Public Health Explored

John Ashton is one of Britain’s foremost public health consultants whose footprint is to be found on many of the most innovative public health initiatives of the last 40 years. Born in Liverpool, John was educated at the University of Newcastle Medical School and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, before returning to the north west where he was a pioneer of the New Public Health. In the 1980s he led work on health promotion, reducing teenage pregnancy, establishing the first large-scale syringe exchange programme in the face of epidemics of heroin injection and the arrival of the HIV virus, and was one of the originators of the World Health Organisation Healthy Cities Project, now a global programme. John has always bridged the worlds of academia and practice. He is acknowledged as a first-class communicator and inspirational teacher. He has been adviser to the Crown Prince of Bahrain’s Covid-19 Taskforce and wrote a book on the pandemic. John was awarded the CBE in 2000 for contributions to the NHS.

Introduction 



Section 1: Concepts





Defining the problem
On forgetting your principles
The world is a fast flowing river
Elephants on a train in Africa
Elephants and the prevention of infant deaths
Eating an elephant
The age of Hygieia
William Morris on health
‘Doing health’: reclaiming the ‘H’ word
Foreseeing and forestalling


Section 2: Issues





A fish is the last one to see the water
Not invented here
Listen to the community
Beware of healthism
Go to the people
Conspiracies against the laity
We’re doing it already
Prophets are never recognised in their own country
Professionals should be on tap not on top
Primum non Nocere


Section 3: Getting to go





Less is usually more
Starting where they are
Don’t follow the yellow brick road
Caveat emptor
Community organisers beware
Self fulfilling prophecy kills
Politics is medicine on a large scale
Columbus on the need for strategy
Starting a rumour
Edwin Chadwick and The Times


Section 4: Making a difference





The half-life of evidence
Proof and evidence
The art and science of public health
On strategic underview
The hidden health care system
Be careful what you are selling
The conspiracy of silence
Achieving change
Let the dough rise slowly
A sense of place


Section 5: Reflections





Public health is an investment
William Henry Duncan’s establishment
On growing potatoes
Life and risk
The importance of humour
Killing with kindness
Every silver lining has a cloud
Making things happen
Success and failure
The dilemma of capital cities