Getting involved in Global Health

Dr Rhona MacDonald The Lancet

Setting the scene

35 000 people die from preventable,poverty related infectious diseases EVERY DAYGlobal burden of chronic diseaseConflict, arms and trauma‘Natural’ Disasters

Standards and targets

Remember?Health for all by the year 2000WHO’s 3 by 5 campaign?

Current targetsMillennium Development GoalsOutcomes from Gleneagles

> ALL ABOUT HEALTH!

Millennium Development Goals 1-3

Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger: reduce by half the number of people living on less than $1 (60p) a day and those who suffer from hungerAchieve universal primary education Promote equality between the sexes

and empower women: end gender disparity at all levels by 2015

Millennium Development Goals 4-6 the Direct Health Ones

Reduce child mortality by two thirds for children aged under 5 yearsImprove maternal health: reducing by three quarters the maternal mortality ratioCombat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases: halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases

Millennium Development Goals 7

Ensure environmental sustainability, including integrating

environmental sustainability into developing country policies and

programmes; reversing the loss of environmental resources; reducing by half the people without access

to clean drinking water

Millennium Development Goals 8Develop a global partnership for

development, including an open trading and financial system that is rule based and

includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction;

enhanced debt relief and cancellation of bilateral debt; more generous development

assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction; working with

pharmaceutical companies to provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing

countries

Outcome of G8 2005- Gleneagles

The G8 agreed a comprehensive plan to support Africa’s progress including:to boost investment in health and education, and to take action to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and other killer diseases provide as close as possible universal access to treatment for AIDS by 2010

The Reality- way off track

Many barriers to accessing health careMany barriers to accessing medicines‘Brain Drain’

Wider context

Governments in poor countries trapped:economic deficits re unfair trade rules ‘conditionalities’ of economic growth imposed by global institutionsBureaucracy and complexity

Unable to meet their own targets of spending 15% of GDP on health care

Aid, Trade, Debt really matters

Access to healthcare

User fees:Create and exacerbate povertyAct as a deterrent to accessing healthcare for those who really need itCause people to seek help from alternative, often inappropriate healthcare providers

Access to Essential Medicines

TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property) impositionsLack of Research and Development in diagnostic tests, medicines and immunisations for neglected and most neglected diseases

‘Brain Drain’

Global market for providing healthcare:Exodus of healthcare professionals from poor countries to rich onesBalance the rights of the individual to want a better life and the right to health of the patients they leave without a healthcare professional to care for them

Global Health and YOU

Why get involved?Because you can-Your training, skills, interests and opportunities to travel, put YOU in a unique position to be interested and involved in global health issues High impact- People will listen to you - YOU are a highly respected and influential member of society

Global Health and YOU cont/d

Because you should?Caring healthcare professional who wants only the best for your patientsDoes it matter that they are in a different country? Does that mean that you should not care for them and want to do something about their unjust situation

What can YOU do (Get off your backside)

Get and Stay Informed and Inform OthersGet active: Campaign, Lobby, AdvocateGet linked: Link with Institutions in Poorer CountriesGiveGo

Stay informed and inform others

So many sources of information (sometimes too much information!) In most, you can sign up to e newsletters in your topic of interest  Medsin /SSM? WHO / DFIDMost international charity websitesMedical Journals (The Lancet)

Campaign, Lobby, Advocate

Use this knowledge to campaign and lobby organisations, governments,

and individual political leaders. Many organisations and charities run their own campaigns and advocacy schemes. You could individually and /or collectively join up and do their activities

Link

The Department of Health and THET International have teamed up to encourage UK hospitals to link with institutions in developing countries

> Nag your consultants/ Trust etc to get involved

Give

Many charities and organisations are working to reduce global poverty and improve global health Restricted and unrestricted fundingCan you give regularly now or in the future? Make sure that you are satisfied with the charity administration

Go

ElectiveIn the future?

Many organisations to choose from Or you might want to go it alone by organising it yourself

> Will the new structure of Doctors training make this more difficult?

Don’t just sit there…

There is a massive needMillions of patients throughout the world are being treated very unfairlyYou can do something about itAs a healthcare professional, you SHOULD do something about it

>So, what are you going to do?