Writing

Books

Academic

• Public health, public protest: The role of health burdens and healthcare access in protest mobilisationEssex R, Thompson T, Brophy SA, Sriram V, Jagnoor J, Issa R. Global Public Health. 2026;21(1):2725379.
• Recasting the future: a conversation on climate anxiety, activism, and agencyIssa R, Kingsmith AT. In: Kelman I (series ed.), Risk Analyses and Actions: A WSPC Reference on Disasters and Dangers. World Scientific. 2026.

• The rights and health of UK hunger strikers must be protected to prevent avoidable tragedyIssa R. BMJ. 2025;391:r2689.
• NHS must tackle racism and sexism for the benefit of patients, staff, and societyBamrah JS, Womersley K, Nagpaul C, Coghill Y, Issa R, Hazard L. BMJ. 2025;390:r1334.

• Sustainability is critical for future-proofing the NHSIssa R, Forbes C, Baker C, Morgan M, Womersley K, Klaber B, Mulcahy E, et al. BMJ. 2024;385:e079259.
• Health-related quality of life amongst refugees: a meta-analysis of studies using the SF-36Essex R, Govintharjah P, Issa R, Kalocsanyiova E, Lakika D, Markowski M, et al. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health. 2024;26(5):925-935.
• Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to strengthen NCD care and policy in humanitarian settingsAnsbro E, Heller O, Vijayasingham L, Favas C, Rintjema J, et al. BMC Health Services Research. 2024;24(1):1081.
• A manifesto for a healthier NHS, a healthier UKSalisbury H, Bamrah JS, Hiam L, Issa R, Klaber B, Kumar P, Nagpaul C, et al. BMJ. 2024;385:q1307.

• Envisioning environmental equity: climate change, health, and racial justiceAbi Deivanayagam T, English S, Hickel J, Bonifacio J, Guinto RR, Hill KX, ... Issa R, et al. The Lancet. 2023;402(10395):64-78.
• Climate change, health, and discrimination: action towards racial justiceAbi Deivanayagam T, Selvarajah S, Hickel J, Guinto RR, et al. The Lancet. 2023;401(10370):5-7.
• Human migration on a heating planet: a scoping reviewIssa R, van Daalen KR, Faddoul A, Collias L, James R, et al. PLOS Climate. 2023;2(5):e0000214.
• Loss and damage responses to climate changeIssa R, Thomas A, Firaq N, Wyns A. BMJ. 2023;383:p2182.
• Planet.Health: an ecosystem approach to imagine and coordinate for planetary health futuresShannon G, Faddoul A, Lai A, Lai T, Lauer J, Rajagopalan S, Issa R. Challenges. 2023;14(4):39.
• Gaps and opportunities in the climate change, migration and health nexusIssa R, Sarsour A, Cullip T, Toma S, Ruyssen I, Scheerens C. Journal of Migration and Health. 2023;7:100171.
• Addressing planetary health through the blockchain: hype or hope? A scoping reviewIssa R, Wood C, Rajagopalan S, Chestnov R, Chesters H, Shannon G. Challenges. 2024;15(1):3.
• Developing a guide to climate & health justice education: process and contentHuq M, English S, Nagginda HP, Bonifacio J, Abi Deivanayagam T, Issa R, et al. The Journal of Climate Change and Health. 2023;9:100188.

• Extreme events and gender-based violence: a mixed-methods systematic reviewvan Daalen KR, Kallesoe SS, Davey F, Dada S, Jung L, Singh L, Issa R, et al. The Lancet Planetary Health. 2022;6(6):e504-e523.
• Chronic NCD care in crises: models of care for hypertension and diabetes in humanitarian settingsAnsbro E, Issa R, Willis R, Blanchet K, Perel P, Roberts B. Journal of Migration and Health. 2022;5:100094.
• Regenerative economics for planetary health: a scoping reviewShannon G, Issa R, Wood C, Kelman I. International Health Trends and Perspectives. 2022;2(3):81-105.
• A decade of the hostile environment and its impact on healthEssex R, Riaz A, Casalotti S, Worthing K, Issa R, Skinner J, Yule A. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2022;115(3):87-90.
• Meeting the health challenges of displaced populations from UkraineIoffe Y, Abubakar I, Issa R, Spiegel P, Kumar BN. The Lancet. 2022;399(10331):1206-1208.
• On the politics and ethics of strike action by health professionalsSmith J, Essex R, Issa R. The Lancet. 2022;400(10366):1844-1845.
• Migrant traumas heardDevakumar D, Issa R. The Lancet. 2022;399(10338):1859.

