A senior World Health Organisation envoy caused consternation by proclaiming lockdowns are not a good long-term strategy against COVID-19. But it’s true, and other subtler tactics are better in the long run.
New Canadian clinical practice guidelines for obesity aim to help reduce the prevalence and impact of weight bias and stigma in clinical care, and also encourage the public to advocate for change.
COVID-19 public health messages often classify ‘elderly neighbours’ as in need of aid, and overlook the substantial contributions, achievements and resources of older people.
Framing the fight against coronavirus as a spiritual war may stem from a shared sense of discomfort about an adversary without discernible conscience; an impersonal demon.
What if we treated climate change as a health problem rather than an environmental one? There are lessons to be learned from the successful public health campaigns against smoking.
A strike by Kenyan nurses points to the country’s failure to manage the devolution of responsibility for health care from national to county governments.
Many of us might be tempted to give up alcohol for a month as part of a highly publicised campaign, like Dry July. But how successful are these campaigns and how do you measure any long-term benefits?
Benjamin Franklin was the most famous man of his era not only because of his role in founding our country. He had a keen interest in health, with many ideas that hold up today.
Monthly bouts of abstinence have become regular features of public health and charity campaigns, but there may be even more important milestones for giving up.
Many public awareness campaigns fail to change attitudes and behaviours because they start from the flawed premise that just telling someone something is bad will make them stop doing it.
Those working in public health would be the first to concede that our discipline has a bit of an image problem. If we’re not despairing over the societal burden of obesity (step away from those pies…
When it comes to illnesses linked to poor health choices, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that the rates at which people die from them have been falling for some time. The bad news is…
SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney