People always ask me when I’m deploying out to Ebola outbreaks, “Aren’t you scared?” and the answer is usually, “No, not really, I’m pretty good at this”. Which I know must sound a bit strange: it’s odd to be good at a viral haemorrhagic fever. But after working for nine months on the big West African outbreak back in 2014 and 2015, and then doing my doctoral study on reproductive health during outbreaks of Ebola, it’s now very much my speciality.

It took time to realise that there was an outbreak happening, and then to work out that it was due to anthrax. We needed to urgently arrange treatment and cattle vaccinations, alert human and animal health authorities, and warn communities and advise them how to deal with cases and prevent more occurring. More recently many of us were part of the international response to the recent Ebola outbreak in west Africa. This was a huge complex operation but brought the same feelings of nervousness, exhilaration, sadness and achievement.

An argument I often hear when I talk about including people with disabilities in health services goes something like this - “Yes, that would be good/nice/worthwhile, but it is too expensive/impractical/unrealistic”. Essentially, there is a widespread belief that providing good healthcare for people with disabilities is a luxury, which we will get to once services are provided for the majority. Let me try to dispel this myth.

With 13% (650 million) adults obese the world is in the grip of an obesity crisis that shows no sign of abating. In response, some governments are implementing policy interventions that use fiscal levers on food and drink with the ultimate aim of reducing obesity and related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes.

Working in the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team Olivier le Polain is the senior epidemiologist and deputy director for operations of the UK Public Health Rapid Support Team (UK-PHRST).

The man spurred his horse towards the centre of the camp: his gun dangled ominously towards women, children and men. They pretended to ignore him and be busy around their miniature cardboard-and-thatch shelters. We traded a long stare: he bore no visible trace of fear or contrition. He rode up and down the camp three times, circled round its borders and was gone.

Recent reports from the world’s leading climate science experts and global environmental organisations make pretty grim reading.  Unchecked rises in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, dramatic increases in global temperatures and sea levels, evermore unpredictable rainfall and precipitous decline in global biodiversity.  We humans are clearly doing something to the planet… and it’s not good.

How can Queen Cersei ensure the survival of the Seven Kingdoms? Perhaps not the opening line you might expect to read on the website of a leading global health institution…but bear with us!

A recent spate of youth-on-youth knife stabbings has prompted renewed public and policy interest in the problem of youth violence in England.

By 2050, researchers have projected that climate change may cause 600,000 deaths a year and slash world GDP by 10%. Meanwhile, a report commissioned by the UK government predicts that, by the same year, antimicrobial-resistant infections could kill 10 million people yearly and suck 100 trillion USD out of the global economy.