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Martin McKee

@martinmckee.bsky.social
13K followers 739 following 1.8K posts

Prof of European Public Health LSHTM Co-Director European Observatory on Health Systems & Policy Member Independent SAGE Past President BMA & EUPHA Committed to 🇬🇧 rejoining 🇪🇺 www.lshtm.ac.uk/aboutus/people/mcke…

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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I never cease to be amazed by how apparently sensible people give time of day to ludicrous arguments by self interested groups. Money not spent on gambling will be spent somewhere else, likely creating more jobs than are lost from restrictions www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Would a gambling tax rise in the budget really shut shops and cost jobs?
Most of the betting industry is urging the chancellor not to double slot machine duty to raise up to £460m more a year
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Can someone ask next Conservative politician to appear on Today programme what taxes they will raise to pay for indulgence of staying outside EU? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Andy Burnham: UK could ‘go all the way’ by rejoining EU
PM says he is looking at all options and ministers will examine ‘what is doable’ and the ‘pros and cons’
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Always enjoy the incisive cartoons @gasteinforum.bsky.social
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Privileged to lead a walk celebrating the life and many contributions to patient voice and Europe of our friend Tessa Richards, late of @bmj.com @gasteinforum.bsky.social with talks by patient reps ar each stop. So many fond memories.
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Once it was “bread and circuses” Now it’s “arches and ballrooms”
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PLOS Global Public Health @plosglobalpublichealth.org · 24/09/2026
Researchers Helen Walls and @martinmckee.bsky.social with @lshtm.bsky.social discuss the structural drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition – taking a closer look at corporate power and wealth inequality. 💡 Read the essay: plos.io/46HCPCo
plos.io
Power and entitlement: Addressing the structural drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition
The world produces enough food for all, yet it falls short of providing a nutritionally balanced diet, and what it produces is extremely unevenly distributed, with high levels of undernourishment and…
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
A bit of history - my colleagues Josep Figueras & Elias Mossialos describe how we created @obshealth.bsky.social almost 30 years ago www.lse.ac.uk/lse-health/n...
lse.ac.uk
Building the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Just putting this up as a memory of my visit to Nuuk in June
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
@eupha.bsky.social welcomes @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu State of the Union Address & especially sections on extreme weather, climate, AI, digital safety, and housing. eupha.org/articles/the...
eupha.org
EUPHA - The 2026 State of the Union Address: much to celebrate but more to do
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Once again, ministers are claiming that a UK/US trade deal has made an innovative medicine available. What deal? All we have is a “preliminary understanding”. www.gov.uk/government/p...
gov.uk
Arrangement between the United States of America and the United Kingdom on pharmaceutical pricing (HTML)
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Institute for Government @instituteforgovernment.org.uk · 15/09/2026
EVENT | Does the UK do enough to guard against corruption in public life? Thursday 17 Sept, 17:30 With political donations in the news, join us to hear an expert panel discuss what reforms may be needed to strengthen transparency and accountability www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/event/does-u...
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“Guys, they want us to go home.” 🔥 🇫🇷 French short film about what would happen to society if all the immigrants listened to angry old racist white men and left (aka the Republican agenda)
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Pleased to be one of the authors of this letter. I've been privileged to join research projects in ~ 100 countries, and visit ~ 40 more in my long career. So if you ask me why I reject nationalism and xenophobia so strongly, this is why.
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Rebecca McKee @rebeccamckee.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The government has announced three new taskforces to tackle some of the PM's priorities. Yes we've probably all got 'taskforce fatigue' but there are ways they can be effective - as my colleague @hannahkeenan.bsky.social set outs - it's up the government to make the right choices.
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Jane G @janeger.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
This seems appropriate #R4Today act.38degrees.org.uk/act/rnli-tha...
act.38degrees.org.uk
An open letter in support of the volunteers and staff at the RNLI
This is a disgrace. Brave RNLI volunteers being called scum for risking their lives to save others at sea is just plain wrong. So I've signed an open letter of thanks for the RNLI letting them know th...
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Marita Hennessy @maritahennessy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Turning the tables on industry narratives: a health communication playbook for promoting health David Stuckler, Florence Berteletti, @martinmckee.bsky.social @healthpromint.bsky.social academic.oup.com/heapro/artic...
academic.oup.com
Turning the tables on industry narratives: a health communication playbook for promoting health
Abstract. Industries producing harmful products such as tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed foods, and fossil fuels use highly developed communication strate
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
🧵1/ The world produces enough food to feed everyone, yet 733 million people are undernourished. Meanwhile, obesity is rising worldwide. Helen Walls and I argue @plosglobalpublichealth.org that the problem isn't food supply, but who has power and resources to access it.
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mimij9.bsky.social @mimij9.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
New: You Gov poll. Was Brexit a wrong turn?
