Reflecting on the challenge by Alex Jadad and Laura O’Grady to define health, I begin to conclude that it can’t be captured in a few words. Disease is a simple […]
Guest writers
Tony Waterston on the situation in Gaza
The situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate. We deplore the inadequate response of the Israeli and other world governments to the humanitarian crisis. The bombing of an already severely damaged […]
Vidhya Alakeson on US health reform
As with his presidential campaign, Barack Obama’s approach to health reform will leave little to chance. His strategy for enacting the first major coverage expansion in more than 40 years […]
Jeremy Laurance’s top medical development of 2008
What was the most significant medical development of 2008 and holds the greatest promise for 2009 and beyond? There is no shortage of candidates – polyclinics, Lord Darzi’s “once in […]
Tauseef Mehrali on casting the safety net
In his brilliant surrealist novel Death at Intervals, José Saramago conjures up a dreamlike, yet all too soon nightmarish, scenario wherein the people of an anonymous landlocked European country simply […]
Tejshri Shah on the BMJ/MSF appeal
My name is Tejshri Shah and I am the head of the medical unit of Médecins Sans Frontières UK, the Manson Unit. When asked to be a guest blogger for […]
Julian Sheather on hope and human rights in Zimbabawe
Last week I was in Uganda, speaking at a conference on monitoring the right to health. During the conference I met a fourth year medical student from Zimbabwe, Norman Matara. Norman […]
Nicola While on health care and Europe
The run up to the Christmas recess is a traditionally busy time for the European institutions. Last year proved to be no different with a rash of new legislative proposals […]
Chesmal Siriwardhana on science communication
As this blog is built around my personal experiences during the past few months, I would first of all like to introduce myself. I am medical graduate and a medical […]
William Lee and the “I’m lucky to be alive” patient
In early November 2008 a woman in her 30s who lives alone in London decided that she wanted to die. She was depressed. She felt that she only suffered and […]