any, training in management, leadership, and service improvement. Yet from the moment they graduate, doctors require a range of such competencies, […]
Mary Madden: Are medical conferences useful?
In his recent Viewpoint piece [1], John Ioannidis asks whether medical conferences serve any useful purpose other than as carbon-guzzling showcases for opinion leaders and pharma-funded research. He also proposes […]
Andrew Moscrop: Neonatal intensive care, Pakistan
There are five sick babies and only four incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit. What do I do? The infants who get the incubators and the ventilation equipment may […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Bringing systematic reviews with a development focus to South Asia
A substantial body of evidence exists to answer many of the questions asked by policymakers and development partners in low and middle income countries (LMIC). However, evidence is often scattered, […]
Richard Smith: Doctors are not interested in health or prevention
“Doctors are not interested in health” is one of my many wild generalisations. My evidence is my experience, a 40 year collection of anecdotes, and the observation that a thousand […]
Gabriel Scally on the 13th World Congress on Public Health
This is a tough time for public health internationally. The global financial crisis has had a deleterious effect on the social determinants of health as some governments have pursued austerity […]
Frank Boulton on the role of medics in preventing torture
“Brits don’t torture….and if they did medics would find out.” This naïve view is widely shared by members of the public and medical professionals alike. The role of some medics […]