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
🆕 Our new editorial in the European Journal of Public Health, by @tiagocorreia.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social @chrischirp.bsky.social & me We use the Fauci diaries to discuss “collection, curation, & publication of records of decision-making during a crisis” academic.oup.com/eurpub/artic...
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Uncertainty on trial: the Fauci diary disclosure and the protection of scientific deliberation 
Tiago Correia , Martin McKee , Christina Pagel , Gavin Yamey
European Journal of Public Health, Volume 36, Issue 5, October 2026, ckag160, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckag160
Published: 26 August 2026
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Tiago Correia @tiagocorreia.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Selective disclosure of Fauci’s diary and a central dilemma in crisis science: how to ensure transparency and accountability without portraying scientific uncertainty and revision as misconduct academic.oup.com/eurpub/artic... @martinmckee.bsky.social @chrischirp.bsky.social @gavinyamey.bsky.social
academic.oup.com
Validate User
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Ruth Malone, RN, PhD @remalone.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Wonder if the #Meta settlement included releasing the internal docs to the public. I bet not. They don’t want the public to know
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
🧵1/8 I see the usual enthusiasts are pushing the new Cochrane review as a boost for e-cigarettes in quitting. Really? All it does is compare them with nicotine replacement in short-term trials. Lots, including the important bits, it doesn’t say.
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Prof Gavin Yamey MD MPH @gavinyamey.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
IMHO, these are the 2 best covers of Dolly Parton tunes: Iranian singer Leila Forouhar's utterly sublime, utterly magical cover of "Jolene" 1/2 youtu.be/E3SVOJzVH2o?...
youtu.be
Leila Forouhar - Joleen لیلا فروهر ـ جولین
YouTube video by TaranehEnterprise
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 24/08/2026
If you just happened to pick this week to start yelling about the importance of academic freedom, I sure hope you did more than watch silently for the past 18 months as the Trump administration assaulted everything from mRNA vaccine research to gender studies to the very idea of having universities.
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Nick Hopkinson @copddoc.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
As Hopkinson put it: “The question for pro-pollution campaigners is ‘why do you hate children?’” www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air?
Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against them
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Deva Woodly @devawo.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
It’s important to be clear that the truth value of a subject does not become debatable just because somebody wants to debate. Ether. Wandering wombs. Devils in red heads, the cursed left handed. Flat earth. Phrenology. Humors. Race science. “Debate me bro!” It’s fine for the answer to be: no.
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Mike Galsworthy @mikegalsworthy.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The UK bond with Europe is not just about government & industry - it’s about people. And we need to build on that.
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European Observatory on Health Systems & Policies @obshealth.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
A catastrophe on the scale of #COVID19 was preventable. 5 years on, the lessons remain as relevant as ever. Revisit the evidence in "Drawing Light from the Pandemic" and its Health Policy companion article👇 📖 Read the review: bit.ly/4wCcW1r 📄 Health Policy article: bit.ly/4gGZAev
eurohealthobservatory.who.int
Drawing light from the pandemic: A new strategy for health and sustainable development
A Review of the Evidence
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EUPHA @eupha.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
@martinmckee.bsky.social spoke about health systems in Eastern Europe & former USSR, commercial determinants of health, corruption, polarisation & his Belfast childhood on a podcast exploring global health through the eyes of those working in it. 🎙️Tune in: creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...
creators.spotify.com
Martin by Global Health Lives
Professor Martin McKee is Professor of European Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He is the former chair of the European Public Health Association and President of t...
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Glostermeteor 🔶 @glostermeteor.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Brexit caused the small boats crisis because of several interlinked factors, of which agreements is only part of it. A) It stopped the ability to return migrants which in itself was a deterrent B) It tore up any incentive for European countries to stop migrants in the first place
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Looks like @countbinface.bsky.social may have a relative visiting Ljubliana? Meanwhile, as Reform threatens to withdraw Personal Independence Payments from 10,000 people in Clacton days after the election, I wonder if Farage got the idea here?
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
My generation has so much to apologise for. This eloquent article asks the question that I keep asking. Why will virtually no mainstream politician just say that we face a choice between rejoining the 🇪🇺 and steady decline? It won’t be easy but the narrative that it is impossible is ludicrous.
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Enjoyed recording this podcast for Delan Devakumar’s Global Health Lives series www.djdevakumar.com/global-healt... An opportunity to reflect on my 40 years in public health and the people and events that influenced it podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/g...
podcasts.apple.com
Martin
Podcast Episode · Global Health Lives · 16 August · 35min
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A reminder, as @sarahwatersleeds.bsky.social & I have long argued, that investigation of work-related suicides in U.K. falls far behind that in other countries. It!s almost as if they don’t want to kniw if there’s a link pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39403343/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
When work kills - PubMed
Workplace suicide is an urgent, yet under-researched phenomenon. The paper brings a comparative and multidisciplinary perspective to bear on this phenomenon.
