Scott Atlas has been described variously as an “extremist”, “Trump’s latest yes-man”, a “crackpot” and other politically driven insults that do not reflect his character, motivation or skill. Common criticism from the general public, promoted by media-led character assassinations, has included “he’s not an immunologist or a virologist”, as though public health consists of nothing … More Basic Public Health is Not ‘Extremism’
The latest letter from public health experts without political positions to those with political power was sent yesterday to the British government. Letters like this have been sent to many governments, including Australia, with little impact. Somehow this one seems like it might help shift the world away from political frenzy, towards public health evidence … More What Power in a Letter?
We Need a Radically Different Approach This excellent article is an interview with two Harvard Professors published in Jacobin Magazine, who describe themselves as “a leading voice of the American left“. I make this distinction because of the accusations of political ideology which often frame perceptions of challenging opinions. Francois Balloux tweeted this today, which … More Tips From Harvard
Anders Tegnell is chief epidemiologist with the Swedish Public Health Agency. Unlike many western countries whose health departments respond directly to elected ministers, Swedish law does not allow political intervention in agency decision making. This lack of ministerial rule seems to explain why evidence based pandemic plans were followed with minimal controversy in Sweden. Much … More Interviews Worth Hearing
Streptococcus pneumoniae (known as “pneumococcus“) is a bacteria that causes diseases such as middle ear infections, pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia. It can cause fatal disease if not treated early enough with effective antibiotics. WHO estimate that around half a million lives are lost due to this bacteria each year. It is the leading cause of … More When Is a Pandemic No Longer a Pandemic?
Infant Breathing Breathing is a complicated physiological process that occurs differently in infants. The area in our brain that controls breathing is not fully developed in infants, who are at higher risk of suffocation, particularly during sleep. The phenomenon of infants dying in their sleep inexplicably, documented for thousands of years, has become known as … More When Cute Isn’t Cute
Wicked Problems A wicked problem is a social or cultural problem that is difficult or impossible to solve for as many as four reasons: incomplete or contradictory knowledge, the number of people and opinions involved, the large economic burden, and the interconnected nature of these problems with other problems…… These problems can be mitigated through … More Solving Wicked Problems Despite Groupthinks
When I posted my Turning Tides blog two days ago it was distinctly American focused. My personal thoughts were that Australia did not appear to have any leadership able to help us through the ongoing mire of misinformation, confusion and division. Turns out that I was very wrong. Happily so! If you are an Australian … More Australia’s Turning Tide
The New York Times describe Scott Atlas as having “unorthodox” ideas, and “pushing a suite of disputed policy prescriptions” in this article https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/02/us/politics/trump-scott-atlas-coronavirus.html#click=https://t.co/0jLWPfUQ7g. Yet for anyone who has read a little bit of public health and heard Atlas speak, this seems to be very far from the truth. Atlas recommends an evidence based public health … More Turning Tides
Politicians and the media have become our public health advisors and experts in 2020. This has been incredibly painful to watch. So much so that I have not looked at a newspaper or turned on the television in months. Public health appears to have folded to pressure from ill informed sources instead of following existing … More Fallacies and Fatality Rates
alicespringstomind 