A space to explore, share and shape the issues facing social scientists

Tag: Public Health

The Other Dead of 1918

By Robert Dingwall | Published: May 15, 2018

Although it won't see the memorials and centenary events that the World War I Armistice will, it's worth thinking back to the ravages of the 'Spanish flu' of a century ago and the implications that that pandemic of the past has for infections of the future.

Posted in News, Public Engagement, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Health, influenza, Max Weber, World War I | Leave a comment

Zika – What Are the Real Lessons from Ebola?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: February 1, 2016

Another disease in the tropics has the World Health Organisation in a lather, and again biomedicine's response will not be all that useful in the short term. Social science can help now to address the underlying problems that help the Zika virus to spread -- if policymakers will listen.

Posted in International Debates, News, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Ebola, Policy, Social Science, World Health Organization, Zika | Leave a comment

Malaria Vaccine – Great Science But What’s the Point?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: July 28, 2015

Bully for the researchers who have developed a vaccine can build resistance against some instances of malaria, says Robert Dingwall. But before the WHO recommends for its adoption, he suggests a harder look at user-centered design and cost-benefit analysis may be in order.

Posted in Impact, Interdisciplinarity, News, Public Policy | Also tagged Malaria | Leave a comment

Ebola: WHO and the Consequences of Ignoring Social Science

By Robert Dingwall | Published: July 10, 2015

A new report from the World Health Organization on the response to the African Ebola outbreak backs up what our Robert Dingwall has been writing all along -- by downplaying social science lives have been lost. The question now is whether a new WHO can improve.

Posted in International Debates, News, Public Engagement, Public Policy, Research, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Ebola, Social Science, World Health Organization | Leave a comment

Antibiotic Resistance – Missing the Point?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: May 18, 2015

There is no point in improving the innovation pipeline for antibiotics, argues Robert Dingwall, if the drugs that come out at the end all fall into the same chaotic patterns of use as today.

Posted in International Debates, News, Public Policy, Research, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Antibiotic resistance, Health, innovation, Policy | 2 Responses

Ebola: The Human Cost of Neglecting the Social Sciences

By Robert Dingwall | Published: December 7, 2014

There is a genuine cost from ignoring lessons from social science in the fight against Ebola. What's even sadder -- these lessons were taught in blood three decades ago in the fights against AIDS. Are we ready for the next malady?

Posted in International Debates, News, Public Engagement, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Anthropology, Ebola, Health, Media, Policy, Social Science, Sociology | Leave a comment

Ebola – What’s the Point of the World Health Organisation?

By Robert Dingwall | Published: October 26, 2014

WHO is supposed to be a global health organization, not a global biomedical organization. The Ebola crisis, argues Robert Dingwall, reveals the extent to which it has lost sight of this mission.

Posted in International Debates, News, Public Policy, Science & Social Science | Also tagged Ebola, Medical Sociology, Policy | 1 Response

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