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.
We welcome pitches for new blogs on relevant issues, especially from members of the health community. Please read our guide to pitching and writing for the Medact blog.
Why the UK should attend the Nuclear Ban first meeting of states
The UK government, however, has continued to refuse to engage with the TPNW – and it has shown no intention of attending this incredibly important world meeting as an observer.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: We need a non-militarised response
Medact members have called for a non-militarised response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine, rejecting calls for increased UK military spending. Responding to an article in the BMJ by Martin McKee which said that we "cannot call for more money to prevent threats from...
Russia, Ukraine and nuclear dangers
In this blog, Dr Frank Boulton outlines the nuclear threats associated with the current conflict in Ukraine, and questions the myth of the effectiveness of nuclear deterrence.
Twice the threat, but twice the opportunity
Elisabeth McElderry considers how the dual threats of nuclear weapons and climate change, and how to address them.
Reflections on a week at the climate talks
In this blog, Medact member Lesley Morrison shares her experiences and reflections from attending COP26 as an observer as well as the Glasgow march for Climate Justice.
Access to healthcare during a pandemic – a nurse’s perspective
This is a guest blog for the Patients Not Passports No Borders in the NHS Week of Action by Kirit, a nurse in the NHS, exploring the impacts of COVID-19 and the Hostile Environment on access to healthcare for marginalised people.
Prevention, not punishment: why health workers must resist the policing bill
As the government seeks to extend policing into spaces of healthcare, co-opt the language of public health, and introduce new practices which will worsen social inequalities rather than resolve them—resistance from the health community is vital.
Bearing Witness — a new digital campaign connects UK health workers with their peers in humanitarian disasters
‘Bearing Witness’, a new digital healthcare campaign, will seek to bring health workers in conflict zones together with those in the UK. In this blog, campaign co-founder and paediatrician Dr. Hesham Abdalla explains the reasoning behind the campaign.
Counterterrorism police can’t spin surveillance as care
Once you cut through the spin, the evidence about vulnerability support hubs raises serious ethical concerns.
Freedom day: Unequal freedoms = health injustice
“Freedom day” is clearly not about freedom from the risk of illness, death and destitution. It’s a continuation of the very system of governance that created avoidable public health harms from COVID-19 and the economic crisis. The premature ending of the public...
Steps in the right direction at the Biden-Putin Geneva Summit
On June 16th 2021, President Biden and President Putin’s joint declaration made at the Geneva summit gave hope of better diplomatic ties and a more stable relationship. In their statement, they reaffirmed the principle that “Nuclear war cannot be won and must never be...
The New Plan for Immigration will only compound mental health issues for refugees
Sanctuary seekers often arrive in the UK with a difficult set of premigration and migration journey experiences, and they are more likely than the host population or other people of the same ethnicity to experience mental health problems. The government’s ‘New Plan...