So Hard to Watch

December 31, 2020

The UK are being dragged into a socio-economic crisis bigger than anything they have seen since World War 2, and for what reason? Mental health, food supply chains, unemployment, a widening wealth divide, health care access crisis, and so many other seemingly insurmountable issues are crashing down simultaneously on this nation. Some of the reasons … More So Hard to Watch

Wicked Problems and Collective Impact

December 24, 2020

Wicked problems appear impossible to solve. They are complex, long-standing, seemingly intractable, and there are divergent opinions about the ways to address them. Wicked problems do not occur in a vacuum. They are enmeshed in wider social, cultural and political issues. Typically, governments and other organizations attempt to fix wicked problems through a particular lens … More Wicked Problems and Collective Impact

Making WHO Accountable

December 17, 2020

Description of the problem: WHO has received user feedback on an elevated risk for false SARS-CoV-2 results when testing specimens using RT-PCR reagents on open systems. This is from the WHO Information Notice for IVD Users (In Vitro Diagnostic Users), dated 7 December and published online 14 December 2020. That’s almost exactly 11 months after … More Making WHO Accountable

Politics, Poverty, Phylogeny and Poetry

December 16, 2020

Kung Future in Cambodia are starting a maternal-child nutrition project with a small foundation sponsorship received recently. Unable to travel there, it is an Australian-English-Cambodian partnership underway with untrained local staff implementing the work via support through Zoom meetings. At a time when extra and intensive support is needed most in the face of hunger … More Politics, Poverty, Phylogeny and Poetry

Pandemic Patterns

December 13, 2020

On December 10, 2020, Dr Clare Craig, Diagnostic Pathologist, addressed a large gathering of concerned parents about Covid testing, T-Cell immunity and the testing of children and young people. Below is the video of her opening address and my summary notes. Whilst she speaks from a specifically UK perspective, it is important to consider the … More Pandemic Patterns

Pandemic PCR Problems

December 12, 2020

In 2009 I had a very strange, quite traumatic work experience. I was part of a public health team who provided a local response to the Swine Flu (H1N1/09) pandemic. Our usual outbreak response of calm, critical thought following planned, evidence-based practice was overridden by media and political histrionics. It took place over a number … More Pandemic PCR Problems