Shows
The Bristol CableThe Debrief - The Doctors fighting for Barton House residentsPriyanka sits down to talk with Dr. Amelia Cussans from health justice campaign group Medact. The group recently released a report in collaboration with ACORN the union describing the evacuation of Barton House in 2023 as a mass traumatising event. Amelia and Priyanka discuss this report, its implications and some of the moving testimonies from residents contained within it.Barton house one year onMedact's report2025-03-3123 min
People Just Do SomethingPause for the cause - The Debrief - The Doctors fighting for Barton House residentsWe're bringing you one more non-PJDS episode from The Bristol Cable's feed this week before resuming our regular schedule. Sit tight. It's The Debrief; where cable journalists take listeners behind the headlines of their latest investigations.Priyanka sits down to talk with Dr. Amelia Cussans from health justice campaign group Medact. The group recently released a report in collaboration with ACORN the union describing the evacuation of Barton House in 2023 as a mass traumatising event. Amelia and Priyanka discuss this report, its implications and some of the moving testimonies from residents contained within it.Barton...2025-03-3124 min
No Small Victories: Community Tales of ResistanceNo Small Victories: Jessica PotterLucy speaks to Jessica Potter, Consultant at North Middlesex University Hospital, about the right to health and dignity for all. They discuss why the Hostile Environment is so detrimental to our collective wellbeing and how racism is corroding the UK’s public health provision. You can find out more about health-focused organisations campaigning for migrant justice by following the links below. To learn more about Haringey Welcome’s work, please visit our website at https://haringeywelcome.org/ or follow us on twitter @HaringeyWelcome. You can also drop us an email at refugeeswelcomeharingey@gmail.com We’d love...2023-01-1842 min
MedactHealthy Prescription for a Green New Deal: From Advocacy to Action (live from COP27)Streamed live from the COP27 climate talks in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt – Medact members brought together a panel of activists from the global movement for health and climate justice to discuss the need for a transformative Green New Deal that centres the health of people and planet! Speakers include: Asad Rehman – War on Want, UK Omar Elmawi – Stop EACOP, Kenya Erika Arteaga Cruz – People’s Health Movement, Extractive Industries Circle, Ecuador Jon Bonifacio – Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment, Philippines Chaired by Dr Abi Deivanayagam, member of Medact and Race & Health.2022-11-171h 14Medact'The Suspect' Author Talk with Rizwaan Sabir & Tarek Younis – July 2022What impact has two decades’ worth of policing and counterterrorism had on the state of mind of Muslims in Britain? The Suspect draws on the author’s experiences to take the reader on a journey through British counterterrorism practices and the policing of Muslims.
Join Rizwaan Sabir and Tarek Younis for discussion on the traumatising effects of Sabir’s surveillance, arrest and detention for suspected terrorism.
Writing publicly for the first time about the impacts of these experiences, Sabir argues that these harmful outcomes are not the result of errors in government planning, but the conseq...2022-07-061h 19
MedactGlobal Health Watch 6 Launch Event – 30 May 2022Listen back to the event celebrating the publication of the sixth edition of Global Health Watch.
Hear from speakers who contributed to this essential volume, which integrates rigorous analysis with stories of struggle and hope for radical transformation, at this once-in-a-generation moment of focus on the issue of health justice.
Speakers include:
Dr Chiara Bodini, co-editor of GHW
Members of the Medact Research Network: Roman Gnaegi, Catia Confortini and Michael Orgel
Dr Annabel Sowemimo, sexual and reproductive health doctor and founder of Decolonising Contraception
Dr Lauren Paremoer, senior lecturer in the Political Studies Department a...2022-06-071h 24
Sharp ScratchThe role of medical students in activismAs medical students progress through medical school, some students are becoming dissatisfied by the lack of attention to socially relevant healthcare issues in the conventional curriculum, and begin to understand that some of the frustrations we encounter at work arise from political decisions. These issues have prompted medical students to voice their concerns and advocate for change.
In this episode, we will be talking about activism, how to get involved and what you can do to push for change.
