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Simon Chapman

Emeritus Professor in Public Health, University of Sydney

Simon Chapman AO PhD FASSA HonFFPH(UK) is Emeritus Professor in Public Health at the University of Sydney. He has published over 500 articles in peer reviewed journals and 19 books and major reports. His H index is 53 and he has over 10,500 citations.

In 1997 he won the World Health Organisation's World No Tobacco Day Medal and in 2003 he was voted by his international peers to be awarded the American Cancer Society’s Luther Terry Award for outstanding individual leadership in tobacco control. In 2008 he won the NSW Premier’s Cancer Researcher of the Year medal; the Public Health Association of Australia’s Sidney Sax medal; and was a NSW finalist in Australian of the Year. He was deputy editor (1992-1997) then editor (1998-2008) of the British Medical Journal's, Tobacco Control and is now its Editor Emeritus. He was made an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2013 and was named Australian Skeptic of the Year

His recent research involves examining policy how health and medical issues are covered in the news media; how people stop smoking unaided; the psychogenic aspects of wind farms and health; and characteristics of public health research (and its dissemination) which impact on public health policy.

Why anecdotes aren't strong evidence when it comes to quitting smoking

Aug 07, 2017 08:36 am UTC| Insights & Views Health

In the early 1990s, I was the guest of the local health service in Broken Hill, New South Wales, during a national week promoting quitting smoking. I went on the local radio and the host invited ex-smokers to call in and...

Wind farms are hardly the bird slayers they're made out to be. Here's why

Jun 17, 2017 16:20 pm UTC| Insights & Views Technology

People who oppose wind farms often claim wind turbine blades kill large numbers of birds, often referring to them as bird choppers. And claims of dangers to iconic or rare birds, especially raptors, have attracted a lot of...

World Trade Organisation gives Australia's plain tobacco packs the (draft) thumbs up

May 05, 2017 14:33 pm UTC| Insights & Views Economy

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has reportedly backed Australias laws on plain tobacco packaging implemented from December 2012. The apparent decision marks the end of the last of three cases brought against...

Apocalypse now: wifi and radiation sickness sweeping the world

Mar 21, 2017 00:06 am UTC| Health

In 2006, two researchers, Hallberg and Oberfeld, published a terrifying forecast in the journal Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine asking Will we all become electrosensitive?. The researchers extrapolated figures from...

Can we trust Big Tobacco to promote public health?

Mar 14, 2017 05:16 am UTC| Health Politics

Theres a new catchcry in public health: people working in tobacco control should join with Big Tobacco to promote safer tobacco products. It runs like this: before starting work each morning, tobacco company employees...

Colonoscopy: nothing to fear from the 'silver stallion'

Mar 06, 2017 02:07 am UTC| Health

I recently had a colonoscopy, an invasive medical procedure to examine the bowel, and was hugely relieved to get the all-clear. I posted a description of my experience to my friends on Facebook and got a range of...

On the pleasure of smoking

Dec 02, 2016 04:41 am UTC| Health

Repeatedly, studies have found a large majority of smokers regret ever starting to smoke: 85% in this study, 90% in this four nation study. Each year, some 40% of smokers make an attempt to stop, with most relapsing within...

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Economy

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

What if the Reserve Bank itself has been feeding inflation? An economist explains

Heres something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its attempt to restrain inflation in May...

China’s new world order: looking for clues from Xi’s recent meetings with foreign leaders

There is broad consensus that Chinese foreign policy has become more assertive and more centralised in the decade since Xi Jinping has ascended to the top of Chinas leadership. This has also meant that Chinese foreign...

How India’s economy has fared under ten years of Narendra Modi

More than 960 million Indians will head to the polls in the worlds biggest election between April 19 and early June. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is seeking a third...

Politics

Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board

To say that the Labour party is flying high in the polls is something of an understatement. But despite its consistent lead against the Tories, the opposition finds itself in a rather odd position: on the cusp of power but...

History for sale: what does South Africa’s struggle heritage mean after 30 years of democracy?

One of my favourite statues is the one of Nelson Mandela at the Sandton City shopping centre in Johannesburg. Larger than life, its oversized bronze shoes shimmer in the evening light, polished by the hands of many...

Sudan: civil war stretches into a second year with no end in sight

In the early hours of April 15 2023, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) a Sudanese paramilitary force attacked the military airstrip in the town of Merowe and deployed troops across strategic locations in Sudans capital,...

Turkey’s suppression of the Kurdish political movement continues to fuel a deadly armed conflict

The world has 91 democracies and 88 autocracies. Yet 71% of the worlds population (some 5.7 billion people) are living under autocratic rule, a big jump from 48% ten years ago. This trend towards authoritarianism can...

Georgia is sliding towards autocracy after government moves to force through bill on ‘foreign agents’

Georgias ruling party attempted to pass a controversial bill on foreign agents in March 2023. The law would have required civil society groups and the media to register as being under foreign influence if they receive...

Science

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Peter Higgs was one of the greats of particle physics. He transformed what we know about the building blocks of the universe

Peter Higgs, who gave his name to the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, has died aged 94. He was always a modest man, especially when considering that he was one of the greats of particle physics the area of...

Could a telescope ever see the beginning of time? An astronomer explains

The James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST for short, is one of the most advanced telescopes ever built. Planning for JWST began over 25 years ago, and construction efforts spanned over a decade. It was launched into space on...

US media coverage of new science less likely to mention researchers with African and East Asian names

When one Chinese national recently petitioned the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to become a permanent resident, he thought his chances were pretty good. As an accomplished biologist, he figured that news...

Technology

Mainland China Investors Blocked from Accessing New Hong Kong Bitcoin ETFs

Despite launching new Bitcoin and Ether ETFs in Hong Kong, mainland Chinese investors remain sidelined due to longstanding cryptocurrency bans in their home country. Spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs Launch in Hong Kong, But...

SHIB Price Climbs as Shibarium Upgrade Sparks Optimism Among Investors

The Shiba Inu cryptocurrency surged over 4% on April 26, buoyed by executive enthusiasm for the forthcoming Shibarium upgrade to enhance the platforms functionality and security. Shibarium Upgrade Fuels Market Optimism,...

China Investigates Digital Yuan Architect Yao Qian Amid CBDC Concerns

Yao Qian, a pivotal figure behind Chinas digital yuan, is under investigation for alleged misconduct, casting uncertainty on the future of Chinas CBDC initiatives. Probe into Yao Qian Shakes Foundations of Chinas...

Shein Joins Facebook, Amazon in EU Digital Regulations Compliance

Under the EU Digital Regulations, Shein has joined tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, and Google in meeting the strict compliance standards set by the EUs Digital Services Act due to its user base surpassing 45 million in...

Metaplanet Inc. Buys $6.25M in Bitcoin, Pivots to Digital Assets

In a strategic financial maneuver, Metaplanet Inc., a prominent Japanese public company, has invested $6.25 million in Bitcoin, marking its entry into the burgeoning cryptocurrency market. Metaplanet Dives into Crypto,...