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What is the relationship between population health and voting patterns: an ecological study in England

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 2h

🗳️ Research: Population health is associated with increasing vote share for #ReformUK

Constituencies electing #Reform MPs had highest average prevalence of 15/20 conditions

“a further incentive to take steps to improve #publichealth and reduce #inequalities”

bmjopenrespres.bmj.com/content/12/1...

Background Health is a fundamental issue in politics and an area where governments hold significant levers of influence. Countries in Europe have seen increased support for populist political parties,...

bmjopenrespres.bmj.com

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 1d

🇪🇺Council of Europe: Protection of #health is vital for a healthy #democracy and is a measure of democratic resilience

Article by @coe.int “Health in the age of #disinformation: Protecting truth, protecting democracy” for @worldhealthsummit.bsky.social #WHS2025 this week

www.coe.int/be/web/porta...

Secretary General: Protection of health is vital for a healthy democracy - Portal - www.coe.int

<p>In a healthy democracy, patients must know what to believe and whom to trust</p>

www.coe.int

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 1d

🇺🇳 New report: #Alcohol is fuelling thousands of #cancer cases and costing Europe billions of euros, @who.int’s cancer research agency IARC warns

Stronger government policies to curb drinking could prevent thousands of cancer cases and deaths each year.

www.euronews.com/health/2025/...

Alcohol is fuelling thousands of cancer cases in Europe, WHO warns

Alcohol consumption is a major cause of cancer in Europe, the WHO's cancer research agency warned in a new report.

Secretary General: Protection of health is vital for a healthy democracy - Portal - www.coe.int

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 1d

🇪🇺Council of Europe: Protection of #health is vital for a healthy #democracy and is a measure of democratic resilience

Article by @coe.int “Health in the age of #disinformation: Protecting truth, protecting democracy” for @worldhealthsummit.bsky.social #WHS2025 this week

www.coe.int/be/web/porta...

<p>In a healthy democracy, patients must know what to believe and whom to trust</p>

www.coe.int

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 1d

🇺🇳 New report: #Alcohol is fuelling thousands of #cancer cases and costing Europe billions of euros, @who.int’s cancer research agency IARC warns

Stronger government policies to curb drinking could prevent thousands of cancer cases and deaths each year.

www.euronews.com/health/2025/...

Alcohol is fuelling thousands of cancer cases in Europe, WHO warns

Alcohol consumption is a major cause of cancer in Europe, the WHO's cancer research agency warned in a new report.

This is the warning Big Alcohol wants to keep off your bottles of beer

Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 2d

🔍 Investigation: How massive international #alcohol industry #lobbying - using #BigTobacco tactics - forced Ireland to delay putting #cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks

‘Its victory has sparked fears for #PublicHealth across Europe’

@investigativedesk.bsky.social

www.ftm.eu/articles/alc...

Ireland was set to become the first EU country to put cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks. But following a massive lobby campaign by Big Booze – stretching from Dublin and Brussels to Washington...

www.ftm.eu

Open Letter: Keep the UK in the ECHR

Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Helen Gibbons @helengibbons.bsky.social · 1d

Important message to send to the UK government www.europeanmovement.co.uk/keep_uk_in_e...

Sign the European Movement UK's open letter now if you agree that the UK must remain in the ECHR.

www.europeanmovement.co.uk

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 1d

UK Health Secretary: I’m glad we can now say #Brexit is a problem

“This has been my frustration about it ... We were warned it was going to have an economic impact, and it has. And it’s hit our country hard" - Wes Streeting

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

I’m glad we can now talk about Brexit damage, says Wes Streeting

The prime minister is gearing up to blame Nigel Farage and Brexit for Britain’s expected downturn in productivity at the November Budget

www.independent.co.uk

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 2d

🇺🇳 Report: 1 in 6 bacterial infections now resistant to treatment says @who.int

Levels of #antimicrobialresistance highest in south-east Asia and eastern Mediterranean

Cuts in international development support - including by UK - have forced WHO to reduce its #AMR work

www.ft.com/content/ae1d...

One in six bacterial infections now resistant to treatment, says WHO

Levels of antimicrobial resistance highest in south-east Asia and eastern Mediterranean

www.ft.com

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 2d

🔍 Investigation: How massive international #alcohol industry #lobbying - using #BigTobacco tactics - forced Ireland to delay putting #cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks

‘Its victory has sparked fears for #PublicHealth across Europe’

@investigativedesk.bsky.social

www.ftm.eu/articles/alc...

This is the warning Big Alcohol wants to keep off your bottles of beer

Ireland was set to become the first EU country to put cancer warning labels on alcoholic drinks. But following a massive lobby campaign by Big Booze – stretching from Dublin and Brussels to Washington...

www.ftm.eu

Brussels mounts pressure on Commissioner Várhelyi over spy probe

Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 4d

🇪🇺 EU spy probe: 60 law professors from 30 European countries question whether #OlivérVárhelyi can continue as EU Health Commissioner

Letter addressed to the European Parliament signed by @thegoodlobby.bsky.social professors, including @alemanno.bsky.social

www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Olivér Várhelyi was Hungary's EU ambassador when an alleged spy ring at the embassy tried to recruit European Commission staff to be moles for Hungary. The European Commision president now wants to di...

On changing when we should change

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Nason Maani @spidermaani.bsky.social · 4d

This weeks substack essay, with Sandro Galea, is on the challenge facing public health in an uneasy time, and learning from the history of ideas: open.substack.com/pub/nasonmaa...

The importance of reimagining public health in an uneasy time

open.substack.com

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 4d

🇪🇺 EU spy probe: 60 law professors from 30 European countries question whether #OlivérVárhelyi can continue as EU Health Commissioner

Letter addressed to the European Parliament signed by @thegoodlobby.bsky.social professors, including @alemanno.bsky.social

www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Brussels mounts pressure on Commissioner Várhelyi over spy probe

Olivér Várhelyi was Hungary's EU ambassador when an alleged spy ring at the embassy tried to recruit European Commission staff to be moles for Hungary. The European Commision president now wants to di...

What went right this week: the good news that matters

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 5d

#PositiveNews: What went right this week

🍃 #Renewables overtook coal for the first time representing a “historic shift” in the global #Energy transition.

🥗 New #Food report says it is possible to feed 10 billion people while keeping within planetary boundaries.

www.positive.news/environment/...

Renewables overtook coal, a report revealed how to feed 10 billion, and the ‘European green capital’ was revealed, plus more good news

www.positive.news

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

APHA @apha.org · 4d

"You have the right to stand up." APHA's Susan Polan talks with The Nation's Health about plans for November's Rally For the Public's Health in Washington, D.C.: www.apha.org/publications... #SpeakForHealth

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 4d

🏆 #Nobel Committee resists #Trump lobbying for #PeacePrize

“ #Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

White House slams Trump’s perceived Nobel peace prize snub as ‘politics over peace’

President has ‘heart of humanitarian’, spokesperson says after unsuccessful bid for prize amid Gaza ceasefire deal

www.theguardian.com

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 5d

#PositiveNews: What went right this week

🍃 #Renewables overtook coal for the first time representing a “historic shift” in the global #Energy transition.

🥗 New #Food report says it is possible to feed 10 billion people while keeping within planetary boundaries.

www.positive.news/environment/...

What went right this week: the good news that matters

Renewables overtook coal, a report revealed how to feed 10 billion, and the ‘European green capital’ was revealed, plus more good news

www.positive.news

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 5d

#EU to probe #spying allegations involving Hungarian EU Health Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi

www.politico.eu/article/orba...

Commission to probe reports that Orbán’s spies targeted EU officials in Brussels

Hungary’s current European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi was in charge of the country’s embassy at the time of the allegations.

www.politico.eu

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Mark Brown @markoneinfour.bsky.social · 8d

Worth your time, this

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 9d

📝 Editorial - The #FarRight and health: an evolving political crisis

“This developing political crisis is having a pervasive and devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of health workers and scientists, as well as the general population.”

@thelancet.com

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The far-right and health: an evolving political crisis

Across Europe and North America, racism, xenophobia, and far-right nationalism have become normalised in public and political discourse, leading many people to feel anxiety and fear of violence, discr...

US ‘undermining global health’ by threatening to strip funding from aid projects that do not fit its political agenda

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 6d

🇺🇸US ‘undermining #globalhealth’ by threatening to strip funding from aid projects that do not fit its political agenda

Plan to expand #GlobalGag rule to halt any initiative promoting #diversity, #equity and #inclusion “to include vast swathes of #healthcare”

www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Trump administration reported to be planning expansion of ‘global gag rule’ to halt any initiatives promoting diversity, equity and inclusion

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧

Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 9d

📝 Editorial - The #FarRight and health: an evolving political crisis

“This developing political crisis is having a pervasive and devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of health workers and scientists, as well as the general population.”

@thelancet.com

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The far-right and health: an evolving political crisis

Across Europe and North America, racism, xenophobia, and far-right nationalism have become normalised in public and political discourse, leading many people to feel anxiety and fear of violence, discr...

Extra year delay to EU law will increase deforestation, chocolate firms warn

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 9d

🇪🇺 Chocolate manufacturers join opposition to #EU’s new #Deregulation agenda

Industry warns that delaying the bloc’s landmark anti-deforestation law would “put forests worldwide at risk.”

euobserver.com/eu-and-the-w...

@olivierhoedeman.bsky.social @corporateeurope.org

A group of Europe's leading chocolate makers — including Nestlé, Mars and Ferrero — have condemned the EU Commission’s plans to delay the bloc’s landmark anti-deforestation law by another year, warnin...

euobserver.com

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Paul Belcher FRCP MFPH Hon 🇪🇺🇬🇧 @pauljbelcher.bsky.social · 9d

📝 Editorial - The #FarRight and health: an evolving political crisis

“This developing political crisis is having a pervasive and devastating impact on the health and wellbeing of health workers and scientists, as well as the general population.”

@thelancet.com

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

The far-right and health: an evolving political crisis

Across Europe and North America, racism, xenophobia, and far-right nationalism have become normalised in public and political discourse, leading many people to feel anxiety and fear of violence, discr...