Conflicts of interest harm health, and a new investigation uncovers the infiltration of big food manufacturers into UK schools. Emma Wilkinson reports on that investigation. Kamran and  Rebecca Coombes, head of journalism, discuss moves to reduce industry's impact on food policy in the UK.

A new research paper has identified a link between eating chocolate and lower rates of diabetes. Binkai Liu, doctoral student and Qi Sun, associate professor, at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health explain what they found.

Finally, Sam Hutt is a doctor in the NHS, but is better known by his stage persona “Hank Wangford”. Hank performed a celebration of the NHS at Glastonbury this year, and has now released that song. He joins us to talk about what inspired him.

 

Reading list

Food industry has infiltrated UK children’s education: stealth marketing exposed Chocolate intake and risk of type 2 diabetes

Hank Wangford

In today’s episode, new research, which has looked at the impact staff turnover is having on patient outcomes. Giuseppe Moscelli, associate professor at the University of Surrey joins Navjoyt Ladher to explain more.

 

Also, every year the BMJ has a Christmas appeal - and this year we have chosen the International Rescue Committee as our partner. To talk more about what they do, and to give us some insight into how geopolitics are affecting health we're joined David Milliband, president and chief executive officer of the International Rescue Committee, and former UK foreign secretary.

 

Reading list;

Nurse and doctor turnover and patient outcomes in NHS acute trusts in England

The BMJ Appeal 2024-25: David Miliband on hospital attacks, Trump, and the International Rescue Committee in a “flammable world”

This week we’re at the World Innovation Summit for Health, where we’re a media partner - the meeting is focussing on conflict, equity and resilience. 

In that vein, we’re joined by Christos Christou, international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to talk about attacks on healthcare staff, and the difficulty and importance of maintaining neutrality in conflict zones.

Ara Darzi, surgeon, executive chair of the conference, and author of the recent NHS review, joins us to talk about  antimicrobial resistance, and how diagnostics and a small funding commitment could head off the problem.

And finally, we change our focus to the US, and hear about new research into adverse events during surgery with authors Antoine Duclos and David Bates from Harvard Medical School.

 

Reading list.

 

We need to do more to keep antibiotics working

WISH report - Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance: How to Keep Antibiotics Working for the Next Century

Safety of inpatient care in surgical settings: cohort study

In this episode, we speak to the doctor overseeing the WHO’s emergency response for the eastern mediterranean region - including Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen. Richard Brennan joins us to talk about protecting health services, and workers, in the escalating armed conflicts that are affecting the region.

Menaka Paranathala and Emma Rourke, from The BMJ, are on to talk about improving research into women’s health. A new UK project, MESSAGE, aims to give consideration to sex and gender in life science research.

Palliative care is not just for end-of-life, and rethinking how it’s integrated into every speciality is the key to improving care for patients, argue Richard Harding, Anna Peeler, and Oladayo Afolabi from the Cicely Saunders Institute.

Links

• WISH report - Protecting Health in Armed Conflict
• MESSAGE (Medical Science Sex and Gender Equity) project
• BMJ Opinion - Palliative care is an overlooked global health priority
• WISH report - Palliative Care

It’s an often cited statistic that if healthcare was a country, it would be the fifth largest carbon emitter. At The BMJ we want to change that, and move healthcare towards a more sustainable future. 

In this week’s episode, we’ll hear about our annual climate edition from two of The BMJ’s editors, Sophie Cook and Juliet Dobson. 

We’ll be diving into Cli-Fi and asking how climate fiction can galvanise our collective response to climate change. Our panel includes Howard Frumkin, professor emeritus at University of Washington. Lakshmi Krishnan, internist and Director of Medical Humanities at Georgetown university, and Sarah Grossman, journalist and author of Fire So Wild.

And Finally, Tereza Kasaeva, director of the WHO’s Global Tuberculosis Programme, explains how migration and food insecurity, exacerbated by climate change, are affecting TB - and why, despite effective treatment, there are still over a million deaths from the disease annually. 

 

Our panel's cli-fi book recommendations

• A Fire So Wild - Sarah Grossman
• The Last Man - Mary W. Shelly
• The Broken Earth  - NK Jemisin
• Oryx and Crake - Margaret Attwood
• The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson
• Olga Dies Dreaming - Xóchitl González
• Land of Milk and Honey - C Pam Zhang
• Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham

 

Links

• The BMJ’s annual climate issue
• Cli-Fi—helping us manage a crisis
• Writing towards a healthier future amid climate disaster
• WISH report - Tuberculosis

 

Lakshmi’s references

• Fundamental Role of Arts and Humanities in Medical Education 
• Capable of being in uncertainties’: applied medical humanities in undergraduate medical education
• The introduction of medical humanities in the undergraduate curriculum of Greek medical schools: challenge and necessity
• The medical humanities at United States medical schools

How science can be transformed into policy?

