Climate & Health Research Team Meeting
2021-02-10 19:00 - 20:30 (Europe/London)
The Climate & Health Research will be meeting on Wednesday 10th February to continue work on our new briefing.
If you’re interested in getting involved in our research network you can sign up online or contact our Research Manager Hilary Aked ─ hilaryaked@medact.org

Health Versus Wealth? UK Economic Policy and Public Health During COVID-19
2021-02-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Our Economic Justice and Health Group’s new briefing will pick apart the Government strategies in response to COVID-19 ─ and in particular the guiding assumptions that public health and economic wealth are in tension. The briefing dispels this myth, showing that a ‘health versus wealth’ mentality is a false dichotomy.

It charts a course of how these assumptions came about to be, the policies that weakened the social immunity of the UK and laid the ground for one of the highest death tolls in the world and also the deepest economic crisis out of the G7. Importantly it also points to what needs to be done now to protect lives and livelihoods and address health inequalities at their roots.

We have lined up some fantastic speakers for the launch:

Dr Christina Pagel from Independent Sage will be speaking about the public health response and how we can prevent further lives being lost

Christine Berry, an economist, will be helping us understand the assumptions behind economic policy, the shortcomings and what needs to be done to protect livelihoods

Our issue group members and briefing authors Dr Monica Sharman and Daniel Carter will take us through the analysis in the briefing and the recommendations we have made to protect both lives and livelihoods

[Registration has now closed]

East Midlands February Meeting
2021-02-18 19:00 - 20:30
Join us on Thursday 18th February 7:00pm – 8:30pm to get involved in our work to tackle climate change in the East Midlands.
If you would like to join the online meeting please send us email or RSVP below!
[Registration has now closed]

Race & Health Justice Group ─ first online reading group
2021-02-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
In line with our group vision we see the reading group as a space where we can unlearn and challenge internalised racism, expand our anti-racist skills, encourage curiosity and openness, and to reflect on bringing this learning into our working and campaigning lives.

For the first group, we will discuss and critique a short article on a medical leadership body’s stance on racism in their organisation.

We will discuss how we relate personally to their ideas and language, and what we would like to see from our own “leaders”.

Practicalities and accessibility

We will circulate our group ground rules when you sign up, and ask that you only join us if you are happy to commit to these principles.

Please read the article ahead of the reading group. If you would like an audio version, or to read it collectively with others before the group, please email us ─ racehealthjustice@medact.org

We expect most attendees will be people working in healthcare, but the group is open to all.

The reading group will be on Zoom – we will run through logistics at the start of the meeting, but if you are new to Zoom there is a user guide here. The Zoom application will download automatically when you click on a meeting link for the first time.

We can provide captioning and/or BSL interpreting, please email us & we’ll arrange

You are welcome to have your camera on or off, and to eat during the session, but please do come willing to contribute to the discussion!

We will have a scheduled break half way through.

We will cap numbers in order to have a small and active discussion.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to support you to attend.

Please RSVP below to join ─ or if you have any questions about the session, please email racehealthjustice@medact.org

If you are unable to join this session, please do join our mailing list to hear about future groups.

The event is now full but you can add your name to the waitlist using the form below and we’ll let you know if a space opens up

[Registration has now closed]

Health for a Green New Deal: Action Workshop
2021-02-24 18:30 - 20:00 | Zoom
In recent years, the call for a transformative Green New Deal has been growing at a rapid pace. The COVID-19 pandemic has only intensified the urgency of this cause, highlighting the need for a recovery that is both socially and ecologically just. What recent challenges have shown us is that we can’t separate the health and wellbeing of our planet from that of our own. The Green New Deal, a 10-year emergency plan to eliminate emissions and tackle inequality, presents an opportunity to reprioritise and place good health at the centre of all economic and social planning.
The health community has a key role to play in envisioning and demanding these changes. We hope you will join us for this workshop as we begin to build a collaborative plan for the roles that various bodies and institutions can play in bringing about a Green New Deal.
[Registration has now closed]

Peace & Security research group meeting [POSTPONED]
2021-02-25 14:00 - 15:30
UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed. We will confirm a new date shortly.
The Peace & Security group within the Medact Research Network are meeting to move forwards with a book chapter Medact is writing for the next edition of Global Health Watch.
Joining details will be sent to members of the Peace & Security research group directly.
To get involved with this or other campaign-relevant research work, visit the Medact Research Network page.