Topics:
• What makes an activist?
• There is a role for everyone in activism
• Things to bear in mind when considering civil disobe...2022-04-1541 minBMJ talk medicineThe role of medical students in activismAs medical students progress through medical school, some students are becoming dissatisfied by the lack of attention to socially relevant healthcare issues in the conventional curriculum, and begin to understand that some of the frustrations we encounter at work arise from political decisions. These issues have prompted medical students to voice their concerns and advocate for change.
In this episode, we will be talking about activism, how to get involved and what you can do to push for change.
Topics:
• What makes an activist?
• There is a role for everyone in activism
• Things to bear in mind when considering civil disobe...2022-04-1541 min
MedactA People’s Economy: the fight for health and economic justiceThe online launch of three brand new pamphlets developed by members of the Economic Justice & Health group.
These booklets explore the key campaigning areas of secure housing, tax justice and liveable incomes, and provide an informative resource for those looking to fight against economic and health injustice.
Hear from a great line-up of speakers on the issues covered by the booklets:
Guppi Bola, strategist, organiser and co-founder of Decolonising Economics and author of “Reimagining Public Health”
Abigail Acheampong, cleaner at Royal London Hospital. UNITE representative and key leader in the campaign that ended outsourcing in E...2022-04-1247 min
The Aural Apothecary3.6 - Tracy Lyons - Planetary Health, The Carbon footprint of Medicines - and exploding batteries.We are joined by Tracy Lyons. Tracy is a medicines optimisation pharmacist and the UK Clinical Pharmacy Association’s Environment & Sustainability advisor. In March 2021 Tracy helped to form ‘Pharmacy Declares’, a self-convened group of ‘climate conscious’ pharmacy professionals calling for our professional/regulatory bodies to 1) declare a climate emergency 2) fully divest from fossil fuels & 3) provide climate-health education and leadership. In the episode we hear about the progress being made by Pharmacy Declares as they try to motivate and mobilise the prescribing and pharmacy profession into taking action against global climate change. We discuss the term ‘Planetary Health’ and how we must vi...2021-12-0339 minMedactAlternative Training on Prevent in Healthcare #4It 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?
Learn more in our series of online Al...2021-11-241h 17
Feminist Nursing PodEpisode 2: A nurse's place in their unionBuckle up for everything you need to know about UK trade union history, organising, and the current balloting of NHS staff!LIST OF UNION BALLOT DATESJoin GMBJoin RCNJoin UNISONJoin UniteSHOUT OUTS & EVENTSUnited Voices of the World Strike @Great Ormond StreetNHSWorkersSayNo Demo 26.11.21KONP Health & Care Bill Protest 22.11.21Care and...2021-11-211h 13
MedactThe public health case against the policing bill – Briefing launch event, 15 November 2021Read the briefing: link.medact.org/PolicingBill
Watch this event on YouTube: youtu.be/hqDFFtF7nMA
The government has misleadingly branded the racist and dangerous PCSC (Policing) Bill a “public health approach” to combating serious violence. But health workers in the Medact Research Network have debunked these claims in a new briefing.
