Mastodawn

I'm sure I've said it before, but I think it bears repeating: many of the societal problems that we face, which might superficially be regarded as something that we look to science to solve, are in fact not problems for natural sciences, but problems for social sciences and politics.

Looking at the horrible #meningitis B outbreak in Kent, the question to ask is not "how can science keep us safe from such things?" Scientists have already given us an effective vaccine against meningitis B.

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Dave Robinson Mar 18

@statsguy arguably, they could have chosen to give it to everyone, but like the COVID-19 vaccines they chose not to for reasons of cost/risk (but mostly cost). Perhaps if healthcare was entirely not-for-profit, globally, such issues would disappear.

Then there's the argument that it's not in the financial interests of the pharmaceutical companies to actually find cures. Expensive palliative medicines are much more profitable.

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Adam Jacobs 🇺🇦Mar 18

@dave I'm pretty sure the reason why it's not given to everyone is cost.

But the big problem I have with the way they do the cost effectiveness calculation for vaccines is that they take a narrow healthcare-system-only perspective.

So the cost of having to treat someone in hospital with meningitis would be included, but the cost of having to close a university campus wouldn't be.

And particularly for covid, the crazy thing is that time off work and sickness benefits are not considered

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Dave Robinson

@statsguy 100% agree. Helping people to avoid getting sick in the first place, through vaccinating and maintenance of basic standards of living and healthcare (e.g. dentistry), is a much better approach. We need to have a cradle-to-grave strategy for health, social care and employment that prioritises keeping people happy and healthy.