How much evidence is enough? A public health perspective on evidence-informed tobacco policy

axillary nodal examination in breast cancer: how much is enough? evidence for a new minimum

background: axillary nodal spread is an established prognostic factor in breast cancer. axillary nodal dissection and subsequent pathological examination is considered the gold standard technique of assessing the axilla for metastatic disease. a minimum of ten level i axillary nodes are required to be examined before an axillary specimen can be reliably labeled as disease free. this recommendat...

UK government's delay on plain tobacco packaging: how much evidence is enough?

In the wake of the UK government’s announcement on 12 July that its decision on plain (standardised) tobacco packagingwould be delayed until evidence emerged from Australia, Wakefield and colleagues report timely findings from a study exploring the early effects of plain packaging in Victoria. 2 Conducted during the phase-in period, when plain and branded packs were concurrently on sale, the st...

How evidence based is English public health policy?

From simulation research to education policy: how much evidence is enough?

Most researchers aim to conduct studies that generate new knowledge for their field. In many countries, the twenty-first century brought with it a powerful discourse demanding research serve a dual purpose: researchers should aim to generate and translate knowledge. Hence, the research community has been assigned the task of balancing the science of discovery with the science of application [1]...

EVIDENCE BASED PUBLIC HEALTH POLICY AND PRACTICE How much downside? Quantifying the relative harm from tobacco taxation

Objective: To estimate the loss of life expectancy attributable to tobacco taxation (via financial hardship and flow-on health effect) in New Zealand. Design: Data were used on the gradients in life expectancy and smoking by neighbourhood socioeconomic deprivation and survey data on tobacco expenditure. Three estimates were modelled of the percentage of the crude association of neighbourhood de...