One of the seemingly intractable issues when it comes to legislative change in the US is gun control.  One reason policy change is so difficult, is the US specific evidence vacuum, but that’s beginning to change.

We're joined by Louis Klarevas, an academic at the University of Colombia and author of the book “Rampage Nation, securing america from gun violence" and Shannon Watts, from Moms Demand Action which is a grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence.

 

Even when there is evidence, the trade-offs needed for legislative change can still paralyse policy makers. Citizen assemblies, a form of democratic participation that asks the public for their views, has helped clarify some key healthcare issues, from assisted dying in Jersey, to abortion access in Ireland.

Rebecca McKee from the Institute of Government argues they could be used to fix the NHS, and joins us to explain how.

 

Reading list

More gun regulation, less firearm harm

Citizens’ assemblies, health, and health policy

 

 

 

 

Under-nutrition harms health, but so does over-nutrition.

The Bill and Melinda Gate’s foundation has just released their Goalkeepers' report - highlighting the detrimental impact that poor nutrition is having on children’s health.  Rasa Izadnegahdar, director of Maternal, Newborn, Child Nutrition & Health at the foundation joins us to explain how they are targeting nutritional interventions.

Also this week, a new investigation in The BMJ has found that the UK government’s  Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition - the people who help guide the UK’s nutrition policy - have competing interests with the food industry. We hear from Chris van Tulleken, University College London; Rob Percival, the Soil Association; and Alison Tedstone, chair of the Association for Nutrition.

 

Reading list:

Goalkeepers Report 2024

UK government’s nutrition advisers are paid by world’s largest food companies, BMJ analysis reveals

 

 

There's a real drive to strengthen quality of care in facilities around the world. However, no matter where you are, improving healthcare depends on quality data—and collecting and using that data can be challenging without the time and expertise. In this podcast, we explore how different healthcare systems, especially those with limited resources, are tackling the challenge of data collection and use head-on.   The BMJ has partnered with the World Health Organization and the World Bank on a Collection on Quality of Care. This podcast, the second in a series exploring themes from the Collection, features researchers and implementers from Ghana, Qatar, and the US. They share insights on improving and using data in resource-constrained environments, offering valuable perspectives relevant to healthcare systems worldwide facing similar challenges.   Provenance statement: This podcast is part of a Collection on Quality of Care proposed and funded by the World Health Organization and the World Bank. The BMJ commissioned, edited, and published the podcast. Emma Veitch, Rachael Hinton and Duncan Jarvis were the lead editors for The BMJ.

The news that GPs in England have voted for industrial action has spooked the healthcare system - Katie Bramall-Stainer, the chair of the BMA's General Practice Committee explains what's lead to this, and why trust in the government has gone.

After the games, olympians and paralympians return to their normal lives - but what does that mean for their healthcare, especially in the US where insurance is expensive? Jonathan Finnoff, chief medical officer for the US Olympic and Paralympic committee joins us to explain how athletes are supported outside the games.

 

Reading list;

GP leader: “If general practice is the bedrock of the NHS, then the NHS is collapsing”

 

This week we're questioning the effectiveness of the Galleri Test for early cancer detection with investigation authors Margaret McCartney and Deborah Cohen. They delve into the decision-making and politics behind this test's introduction in the UK.

The episode also covers the growing NHS waiting list crisis and how Imran Ahmed and his team at Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Trust are using high intensity theatre (HIT) lists to increase surgical throughput - and what other teams need to know, if a national rollout of this model is to happen.

Reading list

Galleri promises to detect multiple cancers—but new evidence casts doubt on this much hyped blood test

Are surgical HIT lists the answer to bringing down NHS waiting times?

The Paris games have just started - and France has made a concerted effort to ensure that this year's Olympics will have a legacy of physical activity for the whole population.

However, mega sporting events don't always have that effect, and Fiona Bull, head of physical activity for the WHO, joins us to explain why it's increasingly important that they do.

We'll also hear from Professor Sir Denis Perera Gray about how a lifetime of general practice, and why continuity needs to be at the heart of any improvement to primary care.

Finally, Harry Brunjes went from being a village GP to the chair of English National Opera, and explains what the two careers have in common.

 

Reading list

Olympic Games: linking sports mega events to population physical activity