Stories on public health

Features
- Time to take prevention seriously
  
  As the incidence of breast cancer in the UK continues to rise, a national strategy to tackle its causes is long overdue, argues Laura Potts
- Don’t run from the politics
  
  With public health finally pushed to the top of the policy agenda, arguing for ‘keeping politics out of public health’ misses the point, says Alastair McCapra. Instead, the politicians should be fully engaged
- So much done – and so much still to do
  
  With tobacco advertising finally banned in the UK, health activists are celebrating by turning their attention to the next steps in the long campaign against smoking, explains Amanda Sandford
- A globe gasping for breath
  
  Anti-smoking measures in the West mean tobacco companies are looking elsewhere for profits, reports Darryl Cowley
- The real point now is prevention
  
  The recent commons select committee report on drugs is a good start – but could go further, says Geof Rayner
- The collapse of global public health
  
  With a new century seeing the resurgence of old diseases alongside the emergence of new threats to health, effective public health infrastructures are more vital than ever – yet have been allowed to fall into disrepair, says Laurie Garrett
- The ad gag drags on
  
  What are the chances of a private member’s bill to ban tobacco advertising becoming law? John Connolly reports
- Shifting and unbalanced
  
  Labour’s current NHS reforms are throwing the whole public health infrastructure into the air, says Tony Jewell
- Labour isn’t working for HIV
  
  Before the last election Labour promised a national strategy on HIV – but we are still waiting. Tim Pickstone reports
- Global sneezes spread diseases
  
  Globalisation of travel, food production and environmental degradation is increasing the threat from infectious diseases, old and new. Kelley Lee explains
- Seize this window of opportunity
  
  The persistence of widespread fuel poverty causes premature illness and death – but help is available, says Trish Brady
- Why a few tips won’t go far
  
  Recent anti-smoking campaigns ignore the psychological nature of smoking, say Catherine Sykes and David Marks
- The heart of the matter
  
  The government’s new public health white paper sets tough new targets to prevent coronary disease and other major killers – but does it address the income inequality at the heart of the health divide? Wendy Moore reports
- Time to get things rolling
  
  That food poverty still exists in Britain is a scandal which should be tolerated no longer — and there’s plenty that could be done, argues Jacqui Webster
- Mothers in need of courage
  
  HIV-infected women face a grim dilemma in deciding whether to breastfeed, report Rosemary Okello and Felicity Snowsill
- An unhealthy focus on illness
  
  The health service is too preoccupied with treating disease to act as an effective cornerstone for New Labour’s public health strategy, argue Stephen Peckham, Pat Taylor and Pat Turton
- Give health authorities some teeth!
  
  It is time for the water industry to take dental health seriously, say Kate Lennon and Sheila Jones
- Needled by the pointless ‘drugs csar’
  
  Labour’s public health strategy is like a breath of fresh air, says Geof Rayner – apart from one small point
- It’s time to remove the inequality
  
  Labour’s strategy for HIV must value those who are affected and tackle the prejudice they face, says John Nicholson
- New virus, new stories
  
  AIDS AND THE PUBLIC DEBATE.
  C Hannaway, VA Harden, J Parascandola (eds.) IOS Press, 1995
- A case of ‘tragic incoordination’?
  
  Recent outbreaks of E.Coli offer an opportunity to examine the adequacy of our public health protection, says Charles Webster
- Has the tobacco industry finally met its match?
  
  In the wake of a recent courtroom success, anti-smoking campaigners are pinning fresh hopes on litigation in the battle against the tobacco industry. Monisha Bhaumik reports
- Promoting a clear vision for health
  
  Improving the public health is a key responsibility of health authorities. Yet the professional resources and organisational structures to support this role seem to be in disarray, argues Lee Adams
- Is crime a health issue?
  
  The relationships between crime and health are complex and often hidden. While health services can’t tackle crime head on, neither can they ignore it, says Chris Ford
- Don’t die of poverty
  
  Contrary to the slogan, AIDS is prejudiced. Both the spread of HIV/AIDS in the population and our response to those affected are characterised by poverty, argues Neil Small
- Opposition is sadly myth-led
  
  Michael Corr sets out the case in favour of routine childhood vaccination
- Health off the shelf?
  
  The idea of ‘health promotion’ is becoming central to the way we live. But is it necessarily a benign force? Robin Bunton examines the arguments
- Who gains from health promotion?
  
  Health promotion in primary care does more for the doctors than the patients, says Steve Iliffe
- A broader horizon for health promotion
  
  Our environment is too important to be left to environmentalists. Public health and health promotion specialists must get involved, argue Andrew Rogers and Desmond Whyms
- Mainstreaming or sidelining?
  
