“Editors of The BMJ are alternating fools and bastards,” said Stephen Lock, my predecessor as editor of The BMJ, who has a gift for memorable axioms. Stephen, who will be […]
Month: April 2019
Janine Freeman: UK’s response to Type 2 diabetes impresses West Australian Committee
On a recent visit to the UK, the West Australian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education and Health was impressed by the shift in focus from the medical treatment of type […]
Laith Al-Rubaiy: First shoots of recovery for Iraq’s beleaguered healthcare system
Eighteen months since the defeat of Daesh—the so-called Islamic State—Iraq appears to be gradually returning to some semblance of normality. Certainly, in my own field, medicine and healthcare, the country […]
Jeffrey Aronson: When I use a word . . . Minimal clinically important difference
Six weeks ago I discussed minimalism, two weeks ago the meaninglessness of “meaningful”, and last week “clinically meaningful”, the last of which really means “clinically important”. Now all of this […]
Giles Maskell: How can we combat fraud in the NHS?
Some of our efforts in combating fraud should go into attempting to shift the moral baseline of the majority […]
Sarah Markham: Do psychedelic drugs have a place in psychiatric treatment?
The last few years have witnessed a revival of interest in the clinical potential and utility of psychedelics in mental health. Psychedelics and related compounds such as LSD, psilocybin, cannabis, […]
Democracy is a public health policy: Puerto Rico and the response to Hurricane Maria
The video is memorable: Donald Trump, President of the United States, throwing rolls of paper towel at a group of dispossessed US citizens in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and noting […]
Tim Palmer: Bivalent HPV vaccine in Scotland is having a considerable and sustained effect
Cervical cancer is a major morbidity worldwide. [1] Most cancers are preventable by effective screening, and cervical cancer screening, arguably, best meets the Wilson criteria for a screening programme. Understanding […]
Why it is important to make the undergraduate medical curriculum LGBT+ inclusive
There is substantial evidence of disparities in mental and physical health outcomes in the LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and minority sexual and gender identities) community. [1] This can be […]
Marthe Frieden: The aftermath of Cyclone Idai—building bridges where we can
Marthe Frieden is the medical team leader in MSF’s emergency response to the destruction caused by tropical Cyclone Idai. On the night of 15 March, the cyclone hit Zimbabwe’s mountainous […]