NOEMI CASSIN House of Lords London SW1A 0PW Dear Lady Barran, I am writing to you to discuss your latest Campaign to End Loneliness report, titled “The Psychology of Loneliness”. Although I was glad to discover the British government created a Ministry for Loneliness, I was saddened to see that you are tackling the subject…
Category: Advocacy Letters
Neglect of vaginal health in US health education
CAROLINE MOORE Dear Dr. Miguel Cardona, RE: Neglect of vaginal health in US health education I am writing as someone who was educated in the US through high school and was fortunate enough to be given a fairly comprehensive health education. However, for many Americans, this is not the case. My courses in Medical Anthropology…
Menus without calorie information should be available in all restaurants in the UK
NINA DYNE Neil O’Brien MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Primary Care and Public Health), House of Commons,LondonSW1A 0AA Menus without calorie information should be available in all restaurants in the UK Dear Mr O’Brien, I am writing to you to highlight the demonstrable public health need for menus without calorie information to…
An open letter on virtual wards
HELEN ROBERTSON Deliver To: Amanda Pritchard,NHS Chief Executive Officer10 South Colonnade Canary Wharf, London, E14 4PU Dear Amanda Pritchard, In 2022, your team announced the expansion of virtual wards across England to reduce demand for hospital beds. In response, Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) have been tasked with establishing 40 – 50 virtual ward ‘beds’ for…
Seeing Women Rough Sleepers
FILIS LIU To: C/O Xerox Unit 4, 191 Pasadena Close, Hayes, UB3 3NQ. Dear Mayor Sadiq Khan, I am writing to draw your attention to the alarming rise in homelessness, particularly among women. Impacted by the economic downturn, the issue of homelessness in London has reached a critical point, with 3570 recorded rough sleepers during…
Rethinking Indigenous Suicide in Canada and Giving Land Back
HUGH KNAPP Canadian Minister of Healthjean-yves.duclos@parl.gc.ca Re: Suicide in our indigenous communities Dear Mr. Jean-Yves Duclos, I write to you with an urgency to rethink about how and why we are losing a staggering number of young indigenous people to suicide throughout our country. How does the reality of ending one’s life comes to…
The missing yet critical discussion in the Hong Kong primary healthcare development: On achieving effective chronic disease management
EMILY LIU 26 Jun 2023 Dr PANG Fei-chau Commissioner for Primary Healthcare, Health Bureau Dear Dr Pang, I want to begin this letter by acknowledging the work you have been doing on geriatric and community medicine and congratulating you on your new position as primary healthcare commissioner to lead the…
Improving healthcare for people with learning disabilities
LILY ROSE Amanda PritchardCEO of NHS EnglandPO Box 16738RedditchB97 9PT Dear Amanda Pritchard,CEO of NHS England, striving for improving health nationally and ensuring high quality care for all. I study Anthropology at UCL with a particular interest in medical anthropology which has allowed me to explore different practices, approaches and injustices across health systems globally….
Response to the Illegal Migration Bill
WILL FAY 26th of June 2023 Suella Braverman House of CommonsLondonSW1A 0AA Dear Suella Braverman, I am writing as a medical and anthropology student to advocate for policy change impacting refugee and migrant health and suffering, in light of your Illegal Migration Bill (Braverman and The Lord Murray of Blidworth 2023). As I am sure…
BAME maternal health disparities
PIRADAB VIJAYARATNAM Rt Hon Steve Barclay MPSecretary of State for Health and Social Care 39 Victoria Street LondonSW1H 0EU 20th March 2023 Dear Mr Barclay, RE: BAME maternal health disparities. It is not due to race but racism. My mother, who is Sri Lankan, recounts her traumatic experience of pregnancy in the Netherlands as powerless and…
Applying anthropological techniques to achieve your strategic goals for North West Cancer Research.
CHRISTINA PHILPOTT Dear Alistair Richards, My name is Christina, I’m studying MSc Biosocial Medical Anthropology at University College London. My discipline examines the many different factors – cultural, socioeconomic, political and biological – that contribute to a person’s susceptibility to disease and understandings of health. I am a strong supporter of the amazing work North…
Improving access to hospice care in the UK
RAPHAEL ARDANI The Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP 26th March 2023 House of Commons London SW1A 0AA RE: Funding for hospice services in the UK Dear Secretary of State, What does death mean to you? I appreciate that starting this letter with such a bold and direct question may be somewhat unorthodox, but I am…
An open letter to the Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza.
TARA MAYHEW Dear Dame Rachel, The Children’s Commissioner’s Big Ask Survey (2021) gave voice to children and revealed the state of their nation. Children said they want good mental and physical health, and the survey demonstrates, they know exactly how to achieve it. They want to be outside, playing in open spaces. They want to…
The Woman’s Health Strategy for England neglects the realities of being a woman
NAOMI HANSEN House of Commons London SW1A 0AA stephen.barclay.mp@parliament.uk Dear Sir Barclay, I am writing to you today in regards to the Women’s Health Strategy (WHS) for England, which you presented to Parliament in July 2022. You rightfully point out that for far too long, women’s voices have not been listened to, that there are…
Paying more attention to long-term caregivers in contemporary China
CHENGYUE PENG (to No. 57 An Ding Men Wai Da Jie, Dong Cheng District, Beijing) Dear Ms Sun: I am writing to advocate more concern for long-term caregivers, whose labour has been undervalued and underpaid in and out of the family in today’s rapidly ageing China. I hope you can take some action as the…
A Letter to the Secretary of Health and Social Care
ELLA ADENIKE ODUTOYE House of CommonsLondonSW1A 0AA Dear Steve Barclay, Gender bias is an issue that has burdened health care services for decades, as you said when announcing the women’s health strategy in 2022.1 It presents as ‘under representation of women in health studies, the trivialisation of women’s complaints, and discrimination in the awarding of…
Decolonising the medical curriculum: how do we get students involved?
LAUREN PEREIRA-GREENE 134 74 Huntley Street Building UCL Medical School London WC1E 6AU Dear Professor Faye Gishen, I am a third-year medical student, currently completing an intercalated degree in Medical Anthropology. I am writing to express concern around the disengagement between some medical students and efforts to decolonise the medical curriculum. The meaning of ‘decolonisation’…
A call to redress the attitudes and approaches to PMS in the UK
NANO QUIRKE-BAKRADZE To the Chief Executive of Health Education England, Dr Navina Evans 4 Stewart House 32 Russell Square WC1B 5DN 2nd April 2023 Dear Dr Navina Evans, I am writing to you to address my concern on the attitudes and approach to pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS). PMS is a syndrome where women experience a…
A Letter to the National Medical Commission of India: Improving doctor-patient relationships.
ANANYA CHOYAL To Dr Suresh Chandra Sharma Chairperson of the National Medical Commission Pocket-14, Sector – 8, Dwarka Phase – 1 New Delhi 110077 India The National Medical Commission (NMC) act of 2020 sets to reform the medical education sector. The act states that the commission would develop “competency based dynamic curriculum at undergraduate level,”…
The Hidden Toll of the Pandemic: Adolescent Social Isolation and Its Relevance as of Today
FAYEZA AHMED To Professor Chris Whitty Chief Medical Advisor and Expert Advisor Department of Health and Social Care 39 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0EU Dear Professor Chris Whitty, I am writing to express my concern about the ongoing issue of social isolation due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. As a Medical Anthropology student, my aim…