Vaccinating children against chickenpox

The committee that advises on vaccinations in the UK has recommended that chickenpox is added to the standard list of childhood vaccinations; something which the USA and many European countries have been doing for some time. So why do some countries vaccinate children against chickenpox and others choose not to?

Claudia Hammond is joined by family doctor Ann Robinson. They also hear from conversation analyst Charlotte Albury, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, about how doctors communicate with patients with obesity can have a significant impact on their weight loss success.

And with shortages of doctors in many parts of the world, are shared medical appointments - where a group of patients with the same condition see a doctor together - the answer? As Anupama Chandrasekaran reports from India, a trial carried out at Aravind Eye Hospital by ESMT Berlin, Harvard Business School and London Business School, found some surprising results.

Also discussed, high blood pressure and how reducing your salt intake can be just as effective as medication in some cases.

Presenter: Claudia Hammond
Producers: Jonathan Blackwell and Helena Selby
Editor: Holly Squire