Milroy lecture 2024. Non-communicable versus communicable diseases: A paradigm unfit for the 21st century?

The dominant paradigm in clinical medicine, public health and global health has been to split clinical practice, research, education, training and funding into communicable versus non-communicable diseases. This dichotomy was borne out of the context of colonialism and increasingly, not least during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, evidence suggests that a much closer relationship between these 'disease siloes' would be beneficial, from risk factors to therapeutics. In this lecture, the synergies between communicable and non-communicable diseases are explored in order to inform future policy and practice.