News and Comment

`Health in the Headlines: Making Sense of the Science?' at the British Library

17 October 2011

Breakthroughs in health research are reported almost every day and making sense of this information can be difficult.

The Patients Participate! project is supported by The British Library, UKOLN, the Association of Medical Research Charities and JISC. It asked patients, the public, medical research charities and the research community how we can bridge the gap between access to information and understanding in health research.

Tracey Brown, Director of Sense About Science, will lead the TalkScience debate at the launch of the project’s findings. She will discuss how we can all ‘Ask for Evidence' for scientific and medical claims, and will consider whose responsibility it is to ensure the public has access to the evidence, or lack of it, behind the headlines.

Tracey said “We have been working with scientists and the public for some years to challenge misinformation, whether about the age of the earth, the causes of cancer, wifi radiation or homeopathy for malaria. It's often very effective but no sooner is attention turned elsewhere than misleading claims creep back up again. To make a permanent difference, we need the public to be evidence hunters. We are delighted to join with the British Library in encouraging patients to engage with the evidence for medical claims. Organisations that seek to persuade people to try treatments or cures should expect questions about their evidence.”

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