"Scholars At Risk" (SAR) reports that Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish disaster medicine scholar imprisoned in Iran, is facing imminent execution: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/2020/11/iran-halt-execution-and-release-disaster-medicine-scholar-ahmadreza-djalali/.

ASPHER urges Iranian authorities to immediately release Dr. Djalali, and pending such action, to ensure his well-being and access to legal counsel, family, and medical treatment. ASPHER encourages members to support this plea by signing a call for his release via SAR: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/actions/ahmadreza-djalali-iran/#Dr.%20Ahmadreza%20Djalali.

Best wishes this holiday season and a happy and healthy New Year to all!

Your ASPHER Secretariat,
Robert Otok, Lore Leighton & Cedric Slock

In January of this year, a review by Wald, Morris & Blakemore published in Public Health Reviews set off a new call for mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid in the UK. On 14 October, the British newspaper, The Guardian reported that UK ministers have backed a plan that will require all flour to be fortified with folic acid within the next few weeks. Sir Nicholas J. Wald was quoted as saying “If this is officially confirmed, the UK is taking an important step in preventive medicine and helping to avoid disability or termination of pregnancy.”

On Friday 21 September, former ASPHER President 2006-2007, Anders Foldspang celebrated his retirement from Aarhus University. ASPHER's director, Robert Otok was honored to be invited to speak at the event. The text of his address is presented here.

With no Brexit deal in sight, Public Health entities are making their own plans for continued collaboration as with the UK Faculty of Public Health's "Blueprint for a Post-Brexit Relationship with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control."

On June 20th, 2018, John Middleton (President of the UK Faculty of Public Health) addressed the ASPHER Dean's and Director's Retreat in the John Snow Lecture Hall at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His candidacy for ASPHER's President Elect (2019-2021) was met with unanimous approval. The content of his speech is presented here.