• Handbook of Refugee Health: for healthcare professionals and humanitarians providing care to forced migrantsOrcutt M, Shortall C, Walpole S, Abbara A, Garry S, Issa R, Zumla A, et al. (co-editor). Routledge/CRC Press. 2021.
• Mapping the movement for climate change and health in EnglandIssa R, Baker C, Spooner R, Abrams R, Gopfert A, Evans M, Aitchison G. Perspectives in Public Health. 2021;141(6):328-337.
• A scoping review to assess sexual and reproductive health outcomes in the context of climate migrationvan Daalen KR, Dada S, Issa R, Chowdhury M, Jung L, Singh L, Stokes D, et al. Frontiers in Global Women's Health. 2021;2:757153.
• Elder abuse in the UK: out of the shadows and on to the agendaStephens C, Mays N, Issa R, Perkins L, Scott R. BMJ. 2021;375:n2828.
• Finding hope in COP26Issa R, Krzanowski J. BMJ. 2021;375:n2940.
• What is needed for universal basic income?Gopal DP, Issa R. British Journal of General Practice. 2021;71(710):398.

• The UCL-Lancet Commission on Migration and Health: the health of a world on the moveAbubakar I, Aldridge RW, Devakumar D, Orcutt M, Burns R, Barreto ML, ... Issa R, et al. The Lancet. 2018;392(10164):2606-2654.
• Humanitarian disaster for Rohingya refugees: impending natural hazards and worsening public health crisesAhmed B, Orcutt M, Sammonds P, Burns R, Issa R, Abubakar I, et al. The Lancet Global Health. 2018;6(5):e487-e488.
• Connecting global priorities: biodiversity and human health: a state of knowledge reviewRomanelli C, Cooper D, Campbell-Lendrum D, Maiero M, Karesh WB, et al. (contributor). WHO / Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. 2015.
• Visceral leishmaniasis and immunocompromise as a risk factor: a changing pattern at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, LondonFletcher K, Issa R, Lockwood DNJ. PLoS One. 2015;10(4):e0121418.
• Climate change and adverse health events: community perceptions from the Tanahu district of NepalMishra SR, Bhandari PM, Issa R, Neupane D, Gurung S, Khanal V. Environmental Research Letters. 2015;10(3):034007.

Essays & journalism

Personal and creative writing lives on Substack.

• NHS workers are striking to save livesNovara Media. 2022.
• Monkeypox is giving us another lesson in medical stigmaNovara Media. 2022.
• COVID-19 lessons for migrant-resilient primary care systems on a warming planetBeart J, Guinto R, Issa R, Yiweza D. Health Affairs Forefront. 2021.
• Our Oceans, Our Health (1): I'm set to board Greenpeace's Arctic Sunrise ship and expose the threats to our oceansThe Independent x Greenpeace. 2021.
• Our Oceans, Our Health (2): I'm at the world's largest seagrass meadow, and it's under threatThe Independent x Greenpeace. 2021.
• Our Oceans, Our Health (3): Industrial fishing is destroying marine ecosystems, and the communities that depend on themThe Independent x Greenpeace. 2021.
• Our Oceans, Our Health (4): Even in the far reaches of the Indian Ocean we can't escape plastic wasteThe Independent x Greenpeace. 2021.
• Our Oceans, Our Health (5): Sea level rise threatens low-lying islands like the Maldives, it isn't enough to simply adaptThe Independent x Greenpeace. 2021.
• It felt beautiful and precious: reflections of the student movement 10 years onContributor. Novara Media.
• Now is the time for action, not just kind words, to help a devastated BeirutThe Independent. 2020.
• Don't just clap for carers tonight, chant for PPEThe Independent. 2020.
• The UN's global climate conference has been delayed by coronavirus, and doctors are angry about itThe Independent. 2020.
• The absence of health in the leaders' climate debate is concerningBMJ Blogs. 2019.
• For doctors like me, joining Extinction Rebellion is a moral dutyThe Independent. 2019.
• I'm a GP registrar: here's what's going to happen to the NHS nowThe Independent. 2019.
• I wish Boris Johnson could sit in my GP's chair and tell my sick and suffering patients we cannot give them what they needThe Independent. 2019.
• Society through the NHS lensConsented Magazine.
• TTIP will further align the UK and US health care systemsBMA Communities.

Selected press

• COP26 diary: making health central to tackling climate changeRichard Smith. BMJ. 2021;375.
• Extinction Rebellion: meet the 'ordinary' women fighting climate changeThe Times.
• Can you integrate a migrant population? Lessons from refugee camps in LebanonInterview. Global GP Project blog.
• Why hundreds of GPs are backing Extinction RebellionPulse.