Alone in hospital intensive care – alone in Covid
The pandemic has caused many people to die alone in hospital intensive care units – whilst others have died at home without the support and pain relief they needed.
This programme is available on the Health Check Page and is available now until Wednesday 9th of February. It will also broadcast on Sunday 6th of February in Phuket at 8:00 AM on 91.5 FM and 102.5 FM and Online via the Internet radio portals.
The Lancet Commission on the Value of Death is calling for a radical change in how we approach death.
The Lancet Global Health Commission on High-Quality Health Systems in the SDG Era is supported by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Hospital and palliative care
Co-author Dr Libby Sallnow explains what makes a good death, and palliative care consultant Dr M R Rajagopal shares how hospital communities have transformed palliative care in Kerala, India.
Mixed messaging around Covid vaccines for pregnant women have resulted in a low uptake, leaving mothers and babies at risk of infection and serious complications. Dr Sarah Stock, an Honorary Consultant and Subspecialist in Maternal and Fetal Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, reassures us that vaccines are safe in pregnancy.
Spotify misinformation
Following the Spotify misinformation row, Marnie Chesterton asks how should streaming platforms respond to false claims about Covid-19?
Professor Matt Fox from Boston University says they have a responsibility to tackle misinformation but warns that censorship may do more harm than good.
Long Covid
Also, how a new scan is revealing hidden lung damage in long Covid, and should our chocolate treats come with picture warnings of clogged arteries?
This week Health Check is presented by Marnie Chesterton Producer: Paula McGrath and Samara Linton
(Picture: A senior woman being comforted by a doctor in a hospice. Photo credit: Pornpak Khunatorn/Getty Images.)
Previously on Health Check
Asthma and covid, is it worse for sufferers? Wheezing and feeling breathless is a fact of life for the 262 million people around the world who have asthma and are not in the hospital.
New antiviral pills to treat Covid are coming thick and fast. Pfizer has just announced their new antiviral Paxlovid in the same week UK’s MHRA was the first country in the world to approve Molnupiravir – Merck’s pill launched last month.
Much more on a Sunday and all week from the BBC
Asthma and covid, is it worse for sufferers?
Wheezing and feeling breathless is a fact of life for the 262 million people around the world who have asthma.
Albert Einstein
To mark the 60th anniversary of the death of Albert Einstein we tell the story of what happened to his brain.