There aren’t many email invitations that make me laugh out loud, but this one was an exception. I have spent much of the past few years talking about how to improve the public’s health: incentives, legislation, education and 2020health has published ideas such as here on alcohol, here on incentives, here on how pharmacists can help.
So I thought this invitation to watch the ladies semi-finals at Wimbledon, from none other than British American Tobacco was a joke! It seems not. I will talk to most organisations; I am a firm believer in getting all parties around the table to find common interests and consensus to forge solutions. But a day out at the tennis, courtesy of company that is complicit in the early death of millions of people worldwide and who continue to promote a habit that may be legal but is morally repugnant? I am only sorry that they thought I was shallow enough to accept.
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About Julia Manning
Julia is a social pioneer, writer and campaigner. She studied visual science at City University and became a member of the College of Optometrists in 1991, later specialising in visual impairment and diabetes. During her career in optometry, she lectured at City University, was a visiting clinician at the Royal Free Hospital and worked with Primary Care Trusts. She ran a domiciliary practice across south London and was a Director of the UK Institute of Optometry.
Julia formed 20/20Health in 2006. Becoming an expert in digital health solutions, she led on the NHS–USA Veterans’ Health Digital Health Exchange Programme and was co-founder of the Health Tech and You Awards with Axa PPP and the Design Museum. Her research interests are now in harnessing digital to improve personal health, and she is a PhD candidate in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) at UCL. She is also dedicated to creating a sustainable Whole School Wellbeing Community model for schools that builds relationships, discovers assets and develops life skills. She is a member of the Royal Society of Medicine’s Digital Health Council.
Julia has shared 2020health's research widely in the media (BBC News, ITV, Channel 5 News, BBC 1′s The Big Questions & Victoria Derbyshire, BBC Radio 4 Today, PM and Woman's Hour, LBC) and has taken part in debates and contributed to BBC’s Newsnight, Panorama, You and Yours and ITV’s The Week.
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