Prevent duty in NHS ─ February planning meeting
2021-02-25 17:00 - 18:30 | Zoom
We are having our regular meeting to discuss the different ways that the health community can take collective action on issues related to the Prevent counter-extremism policy in healthcare, and its connections with broader securitisation and racism in the NHS.
The meeting will take place online on Thursday 25th February from 5 – 6:30pm.
You must register for this meeting below, and details of how you can join the Zoom meeting will be sent to you.
If you are unable to attend but are interested in being involved in future meetings or actions, you can sign up to our Securitisation of Health mailing list or email reemabuhayyeh@medact.org
Our main priority is that as much as possible, health workers, patients and others impacted by Prevent who may attend this event feel safe both professionally and personally participating in Medact’s activities. As such, we ask that if you work in Prevent, the police or the Home Office, that you do not register to attend this event.
For any queries or for further discussion on this, please e-mail the address above.
[Registration has now closed]

Musicians for Peace and Disarmament: An Evening of Folk Music II
2021-02-25 19:15 - 21:00
Our friends at Musicians for Peace and Disarmament are holding an online evening of folk music on Thursday 25th February at 7.15pm.
You can find out who is playing and buy your ticket, by following this link.
Find out more & buy a ticket

Medact Scotland: Spring Planning Meeting
2021-03-01 19:30 - 20:30 | Zoom
Now that spring is springing, Medact Scotland will be meeting to discuss their ideas and plans for the next few months.
Items on the agenda include ICAN and the ICAN Cities Appeal, Don’t Bank on the Bomb (DBOTB), the COP26 coalition, Green General Practice and the Scottish Health Green New Deal group.
To join the meeting or get involved in the group, please email Lesley: scotland@medact.org

Migrant Solidarity Group: Meeting
2021-03-02 18:30 - 20:00
Our Migrant Solidarity Group will be meeting on Tuesday 2nd March at 6:30pm – 8:00pm.
To find out how to join the online meeting please email migrantsolidarity@medact.org

POSTPONED: Climate & Health Group - March Meeting
2021-03-11 18:30 - 20:00
We’re postponing the group meeting that was planned for tonight. Sorry for the late notice! Provisionally the new date is 22nd March but we will email to confirm ASAP.

Patients Not Passports Campaign Launch Greater Manchester
2021-03-11 19:00 - 20:30
We’re launching the Patients Not Passports campaign in Greater Manchester on Thursday 11th March at 7.00pm – 8.30pm.
Register your place

IPPNW Europe Meeting
2021-03-12 16:00 - 18:00
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Medact is part of an international network IPPNW and this meeting is an opportunity to find out about their plans for the year.
If you would like joining details of the meeting please email benjaminwalpole@medact.org
Please note the 5-7pm timings previously listed here was CET ─ the meeting is 4-6pm UK time.

Medact Race & Health Justice: Second Reading Group - “What’s in a name?”
2021-03-15 19:00 - 20:30
For our next reading group event we will explore and critique a short paper examining categorisations used to refer to minority groups, alongside the roots and potential limitations of these terms. Please find the paper details below:

Selvarajah S, Deivanayagam TA, Lasco G, et al Categorisation and Minoritisation BMJ Global Health 2020;5:e004508. Accessible via this link: https://gh.bmj.com/content/5/12/e004508

Please consider the following questions when reading the article:

What are the aims and interests of the authors for suggesting a change to the term BAME/BIPOC?

How does the term ‘minoritised’ change the way we think about race and racism?

What are the consequences of changing terms like BAME/BIPOC? What different actions can result from different terms such as minoritised, BAME and BIPOC?

In line with our group vision we see the reading group as a space where we can unlearn and challenge internalised racism, expand our anti-racist skills, encourage curiosity and openness, and to reflect on bringing this learning into our working and campaigning lives.

Practicalities and accessibility:

We will circulate our group ground rules when you sign up, and ask that you only join us if you are happy to commit to these principles.

Please read the article ahead of the reading group. If you would like an audio version, or to read it collectively with others before the group, please email us.

We expect most attendees will be people working in healthcare, but the group is open to all.

The reading group will be on Zoom – we will run through logistics at the start of the meeting, but if you are new to zoom there is a user guide here. The zoom application will download automatically when you click on a meeting link for the first time.

We can provide captioning and/or BSL interpreting, please email us

You are welcome to have your camera on or off, and to eat during the session, but please do come willing to contribute to the discussion!

We will have a scheduled break halfway through.

We will cap numbers in order to have a small and active discussion.

Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to support you to attend.

If you have any queries prior to the event please feel free to email us: racehealthjustice@medact.org

If you are unable to join this session, please do join our mailing list to hear about future events and how to get involved.

