1,721,356 research outputs found
The dispossessed: a public health response to the rise of the far-right in Europe and North America
No full text2016 was a turbulent year. Few events in our lifetimes alter the world’s political realities. Yet two happened in rapid succession. First, on 24 June 2016, the UK public voted by a narrow margin to exit the EU, which the polls had failed to predict. Then, 8 November 2016, in the USA, democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s seemingly safe lead against republican Donald Trump was found to have been in part an artefact of polling errors as Trump won in an upset.
Beyond the obvious need to improve data polling practices, Brexit and Trump’s election pose significant threats to public health in Europe and North America.
Some commentators will be quick to ask, ‘is it really that bad?’ Let us turn first to the statements of the president-elect. He has professed ‘climate change is a conspiracy of the Chinese’, and argues to exit the Paris Accord, part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change dealing with greenhouse gases emissions mitigation. He opposes President Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which, albeit not without its difficulties, successfully expanded coverage to 20 million Americans.1 He has openly ridiculed people for their disabilities, and made openly misogynistic comments towards women. His early appointments, such as Steve Bannon to chief of staff, who runs an ‘alt-right’ media outlet, Breitbart news. Far from his campaign promise to ‘drain the swamp’ of establishment elites, his transition team now includes the greatest representation of big corporations of any past presidency
Sick societies : responding to the global challenge of chronic disease
No full textNo abstract availabl
Revisiting the Corporate and Commercial Determinants of Health.
No full textWe trace the development of the concept of the corporate determinants of health. We argue that these determinants are predicated on the unchecked power of corporations and that the means by which corporations exert power is increasingly unseen. We identify four of the ways corporations influence health: defining the dominant narrative; setting the rules by which society, especially trade, operates; commodifying knowledge; and undermining political, social, and economic rights. We identify how public health professionals can respond to these manifestations of power
Realising an election manifesto for public health in the UK.
No full textPeople living in the UK are now bracing themselves for 12 weeks of intensive campaigning ahead of the 2015 general election on May 7. In previous elections, political parties concentrated on so-called swing seats since the first-past-the-post system, coupled with the dominance of two large parties, meant that outcomes in many parts of the country could be predicted with a high degree of certainty. Which party actually achieved power came down to a few undecided voters in a small number of constituencies
The rise of neoliberalism: how bad economics imperils health and what to do about it
No full textThe 2008 global financial crisis, precipitated by high-risk, under-regulated financial practices, is often seen as a singular event. The crisis, its recessionary consequences, bank bailouts and the adoption of ‘austerity’ measures can be seen as a continuation of a 40-year uncontrolled experiment in neoliberal economics. Although public spending and recapitalisation of failing banks helped prevent a 1930s-style Great Depression, the deep austerity measures that followed have stifled a meaningful recovery for the majority of populations. In the short term, these austerity measures, especially cuts to health and social protection systems, pose major health risks in those countries under its sway. Meanwhile structural changes to the global labour market, increasing under-employment in high-income countries and economic insecurity elsewhere, are likely to widen health inequities in the longer term. We call for four policy reforms to reverse rising inequalities and their harms to public health. First is re-regulating global finance. Second is rejecting austerity as an empirically and ethically unjustified policy, especially given now clear evidence of its deleterious health consequences. Third, there is a need to restore progressive taxation at national and global scales. Fourth is a fundamental shift away from the fossil fuel economy and policies that promote economic growth in ways that imperil environmental sustainability. This involves redistributing work and promoting fairer pay. We do not suggest these reforms will be politically feasible or even achievable in the short term. They nonetheless constitute an evidence-based agenda for strong, public health advocacy and practice
Scientific divisions on Covid-19: not what they might seem
Full text linkA new theme has emerged in the media discourse on covid-19 in the UK. We are told that the scientific community is divided, between those who advocate stringent lockdowns even at the cost of widespread collateral damage to mental and physical health, and those who propose returning rapidly to life as normal, allowing the virus to spread through the population
How the Internet Risks Widening Health Inequalities.
No full textIn a world where knowledge is power, the internet has been hailed as a means of redressing longstanding inequalities in health. Anyone with access to a smartphone can connect with others almost anywhere in the world and to access a wealth of knowledge. Those who are disadvantaged can organize and challenge the status quo, whether to challenge the actions of a multinational corporation polluting their environment, to hold politicians to account for policies impacting on health or, for those with rare or neglected diseases, to create online support groups..
Commentary: Would your health be better if you lived in England or in the USA?
No full textNo abstract availabl
Recession hardships, personal control, and the amplification of psychological distress: differential responses to cumulative stress exposure during the U.S. Great Recession
Full text linkRecessions pose risks to mental health, yet the psychosocial mechanisms involved are less clear. One critical factor may be people’s perceived control when faced with multiple recession hardships. Here we test a structural amplification hypothesis by assessing the role of perceived control as a mediator and moderator of the relation between recession shocks and psychological distress. We draw on waves 2 (2004–2006) and 3 (2013–2014) of the Midlife in the United States study (MIDUS), covering 1,739 US adults under age 75 from before and after the Great Recession. Our statistical models reveal that perceived control declines while distress rises in association with a greater accumulation of recession-related hardships. Perceived control partially mediated the recession hardships-distress asso-ciation,attenuating it by about one-fifth. Further, perceived control modified the association between recession hardships and distress; individuals who reported larger declines in personal control had greater increases in distress, whereas those who experienced hardships but increased their perceived control did not exhibit significant changes in distress levels. Taken together, our findings support the structural amplification hypothesis, whereby an accumulation of recession hardships erode coping resources that would otherwise protect individuals from the mental health effects of stress exposure. Future research is needed to better understand sources of resilience at individual, community, and societal levels to help ameliorate sentiments of powerlessness and lack of perceived control during economic recessions
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