Clifford Martin McKee,
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(born 12 July 1956), is professor of European
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
at the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public hea ...
.
Biography
He was educated at the
Royal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution is an independent grammar school in Belfast, Northern Ireland. With the support of Belfast's leading reformers and democrats, it opened its doors in 1814. Until 1849, when it was superseded by what today ...
and trained as a doctor at
The Queen’s University of Belfast, qualifying in 1979 and specialized initially in internal medicine at the
Belfast City Hospital
The Belfast City Hospital in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a 900-bed modern university teaching hospital providing local acute services and key regional specialities. Its distinctive orange tower block dominates the Belfast skyline being the th ...
and the
Royal Victoria Hospital between 1979 and 1985, before moving into public health. McKee currently lives in London with his wife Dorothy and two daughters.
Professional career
Martin McKee created the European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition in 1997 with Professor David Leon, a WHO Collaborating Centre comprising a team of researchers working primarily on health and health policy in central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. He is also research director of the
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
The European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies is a public health observatory established through an intergovernmental partnership, hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, which specialises in the devel ...
, a partnership of universities, national and regional governments, international agencies and was President of the
European Public Health Association
The European Public Health Association (EUPHA) is an organization of public health associations and institutes in Europe. It was founded in 1992.
Its central office is based at the NIVEL (Nederlands instituut voor onderzoek van de gezondheidszor ...
between 2014 and 2016. In September 2021 he was elected as President Elect of the British Medical Association. He has published over 1300 scientific papers and 50 books, was an editor of the ''
European Journal of Public Health
The ''European Journal of Public Health'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed public health journal. It was established in 1991 and is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. The editor-in-chief is Pet ...
'' for 15 years.
Research
Appointed to a senior lecturer post in 1989 with responsibility for developing a program of research in Europe, he was immediately confronted with two major changes: the collapse of the communist regimes in central and eastern Europe and, later, in the USSR, and the removal of borders within the expanding European Union. He has led major programs on both issues. With his colleagues Professor David Leon and Vladimir Shkolnikov, he has contributed important new insights into the adverse health consequences of rapid social and political transition, the entry of the international tobacco corporations into these new markets, and the role of alcohol, and especially substances such as aftershaves (odekolon) in the high levels of premature mortality seen in this region. More recently, his work on social change has extended into a large body of research on the health effects of the post-
2008 financial crisis
The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
, jointly with Dr David Stuckler. His research on the European Union has included books and articles on the impact of European law on health and health policy, European research policy, and cross-border mobility of patients. In 2013 he led a ''Lancet'' series on health in Europe. In 2016 he co-founded
Healthier IN the EU, a grassroots campaign making the health case for continued UK membership of the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
.
With colleagues
Josep Figueras
Josep Figueras Marimont (born in Medinya, 16 September 1959) is a health policy expert and retired international civil servant. He served as the director of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies until his retirement in December 2 ...
, Elias Mossialos, and Richard Saltman, he established the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
Policy involvement
When Lord Darzi proposed the establishment of
Polyclinics in England
Polyclinics in England were intended to offer a greater range of services than were offered by current general practitioner (GP) practices and local health centres. In addition to traditional GP services they would offer extended urgent care, hea ...
McKee wrote a paper with Bernd Rechel of the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is a public university, public research university in Bloomsbury, central London, and a constituent college, member institution of the University of London that specialises in public hea ...
in which they observed:
His involvement in the article ''Why has mortality in England and Wales been increasing?'', written with
Danny Dorling
Danny Dorling (born 16 January 1968) is a British social geographer currently 1971 Professor of Geography attached to St Peter's College at the University of Oxford.
In September 2013 Dorling was appointed as the Halford Mackinder Profess ...
and others generated considerable publicity. The article suggested that the most likely reason for increased mortality among old people in England and Wales in 2015 was the application of austerity policies, saying that “the evidence points to a major failure of the health system, possibly exacerbated by failings in social care”.
McKee has been a critic of the NHS reforms introduced by the UK's coalition government in 2012, arguing that they were unworkable and would lead to fragmentation and confusion. In January 2014 he said that continuing health inequalities among London boroughs was a scandal and that coalition reforms had left it unclear who was supposed to analyse health data and tackle the problems highlighted.
In 2020, McKee was appointed by the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
’s Regional Office for Europe to serve as a member and chair of its scientific committee of the Pan-European Commission on Health and Sustainable Development, chaired by
Mario Monti
Mario Monti (; born 19 March 1943) is an Italian politician, economist and academic who served as the Prime Minister of Italy from 2011 to 2013, leading a Technocratic government (Italy), technocratic government in the wake of the European sov ...
. He and the colleagues then published "Drawing light from the pandemic: A new strategy for health and sustainable development: A Review of the Evidence"
Honours and awards
McKee has received honorary doctorates from the universities of Debrecen (Hungary), Maastricht (The Netherlands), Karlstad (Sweden), Queen's (Belfast), Athens School of Public Health (Greece) and the Nordic School of Public Health. He has been elected to the
UK Academy of Medical Sciences and the
US National Academy of Medicine. He was made a ''Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire'' (
CBE
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
) by HM
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
for services to health in the
2005 Birthday Honours
The Birthday Honours 2005 for the Commonwealth realms were announced on 11 June 2005 to celebrate the Queen's Birthday of
2005. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour, and arranged first by the cou ...
. He was elected president of the
British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union and professional body for physician, doctors in the United Kingdom. It does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The BMA ...
for 2022-3.
Publications
Articles
See Pubmed
Books
*
Pascal Diethelm
Pascal Diethelm (born 1 December 1944) is a Swiss econometrician and tobacco control activist who is the president of the anti-smoking organization OxyRomandie. He formerly worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) from 1970 until his retire ...
and Martin McKee, ''Lifting the Smokescreen: Tobacco industry strategy to defeat smoke free policies and legislation'',
European Respiratory Society
The European Respiratory Society, or ERS, is a non-profit organization with offices in Lausanne, Brussels and Sheffield. It was founded in 1990 in the field of respiratory medicine. The organization was formed with the merger of the Societas Eur ...
and French National Cancer Institute, 2006.
References
External links
Professor Martin McKee CBE MD DSc MSc FRCP FRCPE FRCPI FFPH FMedSciMartin McKee's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKee, Martin
21st-century British medical doctors
Academics of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
1956 births
Living people
Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland
Members of the National Academy of Medicine