I received a mass e-mail from a women's group I admire, V-Day, calling on people to oppose military intervention because "such an action would simply bring about more violence and suffering.... Experience shows us that military interventions harm innocent women, men and children".
The study review concluded that there's very little evidence they improve health or change behavior over the long-term, but that doesn't mean these interventions harm health -- maybe just your wallet.
The intervention harm signal was remarkably wide: Absolute risk increase ranged from 2.6 to 29%% (mean 5%%), and the number needed to harm ranged from 3.5 to 38.5 (mean 20).
It can also be a problem in trials where everyone is supposedly blinded (masked), but the blinding is ineffective or the intervention harms provide clues such that treatments can be guessed.
It is, therefore, biologically and physiologically plausible that excessive fluid administration is harmful but that, owing to the masking effects of other supportive interventions, such harm is not immediately recognized in a Western context.
Moreover, economic interventions typically harm some while benefitting others, and the losers are rarely fully compensated.
But because most economists are trying to do good work in a field where they enjoy extraordinary influence, their interventions generally harm some while benefitting others, and things can go very wrong in unpredictable ways.
Equally significant in these contributions is the lesson that context gives rise to specific opportunity structures that are critical when we consider the risks and effects associated with various forms of child sexual abuse, as well as practical interventions for harm reduction.
Psychosocial interventions and harm reduction programs, such as needle exchange, condom distribution, and supervised injection facilities, complemented the drug treatment program.
Given the close relationships between high-risk sex, methamphetamine use, and sexual venues, we designed this study to help inform the development of behavioral interventions and harm reduction initiatives in social-sexual environments.
To determine the most appropriate prophylaxis, several patient-related factors must be considered: the reason for hospitalisation, medical history, expected treatment from the intervention, possible harm of prophylaxis and patient preference.
