Regulatory capture

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In its broadest sense, regulatory capture is the process through which special interests affect state intervention (Dal Bo, E., 2006).  More specifically regulatory capture describes the phenomenon that regulators protect the interests of the organisation that they regulate over the interests of the public (Borup, R., Traulsen, J.M. and Kaae, S., 2019).  In this essay, we will discuss this in the context of the pharmaceutical sector shaping public health policy…

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How impressive are existing tobacco control measures?

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How impressive are existing tobacco control measures?   The Tobacco Control Plan (TCP) for England 2017-22 was published by the UK Government in July 2017 and identifies key specific areas of focus including, prevention, supporting smokers to quit, elimination variation in smoking rates, and effective enforcement.  Since the preceding UK TCP, smoking prevalence has substantially reduced from 20.2% of adults smoking to 5.5%.  Whilst this is the lowest level since…

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Human resources in General Practice in the UK

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Human resources in General Practice in the UK   Introduction. Healthcare in the United Kingdom (UK) is delivered mostly by the National Health Service (NHS).  The NHS is a model of healthcare owned by the state with the aim of delivering universal health coverage (UHC).  UHC is the concept of providing health services to all without their suffering financial hardship as a result.  Estimates suggest that most patient contacts in…

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Primary Care and market forces

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The National Health Service is funded through three means; general taxation, national insurance contributions, and private fees for a small number of services, including prescriptions and dentistry.  The level of funding to the NHS is set annually by the central government.  General taxation accounts for around 80% of that budget (1).  In 2018/19 the budget for the NHS was £114b (2).  Primary care receives around 7.1% of the total NHS…

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