This event is now full! If you’re interested in joining a future session please subscribe to the group mailing list below and look out for details

Economic Justice & Health Group ─ March Big Meeting
2021-03-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
Join us to:

Get a quick refresher on our Health vs Wealth? UK economic policy and public health during COVID-19 briefing

Find out more from the people behind the campaign for Fair Furlough for Cleaners & Facility workers and those calling for a raise of legacy benefits in order to match the £20 increase of Universal Credit

Hear from a few of the members involved in the Economic Justice & Health Group

Find out ways you get involved with the work of the Economic Justice & Health Group

[Registration has now closed]

Patients Not Passports Greater Manchester: Taking Action to End the Hostile Environment
2021-03-18 19:00 - 20:30
This event is a great opportunity for health workers from the Greater Manchester area who would like to get involved in the Patients Not Passports campaign.
There will be lots of time for ideas and discussion; to find out about what we’ve done so far and who’s involved; and plan our next steps. We’ll think through campaign tactics and strategy, run sessions on action planning and power mapping, and develop a winning strategy for the campaign.
Register your place

Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy: An Evening with Ray Acheson
2021-03-22 19:00 - 20:30
Our friends at Scottish CND are hosting an evening of conversation and readings with nuclear disarmament activist, Ray Acheson, to celebrate the release of their new book: “Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy”.
On 22 January 2021, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came into force. In the words of ICAN’s first staff member, Felicity Ruby, in her book “Acheson tells the story of seven decades of activism transforming an impossible dream into international law.”
The book offers a look inside the antinuclear movement and the recent successful campaign to ban the bomb — from scrappy organising to winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and achieving a landmark UN Treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Register your place now

Online Storytelling Action for Green Jobs
2021-03-23 | Zoom
On Tuesday 23rd March, we’re teaming up with Green New Deal UK to run an online storytelling action, calling on MPs to support the creation of secure, well-paid green jobs as part of a post-COVID recovery.

Why ‘green jobs for all’?

As many as 1.9m jobs are at risk of being lost permanently as a result of the impacts of the pandemic. It is vital that the Government now intervenes to invest in job creation, but if our recovery only increases emissions, we will only pivot from one crisis to another: Climate Change.

Creating new, secure, well-paid green jobs has to be a priority if we are to build a healthy and sustainable recovery post-COVID. Research by Green New Deal UK shows that, with the right investment, the Government could create as many as 1.2m green jobs over the next two years alone.

Green jobs aren’t just what we might traditionally expect: people in hard-hats building wind turbines. They’re also jobs in vital, low-carbon, sectors such as education and healthcare. By focusing on such key industries, a green recovery can help us tackle staff-shortages in the NHS at the same time as fighting the climate crisis!

How do I take part in the storytelling action?

All you need to join the action is a phone to record a video on, and yourself! The aim of the action is to amplify support in the health community for the creation of a national green jobs scheme, highlighting the benefits to public health of ensuring employment that is both secure and sustainable.

You can take part at any time during the day of the 23rd March ─ whenever you have 5-10 spare minutes in your day.

Sign up now to receive a copy of our digital action guide that lays out in more detail the steps to follow to participate in the action!

[Registration has now closed]

Alternative Training on Prevent in Healthcare
2021-03-29 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom
It is possible to create a society in which our collective safety and wellbeing are prioritised. Developing trusting, healthy relationships with all of our patients is essential to this work.
However, Prevent ─ with the government’s stated aim of identifying “vulnerability to radicalisation” ─ compromises all of this, and is a source of harm and increased marginalisation.
Why is the NHS the only healthcare system in the world with a legal obligation to engage with such a strategy? What aren’t you being told about Prevent in safeguarding training?
Join our Alternative Training on Prevent online on Monday 29th March at 6pm to learn more
This training will seek to shed light on some unanswered questions about Prevent. We will hear from:

Members of Medact’s Securitisation of Health Group (SHG)
Dr Tarek Younis ─ a cultural and clinical critical psychologist and lecturer in psychology
Marcelo Camus ─ member of Medact’s SHG, a social practice artist and co-founder and organiser of the Social Art Network
Reem Abu-Hayyeh ─ Campaigns and Policy Lead: Peace and Security at Medact

This event is particularly aimed at people who work or are training in, study, or who have worked in health.
We are aware that some people may feel some concern or worry about attending the event. As such, we will be sending an email out to attendees prior to the event detailing how we will be seeking to make this event as safe and secure as possible.
The event is now full! You can register for the waiting list below:
Add your name to the waiting list

Securitisation of Health Group ─ Training follow-up
2021-04-07 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom
The Securitisation of Health Group will be meeting on 7th April to follow-up from our Alternative Training event.
Please RSVP below to receive joining details.
Our main priority is that as much as possible, health workers, patients and others impacted by Prevent who may attend this event feel safe both professionally and personally participating in Medact’s activities. As such, we ask that if you work in Prevent, the police or the Home Office, that you do not register to attend this event.
For any queries or for further discussion on this, please email reemabuhayyeh@medact.org
[Registration has now closed]

