Dr Lucinda Hiam
@lucindahiam.bsky.social
GP and public health doctor, Harkness Fellow @Brown School of Public Health and Boston College, Clarendon Scholar @UniofOxford, Commissioner on the @BMJ Future of the NHS, Member @RCGP, Honorary Member @FPH.
https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/person/lucinda-hiam
https://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/person/lucinda-hiam
💡 AI has real potential. But without confronting:
🔹 Digital divides
🔹 Systemic bias
🔹 Social determinants of health and impacts of austerity
…it risks entrenching the very inequalities it’s meant to reduce.
@rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social
(5/5)
🔹 Digital divides
🔹 Systemic bias
🔹 Social determinants of health and impacts of austerity
…it risks entrenching the very inequalities it’s meant to reduce.
@rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social
(5/5)
June 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
💡 AI has real potential. But without confronting:
🔹 Digital divides
🔹 Systemic bias
🔹 Social determinants of health and impacts of austerity
…it risks entrenching the very inequalities it’s meant to reduce.
@rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social
(5/5)
🔹 Digital divides
🔹 Systemic bias
🔹 Social determinants of health and impacts of austerity
…it risks entrenching the very inequalities it’s meant to reduce.
@rthonwesstreeting.bsky.social
(5/5)
3️⃣ Tech alone can improve health.
It can’t.
AI-enabled tools that focus on individual behaviour change ignore structural drivers of poor health — like poverty, housing, and food insecurity, and the devastating impacts of austerity.
www.bmj.com/content/385/...
(4/5)
It can’t.
AI-enabled tools that focus on individual behaviour change ignore structural drivers of poor health — like poverty, housing, and food insecurity, and the devastating impacts of austerity.
www.bmj.com/content/385/...
(4/5)
NHS and the whole of society must act on social determinants of health for a healthier future
Health is going in the wrong direction in the UK, and reversing the trend requires political and societal commitment to deal with the underlying causes
The UK is facing a prolonged and serious healt...
www.bmj.com
June 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
3️⃣ Tech alone can improve health.
It can’t.
AI-enabled tools that focus on individual behaviour change ignore structural drivers of poor health — like poverty, housing, and food insecurity, and the devastating impacts of austerity.
www.bmj.com/content/385/...
(4/5)
It can’t.
AI-enabled tools that focus on individual behaviour change ignore structural drivers of poor health — like poverty, housing, and food insecurity, and the devastating impacts of austerity.
www.bmj.com/content/385/...
(4/5)
2️⃣ Algorithms are neutral.
They’re not.
AI is only as fair as the data it’s trained on — and systemic bias is baked into much of that data.
Instead of addressing discrimination, AI can reinforce it.
(3/5)
They’re not.
AI is only as fair as the data it’s trained on — and systemic bias is baked into much of that data.
Instead of addressing discrimination, AI can reinforce it.
(3/5)
June 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
2️⃣ Algorithms are neutral.
They’re not.
AI is only as fair as the data it’s trained on — and systemic bias is baked into much of that data.
Instead of addressing discrimination, AI can reinforce it.
(3/5)
They’re not.
AI is only as fair as the data it’s trained on — and systemic bias is baked into much of that data.
Instead of addressing discrimination, AI can reinforce it.
(3/5)
1️⃣ Everyone's online.
They’re not.
1.6 million people in the UK remain offline limiting access to care, digital services, and health tools.
Digital exclusion disproportionately affects many of those already facing the greatest health challenges.
(2/5)
They’re not.
1.6 million people in the UK remain offline limiting access to care, digital services, and health tools.
Digital exclusion disproportionately affects many of those already facing the greatest health challenges.
(2/5)
June 28, 2025 at 8:39 AM
1️⃣ Everyone's online.
They’re not.
1.6 million people in the UK remain offline limiting access to care, digital services, and health tools.
Digital exclusion disproportionately affects many of those already facing the greatest health challenges.
(2/5)
They’re not.
1.6 million people in the UK remain offline limiting access to care, digital services, and health tools.
Digital exclusion disproportionately affects many of those already facing the greatest health challenges.
(2/5)
Led by @gerrymccartney1.bsky.social with @profkatsmith.bsky.social and David Walsh, and contributions from David Taylor-Robinson, @profbambra.bsky.social @dannydorling.bsky.social @benjaminbarr.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social
@thegcph.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social
@thegcph.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social
March 25, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Led by @gerrymccartney1.bsky.social with @profkatsmith.bsky.social and David Walsh, and contributions from David Taylor-Robinson, @profbambra.bsky.social @dannydorling.bsky.social @benjaminbarr.bsky.social @martinmckee.bsky.social
@thegcph.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social
@thegcph.bsky.social @oxfordgeography.bsky.social
✅ Advocate for a reversal of austerity policies to restore public services & welfare
✅ Communicate the role of health as a key economic driver and the impact of economic policy on health
✅ Expose false narratives & push for evidence-based policy
Without action, the UK’s health crisis will deepen.
✅ Communicate the role of health as a key economic driver and the impact of economic policy on health
✅ Expose false narratives & push for evidence-based policy
Without action, the UK’s health crisis will deepen.
March 18, 2025 at 9:10 PM
✅ Advocate for a reversal of austerity policies to restore public services & welfare
✅ Communicate the role of health as a key economic driver and the impact of economic policy on health
✅ Expose false narratives & push for evidence-based policy
Without action, the UK’s health crisis will deepen.
✅ Communicate the role of health as a key economic driver and the impact of economic policy on health
✅ Expose false narratives & push for evidence-based policy
Without action, the UK’s health crisis will deepen.