Letter from Glasgow

Edinburgh came to the fore with its epidemic of AIDS-related deaths linked to drug injecting. [...]simultaneously, Edinburgh achieved notoriety for HIV among drug injectors but also as a centre for investigating the causes of the epidemic and helping to understand the new disease. Over the decades, health researchers have found that Scotland's health has been improving but at a much slower rate compared to other European countries.2-3 Some years ago, I even commented on the 'Scottish effect' in a Letter from Glasgow.4 As a consequence of Scotland's health improving more slowly than other countries, these countries in Europe have accelerated past Scotland over the past 50 years in terms of their health profile. Analysing the effects of political decisions on public health is a start, but meeting the challenges for public health for the future is a difficult task but a prize worth fighting for.