Tag Archive for #globalhealth

The world is changing – will your PhD matter?

November 9, 2015 Communication, Global Health, Millennium Development Goals, One World Health, PhD, Post-2015, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Uncategorized No comments

At the dawn of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – which ushers in 17 new goals in a global agenda to “end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all”, most countries will be realigning their national development goals to be in tune with these global goals to realize specific targets over the next 15 years. As a researcher, one thing will soon become obvious in the midst of this global effort to bring about change – that is future research grants will be awarded primarily around these 17 SDG goals. An important question – “how your research fits in this global agenda?” arises for you and other PhD researchers who will soon be applying for these grants to drive your respective fields forward with whatever piece of the bigger science puzzle you will be solving.

It will not be an easy task to find one’s footing in the fast changing terrain of global goals and priorities, and Dr Liz Grant of the Global Health Academy at Edinburgh University is not shy to point this out. But, thankfully, not without some pointers to a way forward. Dr Grant has had extensive research experience at the level of Global Health with her many years of research in palliative care around the globe. In her talk on the ‘Impact of PhD Researchers on Global Health’ which she delivered at the Global Health PhD Network event in October 2015, she had a lot to share.

In a talk that was neatly supplemented with real life examples of her own research, Dr Grant carefully led the thoughts of the PhD researchers in the room on a number of issues, which in her opinion will soon become important in their researching career in the light of the new SDGs.

Top of her list was the need for PhD researchers to start thinking of where to find other pieces of evidence for their research. “What matters in your PhD”, she said, “is pulling materials from connected disciplines and connected areas and making sure you draw them in – use the materials out there…network pieces of information together”. In truth, that is how science works in our day through extensive bridge building across multiple disciplines and you probably have come across this a number of times already in your field. The rewards of this approach is long term and may not be immediate which in the little time space of a PhD makes it appear impractical. But in Dr Grant’s view, your research questions are still questions because there have not been enough conversations around them for others before you to have answered them. This is a brilliant way to look at things because in a way it challenges you to start expanding the discourse around your research to span more than just the area of your interest, to generate interest in other relevant fields.

But what good might all that knowledge you obtain as a result be, if not for the good of mankind. “Knowledge for knowledge sake is wonderful”, she says, “but knowledge to make a difference is why you are here and why I am here and why the university is here”. The message here is pretty simple – don’t let your PhD be only just another addition to the vast collection of information sitting on shelves around the world and only collecting dust. But it should be one that works and makes a difference. And she thinks you can achieve this by starting to think about your PhD research in terms of who the constituents are (i.e. those directly affected by what you are doing), how you will engage the public on important issues like the burden of the problem you are dealing with or trying to help solve, and also the economics involved and equally importantly why your research needs to be prioritised in the face of other competing research.

Huge task, but is it beyond you? Of course not. A big step forward in making any of the impact that would make your PhD research matter is through advocacy. Because the impact is kind of often seen through advocacy, she said, in doing things like, writing blogs, getting local workshops, and communicating what you are studying to people who have the connections to make things work. “People built systems and people can take it down,” she says in reference to the perpetual ‘brick walls’ of resistance that bureaucracies will mount on your path. Keep talking to as many people as possible and never ever underestimate the power of networking because you can change things in partnerships.

In bringing all this home, Dr Grant urges PhD researchers to think once again about their PhD and ask themselves what are the core components of what they are doing. For instance in her own research in palliative care then this would be about the core components of a health care system. Ask yourself if your research is around the core components. If not, what can you do to create the conditions necessary for change? Are you getting the right materials at the right time to create these conditions? And will these conditions support a sustainable system? Also what is the national architecture like in your country that will mean your piece of research can fit in. Answers to these questions and a lot more which couldn’t fit in this piece are what in Dr Grant’s expert opinion would make your PhD make an impact.

“Never forget why we research, you and I – it’s our communities, it’s our families, it’s people.” Dr Liz Grant

Dr Grant’s talk was preceded by a lively PhD poster session that saw four PhD students from the University of Edinburgh present their research work from four different regions around the globe. The first poster by Sara Valencia looked at vaccine trials in Southern and Central America (Colombia, Brazil and Mexico). A second poster that looked at the prevalence of Non-communicable Diseases and the entitlement to and the use of health services in the Gaza strip was presented by Majdi Ashour. Mkululi Wami presented the findings of a research work he carried out in Sub Saharan Africa in Zimbabwe which used antibody responses based on parasite egg counts to estimate infection prevalence of schistosomiasis in young children. The last poster was presented by Ai Oishi on a research that sort to identify patients for palliative care approach in primary care settings in Japan.

The Global Health PhD Network started, in October 2014, as a student-driven interest group within the Global Health Society, University of Edinburgh, with the express aim of bringing together like-minded postgraduate researchers from the three colleges in the university for research sharing, knowledge and skills exchange, networking and shared global health career development. The Network has hosted a series of events during the past year to bring together PhD researchers in the university to listen to and to share thoughts on important issues surrounding global health. And their most recent event (the one I just described) was yet another opportunity for the Network to reiterate its vision of creating an environment that supports and promotes cross-disciplinary networking by inviting PhD poster presenters from all three colleges of the university.

Again, looking back at some of the key points in Liz’s talk on the importance of networking and advocacy for PhD researchers, you realise that the Global Health PhD Network has its priorities well placed, doing things right as it should be and is already on the right bus into the future.

