By admin | Published:
October 24, 2011
October 24, 2011
Nicholas Mays
LONDON—The National Health Service in England has benefited from being made subject to market forces since 2002 — and it continues to serve as a good example of how ‘health for all’ can be achieved. This is according to a book published by the King’s Fund entitled: “Understanding New Labour’s Market Reforms of the English NHS” looking at the effects of a change of policy allowing competitive market practices. The book’s co-editor, Professor Nicholas Mays of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, discussed its findings and conclusions with Peter Goodwin.
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By admin | Published:
October 24, 2011
October 24, 2011
Martin McKee, Erica Richardson, Richard Horton
LONDON—Heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes and other non-communicable diseases pose a looming threat to low- and middle-income countries just as in the rich world according to experts meeting in London. At the Global Health Lab symposium in London Martin McKee and Erica Richardson of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine with Richard Horton Editor of The Lancet told Peter Goodwin about the importance of the issues raised by the experts contributing to the session: Allison Beattie of the UK Department for International Development, Philip James from the International Association for the Study of Obesity and David Stuckler from the University of Cambridge.
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By admin | Published:
October 19, 2011
October 19, 2011
Dina Balabanova, Martin McKee and Anne Mills
LONDON—Why do some low and middle income countries manage to achieve good health outcomes while others fail? What factors drive improvements in the health system and in access to primary health care? How can we act on the social determinants of health in cash-strapped economies?
Low and middle-income countries can achieve good health, without having to spend large amounts of money: they simply need to apply identifiable techniques and to have particular philosophies. This is the message emerging from a new book: entitled: Good Health At Low Cost just launched in London. It’s the result of painstaking research into health outcomes from different healthcare policies around the world.
The book follows on from research in 1985 when the Rockefeller Foundation published what was to become a seminal report — Good Health At Low Cost — which became essential reading for health systems decision- and policy-makers alike.
The new book draws on a series of up to date case studies from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Tamil Nadu and Thailand providing fresh insights into the role of effective institutions, innovation and country ownership in catalysing improvements in health.
Peter Goodwin talked with the book’s authors: Anne Mills, Martin McKee and Dina Balabanova, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
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By admin | Published:
October 19, 2011
October 19, 2011
Guy Collender
STOCKHOLM—The severe lack of sanitation in urban areas worldwide was explored at “World Water Week” — the annual conference just held in Stockholm for policy-makers and researchers specialising in water and sanitation. On his return from Stockholm, Guy Collender, of the SHARE research consortium, which is led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, discussed the consortium’s conference sessions on the challenges and solutions related to urban sanitation, and small-scale finance.
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By admin | Published:
September 20, 2011
September 20, 2011
Martin McKee
LONDON— A strong relationship between the amount of funding available for Britain’s National Health Service and the survival and quality of life of the population has been reported in a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine looking at mortality and the NHS. Professor Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine discusses the implications for health system planners in the UK and globally.
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By admin | Published:
September 20, 2011
September 20, 2011
David Schellenberg
LONDON—The importance of continuing to use insecticide treated bed-nets in malaria-affected regions has been emphasised by a leading expert commenting on new research from Senegal (published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases) about the effectiveness of the nets, insecticide resistance among mosquitos, and levels of immunity to malaria in the population. Professor David Schellenberg from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine discussed the latest data with Peter Goodwin.
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By admin | Published:
July 20, 2011
July 20, 2011
David Mabey
LONDON—Scientists from London and Switzerland have reported in The Lancet medical journal that a simple ante-natal screening test for syphilis and immediate treatment could halve the number of stillbirths caused by this infection — at very low cost. David Mabey, Professor of Communicable Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine — who wrote the accompanying comment article in The Lancet — talks with Peter Goodwin about the importance of this finding.
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By admin | Published:
July 14, 2011
July 14, 2011
Heidi Larson
“Public trust and public confidence in vaccines are vital to keeping immunisation rates up and keeping the value of vaccines real,” according to Heidi Larson of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine who took part in: “The New Decade of Vaccines” a scientific meeting reflecting a series of articles about vaccination in The Lancet medical journal. She explains the importance of addressing public confidence issues to Sarah Maxwell.
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By admin | Published:
July 7, 2011
July 7, 2011
Caroline Free
Smokers were twice as likely to succeed when they tried to stop smoking if they received supportive text messages while they were trying — that was in a randomised controlled trial with 5 000 volunteer quitters undertaken by scientists in London and Auckland. Dr Caroline Free of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine told Peter Goodwin about her group’s txt2stop study.
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By admin | Published:
June 21, 2011
June 21, 2011
Brian Greenwood
ATLANTA—Just before the successful Global Alliance on Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) talks took place in London a British scientist was honoured by the United States in Atlanta, Georgia. Professor Brian Greenwood gave the Shepard Lecture on the subject of: Vaccination and Global Health to the Centers for Disease Control. He tells Audio News about the state of the art of vaccination for a range of diseases and the possibility, potentially, of saving millions of lives in the near future.
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By admin | Published:
June 21, 2011
June 21, 2011
James Hargreaves
LONDON—Part of the success of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) talks held in London may have been the availability of new ways of funding vaccines to guarantee their affordability in low and middle-income countries. Dr James Hargreaves of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine tells Sarah Maxwell about “push” and “pull” techniques his group has been looking at to get the biggest “bang for the buck” in vaccine provision for the developing world.
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By admin | Published:
June 21, 2011
June 21, 2011
Karl Blanchet
LONDON—Complexity is a big hazard for a humanitarian organisation wanting to intervene in a disaster — whether natural or man-made. So is any lack of political independence. That’s according to a new book “Many Reasons To Intervene” that compares British with French Non-Governmental Organisations — or NGOs. Karl Blanchet of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Editor of the book, explains that British NGOs have a completely different culture from their French counterparts. The book’s ten contributing writer-experts hint at a hopeful role for NGOs in geopolitics, but they warn that more needs to be done to co-ordinate efforts.
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