Amateurs Confronting Specialists: Expenditure on AIDS in England

Abstract

Present public policy in Britain towards the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) funding is unusual if not exceptional; first because the funding is earmarked and second because no other area of medicine receives such high levels of resources. This paper examines the cause of AIDS and the likely trend of new cases and hence future resource demands upon the NHS. This paper offers four explanations for massive ‘ring-fenced’ AIDS expenditure of public revenue. The distribution to and allocation of those monies by Regional Health Authorities is analysed. It concludes that there is very little rationale for this, especially when alternative uses of funds are considered. Furthermore the politics of incrementalism indicates that what has already become a major misuse of public funds is likely to continue in the foreseeable future.

Assessing the impact of national anti-HIV sexual health campaigns: trends in the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in England

“…5 6 However, the campaigns, and ongoing programmes, were also criticised as being unfocused, wasteful, or unnecessary. 7 This analysis aims to evaluate the possible impact on sexual health outcomes of the anti-AIDS campaigns by examining national time series data for temporal associations between the interventions and key outcome measures: HIV transmission and diagnoses among men having sex with men (transmission through drug injecting is outside the scope of this analysis, and most of the heterosexually transmitted HIV infections diagnosed in the United Kingdom were acquired abroad 8 ), attendances, and diagnoses of specific STIs at genitourinary medicine clinics. This is the first national evaluation for the United Kingdom using HIV statistics and STI surveillance data.…”

Economic Effects of Smoking Bans on Restaurants and Pubs

“…Policy responses to virtual risks require politicians to seek expert advice. Experts, however, because they are specialists tend to give a high priority to their own expertise to the exclusion of competing specialists with competing interests and the broader interest (Craven et al , 1994). Where, as in the case of ETS, the medical evidence has generated wide variations in estimates of the extent to which individuals are harmed the conditions are propitious for interest groups to take the moral high ground and advocate draconian action.…”

Les modèles nationaux d'adaptation aux défis d'une épidémie: France, Grande-Bretagne, Allemagne, Italie

“…diff6rence de la situation frangaise, le risque de sante publique fut exag6r6 en Grande-Bretagne (Craven, Stewart et Taghavi, 1994) (20), sous la pression conjointe de l'opinion publique, des m6decins et des responsables des h6pitaux. Ce dernier a averti les autorit6s sanitaires f6d6rales.…”