Andy Haines

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine | LSHTM · Department of Social and Environmental Health Research

This Series has examined the health implications of policies aimed at tackling climate change. Assessments of mitigation strategies in four domains-household energy, transport, food and agriculture, and electricity generation-suggest an important message: that actions to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions often, although not always, entail net benefit...

To determine effectiveness of advice from general practitioners to heavy drinkers to reduce their excessive alcohol consumption (35 U or more a week for men, 21 U or more for women). Randomised, controlled double blind trial over 12 months with interim assessment at six months. Group practices (n = 47; list size averaging 10,000) recruited from Med...

Randomised controlled trials are widely accepted as the most reliable method of determining effectiveness, but most trials have evaluated the effects of a single intervention such as a drug. Recognition is increasing that other, non›pharmacological interventions should also be rigorously evaluated. 1-3 This paper examines the design and execution o...

Climate change has resulted in an increase in heat exposure globally. There is strong evidence that this increased heat stress is associated with poor maternal and fetal outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations. However, there remains poor understanding of the biological pathways and mechanisms involved in the impact of heat in pregnancy. Thi...

Studies on the effect of heat stress on pregnant women are scarce, particularly in highly vulnerable populations. To support the risk assessment of pregnant subsistence farmers in the West Kiang district, The Gambia we conducted a study on the pathophysiological effects of extreme heat stress and assessed the applicability of heat stress indices. F...

Background The intersecting crises of climate change, food insecurity, and undernutrition disproportionately affect children. Understanding the effect of heat on growth from conception to 2 years of age is important because of mortality and morbidity implications in the near term and over the life course. Methods In this secondary analysis, we use...

Moving toward carbon-neutral societies is projected to provide health co-benefits, yet their magnitude is not well-documented and may be context-specific. Synthesizing the evidence on these co-benefits could enhance the engagement of decision-makers and populations. We performed a systematic review including 55 quantitative studies exploring 121 sc...

Carbon pricing is a key component of current climate policy agendas. There are a variety of societal and health impacts from carbon pricing interventions (e.g. from improved air quality). A better understanding of potential health impacts and how they depend on context and policy design is crucial to improve the political feasibility and fairness o...

COVID-19 and other pandemics remain significant threats to population health, particularly in rural settings where health systems are disproportionately weak. There is a lack of evidence on whether trained, equipped, and deployed community health workers (CHWs) can lead to significant reductions in COVID-19 infections and deaths. Our objective was...

Studies on the effect of heat stress on pregnant women are scarce, particularly in highly vulnerable populations. To support the risk assessment of pregnant subsistence farmers in The Gambia, we conducted a study on the pathophysiological effects of extreme heat stress and assessed the applicability of heat stress indices. We added location-specifi...

Tom Meade made outstanding contributions to our understanding of the role of the haemostatic (clotting) system in the causation of cardiovascular disease by combining epidemiological approaches with rigorous standardization of laboratory methods. As director of the MRC Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit (EMCU) at Northwick Park Hospital he led majo...

Background Rural community health workers [CHWs] play a critical role in improving health outcomes during non-pandemic times, but evidence on their effectiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic is limited. There is a need to focus on rural CHWs and rural health systems as they have limited material and human resources rendering them more vulnerable th...

Objectives To estimate all cause and cause specific deaths that are attributable to fossil fuel related air pollution and to assess potential health benefits from policies that replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy sources. Design Observational and modelling study. Methods An updated atmospheric composition model, a newly developed re...

In January, 2023, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward to 90’s before midnight, reflecting the growing risk of nuclear war.1 In August, 2022, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is now in “a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height o...

In January, 2023, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward to 90 s before midnight, reflecting the growing risk of nuclear war. In August, 2022, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is now in “a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of...

In January 2023, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday Clock forward to 90 seconds before midnight, reflecting the growing risk of nuclear war. In August 2022, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the world is now in “a time of nuclear danger not seen since the heigh...