Written to support the huge groundswell of opposition to this bill in the #KillTheBill movement, the briefing explains why the measures in the Bill – greater police powers, repression of protest, harsher prison sentences, erosion of confidentiality and increased criminalisation of Gypsy and Tr...2021-11-171h 29
The Connected Sociologies PodcastSecurity in the War on Terror: Predict, Prevent, PoliceThe Global War on Terror, which was launched in response to the attacks in America on September 11th, has strengthened approaches to securitisation in its attempt to eliminate terrorism. The figure of the ‘terrorist’ is closely associated with that of the Muslim man who through laws and policies related to counter-terrorism and counter-extremism, such as the Prevent Duty, is constructed as a risk and threat to society. From the Global North to the Global South, racialised communities, especially those racialised as Muslim, experience the War on Terror in their everyday spaces such as in schools and healthcare settings, as the...2021-07-2726 min
The Guilty Feminist263. Free Britney with Kemah Bob and guests Disabled Eliza, Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Grace Davies and Pandora SykesThe Guilty FeministPresented by Deborah Frances-White and Kemah Bob Episode 263: Free Britneywith special guests Disabled Eliza, Dr Annabel Sowemimo, Grace Davies and Pandora Sykes Recorded 12 July 2021 at Kings Place in London. Released 19 July 2021. The Guilty Feminist theme by Mark Hodge and produced by Nick Sheldon. More about Deborah Frances-White http://deborahfrances-white.com https://twitter.com/DeborahFW https://www.virago.co.uk/the-guilty-feminist-book More about Kemah Bob https://twitter.com/kemahbob http://www.kemahbob.com More about our guests https://twitter.com/DisabledEliza https://twitter.com/SoSowemimo...2021-07-191h 43
Food Matters Live PodcastIs the UK National Food Strategy the key to a healthier future?The UK Government National Food Strategy, led by Henry Dimbleby the founder of restaurant chain Leon, has submitted a set of recommendations to help the nation become healthier, reduce obesity and become more sustainable. Will the strategy form the foundation of a healthier future? Or do we need to look deeper at key issues that face our dysfunctional food system?
The Table Talk Podcast has spoken to the leading voices in the country to find out how we can fix our broken food system, and build a secure future. In this episode we look back to conversations with...2021-07-1738 min
MedactAlternative Training on Prevent in Healthcare #2On the 25th May 2021 we held our second Alternative Training on Prevent in Healthcare to explore what you aren't being told about Prevent in safeguarding training.
The training shed light on some unanswered questions about Prevent and we heard from:
Members of Medact’s Securitisation of Health Group (SHG)
Susan Wright ─ a crime and human rights barrister acting for defendants, NGOs and other organisations on a range of public law matters
Reem Abu-Hayyeh ─ Campaigns and Policy Lead: Peace and Security at Medact
Dr Lyn Jenkins ─ a retired GP/ ophthalmologist, bereavement support volunteer, and heading up In My Own Be...2021-05-281h 24
MedactRacism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs (report launch)On the 19th May 2021, we held an event to launch our latest report Racism, mental health and pre-crime policing: the ethics of Vulnerability Support Hubs. The report is based on documents obtained through a series of long-running Freedom of Information requests and exposes how a counterterrorism police-led project blurs the boundaries between security and care in disturbing and dangerous ways.
At the report launch we were joined by guest speakers:
Dr Hilary Aked – Medact’s Research and Policy Manager
Dr Tarek Younis – Cultural and critical clinical psychologist and Lecturer in Psychology at Middlesex University
Dr Charlotte Heath Ke...2021-05-271h 28
Food Matters Live PodcastMeat and dairy off the menu? How the government plans to meet climate targetsThe UK Government has committed to reduce carbon emissions by 78% by 2035, and it has been specifically recommended by the Committee on Climate Change that meat and dairy consumption are reduced by 20% by 2030, rising to 35% by 2050 for meat only. What role do our eating habits have on the environment, and will cutting meat and dairy consumption help the environment?
Joining us to discuss these targets, and what change needs to happen for us to achieve them are Chris Venables, Head of Politics, Green Alliance and Dr Michael Clark, Researcher, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. We find...2021-05-1134 min
MedactUrgent Briefing: Why We All Have a Duty to Kill The BillThe Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (PCSC) is a dangerous piece of legislation that undermines our fundamental rights, threatens all our safety, and implicates health workers in the expansion of violent police powers. Medact and Docs Not Cops have joined the Kill The Bill Coalition to stand in solidarity with everyone targeted by the Bill and fight back against these harmful policies.
On Monday 26th April 2021 we held an urgent briefing to discuss the public health impacts of the PCSC Bill, what the Kill The Bill Coalition is building towards and what health workers can do...2021-04-271h 02
MedactThe public health case for the Green New Deal (briefing launch)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.