Migrant Solidarity Group: Meeting
2021-04-08 18:30 - 20:00
Our Migrant Solidarity Group will be meeting on Thursday 8th April at 6:30pm – 8:00pm.
To find out how to join the online meeting please email migrantsolidarity@medact.org

Briefing Launch: The public health case for the Green New Deal
2021-04-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
The Health for a Green New Deal campaign seeks to build mass support in the health community for a transformative Green New Deal and to organise health workers and students to advocate for a just transition to a zero-carbon society.
The Medact Climate & Health research cluster has been working on a briefing that sets out the public health case for a Green New Deal and sets out key actions that health workers and students can take to organise.
Join us for a webinar to launch the briefing on Thursday 8th April from 7.00pm – 8.30pm.
At the launch we will be joined by a range of guest speakers including:

Dr Helen Stokes Lampard – The Chair of the Academy of Royal Medical Societies, and Chair of the Board for the National Academy for Social Prescribing.
Guppi Bola – The chair of Joint Council For The Welfare Of Immigrants and author of the influential ‘Reimagining Public Health’ report published by Commonwealth.
Dr Andrew Harmer – A senior lecture at the Centre for Global Public Health who will be providing insights as a Medact member and one of the briefing’s authors!
Hannah Martin – co-director of Green New Deal UK who are campaigning across the UK for a transformative Green New Deal.

[Registration has now closed]

Green Jobs MP Lobbying Training (Session 1)
2021-04-12 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom
In the build up to our Health Lobby of MPs for Green Jobs, we will be running MP lobbying training sessions together with Hope For Future on 12th April and 22nd April.
Find out more about the Health Lobby and sign up for one of the training sessions here

Medact Yorkshire: Meeting
2021-04-14 18:30 - 20:00
Our Yorkshire Group are meeting on Wednesday 14th April at 6.30pm – 8.00pm.
If you are interested in joining their online meeting, please email office@medact.org

Health for a Green New Deal ─ Online Launch Gathering
2021-04-17 - 2021-04-18 | Online
Join us for our campaign launch weekend April 17th-18th 2021!

EU Citizens Politics Festival
2021-04-18 10:00 - 11:30
Our Access to Healthcare Campaigns & Programme Lead, James Skinner, will be speaking at the3million’s Young Europeans Network EU Citizens Politics Festival on Sunday 18th April from 10.00am – 11.30am.
Find out more and register your place

East Midlands Group: Meeting
2021-04-19 19:00 - 20:30
Our East Midlands Group will be meeting online on Monday 19th April from 7:00pm – 8:30pm.
To find out how to join their meeting, please email office@medact.org

Green Jobs MP Lobbying Training (Session 2)
2021-04-22 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom

Scottish Elections 2021: Glasgow Climate and Health Hustings
2021-04-22 19:30 - 21:00 | Zoom
On 6th May, Scotland goes to the polls. The outcome of the elections will determine the path that Scotland takes post-COVID.
As the host of the COP26 climate talks this November, the city of Glasgow will be at the centre of a global discussion concerning the health of people and planet. It is crucial that we take this opportunity to promote a vision of a post-COVID recovery that both tackles the climate crisis and supports those most impacted by the crises we face.
Join us on international Earth Day for our special election hustings, as healthcare workers in Glasgow grill candidates in the upcoming Scottish elections on their plans for a just and green recovery post-COVID!
[Registration has now closed]

‘Building the Health Movement for Climate Justice’ at From The Ground Up II: Taking Action
2021-04-24 16:30 - 18:00 | Zoom
Are you a health worker or health student wanting to take action at COP 26? Join us for this interactive session to build the health movement for climate justice.
‘Building the Health Movement for Climate Justice is co-organised by Medact, Race & Health, The People’s Health Movement (PHM) Environment & Health Circle, PHM UK, PHM Scotland, Health for Future and Students for Global Health as part of the COP 26 Coalition’s second global gathering – From the Group Up II: Taking Action.
This session will build upon the ‘Why Health Justice means Climate Justice’ session at the first From the Ground Up event where we explored how public health can be a powerful way to address the roots of health and climate injustice. ‘Building the Health Movement for Climate Justice’ will be a workshop to envision how the health community can build power and organise for action before, at and after COP26.
The workshop’s vision for action at COP26 is to organise a People’s Health Hearing that bears witness to the public health impacts of extractive industries and the systems driving climate breakdown and health inequities. It will be a space to connect to people’s struggles and set out a vision for intersectional, transformative climate justice. At From the Ground Up II: Taking Action Now, this will be the start of collectively organising for a People’s Health Hearing and taking action as the health community at COP 26.
Register via EventBrite
