Medical Journal Editorship Archive of Alan Blum, MD

The First Medical Journal Theme Issues on Smoking

This exhibition is comprised of items related to Dr. Alan Blum’s editorship of the Medical Journal of Australia (1982-1983) and the New York State Journal of Medicine (1983-1985), during which he produced the first three theme issues at any medical journal about the world cigarette pandemic. The exhibition features complete scanned copies of the three issues, the letters to the editor and news media coverage in response to the issues, and a video interview about the obstacles encountered in producing the issues during an era of foot-dragging by organized medicine, academia, the mass media, and the public health community alike, fearful of attacking the politically and economically powerful tobacco industry. Also included are correspondence with the authors of the articles in these issues, letters from national and international public health leaders, reviews of The Cigarette Underworld (a book based on the first tobacco theme issue at the New York State Journal of Medicine), a 25th anniversary commemoration of the issues by the journal Social Medicine/Medicina Social, and correspondence related to the origin of the journal TOBACCO CONTROL.