Purity and danger in pandemic public health
A socio-historical take on fear messaging Public health strategies to encourage compliance and behaviour change during the pandemic have been criticised for applying behavioural theories like “nudge theory” to induce fear. The Independent Scientific Pandemic Influenza Group on Behaviours (SPI-B)...
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Understanding Health Inequalities in Scotland – Getting Beyond Death and Despair in (Quantified) Data
Two high profile reports on health inequalities in Scotland were launched last month. The first, Leave No One Behind(a Health Foundation report), aimed to provide a multi-dimensional, up-to-date analysis of health inequalities in Scotland. The second, Closing the Gap (from...
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Heatwaves are social murder
Heat kills. We have known this for some time. Whenever a heatwave occurs, an increase in excess deaths occurs. The European heatwaves of 2003 witnessed an excess of 75,000 deaths, with 15,000 of those occurring in France alone. The World...
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The unaffordable cost of living
Rishi-eat-out-to-help-out Sunak has been busy recently trying to address the snowballing cost of living crisis faced by millions of UK citizens. He announced new policies to help those who will find the ‘struggle is too hard and the risks too...
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Finding the publics to involve in public health research
Public involvement in research is essential. However, when that research addresses public health issues, how best to do this is not straightforward. Naïve processes of engagement risk tokenism, erosion of good faith, and frustration for all collaborators. The aims of...
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An unpatriotic agitation? Public health versus the right to health
Since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, medical ethics has incorporated a duty to protect human rights, while the right to health and access to health care have been successively articulated and elaborated. One recent elaboration of the...
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Criminalising nitrous oxide users is no laughing matter if it distracts from more serious drug problems
In England and Wales, it is not illegal to possess nitrous oxide – but that could soon change. The UK’s home secretary, Priti Patel, has asked her scientific advisers to review the evidence on the harm associated with its use....
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Time and again? Temporality & public health
One thing that has struck me during the days and months since 23rd March 2020 has been how time has simultaneously slowed down and sped up. Or, more specifically, the passage of time has both sped up and slowed down....
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Why policy makers and scientists are always wrong about obesity
A recent article that we wrote raises a number of important questions about obesity. Why do policy attempts to control obesity fail? Why do scientists ask the wrong questions about obesity? Why does searching for single causes of the so-called...
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The Lockdown Anniversary Edition…
Anniversaries are dangerous moments. A year after the start of the first UK lockdown on March 23rd , many have noted an escalation of anxiety, as we reflect on the impact of individual griefs and ruptures to the social body....
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Avoiding the blame game: Reframing conversations on racialised health inequalities
Conversations about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 felt by racially minoritised communities in the UK have also highlighted the pervasive and longstanding health inequalities they experience. Reports on COVID-19 by Public Health England and Independent SAGE highlight increased risk of exposure...
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The Fall of NHS Dentistry: A service in crisis.