On 8th April we held an event to launch the briefing and we heard from a range...2021-04-151h 27
MedactAlternative Training on Prevent in HealthcareIt 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? We hosted a training session for health workers to shed light on some unanswe...2021-04-141h 25
Mind the Health Gap (mthgpod)Environmental Determinants of Health Mohamed & Beauty sit with Rob Abrams - A Climate Change Organiser working for Medact. The discussion covers a range of environmental issues that affect marginalised communities. 2021-03-1549 min
MedactHealth Versus Wealth? UK Economic Policy and Public Health During COVID-19 (briefing launch)On the 16th February 2021 we held the online launch of of our latest briefing ‘Health Versus Wealth? UK Economic Policy and Public Health During COVID-19’.
The briefing considers how a false dichotomy between public health and economic wealth has contributed to the pandemic taking such a tragic course in the UK. It also considers how cuts to essential health and social services over decades and decades have torn at the social fabric of our communities ─ and what can be done right now to mend this fabric and build up our social immunity.
We heard from a panel o...2021-02-1949 min
MedactAction Call: Building the Health Movement for a Green New DealOn the 9th July 2020 we held an Action Call to build the Health Movement for a Green New Deal.
We discussed the what, why and how of building the health movement for transformative climate justice and were joined by special guest speakers:
Dr Abdul El-Sayed – Former Health Director of Detroit and professor at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health
Guppi Bola – Former Medact Interim-Director, Chair of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, researcher and public health strategist with a background in economic justice campaigning.
Dr Stephanie Davis...2020-07-171h 11
The BMJ PodcastTackling racism with Annabel Sowemimo, Shani Scott and Joan Saddler OBEThe signs and symptoms of racism have long permeated our society, and are embedded in our clinical practice and medical education. Recent events in the US, including the murder of George Floyd, have brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the fore of public consciousness, and have sparked outrage and protests in countries around the world. COVID-19 has exposed the inequalities in our healthcare systems, as the virus has had a disproportionate impact on some ethnic minority communities. In this week’s episode, we discuss colonial undertones to contraception policy-making, how doctors remaining silent on racial issues are seen as co...2020-07-161h 03Deep Breath InTackling racism with Annabel Sowemimo, Shani Scott and Joan Saddler OBEThe signs and symptoms of racism have long permeated our society, and are embedded in our clinical practice and medical education. Recent events in the US, including the murder of George Floyd, have brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the fore of public consciousness, and have sparked outrage and protests in countries around the world. COVID-19 has exposed the inequalities in our healthcare systems, as the virus has had a disproportionate impact on some ethnic minority communities. In this week’s episode, we discuss colonial undertones to contraception policy-making, how doctors remaining silent on racial issues are seen as co...2020-07-161h 03
Deep Breath InTackling racism with Annabel Sowemimo, Shani Scott and Joan Saddler OBEThe signs and symptoms of racism have long permeated our society, and are embedded in our clinical practice and medical education. Recent events in the US, including the murder of George Floyd, have brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the fore of public consciousness, and have sparked outrage and protests in countries around the world. COVID-19 has exposed the inequalities in our healthcare systems, as the virus has had a disproportionate impact on some ethnic minority communities. In this week’s episode, we discuss colonial undertones to contraception policy-making, how doctors remaining silent on racial issues are seen as co...2020-07-161h 03
Medicine and Science from The BMJTackling racism with Annabel Sowemimo, Shani Scott and Joan Saddler OBEThe signs and symptoms of racism have long permeated our society, and are embedded in our clinical practice and medical education. Recent events in the US, including the murder of George Floyd, have brought the Black Lives Matter movement to the fore of public consciousness, and have sparked outrage and protests in countries around the world. COVID-19 has exposed the inequalities in our healthcare systems, as the virus has had a disproportionate impact on some ethnic minority communities. In this week’s episode, we discuss colonial undertones to contraception policy-making, how doctors remaining silent on racial issues are seen as co...2020-07-161h 03
MedactFalse Positives: the Prevent counter-extremism policy in healthcare (report launch)On the 2nd July 2020 we held the online launch of our latest report ‘False Positives: the Prevent counter-extremism policy in healthcare’.
This report brings together new research that seeks to shed light on the implications of the Prevent duty in UK health services.
Prevent is a controversial strand of the government’s counter-extremism strategy that obliges public service providers and workers to ‘have due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’.
We heard from a panel of experts on the subject, including:
Dr Hilary Aked – Research Manager at Medact an...2020-07-081h 19
New Economics PodcastThe Hostile Environment during coronavirusThe end of June marked the anniversary of the arrival of the Windrush Generation in the UK, and sparked renewed conversations about the Hostile Environment. It’s been reported that UK immigration policies have stopped migrants from getting healthcare during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite a government exemption from immigration checks and fees. Just this week, MPs passed a new immigration bill which ends freedom of movement and introduces a point-based system instead.
So, how has the Hostile Environment affected people, particularly during the pandemic? Have migrants been hit harder by Covid-19? And what does the new immigration bill mean for mi...2020-07-0338 min
MedactThe arms industry in the era of COVID-19: lessons for the futureSoon after the COVID-19 pandemic reached the UK, it became clear that the NHS was not sufficiently equipped or staffed to respond to the crisis.
In March, the government put out a call for industry to convert its production to manufacture crucial medical equipment, such as ventilators and PPE for frontline workers. To date, a number of arms and defence companies have responded to this call – alongside existing companies that manufacture medical equipment and others.
Workers at Lucas Aerospace called for exactly this kind of arms conversion back in 1976, when they produced an Alternative Corporate Pl...2020-05-1156 min
Global Justice Now podcastEpisode 1: What is the 'hostile environment'?A year ago, we saw story after story in the news about how people of a whole generation of Commonwealth citizens, who’d been living in the UK for decades were left homeless, wrongly detained, denied their legal rights and threatened with deportation. A year on from these brutal events, it’s important to understand that they didn’t just happen because some people didn’t have the ‘right documents’ – they were a direct result of the government’s horrific approach to immigration enforcement also known as the hostile environment policies instituted by Theresa May in 2012.
In this very first episode of the G...2019-04-2729 min
Radicals in ConversationHealthcare and the Hostile EnvironmentAs the UK hurtles towards the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, the chaos engulfing Parliament has all but eclipsed any other political issue. And yet there are cruelties being enacted through policy that predate the current political crisis, which demand our attention and our resistance.
This month we discuss healthcare and the 'hostile environment' - the 'sprawling web,’ as described by Liberty, ‘of immigration controls embedded in the heart of our public services and communities.’ Covering the Windrush scandal, privatisation, and the impact of Brexit, we unpick the policies and hear the stories of the people most affecte...2019-01-3144 min
The Last Tuesday ProjectFractious EnergyDo you feel that rumbling? Is that the energy within our earth stirring? Nah, it's just this month's episode of The Last Tuesday Project! This month Hayley asks us whether we should give a frack about fracking. Alex and Jane take a look at the evidence and come across some questionable websites in the process. What is fracking and why is it controversial? BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-14432401) Hydraulic Fracturing Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing) Can fracking cause earthquakes? Vox (https://www.vox.com/cards/fracking/does-fracking-cause-earthquakes) The problem with fracking Greenp...2018-09-2500 min
MedactDavid Powell At Healthy Planet, Better World - "Kenya's Progress On Inequality & Sustainability"Environment programme lead David Powell discusses a partnership between the New Economic Foundation and the African Centre for a Green Economy looking at the dynamics between economic inequality and sustainability in four case studies from around Kenya.2017-03-1016 min
MedactJohn Lanchbery At HPBW - "The Paris Agreement: Game Changer Or More Hot Air?"John Lanchbery is the Principal Advisor on climate change at the RSPB and a lead member of the BirdLife International team on climate change. At the conference he shared his insight on the COP21 Paris Agreement and what progress has been made towards the agreed goals.2017-03-1010 min
MedactKate Raworth At HPBW - "Why It's Time For A New Version Of Human Prosperity"Humanity's central challenge in the 21st century is to realise the human rights of all within the means of this life-giving planet. In other words, we need to get into the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries. Kate will show why addressing this challenge has to start with a new understanding of human prosperity, and will set out the six key factors determining whether or not we have half a chance of getting there.2017-03-1029 min
MedactKevin Anderson At HPBW - "How informed hope and action can Trump despair"The IPCC’s latest report, and the commitments enshrined in the Paris Agreement have reshaped the climate change agenda. Whilst the former establishes carbon budgets as the appropriate scientific foundation for mitigation policy, the latter obligates the international community ‘to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C’.
This ambitious agenda demands rates of mitigation far beyond anything evident in history and seldom countenanced by policy makers. Set against such a profound challenge, the presentation will interpret the opportunities and barriers for urgently accelerating the transition to a decarbonised future and consider the scale of impacts should we cont...2017-03-1029 min
MedactKinari Webb At HPBW - "Radical Listening: Saving Lives And Rainforest In Borneo"MD and Founder of Health in Harmony, Kinari Webb, shares her insights on her organisation’s work improving the lives of people in the communities around Gunung Palung National Park in Borneo through increased and affordable health care, decreased logging of the park and introduction of alternative incomes sources.2017-03-1018 min
MedactCorinna Hawkes At Healthy Planet, Better World - "Global Food System Challenges"Professor Corinna Hawkes provides a broad global perspective on the central challenges for food systems, as an opening to the Food stream of the conference.2017-03-1047 min
MedactAnnie Quick At HPBW - "Equality And Sustainability: Where Does The UK Stand?"Annie Quick, lead for Wellbeing and Inequality at the New Economics Foundation, outlines some of the issues around inequality and the environment in the UK, considers the political context, and attempts to offer a hope for the future.2017-03-1018 min
MedactLisa Page at HPBW - "Heat & Health: Measuring the Public Health Impact of Climate Change"Dr Lisa Page considers how we can conduct robust epidemiological research on how rising heat affects mental health.
From the session "Climate Change & Mental Health" at Medact's 2016 Forum "Healthy Planet, Better World".
Find out more at https://www.medact.org/forum-20162017-03-0923 min
MedactHugh Grant-Peterkin at HPBW - "Groups under Pressure" - and follow-up discussionHugh Grant-Peterkin considers how psychotherapeutic thinking can help us understand our response to climate change; and opens up the session to a group discussion.
From the session "Climate Change & Mental Health" at Medact's 2016 Forum "Healthy Planet, Better World".
Find out more at https://www.medact.org/forum-20162017-01-0943 min
MedactSally Weintrobe at HPBW - "Some effects of current culture on mental health"Sally Weintrobe discusses the relationship between mental health, climate change, and a culture of uncare, arguing that climate change is a symptom of a much deeper problem affecting mental health.
From the session "Climate Change & Mental Health" at Medact's 2016 Forum "Healthy Planet, Better World".
Find out more at http://www.sallyweintrobe.com/ and https://www.medact.org/forum-2016/2017-01-0916 min
MedactPatrick Saunders on the Risks to Human Health - Sheffield Fracking MasterclassPatrick Saunders speaking at Medact's Fracking Masterclass on the potential risks to human health.2016-06-1044 min
MedactJoanne Hawkins on Regulation - Sheffield Fracking MasterclassJoanne Hawkins speaking at Medact's Fracking Masterclass in Sheffield on Regulation.2016-06-1023 min
MedactDavid McCoy on the Impacts on Health - Sheffield Fracking MasterclassDavid McCoy speaking at Medact's Fracking Masterclass in Sheffield on fracking's impacts on health.2016-06-1056 min
MedactA3 - The Humanitarian Imperative to Ban Nuclear WeaponsThe Humanitarian Imperative to Ban Nuclear Weapons Find out how the international Humanitarian Initiative on nuclear weapons is creating an urgent argument for change by focusing attention on the catastrophic humanitarian and environmental impact of these WMDs. Including the 2015 launch of nuclear weapons divestment report ‘Don’t Bank on the Bomb’ by Netherlands-based NGO PAX.
