How Politics Makes Us Sick

‘Neoliberal epidemics’ and public health: sometimes the world is less complicated than it appears

“…But discourse cannot responsibly be isolated from the historical record of who has promoted the neoliberal project and why. Whatever the varied manifestations of neoliberalism, it is a coherent project the material consequences of which Clare Bambra and I have described as 'neoliberal epidemics' (Schrecker & Bambra, 2015). This is true whether one considers (to give just two illustrations) the millions of Britons who were living in food poverty by 2013 as a consequence of the combination of flexibilised labour markets and the Conservatives' war on the poor (Ashton, Middleton, & Lang, 2014;Garthwaite, Collins, & Bambra, 2015) or the impact of structural adjustment and its sequelae on the ability of African health systems to respond to the Ebola outbreak (Rowden, 2014;Kentikelenis, King, McKee, & Stuckler, 2015).…”

Helpful advice and hidden expertize: pharmacy users’ experiences of community pharmacy accessibility

“…2 This is comparable to the difference in life expectancy between the UK and Zimbabwe. 2 Beneath these figures lie significant differences in health behaviours: evidence shows smoking cigarettes, unhealthy eating and excessive alcohol consumption is more common in deprived communities, compared to more affluent ones.…”

“…2 This is comparable to the difference in life expectancy between the UK and Zimbabwe. 2 Beneath these figures lie significant differences in health behaviours: evidence shows smoking cigarettes, unhealthy eating and excessive alcohol consumption is more common in deprived communities, compared to more affluent ones. [3][4][5] As these behaviours are major risk factors within the aetiologies of certain diseases, individuals living in deprived areas are more likely to die from liver disease, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.…”

Theorising health inequalities: Introduction to a double special issue

“…This will entail, among other consequences, further reductions in social spending additional to those that have already hit the poorest people and regions hardest, against a background of health inequalities that were, on some measures, already more severe than at any point since the Great Depression (and this is using data from before the financial crisis and subsequent selective austerity - Thomas et al, 2010). The effect will almost certainly be to continue the upward redistribution of income and wealth and to worsen the 'neoliberal epidemics' described in recent work by Schrecker and Bambra (2015), adding urgency to the call by several contributors for engaged, activist scholarship that combines academic work with political praxis. Refining explanations of the origins of health inequalities is important, but more sophisticated explanatory models will be little comfort to the casualties of the next 5 years, or their survivors.…”