https://www.scmp.com/rss/508431/feed Edward Pinkney is a programme officer at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, working primarily on mental health and poverty related projects. He received a Masters of Public Health from HKU in 2015, and previously worked in the UK in the charity sector, coordinating mental health campaigns in schools and universities. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and has recently had research published on the subjects of inequalities and public health... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com If the West is any guide, then as pandemic measures continue to unwind, there will soon be a time when the draconian restrictions of Covid-19 seem like a strange, distant memory. Families separated by borders will breathe a sigh of relief, and there will be a desire to forget a period of history that left many feeling exhausted. Research last month from University of Hong Kong scholars concluded that pandemic fatigue was a factor in the severity of Hong Kong’s fourth wave and that it might... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3202896/hong-kong-needs-softer-sciences-solidify-pandemic-response-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3202896/hong-kong-needs-softer-sciences-solidify-pandemic-response-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 13 Dec 2022 00:15:07 +0000 Medical practitioners in Hong Kong have been reluctant to recommend Covid-19 vaccines to patients with chronic health conditions for fear of the risk of adverse events. Significant numbers of doctors have also been hesitant about openly discussing or recommending vaccination even for those with no relevant health issues. These are the conclusions from a study by the Chinese University of Hong Kong that received little attention when published last November. The findings, which should have raised... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3170354/doctors-concerns-about-covid-19-vaccine-liability-must-be-addressed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3170354/doctors-concerns-about-covid-19-vaccine-liability-must-be-addressed?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Mar 2022 22:45:12 +0000 As the Year of the Tiger gets under way, public health professionals are starting to bare their claws over the state of online discourse. The science journal Nature recently published a comment piece expressing concern about social media abuse experienced by scientists during the pandemic, calling on platforms to do more. This followed a letter from hundreds of scientists and medical professionals to the music and podcasting service Spotify demanding it tackle Covid-19 misinformation. Concerns... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3166480/spotify-row-shows-how-moderation-can-play-role-stopping-online?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3166480/spotify-row-shows-how-moderation-can-play-role-stopping-online?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Feb 2022 01:30:22 +0000 The government’s vaccine task force has suggested that once Hong Kong is 70 per cent vaccinated, masks might be unnecessary. While it is reassuring to see signs of progress towards concrete relaxation of measures, the continuing talk of vaccine “incentives” shows a peculiar confusion about the role of vaccines. An incentive is something offered to to motivate someone to do something that doesn’t otherwise benefit them. For instance, an employee might be offered a bonus for working overtime if,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3134762/why-sound-science-not-incentives-will-get-hong-kongs-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3134762/why-sound-science-not-incentives-will-get-hong-kongs-coronavirus?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 May 2021 22:45:09 +0000 China’s recent white paper celebrating the end of extreme poverty will be dismissed by critics as propaganda or PR fluff. Yet what cannot easily be dismissed is the evidence that mainland China has indeed made extraordinary economic progress over recent decades, and that its leaders have achieved much of what they set out to do in eradicating absolute poverty. The speed with which draconian measures were introduced to curb the spread of Covid-19 is also telling. Those living elsewhere, including... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130803/chinas-anti-poverty-playbook-should-inspire-hong-kong-act?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3130803/chinas-anti-poverty-playbook-should-inspire-hong-kong-act?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Apr 2021 00:45:12 +0000 Public health messaging is fraught with danger. We saw this last year with the disastrous communication around face masks, in which ministers in Western countries undermined confidence in mask-wearing, most likely due to supply issues after failing to control sales or stockpile. When governments finally changed their stance and started advocating the use of masks, they had to battle against many of the unfounded claims that they had propagated, for instance, that masks would lead to a false... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3125083/covid-19-pandemic-shows-public-health-messaging-done-badly-danger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3125083/covid-19-pandemic-shows-public-health-messaging-done-badly-danger?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Mar 2021 00:30:08 +0000 The US presidential election was notable for several reasons, including the unusually mature age of the candidates. Of the seven Democrat primary candidates, four would have been the oldest ever newly elected president, exceeding the record that President Donald Trump took from Ronald Reagan. Three, including President-elect Joe Biden who is 78, are older than Reagan was after two terms in office. The US presidency is often described as the most powerful job in the world. For the leading... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3115751/hong-kong-and-us-escape-low-fertility-trap-old-must-help-young?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3115751/hong-kong-and-us-escape-low-fertility-trap-old-must-help-young?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 19:30:10 +0000