SPEAKERS: Monika Zach (Austrian Embassy, London), Dr Beyza Unal (Chatham House), Rebecca Sharkey (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons), Wilbert van der Zeijden (PAX) and Maaike Beenes (PAX). Chaired by Dr Frank Boulton (Medact).2015-11-261h 29
MedactA2 - Challenging Nuclear Deterrence TheoryA critical look at the culture of nuclear weapons in the UK, and how mainstream narratives of nuclear deterrence can and must be challenged.
SPEAKERS: Kate Hudson (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament), Paul Ingram (British American Security Information Service) and Richard Norton-Taylor (The Guardian). Chaired by Dr David McCoy (Medact).2015-11-261h 25
MedactE3 - Gender, Militarism and Violence (Part Two)This second session will look at what practical action we can take to challenge gender norms that fuel violence and inequality. Activists from The Great Initiative will lead participants through workshop exercises they run in schools in the UK, using innovative techniques to promote critical reflection on gender and violence. Attendees will be encouraged to think about gender stereotypes and how these shape their own identities and behaviours. The session will then look at how similar approaches are being applied in countries experiencing or emerging from violent conflict, and why challenging ideas about masculinity and femininity is a vital element...2015-11-261h 43
MedactE2 - Gender, Militarism and Violence (Part One)Women are often portrayed as helpless victims in war, while men are often assumed to be combatants because of their gender. The reality of today’s conflicts is much more complex, with men being more likely to suffer violent deaths, and women playing all kinds of roles, from soldier to peacemaker. Nonetheless, the use of violence around the world is profoundly shaped by social norms relating to gender. This session will explore how gender, militarisation and war are connected, including how notions of masculinity in the British military have fuelled violence against local populations in Iraq and Afghanistan, harassment and ab...2015-11-261h 27
MedactC3 - Assessing the Health Impacts of War and Violent ConflictThe effects of war on people and the planet can last for many decades, if not longer. From psychological trauma to unexploded ordinance, the damage done by armed conflict lives on well after the fighting has ended. In this session, learn about different aspects of the legacy of armed conflict from experts researching different post-conflict issues. Researchers face considerable difficulty in comprehensively documenting the long-term impacts of war; this session will end by exploring how ‘Citizen Science’ might be able to help fill the research gap.
SPEAKERS: Dr Maria Kett (Leonard Cheshire Centre for Disability), Dr Mina Fazel (Psychiatry, Oxford Univ...2015-11-261h 30
MedactC2 - On the Frontline of War and Violent ConflictHumanitarian law is clear in protecting nurses, doctors and others in their work to save human life and prevent suffering during war and armed conflict, yet these rules are routinely ignored and health professionals are increasingly at risk. Health communities around the world need to promote and uphold these laws, as well as the organisations and institutions that exist to safeguard them. In this session, hear from a range of speakers with different experiences of working in the humanitarian sector about the challenges and dangers of providing health care on the front-line, as well as how humanitarian organisations can speak...2015-11-261h 34
MedactE1 - The War on DrugsA prohibitionist approach to global drug policy, broadly known as the ‘War on Drugs’, has dominated since the mid-20th Century, seeking to prevent the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs. These policies have failed to achieve their goals whilst fuelling violence and conflict, undermining stability and economic development, destroying livelihoods and preventing access to healthcare and essential medicines. This session examines the creation of a ‘War on Drugs’ through the securitisation and militarisation of drug policy; the scale of violence and damage associated with the ‘War on Drugs’ and its impacts for the most marginalised communities; and potential alternatives...2015-11-2640 min
MedactD2 - Climate Change and ConflictJoin three expert speakers for a high octane trip through climate change, global security, refugees, and, those pesky fossil fuels. If you attend this session, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to share the name of one piece of music that you’d like to leave for future generations. None of us know how long we have to tread this blue green planet, and we’d all like to leave our mark, wouldn’t we? In return for your gift, our panel of climate security experts and musicians will select a virtual ‘Desert Island Disks for the Climate’...2015-11-261h 49
MedactD1 - The UK Arms TradeIn its 2014-15 ‘Human Rights and Democracy Report’, the UK government identified 28 countries of concern. In 2014, the UK approved arms export licences to 18 of those countries - including Israel, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Despite its well documented repression and human rights abuses, Saudi Arabia has been a priority market for UK arms sales for over 30 years. Join campaigners to learn more about the role and scale of the global arms trade in fuelling war and armed conflict, and the particular role of the UK government and UK-based companies.
