Medact’s blog brings together the online health community. We blog our own pieces as well as co-host articles written by other bloggers who work on the issues of poverty, violence, injustice and inequality.
Either Civil Rule or Everlasting Sit-in
Since December 2018, protests across Sudan have been taking place almost daily – with healthcare workers playing a central role. In this piece, we provide the background to the ongoing struggle and platform the voice of Dr. Mohammed Abdelraoof Hussien, a doctor in Sudan.
Net-zero by 2050 is too little too late; some reaction to the Committee on Climate Change Net Zero report
Our Fossil Free Health campaigner, Deirdre Duff, offers some reaction to the recent Net Zero report by the Committee on Climate Change.
Activism, extractivism and the healthcare community
A profit-driven, extractive economy is severely undermining the life support systems of the planet and exacerbating health inequities around the world. The fossil fuel industry epitomises the worst of what drives this system, and is responsible for impacting the...
DWP not Fit for Practice
In yet another demonstration of government departments concerning intervention in healthcare provision, a recent report released by Z2K highlights a new practice by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) that could have real impact on health equity. The report...
War, violence and the mental health crisis in Kashmir
Kashmiri student and Medact member Neelam Iqbal writes about the mental health toll of the decades long conflict and calls for us to pay more attention to the needs of the people of Kashmir.
Stop Funding the End of the World – Don’t Bank on the Bomb
Don’t Bank on the Bomb Scotland introduces their new toolkit, giving some tips for actions we can take to urge our elected representatives, institutions and banks to divest from nuclear weapons.
Fighting for intergenerational justice – midwives can be climate champions
Alison Reid urges midwives to get involved in the fossil fuel divestment movement as a means of acting on climate change. Babies being born today face a future marred by climate breakdown if we do not act urgently. Climate action is far more than an environmental concern – it’s a matter of intergenerational justice and crucial to protect human health.
When all we have is ourselves – a reflection of non-violent direct action in social justice movements
In this blog, we ask ourselves what is driving citizens to NVDA, how health professionals have historically engaged in arrestable political action and what this has meant, or might mean, for their careers. For this, we interviewed two practicing health professionals about their experiences and insights into engaging in NVDA and how this informs their activism.
The risks of US abrogation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty on the centenary of WW1
On the centenary of the end of the most devastating humanitarian catastrophe the world had hitherto ever seen, in which at least 20 million people were killed and over 21 million wounded, Medact’s Nuclear Weapons Group warn of the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe on an even greater scale.
A Day of Action to End the Hostile Environment in the NHS
On Tuesday 23rd October Medact coordinated a day of action to call for an end to the Hostile Environment in the NHS. The day marked the one year anniversary of the Department of Health introducing a policy that forces NHS Trusts to check patients’ ID before allowing...
The Prevent duty in the NHS: implementation and impacts
As Medact begins new work looking at how the PREVENT strand of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy is affecting the NHS, Reem Abu-Hayyeh gives an overview of the policy and its reception to date.
US and Russia must preserve INF Treaty, begin negotiations for nuclear abolition
Statement from the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War responding to the concerning recent announcement that the United States will be withdrawing from the Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF).