City Health International

BLOG

City Health International is delighted to announce we have established a blog on the website to promote debate and discussion around current issues of interest to the network. David MacKintosh, one of the founders of the network, writes a weekly piece, posted here. We also invite contributions to the blog from others with ideas and opinions on issues relating to health behaviours and urban health and well being and who wish to share with others. If you would like to contribute, please send your post to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will ensure it is posted on the site and placed in the weekly City Health alerts sent to those in the network.

The City Health Conference in Liverpool starts in less than two weeks. I am looking forward to revisiting a City I knew well in the late 1980’s but have only visited briefly since. The main attraction though is an opportunity to listen to a range of excellent presenters and engage with my fellow attendees. As well as hearing from those working in areas I am familiar with it will also provide an opportunity to learn about subjects I rarely get an opportunity to engage with or consider. It promises a brief escape from the community safety/drug misuse bubble I normally inhabit. However, based on previous City Health experiences I expect to come away with some inspiration and some ideas around practical application.

I hope many of you had the opportunity to join in with events and celebrations to mark the new Chinese Lunar Year, that of the Pig. I have read that the associated attributes of the Year of the Pig include a beautiful personality, good fortune and special associations with the late evening and night time. I see this as an excellent augury for City Health 2019 which has several presentations concerning the problems linked to alcohol and the night time economy, alongside sessions looking at the links between the environment and health, a look at the role of art, reflections on what we have learnt and community initiatives. The presentation on Public health – heroes and villains is one I particularly look forward to. Almost certainly the best £75 you will spend during the Year of the Pig. http://cityhealthinternational.org/2019/

I hope 2019 has begun well and that the year ahead proves a good one for you all. Despite the ongoing political uncertainty in the UK and increasing strain on budgets, with little hope of improvement in the near term, I remain surprisingly upbeat. It may be the result of what seems to have been a successful London Christmas alcohol campaign, once the data firms up I shall certainly share more. It could be the prospect of the forthcoming City Health International Conference in Liverpool on 22 March, which promises some great speakers. Possibly it is a result of small, but welcome, signs of a willingness to explore new ways of thinking and working to reduce health inequalities in relation to mental health and hepatitis. Perhaps it’s having just secured funding to update our Safer Nightlife guidance, which aims to reduce drug related harms in the night time economy. I am sure the money has helped, you could say it has incentivised me.

Like many I have spent the last two weeks demonstrating a casual disregard for the advice provided by health organisations in terms of food and alcohol consumption. My levels of physical activity have not been all they should have been either, although I am full of good intentions for the coming year and have started to make my overfed body walk more.

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David’s blog 49#: The World Turned Upside Down

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Everything is changed. COVID-19 and responses to it have seen dramatic and fundamental changes to how life is lived around the globe. International travel has come to a near complete halt, much of the world is under some form of lock down with businesses, schools, shops, pubs and cafes shut. Our economic and social reality is now unrecognisable from that of only weeks ago.

David’s blog 48#: Revisit, Rewind and Renew

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Clearly the current health focus is strongly centred on Covid- 19 and related issues, as it has been for the past few weeks. It is a demanding situation for politicians, officials, and indeed all of us, especially those working in our healthcare system. One of the major challenges we face is increasing understanding and encouraging changes in behaviour, while also avoiding panic and overreaction. Trusted and accurate information is clearly essential, both for those who have a key role and for the general public. We are certainly seeing more of England’s Chief Medical Officer and Chief Scientific Adviser in the media than usual. In the current situation, politicians are not only keen to hear from experts, but also happy to let them step into the spotlight. While we still see sensationalist headlines, there are also visible benefits of this approach, with more measured and informed elements within the media coverage- though this is less evident on the outer reaches of the online universe. Before I move on to other topics, let us reflect on the significant additional pressures being placed on our frontline health providers. They deserve our gratitude and, in many instances, much improved terms and conditions. Let’s hope that when this coronavirus issue passes the staff that so many rely on are not overlooked.

David’s blog 47#: Reality Bites

Monday, February 10, 2020

Public health is front and centre of the media currently, with concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, which was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan, splashed across almost every front page. With confirmed cases now reported in numerous countries across the world, we face the possibility of a pandemic. As several experts and commentators have pointed out, in our modern, highly interconnected world no epidemic remains a local concern. This, of course, makes for frightening headlines- which, in turn, calls for calm and informed responses.

David's blog #46: A Year for Compassion

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

So here we are: 2020. Let me start by wishing all of you the very best for the year ahead. I have, occasionally, been accused of an inclination toward cynicism and a failure to look on the bright side of things. So, for my first blog of the year, at least, I am going to be determinedly upbeat. You can judge for yourself how long it lasts. This sense of optimism is influenced by the fact that the end of 2019 saw some positive signs in the world of substance misuse. While it was something of a mad scramble against time, we managed to pull together a high quality and well-supported pan-London Christmas alcohol campaign. I am very grateful to colleagues who delivered the key elements of this work and to everyone who supported it. Some, in fact, went well beyond the call of duty to engage with our colleagues in the blue light services. Although we will not have any data in terms of its reach and impact for some months (I will update you), what I can confidently say is that many individuals and organisations liked the messaging and tone. I like to think it is helping contribute to Londoners having a more considered and healthier relationship with alcohol, though there is a way to go yet!

CITY HEALTH INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

CHI Melbourne 2019

CHI Liverpool 2019

CHI Odessa 2018

CHI Basel 2017

CHI London 2016

CHI Barcelona 2015

CHI Amsterdam 2014

CHI Glasgow 2013

CHI London 2012

City Health International

Founded in 2012 City Health International is a network of individuals and organisations engaged in the study of and response to structural health issues and health behaviours in the urban environment. For the first time in history the majority of the world’s population now live in urban environments and the proportion continues to grow. As national governments struggle to deal with the pressures and demands of growing urban populations against a backdrop of financial deficits and uncertainty, it is increasingly left to those working at a city level to provide the leadership and support needed to tackle key health issues.