Why positive thinking won’t end loneliness

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…

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…

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…

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…