Population control in the developing world is a major public health issue, as large families and overcrowding perpetuate cycles of poverty. The dire situation in the Philippines is considerably overlooked, […]
Columnists
Penny Campling: Thoughts on a healthcare culture—part 4
An important aspect of my job as a clinical director was acting as a buffer between the ever increasing number of new policy initiatives gathering in the system at large […]
Pritpal S Tamber: GP Ratings—why all doctors must have this app
There are more and more mobile phone apps for wellness and health, so many in fact that it’s already impossible to stay abreast of them. However, I recently came across […]
Richard Smith: Choosing among sorrows
“We live in a world of competing sorrows,” said Daniel Moynihan, the American senator. How can policy makers choose among sorrows? One way is with the help of the Copenhagen […]
Liz Wager: Guidelines for misconduct?
I’m generally a big fan of guidelines—in fact, I’ve written a few myself, but a recent conversation with a wise Indian researcher made me ponder their darker side. We were […]
Desmond O’Neill: Combating gerontological illiteracy
St Gallen is a fascinating small city in the north-eastern corner of Switzerland. Famed for its fabulous rococo monastic library (including the earliest extant manuscript of the Nibelung legend), the […]
Richard Smith: Of human bubbles
Financial history is full of bubbles, driven by “our innate inclination to veer from euphoria to despondency.” As I read an account of how bubbles happen in Niall Ferguson’s excellent […]
Tracey Koehlmoos: Self plagiarism
In the US there has been a spate of high profile plagiarism incidents. In some cases, the writers have been penalized and in others the adage that the stars are […]
Julian Sheather and Vivienne Nathanson: Todd Akin, rape, and “doctors”
According to the historian Tony Judt, the Red Army, after raping and brutalising its way across Europe in the closing stages of the Second World War, left behind, in Germany […]
Tiago Villanueva: The health benefits of dancing
I am a keen social dancer and take several ballroom and salsa dancing classes a week. I’ve often wondered whether dancing has any physical health benefits. I get the feeling […]