All posts by Andre Burbidge

Poster for World Leprosy Day showing hand

World Leprosy Day 2024

World Leprosy Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of January. In India it is observed on 30 January, the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s death.

This year’s theme is “Beat Leprosy”, with the dual objectives of eradicating the stigma associated with leprosy and promoting the dignity of those…

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Spitting prohibited notice on bus

Finish your toast!

“Finish your toast, Andre, then we’ll get the 51 to grandma’s”

I was 6 years old. My mum had taken me to the Birmingham Diaries café for tea and toast after my dental check-up: no breakfast on dental appointment days, but a treat for attending. I enjoyed…

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World No Tobacco Day 2023: Grow food not tobacco

31 May 2023 is World No Tobacco day. While much has been written about the harmful effects of using tobacco and public health interventions to combat this, the theme this year moves to the growing of tobacco, hence the slogan “grow food, not tobacco”, a theme which dovetails with the…

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International Women’s Day : staff / alumni authors

To mark International Women’s Day, I have put together a display of books authored or edited by a range of female staff and alumni of LSHTM. Among others there are Sari Kovats, Dina Balabanova, Virginia Berridge, Ann Mills and Anna Dixon. The topics include both the sciences and social…

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International Migrants Day. 18 December 2022

On 4 December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 18 December as International Migrants Day (resolution A/RES/55/93). The day is intended to mark the 1990 adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families (A/RES/45/158…

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World rabies day, 28 September 2022.

28 September 2022 marks World Rabies Day. This year’s theme is “One health ; zero death” : see: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2022/09/28/default-calendar/world-rabies-day-2022The World Health Organization has a target for the elimination of deaths due to dog-mediated infection…

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National Immunization Awareness Month

(see https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niam/index.html)

The National Immunization Awareness Month is held annually in August, focusing on the importance of immunization at all ages (see https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/events/niam/index.html)

I was born in April 1964, in Birmingham, West Midlands. My…

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World Environment Day 2022 (United Nations Environment Programme)

The theme of this year’s World Environment Day is “Only One Earth”. The host nation is Sweden.

“In the Universe there are billions of galaxies. In our galaxy are billions of planets. But there is only one Planet Earth”

The stuff of both science and science fiction perhaps, but…

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World Malaria Day 2022: Monday 25 April

The theme of World Malaria Day 2022 is: “Harness innovation to reduce the malaria burden and save lives.” The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that no single tool available today will solve the problem and is calling for significant investment and a multi-sector approach.

In 2020 there were an…

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The history of tuberculosis, cover of book "The greatest story never told"

World Tuberculosis Day. 24 March 2022

World Tuberculosis Day is held on the 24 March each year to raise awareness of the public health impact of this disease. On this date in 1882, Robert Koch announced he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened a way towards diagnosis and cure.

This year’s theme…

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