Unable to complete his education after contracting polio as a child, Aminu was determined not to become a beggar on the streets of Kano in north-west Nigeria. His solution was to design a bike that restored his mobility. Now he produces dozens of them, employing fellow polio survivors and helping to transform lives
An Australian ad showing alcohol being absorbed into the bloodstream, spreading and causing cancerous cell mutations in the liver, bowel and throat, has been named the world’s most effective at making people reconsider their alcohol intake. Researchers tested 83 English-language alcohol advertisements on 2,174 adults who regularly consume alcohol. According to the Cancer Council of Australia, more than 3,200 cases of cancer could be prevented each year nationally if people limited their alcohol consumption
Born with a serious heart condition called dilated cardiomyopathy, Chloe Narbonne had five major operations – and four hearts – by the age of 12. She defied the odds to become the youngest person in Europe to receive an artificial heart thanks to groundbreaking surgery involving 30 NHS staff. Now Chloe, her mother and medical personnel tell her amazing story for the first time
Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK. Jamal Edwards, founder of film-making company SBTV, asks why so many men are taking their own lives, and whether society’s stereotypes of masculinity have stopped men from seeking help with depression
Jaha Dukureh, a survivor of FGM and forced child marriage, became a lightning-rod for change in the Gambia, her activism contributing to the eventual government ban on FGM and child marriage. She was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Here she confronts her past, her family, her culture, her religion, her country and its leaders
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft who has spent billions on philanthropic efforts over the past several decades, speaks at the Munich security conference on Sunday and says that the world must be on guard for bio-terrorism attacks. Telling the audience that “a synthetic version of the smallpox virus … or a super contagious and deadly strain of the flu” could kill more than 30 million people in a year, Gates says there is a “reasonable probability” that such an event could occur in the next 10 to 15 years
In the second of our three-part Speak your Mind series, we meet Georgia, 22, who suffered from eating disorders through her teenage years. Thinspiration Tumblrs inspired her to lose weight but that spiralled to starvation and bulimia. Now recovered, she wonders why black women are rarely identified as having eating disorders
A workaholic with grown-up children, Julia found herself lonely and facing retirement without a plan. Living in Italy, she visited England to see her daughter living in Plymouth and decided to stay, but her first winter saw her hibernating from the cold and she put on 20kg. But now the 66 year old says the sea has become a symbol for her re-invigorated life, after she took up daily cold water swimming at Porthcurno beach, near Penzance – ‘it’s freedom, joy, pleasure’
Wild swimming in the UK: 10 top spots
In the first of a our three-part series Young Minds, we meet Sheeva, 24, who was sexually assaulted at university. It took her four years of panic attacks, anxiety and depression to accept that she was not blame for what had happened and that she could not have stopped it. She now supports victims of crime, including domestic and sexual violence, through the aftermath of a traumatic event
Last year, author Kathleen Kerridge was fat-shamed by some commenters on social media after we published a video about her experience of poverty. Here, she argues that people should not judge a person’s need based on the size of their jeans. Getting fat is often a byproduct of being poor, she says, because a lot of cheap food that is filling is also unhealthy
Last year, author Kathleen Kerridge was fat-shamed by some Guardian commenters after we published a video about her experience of poverty. Here, she argues that people should not judge a person’s need based on the size of their jeans. Getting fat is often a byproduct of being poor, she says, because a lot of cheap food that is filling is also unhealthy
Dementia Diaries is an audio diary project that captures people’s diverse experiences of living with dementia, now the leading cause of death in the UK. While the origin of the disease is still unclear and symptoms can vary greatly, these recordings, here with accompanying film, aim to capture some of the complexity of each caller’s individual perspectives
Doctors saved a Canadian woman’s life by removing her lungs for six days while she waited for a double lung transplant. In what is believed to be the first procedure of its kind in the world, Melissa Benoit arrived at Toronto hospital with just hours to live when staff and her family decided to take the unprecedented procedure
Strokestra, a pioneering collaboration between the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Hull integrated community stroke service uses group music-making to drive recovery in stroke survivors. Patients try out instruments, listen to and play alongside world-class musicians. With funding from Hull Public Health, the pilot programme involved 50 patients and carers and ran from May to October 2015. This is their story
The government has rejected a request by the surveillance camera watchdog to allow it to monitor the increasing and unregulated use of body-worn video cameras in hospitals.
The cameras, which record sound as well as images, are being increasingly deployed in hospitals in an effort to tackle abuse of frontline health service staff.