  As the ring-fence around funding for HIV/AIDS services comes down, Neil Small asks whether the benefits of mainstream funding will outweigh the risks
- I am a one in twelve
  
  One in twelve women in the UK will develop breast cancer, and almost everyone’s lives will be touched by it at some time. Yet for many cancer, and especially breast cancer, remains a source of fear and shame.
  Here Joyce Wadler talks to Mandy Garner about her own experience of cancer, and why she wrote a book about it
- Getting the needle
  
  For most parents childhood immunisation means battles with upset children — but for others the battle with angry health professionals comes first. Anne Rogers has been talking to the refuseniks
- Looking back on the LA story
  
  What lessons for the future can local authorities learn from their experience of health
  promotion, asks Martin King
- What’s the point in stopping?
  
  What is it about being poor — and a young woman — that increases the likelihood of smoking, asks Patti White
- Safe, simple and effective
  
  Fluoridation of the water supply benefits the dental health of children and adults alike. So why has the history of this simple public health measure been one of ‘hurdles and delays’, asks John Beale
- Public health in decline
  
  Has public health medicine really moved centre-stage in the wake of the NHS reforms? Charles Webster consults the historical record — and charts the slow decline of the public health function
- Counting the loss of young lives
  
  Don’t underestimate the impact of accidents and violence, say the Radical Statistics Health Group
- Tell them to pack it in…
  
  New evidence confirms that tobacco companies are continuing to beat the TV advertising ban. But there’s no need to despair, says Cecilia Farren — there’s plenty we can all do to fight back
- Tripe and bondage
  
  Lee Adams takes sides in the health promotion debate
- Keep taking the garlic
  
  Two cloves a day keeps the doctor away, claims David Roser. But what exactly does garlic do — apart from the obvious?
- Do-it-yourself health diagnostics
  
  The DIY philosophy, which is now spreading to over-the-counter health diagnosis, should not be dismissed out of hand, claims Ken Green
- Accidents will happen… but why?
  
  Mandy Moore looks at how a holistic approach to accidents could reduce death and injury dramatically
- Tobacco companies: a cancer in our midst
  
  Britain must be forced to end its ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the tobacco producers if a real attempt is to be made to reduce smoking, says Frank Chalmers
- Bound, gagged and blindfolded
  
  Britain’s health promotion movement has caused increasing embarrassment to the government. Now its sturdy independence is under threat, warn Jane West and Liz Jones
- It’s not who you are but what you do
  
  The Health Education Authority’s approach to HIV and AIDS may undo years of positive work, says Frankie Lynch
- Public health: a giant awakes?
  
  There has been a recent reawakening of support for the ideals of public health, but the government remains, as yet, unmoved, says Daloni Carlisle
- A quarterpounder with cheese, french fries and... a pill?
  
  Worried about cholesterol? Forget diet — the drug companies have plans. James Erlichman reports
Interviews
- Working together for women and health
  
  Doris Nalishuwa and Josephine Mulumu are health activists in Zambia, where one in five of the population is HIV positive. They spoke to Judith Emanuel about the daily challenges they face
- One minute interview
  
  Angela Mawle is chief executive of the UK Public Health Association
- Making a sure start in the job
  
  Can the government take action on health inequality? Labour’s second minister for public health speaks to healthmatters
- Improving health by any means possible
  
  Britain’s first minister for public health, Tessa Jowell, spoke exclusively to healthmatters on the government’s strategy for public health
Columns
- Recklessly infecting becomes a crime
- The Dominatrix of Health
- Unhealthy censorship
- News from nowhere
- What’s the real public health crisis?
- Give us the money and let the evidence speak
- Health promoters must be unprofessional
- Is this a bad advert for New Labour?
- What are the limits to health promotion?
- When will governments put public health first?
  
  The BSE crisis isn’t the first time that government has failed to act decisively to protect the health of its citizens, explains Charles Webster
- There’s no smoking without ire
- The best of a bad job
  
  There’s a new scheme to pay GPs for health promotion work. Rosa Hudson isn’t enthusiastic
- Passive smoking is for passive people
  
  Eric the Heretic is fuming at news that a council worker has won £15,000 from her employer in a passive smoking claim
- Ten things you never knew about… tobacco
- Vaccination against freedom
News
Reviews
- A well-informed textbook
  
  Public Health for the 21st Century
  Judy Orme, Jane Powell, Pat Taylor, Tony Harrison and Melanie Gray (eds)
  McGraw-Hill Education, 2003. £19.99
- Right up my hamlet
  
  Problem-based Learning for Health Improvement: practical public health for every professional
  Edited by John Cornell and Frada Eskin
  Radcliffe Medical Press, 2003. £27.95
- A Right Result? Advocacy, justice and empowerment
  Rick Henderson and Mike Pochin
  The Policy Press, 2001. £15.99
- Best to start close to home
  
  PROMOTING HEALTH: politics and practice
  Lee Adams, Mary Amos and James Munro (eds)
  Sage, £17.99
- Great shakes!
  
