

NCDs: what’s changed in 20 years?
This is the second in my series of three blogs to mark my 20 years of working in NCD prevention. In those two decades, about a third of a...


20 years in NCD prevention
To my astonishment, it seems that today – 26 May 2025 – marks exactly 20 years since I had my very first meeting about the possibility of...


2021 as Benjamin Button
On the Fourth Day of Christmas, I came to a decision: I could no longer put off sorting through my vast, ever-accruing backlog of ‘news’...


‘The challenge is great, but so is the reward’: UN High-level Meeting on UHC
A week is a long, long time in world affairs at the moment – climate strikes, the UK Parliament has been un-prorogued, impeachment...


Cycling Spain...
This June, I'm taking on another cycling challenge... my toughest yet. It's a 1,000km Camino (pilgrim route) from Seville in southern...


Digital marketing, humanitarian crises, obesity… My year in freelancing
My New Year’s Resolution is to do more writing for myself, rather than just for other people – you may have noticed that I failed...


Cycling the Camino...
From 25 August to 6 September, I cycled the 'Northern Camino' - a 400-mile bike ride along the north coast of Spain from Bilbao to...


Tales from a desert city: the Global NCD Alliance Forum 2017
The best conferences are those in which the formal content is only a part of its success – and the Global NCD Alliance Forum* – held 9–11...


Thoughts from Coimbra: the International Conference on Urban Health
Watching the thirsty Portuguese countryside slide past the windows of the train, it’s a good time to reflect on a few days at the...


Cycling Without Age – in Southwark
20 years ago, when living in Cambridge, one of my dear friends was the wonderful Phyllis, in her late 80s when we met. She was an avid...