On Wednesday, it emerged that surveillance camera commissioner Tony Porter had warned ministers last year that the privacy of millions of NHS patients was put at risk by the unchecked use of the cameras.
In a call backed by privacy campaigners, Porter recommended adding NHS trusts to a list of public bodies required to comply with a code of practice on the use of surveillance in effort to promote greater transparency and accountability.
Now the Home Office, the department to which Porter reports, has rejected the requests.
A letter to Porter sent last week from the home office minister, Brandon Lewis, and released by the government on Wednesday, said the recommendation was unnecessary as: “We had not exhausted the possibilities of increasing voluntary compliance.”
In letter in November, also released on Wednesday, Porter warned that the voluntary approach had twice been rejected by NHS Protect, the body responsible for hospital security, “on the ground that they could not enforce compliance”.
Porter’s letter added: “Despite our best attempts, voluntary adoption has not worked … and it will difficult without government intervention.”
Under the code, which is overseen by Porter as the surveillance camera commissioner, public bodies such as the police must demonstrate a “pressing need” for the use of surveillance cameras, and warn the public of their use and how images will be stored and used. Porter, a former senior counter-terrorism officer, has been working with the police to ensure how public privacy can be protected as forces roll out body-worn video for frontline officers. He wants to do the same in the NHS.
In his November letter, Porter warned Lewis that he was becoming increasingly concerned about the use of surveillance in the NHS.
He said: “The NHS trusts are complex organisations that use surveillance camera systems in public areas where people under surveillance are likely to be vulnerable and distressed, and where the privacy requirements and burden on those conducting transparent, legitimate and proportionate surveillance is surely at its highest.”
It pointed out that millions of people use hospitals each year, and added: “The introduction of body-worn video cameras at several hospitals has increased my concerns. Body-worn video cameras are a particularly intrusive device as they capture audio and video simultaneously without the option of switching either off whilst recording.”
Porter said the government’s decision to allow surveillance to go unchecked in the NHS raised a series of questions about the privacy of patients.
In a statement to the Guardian, he said: “Surveillance cameras play an important role in maintaining public and staff safety, preventing and resolving crimes. Yet in the healthcare sector they are not subject to scrutiny and standards, and therefore can we be reassured that they are fit for purpose and are doing what they are meant to be doing?
“Are we sure that security officers using body-worn video are doing so without invading an individual’s right to privacy when they may be at their most vulnerable? NHS Protect have twice rejected recommending that trusts adopt the surveillance camera code of practice as it’s not mandatory for them – the code is designed to ensure cameras are used effectively, transparently and efficiently to protect individuals’ freedoms.
“In the absence of any mandate to adopt the code, I’m continuing to work with government to look at how we can encourage NHS trusts and hospitals to voluntarily adopt the surveillance camera code of practice.”
Daniel Nesbitt, research director at Big Brother Watch, urged ministers to heed Porter’s warning.
He said: “The government shouldn’t be standing in the way of effective oversight. The NHS controls a large number of CCTV cameras and the public have to be able to trust they will use them properly.
“Giving the surveillance camera commissioner the power to oversee how trusts use their cameras should be a no-brainer.”
A mass asthma event which has so far caused the deaths of four people, left dozens in hospital and affected hundreds more hit in Melbourne, Australia, this week. It was triggered by extreme winds and air moisture which broke pollen particles into small enough pieces to enter people’s lungs. Christine Jenkins, clinical professor at the George Institute, explains the phenomenon and why it is especially dangerous for people who do not usually experience asthma
John McDonnell describes the last six years of economic policy as an ‘abject failure’ in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The shadow minister accuses Philip Hammond of failing the sick and elderly after his autumn statement gave no additional money to the NHS or social care
This short film explores the story of Jamie McKechnie, who was punched in an unprovoked street attack in Shortlands, south-east London, in 2011. The film was made as part of a Channel 4 documentary, One Killer Punch, which explores the dramatic repercussions of a single act of violence
The number of young women dying from taking ecstasy is on the rise. Even though more than twice the number of males take the drug than females, this year the death rate for young women is substantially higher. After the death of Stephanie Shevlin, 22, on a night out in Crewe, Leah Green investigates what role hormones and super-strength tablets play in the trend
Click here for harm reduction information on how to take ecstasy more safely
Newsreader and presenter Jan Leeming’s father was diagnosed with Macular Degeneration. Over a period of 15 years, she witnessed his sight deteriorate until he went almost completely blind. Not realising the condition could be inherited, it came as a terrible shock to Jan that she was herself diagnosed with the initial symptoms of the same disease
