His six-year term is unique – at the time he was leading the Association and the profession in a campaign against
Kenneth Clarke's reforms of the NHS based on the untried concept of an internal market. He played a major role in defending the
Abortion Act 1967 in the face of attacks by "
pro-lifers" including
Victoria Gillick and the MPs
David Alton and Sir Russell Brain. In 1970 he successfully led the campaign against the BMA Council's decision to recommend an annual registration fee to the GMC without prior reform of its constitution. He also played a major role in campaigns in favour of restricting
smacking, the wearing of
seat belts, and respecting the
confidentiality of sufferers from
AIDS. Marks was born in London and was educated at
Tottenham County School and the
University of Edinburgh, qualifying on 5 July 1948, the day that the NHS started. Following hospital posts and service in the
RAMC he resided in
Elstree, and worked as a General Practitioner in
Borehamwood, 1954–90. Marks was an MD, a Fellow of the
Royal College of General Practitioners and a
DObst RCOG of the
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. His autobiography,
The NHS: Beginning, Middle and End? was published in May 2008. In August 2018, it was noted that Marks, then 93, was one of the few surviving doctors who joined the
National Health Service during the era of its creation 70 years prior. He died on 20 September 2022, at the age of 97. His brother,
Vincent Marks, was a clinical pathologist and biochemist. ==References==