Pregnant women are not the only smokers – tests are not the answer

Emer O’Toole: Asking pregnant women to take breath tests is patronising and fails to take into account that smoking is society’s issue too

Breath tests targeting smoking in pregnancy backed by midwives

Royal College of Midwives says tests could help show women the potential damage that smoking can cause to their baby

Smoking: the government’s cowardly surrender to the tobacco lobby

Observer editorial: Cigarette manufacturers won a reprieve that will endanger more lives

Why I wish my daughter had been vaccinated

Sophie Heawood: My child couldn't fall victim to any of those Victorian sounding diseases such as diphtheria, polio and tetanus, could she?

Universal healthcare: 14 steps in the right direction

From innovative financing to national income surveys, our expert panel offer some important lessons in developing affordable and sustainable universal health coverage

Health act means the death of the NHS as we know it

The Health and Social Care Act comes into force on 1 April with serious consequences for the poor, writes London GP Youssef El-Gingihy

Universal healthcare: how are we going to afford it?

The goal of providing health coverage for everyone has the backing of a UN resolution, but how should it be financed? Join our panel debate, Thursday, 28 March at 1pm GMT

The perfect pill for the ‘worried well’ – the placebo

Barbara Ellen: Hypochondriacs are themselves a pain – and they take up valuable surgery time.

Keep yourself healthy. Way better than asking a doctor like me to do it for you

Aseem Malhotra: It's absurd to assume that the NHS can fix everything. Two recent reports highlight the need to change our habits

British life expectancy is slightly lower than a few other countries. Big deal

Ally Fogg: Jeremy Hunt should be worried about inequalities within the UK, not who tops the international Premier League for Not Dying