Posts about the work of the Health and Wellbeing directorate
Food poverty, or insecurity, is a personal tragedy for many people. More than 350,000 people had to turn to emergency food banks between April and September this year, according to the Trussell Trust, one of the largest providers of food …
HIV remains a major source of harm to people’s health, much of which is avoidable. There are more HIV tests being performed in England than at any time in the three decades we’ve been battling this virus. That’s welcome, but …
Back in the 1980s, the Royal College of Psychiatrists published ‘Alcohol: Our Favourite Drug’. Not much has changed over the years. Eighty-five per cent of adults drink alcohol and luckily, most of us drink in a ‘low-risk’ way. But well …
Today Public Health England published national drug treatment statistics for adults in 2012-13. They show that treatment continues to perform well overall and that, within the context of declining prevalence, the numbers in treatment are falling. Access remains quick and …
How will NHS Health Checks help us in our priority of reducing health inequalities? It's a question I get asked a lot because of the nature of the programme. It's intended as a population-based prevention programme, which will raise awareness and assess …
At the beginning of September I received a call from a young relative who was clearly distressed about a family member in Ireland – let’s call him Jim. She explained that his telephone messages and Facebook entries were becoming increasingly …
The well-known US psychologist, Ed Diener, once complained his professors wouldn't let him study happiness – depression yes, but happiness? Never. To me, that sums up the traditional focus we've had on mental illness. Of course that's important, but it …
Everyone remembers those iconic public health adverts – the ‘fatty cigarette’ or HIV tombstone TV ads for example. But there is a lot more to health marketing than memorable and creative ideas – did you know that smokers have ordered …
