Advocate for action

REGULAR readers of The Lancet would not be surprised to find, among its weekly articles on the latest medical news and clinical research, the occasional seemingly offbeat piece. Like an editorial in January on "literature and medicine" - or why doctors "might benefit from reading fiction". Widely regarded as one of the world's most prestigious medical journals, The Lancet, founded in 1823, is in fact known for taking a political stand on major issues even beyond medicine and public health, and has arguably seen more than its share of controversy.

The latest episode involves its publication last August, at the height of the 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, of "an open letter for the people in Gaza", which roundly condemned Israel but made no mention of any Palestinian role in the conflict, and whose authors, it was later discovered, included two doctors with anti-Semitic sympathies.

In Singapore recently for a conference on the future of human wellbeing and security, The Lancet's editor-in-chief, Richard Horton, is happy to discuss the journal's editorial stance. Why, for instance, the not infrequent coverage of geopolitics and Middle East conflicts, which would seem to have little to do with medicine?