Jolyon Jenkins presents a series which investigates the changing face of epidemiology. Acommunity living near a factory notices an increase in cancer among its residents and believes its waste products to be the cause. One of the effects of the difficulty in detecting risks is that epidemiology becomes intensely political. Findings are likely to be contradictory, and for every study showing an effect, there will be one showing none. Jenkins examines the difficult relationship between communities, epidemiologists, public authorities and governments as they look for evidence of increased risk.
Producer Paul Arnold. E-MAIL: scirad@bbc.co.uk