The 1st South Eastern Europe Robotic Surgery Society (SEERSS) International Congress in Robotic Surgery
4 December 2012Harvard Professor George Tsokos was the key note speaker of the annual event of the Hellenic American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons – Greek Chapter
22 January 2013Professor Linos was a guest speaker at the lecture series “Communication Issues”, organized, for the eighth year, by the University Research Institute of Applied Communication and the Department of Communication and Media Studies of the University of Athens.
Specifically, Prof. Linos was among the speakers at the second event, organized as part of these lectures, entitled “Health and media in times of crisis.” The lecture was held on December 4, 2012.
Prof. Linos referred briefly to some features of the economic crisis and then noted that under these circumstances, human health gets even worse. More specifically, he mentioned that, in times of economic crisis, health is negatively affected by factors such as excessive drinking, smoking, obesity and reduced physical activity and emphasized the role media can play in shaping public opinion. Regarding, for example, the excessive use of alcohol, Prof. Linos emphasized the great influence of the media in shaping attitudes towards alcohol. Media may sometimes not provide enough information about the negative effects and side effects of excessive use nor provide adequate information on safe use.
Prof. Linos, then, referred to mental health problems that are influenced by the economic crisis, and constitute a major public health problem in the EU. Focusing on suicides due to financial burden, he presented and commented on several relevant studies and examples of good and bad journalism. In order to avoid bad and, sometimes, harmful journalism, Prof. Linos, finally, advised the journalists to be rational, objective and always present alternative solutions for every problem.