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
And some people want to include clinical trials in prediction markets… what could possibly go wrong? www.npr.org/2026/08/07/n...
npr.org
Kalshi and Polymarket bets on clinical trials criticized as 'ghastly'
Researchers warn betting on clinical trials could incentivize insider trading and interfere with drug development. But Kalshi and Polymarket say they provide valuable information to patients.
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The BMJ @bmj.com · 13/08/2026
Donald Trump signed an executive order this week that will require the MMR vaccine to be delivered in separate doses. US policies are making a resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases inevitable www.bmj.com/content/394/...
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
As Republican politicians threaten Anthony Fauci for pleading 5th amendment, a reminder of what Tr***p did when arraigned for fraud. From Regime Change by Haberman & Swan
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Can we please stop describing places according to whether they voted Remain or Leave in 2016? A majority of people almost everywhere now accept Leave was the wrong decision. Or if we do want to stop clocks, why not views on Suez or the Corn Laws?
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
I’ve been uncharacteristically optimistic about a Burnham premiership but that could change if he fails to get a grip on the incompetence and performative cruelty in the Home Office. Maybe ok not to comment on individual cases but FGS learn from them www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
I’ve been privileged to conduct health research with colleagues in central Europe for over 35 years. It would have been meaningless without studying the history - ghosts everywhere. Science and humanities come together.
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Trish Greenhalgh @trishgreenhalgh.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
“Fauci has devoted more than 50 years to public service, leading NIAID and the US through the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the 2001 anthrax attacks, SARS, pandemic influenza, Ebola, Zika, & other infectious disease threats.” Thanks @gavinyamey.bsky.social for honouring this hero. www.bmj.com/content/394/...
bmj.com
Fauci’s Senate hearing riled up the MAGA base—but at the cost of damaging public health
The vilification of Anthony Fauci by Senate Republicans will erode trust in science, curtail international research collaborations, and deter scientists and health experts from entering public service...
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Dr Lucy-Jane Davis @academic-owl.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
You know the thing where ppl say “no one could have anticipated covid!” Except, that’s complete nonsense. 1st lectures of my MSc @lshtm.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social said “The next pandemic could be a SARS one & if we are unlucky it’ll have a long latency & high asymptomatic spread” 2011
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EUPHA @eupha.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Scientific integrity is a global public good. EUPHA stands with Nancy Krieger & colleagues opposing proposed US research funding & governance changes. Read our statement by @martinmckee.bsky.social on why this matters for #PublicHealth, independent #research, academic #freedom: lnkd.in/e9Tu2sfA
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
I had planned posting something on bizarre rewriting of history on school closures, in particular the ludicrous argument that approaches were totally polarised. However @philipcball.bsky.social has said everything I would have. & everything we said at time is on record @independentsage.bsky.social
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Rebecca McKee @rebeccamckee.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Great to see! Appointing lots of PPSs can be seen-often rightly-as just boosting the payroll vote. But used well they're a source of strategic strength for ministers As @aliceolilly.bsky.social and I said last week proper reform is needed to make commitments to fix parly relationships a reality
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words from Andy Burnham | Institute for Government
Andy Burnham should be prepared to redistribute power in Parliament.
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
“A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not routinely comment on individual cases.”” Fair enough, but they should at least commit to learning from their many decisions like this that combine cruelty with an absence of any discernible logic. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
theguardian.com
Home Office rejects Palestinian Jerusalemite woman’s UK visa but approves husband’s
Officials not satisfied Therese Abdallah is a ‘genuine visitor’ and believe she would not leave after visit to son in London
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Richard Corbett CBE @richardcorbett.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
IPSOS: "31% currently say they’re likely to consider voting Labour at the next election. But if Labour were to offer a 2nd referendum in its manifesto, this rises to a 45% – the only EU policy pledge tested that makes a meaningful difference to the party’s support" www.kcl.ac.uk/news/the-bre...
kcl.ac.uk
The Brexit vote 10 years on: study shows desire for closer EU relationship – but trade-offs temper rush to rejoin | King's College London
More people – though still not a majority – now think the referendum was a mistake
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God @thegodshow.com · 21/07/2026
Seen in Philadelphia.
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Martin McKee @martinmckee.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
So the latest rationale for US tariffs is that countries are using forced labour. Yet the US incarcerates over 1 million people, many of them forced to work. Somehow I’m not hearing this point being made. www.aclu.org/publications...
aclu.org
Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers | American Civil Liberties Union
Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers, an ACLU research report produced in collaboration with the Global Human Rights Clinic of the University of Chicago Law School, examines the use of ...
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Alice Lilly @aliceolilly.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Partnered with the brilliant @rebeccamckee.bsky.social to look at Andy Burnham's stated approach to working with his backbenchers. While it's encouraging that the new PM is thinking seriously about this relationship, he could go further to truly embed different ways of working
instituteforgovernment.org.uk
Fixing relations with MPs will require more than warm words from Andy Burnham | Institute for Government
Andy Burnham should be prepared to redistribute power in Parliament.
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