Public health doctors “hopeless” at using media

PR chief says they must learn how to present their stories

Public health doctors have long criticised the media for getting their priorities wrong and giving space to relatively minor problems, such as the recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), while ignoring the major threats of smoking, alcoholism, and obesity.

Professor Sîan Griffiths, president of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine, illustrated the point at a seminar organised by health think-tank the King's Fund last week, by comparing …