Phil Gillam: I may be squeamish but this event is a winner
When my wife is enjoying her television programmes about hospital operating theatres or rare and exotic diseases I tend to leave the room.
It's all right for her: she's a nurse, she's used to all that kind of stuff.
But I'm a bit squeamish, to be honest, and I'd rather not dwell on such matters.
Oh, I don't mind hearing about the minor ailments: in-growing toenails, toothache, nasty colds, that sort of thing.
But the major diseases and the treatments used to combat them - as I say, I tend to leave the room.
In his brilliant allegorical novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell points out: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
By the same token, I would say "All diseases are important, but some are more acceptable than others as topics of polite conversation."