  USING RESEARCH FOR EFFECTIVE HEALTH PROMOTION
  Edited by Sandy Oliver and Greet Peersman
  Open University Press, 2001, £16.99
- Beyond the bananas
  
  THE BEAT GOES ON
  Adele Minchin
  The Women’s Press, 2001, £5.99
- Shifting perceptions
  
  IMAGINE HOPE: AIDS and gay identity
  Simon Watney
  Routledge, 2000, £15.99
- From safe waters to new oceans
  
  Health Promotion: effectiveness, efficiency and equity
  Keith Tones and Sylvia Tilford
  Nelson Thornes, 2001, £25.00
- 1066 and all that
  
  A CHRONOLOGY OF STATE MEDICINE, PUBLIC HEALTH, WELFARE AND RELATED SERVICES IN BRITAIN, 1066-1999
  Michael D Warren
  Faculty of Public Health Medicine, 2000, £15.00
- But where to begin?
  
  PERSPECTIVES IN PUBLIC HEALTH
  Sian Griffiths and David Hunter (eds)
  Radcliffe Medical Press, 1999
- Whose quality of life is it?
  
  EXPERIENCING CANCER: quality of life in treatment
  Kirsten Costain Schou and Jenny Hewison
  Open University Press, 1999
- Smoking memos
  
  DENIAL & DELAY: the political history of smoking and health, 1951-1964
  David Pollock
  Action on Smoking and Health, 1999
- Moving in circles
  
  A PUBLIC HEALTH MODEL OF PRIMARY CARE: from concept to reality
  Taylor P, Peckham S, Turton P
  Public Health Alliance, 1998
- Three wheels on my bandwagon
  
  QUALITY, EVIDENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS IN HEALTH PROMOTION
  Davies JK and MacDonald G
  Routledge, 1998, £15.00
- Those nicotine-age years
  
  SMOKING IN ADOLESCENCE: IMAGES AND IDENTITIES
  Barbara Lloyd and Kevin Lucas
  Routledge, 1998, £14.99
- Not quite as healthy as they look
  
  HEALTH ISSUES AND ADOLESCENTS: growing up, speaking out
  Janet Shucksmith and Leo B Hendry
  Routledge, 1998, £12.99
- For some, life is a drag
  
  SMOKE RINGS
  Video and booklet resource
  Sheffield Health Promotion Unit, 1995
- Good medicine for public health
- Fact & fiction
  
  HEALTH PROMOTION: philosophy, prejudice and practice
  David Seedhouse
  John Wiley, 1997, £14.99
- Risk sharing
  
  Children at Risk? Safety as a Social Value
  Helen Roberts, Susan Smith, Carol Bryce
  Open University Press, 1996, £12.99
- Can HP be PC?
  
  The Sociology of health promotion: critical analyses of lifestyle, consumption and risk
  Robin Bunton, Sarah Nettleton, Roger Burrows (eds) Routledge, 1995, £13.99
- HP source
  
  Health Promotion Theory and Practice
  J Kemm and A Close
  Macmillan, 1995, £13.99
- Breath of fresh air on asthma
  
  The Asthma Handbook
  Jenny Lewis with the National Asthma Campaign
  London: Vermilion, 1995, £8.99
- Tales of young males
  
  SEX, LIES AND HEARSAY
  GW Theatre Company, 1994
- Too few hands on today’s pumps
  
  The Epidemiological Imagination
  Edited by John Ashton
  Open University Press, 1994, £12.99
- A cure for apoplexy
  
  Tobacco in history: the cultures of dependence
  Jordan Goodman
  Routledge, 1993
- Optimism and pride
  
  POSITIVELY WOMEN: LIVING WITH AIDS
  Sue O’Sullivan & Kate Thomson (eds)
  Sheba Feminist Press, 1992, £9.99
  
  WORKING WITH WOMEN AND AIDS: MEDICAL, SOCIAL & COUNSELLING ISSUES
  Judy Bury, Val Morrison & Sheena McLachlan (eds) Routledge, 1992
- Down among the users
  
  AIDS, DRUGS AND SEXUAL RISK: LIVES IN THE BALANCE
  Neil McKeganey and Marion Bond
  Open University Press, 1992
- That’s no accident!
  
  UNEQUAL RISKS: ACCIDENTS AND SOCIAL POLICY
  Allison Quick
  Socialist Health Association, 1991, £3.50
Letters

Stories on public health

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