Dr Azeem Majeed

Dr Azeem Majeed is a practising GP and health columnist at the Express who uses his primary care and public health expertise to give readers clear, prescriptive guidance on everyday health risks and NHS services. His columns draw directly on more than three decades in general practice and his role as a professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, anchoring consumer advice in frontline and academic experience. He writes in a direct first‑person voice, frequently opening pieces with “I’m a GP” and positioning himself as a trusted clinician translating clinical evidence and national guidance into simple actions for patients.

Heart health and cardiovascular risk

Heart and circulatory health are a central focus of Majeed’s Express coverage. In his cholesterol column, he sets out how to keep cholesterol under control for a healthy heart and longer life, combining practical management advice with an emphasis on long‑term risk reduction. The piece is framed as exclusive guidance from a GP, underlining that his approach is to simplify complex cardiovascular risk discussions into concrete steps a reader can follow.

This emphasis mirrors his long‑running research work on cardiovascular disease and primary care. He has authored studies on the effects of pay‑for‑performance programmes on the quality of care for coronary heart disease and stroke, examining whether incentives improve outcomes across different patient groups. Other work has analysed management of ischaemic heart disease in primary care and the burden of cardiovascular risk factors across age, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, giving him a detailed view of how risk is distributed in real populations. His heart‑health columns therefore sit on top of a substantial body of clinical and epidemiological research, and his Express writing keeps the focus on prevention and long‑term protection rather than one‑off interventions.

NHS screening, vaccination and infectious disease

Majeed devotes repeated attention to how readers should engage with NHS screening programmes and infectious disease prevention. In a meningitis explainer, he offers “everything you need to know to avoid meningitis”, providing an essential guide to the disease and how to minimise risk, and again framing the piece around his GP experience. The column stresses practical steps to reduce exposure and the role of vaccination and early recognition, aligning everyday behaviour with clinical best practice.

He carries the same approach into coverage of cancer screening, notably in his article on the free at‑home bowel cancer test offered by the NHS. There he explains why people should say “yes” when invited to take the test, highlighting that it only takes a few minutes and could save a life. The tone is firm and reassuring, aimed at overcoming reluctance about stool tests by focusing on ease, safety and the stakes involved. His infectious disease and screening pieces consistently link individual decisions to wider public health outcomes, reflecting his dual perspective as a GP seeing patients one‑to‑one and as a public health professor concerned with population risk.

Practical travel and everyday health advice

Alongside disease‑specific guidance, Majeed writes practical columns on staying healthy in day‑to‑day situations, such as holidays and travel. In his summer travel article, he sets out nine things to think about before going away, offering travel advice to help readers stay healthy on holiday. The format is checklist‑driven, giving concise, actionable points that cover preparation and risk management rather than abstract discussion.

These everyday health pieces extend his preventive lens into common life scenarios—travel, seasonal changes and routine decisions—so that the same clinician who advises on cholesterol and cancer screening is also guiding readers on how to avoid illness when away from home. His columns tend to balance general principles with specific examples, making them suitable for audiences who want straightforward information rather than detailed clinical explanation. Across this strand of work, the through‑line is practical risk reduction: equipping people with enough knowledge to act sensibly without overcomplicating the advice.

Primary care and public health research background

Majeed’s journalism is underpinned by a substantial academic and leadership career in primary care and public health. He is a professor of primary care and public health and head of a department in this field at Imperial College London, and he holds a director role in a public health research collaborative, giving him oversight of large‑scale research programmes. His published work spans cardiovascular health checks, inequalities in stroke and coronary heart disease care, primary care groups, and the sustainability of health and care workforces.

This background allows him to write columns that are closely aligned with national policy and evidence‑based guidelines, particularly around NHS screening, risk assessment and service use. His studies on national cardiovascular risk assessment programmes and health checks, for example, examine how these initiatives affect blood pressure, cholesterol and statin prescribing in practice, mirroring the topics he later addresses for a general audience. Work on securing a sustainable health and care workforce and on the organisation of primary care groups gives him a system‑level view that informs how he explains pressures on services and the rationale behind public health campaigns. In the Express, that expertise is distilled into clear, clinician‑led advice that consistently encourages readers to engage with vaccinations, screening invitations and preventive care, closing the loop between research evidence, clinical practice and public communication.