2014 News Archive

On November 18th the Journal of Global Health published a special supplement highlighting the latest evidence on integrated community case management (iCCM) for childhood illnesses, an approach to provide lifesaving treatments to children who lack access to health services

The Tropical Health Education Trust’s 25th celebrations at the University of Edinburgh this month saw an innovative pairing of the Global Health Academy and the Business School at a public event where issues of corporate social responsibility and the provision of healthcare in resource limited settings were on the agenda.

Our congratualtions to the St Andrews Clinics for Children (STACC) for their continued efforts to bring care to children through their clinics across Africa.

Neglected Tropical Diseases (NZDs) are diseases transmitted from animals to humans and vice-versa thereby imposing a dual burdan, and are diseases that affect mainly those in low-resource settings worldwide.

On the evening of Tuesday 9th December, we will be celebrating the work of an organisation that has, for 25 years, helped transform lives in developing countries.

Professor Scott Murray, St Columba’s Hospice Chair of Primary Palliative Care hosted an evening in Bellevue Chapel on October 6th for those with an interest in Palliative Care and the exchange of learning between Africa and Scotland.

On Friday 10 October 2014 almost 50 postgraduate students gathered for the launch of the Global Health PhD Network, a new semi-autonomous subgroup of the Global Health Society.

Today’s global challenges require multidisciplinary solutions. Tomorrow’s leaders need to be equipped with the necessary tools in order to understand these challenges and the potential for sustainable solutions.

Speakers: Dr John Dillon Consultant (Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist,NHSTayside) and Krzysztof Herboczek (TB/HIV andHepatitis C Programme - Implementer,MSF UK)

Hosted by The Global Health Academy, Global Justice Academy and Mason Institute

Speaker: Quentin Cooper(Broadcaster, journalist-science communicator and all round science enthusiast)The event is free to attend, but spaces are limited and we ask if you could please register for catering purposes

Speakers: Prof Stephen Lawrie, Head of Psychiatry & Beltane Public Engagement Fellow, University of EdinburghDr Nuno Ferreira, Lecturer, Clinical Psychology, University of EdinburghMichael Bready, Youthmindfulness

The MSc in Surgical Sciences, launched in 2007 and now recruiting almost 200 new students a year, is enjoying the success of its growing philanthropic activity. In November 2013, the first fully grant funded Malawian student to graduate from the award-winning MSc in Surgical Sciences, visited Edinburgh to receive his Masters Degree.

Guest speaker: Prof Sue Welburn, (Director of Global Health Academy) Followed by networking activity and refreshments. All postgraduate students welcome.Reserve your place via Eventbrite.Contact: GlobalHealthPhDNetwork@ed.ac.uk for further details

Three visionary speakers share recent experiences of strengthening and integrating palliative care in health services in Africa

Girls with cancer who are most likely to become infertile after treatment can be identified using guidelines developed almost 20 years ago, new research shows.

A recent public event entitled "Mindfulness for Depression: Theory and Practice" has won first prize in the British Science Association nationwide competition for best branch event.

The World Health Assembly 2009 endorsed Family Medicine as an essential way forward to improve health services.

At the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly in May 2014, the World Health Organization was requested to develop a draft global action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance, to be submitted to the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly in May 2015.

Looking to further your education and understanding of the global health agenda and the issues that shape it?

Research on urogeneital schistosomisasis from the Parasite Epidemiology group led by Dr Francisca Mutapi, based in the Institute of Immunology and Infection Research was featured in the May 2014 newsletter of the African Paediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

A study undertaken by researchers at the University of Edinburgh Led by Professor Sue Welburn has revealed that decades of neglect of infectious disease has led to the devastation of thousands of people’s lives in the developing world.

Co-hosted by the Global Justice Academy, Global Health Academy, and the Mason Institute.

The Inaugural Annual Lecture of the HIV, Human Rights and Development Network (HHRD) at the University of Edinburgh. The lecture will be hosted by Kezia Dugdale MSP at the Scottish Parliament.

The Global Health Academy and Edinburgh Infectious Diseases hosted a workshop Exploring the Interface Between Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases in the Ashworth Labs at the University of Edinburgh on 22 May 2014.

New funding hope for sleeping sickness

Health experts help Zimbabwe's children

While the Millennium Development Goals attempted to tackle some of the infectious diseases impacting many living in low income countries little emphasis was placed on recognising or responding to the rapidly escalating burden of non-communicable diseases. As we move into the post-2015 era exploring the interface between communicable and non-communicable diseases will become key to addressing many of the major global health problems.

Saturday 29 March 2014, 10.00am

Past events from our Environment and Health Under the Microscope series.

Depression is surprisingly common, affecting about one in 20 of us at any point in time, and as many as one-half of humanity over the average lifetime.

Researchers in Edinburgh are part of a project to combat the spread of neglected diseases in the developing world.

Network NIDOS, Institute for International Health and Development (IIHD) at Queen Margaret University and Immpact at University of Aberdeen, are jointly organising a half day seminar to explore issues in maternal, newborn and child health in Bangladesh, Malawi and India. You will have the opportunity to meet three internationally recognised experts and to hear about the challenges they face and how these are being addressed globally and in their own countries.

Through the Health Partnerships Scheme DFID is working closely with the University of Edinburgh to improve palliative care in countries across Africa.

In April 2012, the Global Health Academy was awarded a 1.54 million grant from THET (the Tropical Health Education Trust) for an innovative programme to strengthen palliative care within the national health service of four African countries Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

Dr Narinder Bansal, Epidemiologist, Global Health Academy Fellow, and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, has been named ‘Professional of the Year’ at the 2014 Scottish Asian Women’s Awards.

Inaugural Lecture - Professor Clifford Leen (Honorary Professor, Consultant Physician Infectious Diseases)

Digital infrastructures and technologies are changing the face of modern healthcare practice, consumer health behaviour and medical research and have become a major target of investment by governments and the ICT industry.

OpenMRS is an open source electronic medical record system developed over the last decade to support healthcare in some of the poorest and most challenging environments in low and middle income countries (LMICs). It was originally developed as a collaboration between the Informatics team at the NGO "Partners In Health" in Boston, USA led by Dr Fraser, the Regenstrief Institute in Indiana, USA and the South African MRC.........

‘What is your vision for our future?’ The University of Edinburgh’s Department for Social Responsibility and Sustainability is proud to present ‘Visions for Change’, a new event series all about change and how you can drive it.

TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh presents Salon events, a series of evening TED-like events occurring throughout the year. These smaller events will be a combination of TED-like talks and interactive spaces to spark informal discussions. Our third TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh Salon, "Health", will happen on March 19th themed around the University of Edinburgh's Global Health Academy. The event will feature two speakers who will explore different facets of thinking about health - experimental research and social policy making.

Concern is continually expressed in the United States and other countries, particularly so in many low and middle income countries about the high-level and the rate of increase in healthcare expenditures. The first part of this session will highlight the five fundamental components which determine overall healthcare expenditures. These components can be utilized to make predictions about future cost increases. In the second half of the session, various strategies coming from the world of business to bring about appropriate reductions in healthcare costs will be suggested. Chief among these is the concept of value analysis, a tool combining a rigorous examination of health outcomes in relation to the expenses of delivering them.

A light sandwich lunch will be available from 12:30pm.

To date the University of Edinburgh has led four Scottish Government IDF-funded projects in Malawi which build on Edinburgh’s strengths in clinical education and e-learning.