SPEAKERS: Sarah Waldron (Campaigns Coordinator, CAAT), Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei (Bahrain Institute for...2015-11-261h 28
MedactD3 - Controlling the International Arms TradeJoin Paul, Martin and Ellie for an introduction to the global arms trade ahead of the key-note address from Andrew Feinstein. Paul will start the session with ‘Arms Trade Family Fortunes’, an interactive quiz on the basic facts around the international transfer of weapons. Martin will discuss the impact of irresponsible and illicit arms transfers on communities across the globe, then Elli will give an overview of regional and international efforts to better control flows of arms. with a particular focus on the Arms Trade Treaty.
SPEAKERS: Martin Butcher (Arms and Conflict Policy Advisor, Oxfam International), Dr Paul Holtom (Deputy Dire...2015-11-261h 35
MedactB1 - New Weapons and Remote WarfareJoin expert speakers to learn about the changing nature of weapons and warfare: from remote fighting and drones, to robotics and cyber warfare. Speakers will explore the evolution of US, UK and French war-fighting capacities and postures, especially in the context of the War on
Terror in Africa and the Middle East, as well as the ethical, transparency and accountability issues that this brings.
SPEAKERS: Richard Reeve (Director, Sustainable Security Programme, ORG), Paul Rogers (University of Bradford; ORG/Remote Control Project), Caroline Donnellan (Remote Control Project) and Andrew
Noakes (Nigeria Security Network). Chaired by Fiona Godlee (Editor, British Medical Journal).2015-11-262h 45
MedactB2 - Biological and Chemical WarfareWar is always bad for health, but over the past century widely-held international norms have developed that chemical and biological weapons are not legitimate weapons of war. And yet the threat posed by these weapons has not gone away. Join these expert speakers to learn about key contemporary issues surrounding biological and chemical weapons: the current state of knowledge on their production and possible use (including by potential bioterrorists or by ‘rogue states’); what current scientific advances mean for the future of such weapons; and how the arms control treaties that outlaw them can be strengthened and more effectively enforced.
SPEA...2015-11-261h 21
Pod AcademyCorporate capture?The role of large corporations in lobbying for policy change was the subject of a workshop at Medact‘s recent conference.
A number of Government appointed expert committees have recently made recommendations on pressing health issues, including minimum pricing of alcohol and food labelling. But their proposals have been kicked into the long grass by government after intensive lobbying by the food and drinks industry.
David Miller, Professor of Sociology at the University of Bath explained how companies have a number of different ways of exerting influence on policy at a national and European level, in...2014-01-2014 min
MedactCorporate Capture of Health Part 1Dr Miran Epstein on Medical Ethics2013-11-2220 min
MedactVijay Mehta on The Economics Of KillingMain Speaker: Vijay Mehta
Vijay is a renowned author and global activist for peace, development and human rights, and is Co-Founder and Chair of Uniting for Peace. His new book on The Economics of Killing was published by Pluto Press in 2012 and describes how the Military Industrial Complex works, its links with global financial crisis and the role of Western governments play in perpetuating conflicts.2013-10-0428 min
The Lancet NewsThe Lancet News: October 12, 2012Drone warfare: we're joined by MEDACT's Tomasz Pierscionek, who discusses the physical and physiological impact of drone warfare. We also take a look at dodgy dietary supplements in the USA.2012-10-1220 min