Richard F Oppong, Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh

Faith Based Health Care – The Lancet Series

July 27, 2015 Faith Based Health Care, Health and Wellness Promotion, Intervention Agents and Opportunities, Maternal & Infant Health, Post-2015 No comments

Faith Based Health Care –   The Lancet Series launched at the World Bank as part of the “Religion & Sustainable Development: Building Partnerships to End Extreme Poverty” conference in Washington D.C. July 7th – 9th 2015.

The “new normal” of faith communities engaging in sustainable development was underpinned by the President of the World Bank’s recognition that a new paradigm is necessary within development. Using the framework of liberation theology he posited the importance of building action on a “ preferential option for the poor”. A move to shift development mandates from focusing on developing wealth as a priority to seeing wealth development in the context of a much wider value based paradigm.

He remarked that almost all religions are committed to the poor and vulnerable and have set in place systems to care for the poor, as well as systems to challenge poverty, and the drivers of poverty:

“[True] righteousness is [in] one who believes in God, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives of their wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes Prayer and practices regular charity…” [Quran 2:177]

this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. [Isaiah 58:6-7, NLT]

These examples from two of the world’s religions are amplified in other faiths.   But more needs to be done, the shared agenda between the development goal to “ End Poverty in all forms everywhere” and the ethos of Religions to care for the poor should be built upon in new ways.

Goal statements in themselves cannot bring about the transitions required for change.   I believe that there needs to be an investment in the values that underpin development goals as this is where the real and hard work sits and where the biggest differences will be made. Values shape people and belong to people, and as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development pointed out, “it is the people of faith, the estimated 80%+ of the total world population whose values will determine whether or not the sustainable development goals change the world we live in for good”

As a University what is our responsibility to participate in Sustainable Development Goal One To end poverty in all its forms everywhere?   How and where can the creation, dissemination and curation of knowledge contribute to achieving this goal?     As students, as staff, as alumni and partners of the university we are part of 432 years of knowledge, we are part of a community that spans every country in the world through our alumni presence, both past and current, we are part of a deep and rich hub of information management and sharing capabilities.   We all have the responsibility of taking our University mission of creation, dissemination and curation of knowledge and of applying this knowledge, ours is the responsibility of implementation. And in this implementation we can work together. Knowledge by its very nature is a catalyst for change, and each of us carries this capacity.

In looking through the lens of “preferential options for the poor” the Global Health Academy is seeking to raise scholarships for those who cannot afford the fees for the many innovative online distance learning MSc programmes that we have developed and which target critical global health challenges. We recognize that brilliant minds living in resource poor countries hold the key to bring about change both within their country, and globally. Recognising especially in healthcare the impact and extent of faith community contribution to rural health services we have recently partnered with faith communities to help train doctors for rural family medicine in the new MSc in Family Medcine

This is just one example, the opportunities and the needs are vast and there is always more that could and should be done – we welcome your ideas, stories of knowledge in action and thoughts on what, where and how next.

 

mgrant1 photo

Dr Liz Grant, Director of The Global Health Academy and member of the working group for the Lancet Series- Faith Based Health Care

 

 

www.globalhealthacademy.ed.ac.uk ;http://twitter.com/@GlobalHealthEdi ;

www.youtube.com/user/GlobalHealthAcademy ; www.ed.ac.uk/global-health/blog

Membership of the Global Health Academy is open to everyone with a passion for engaging in global health.

Unhealthy investments

February 2, 2015 Environment and Health, Health and Wellness Promotion, Millennium Development Goals, Post-2015, Uncategorized No comments

I have been involved with the fossil fuel divestment movement over the past year, both with the University and through Healthy Planet UK, after coming to terms with the enormity of climate change and the need for urgent action. As a medical student I am compelled by a similar duty of care towards our ecosystem, on which our health depends, and am called to respond to its current symptoms of distress. Divestment offers a way to treat one of the root causes of these symptoms – the continued burning of fossil fuels – through moving investments away from the fossil fuel industry whose business model relies upon burning reserves which currently hold over five times that which is safe to burn if we are to stay below the 2 degrees celsius limit of global warming[1] Akin to the health sector leading divestment from the tobacco industry, there is a similar narrative in the response to the health threat of climate change further weighted by tactics utilised by the fossil fuel industry to thwart climate mitigation policy and mar public perception of the reality of climate science[2]. UK universities hold around £5.2 billion worth of investments through their endowment funds in the fossil fuel industry[3]. However, divestment is not simply a matter of money, most divestment decisions have been driven by a moral case. It rests on a simple principle -if it is wrong to wreck the planet, then it is wrong to profit from that wreckage. For the medical tradition investing in fossil fuels can be seen to contradict the fundamental principle to “first do no harm”. So far 21 universities, 35 cities, 65 religious organisations and numerous other organisations from around the world including the British Medical Association have committed to divesting from fossil fuels[4].

 

Medical institutions and the health community have a unique awareness of climate change through its current and future impacts on human health, but also through the potential immense health co-benefits of tackling climate change such as reducing the disease burden of air pollution, which has been attributed to 2000 premature deaths annually in Scotland[5], and encouraging active travel through reducing our reliance on fossil fuel guzzling cars. This gives an important dimension to the divestment dialogue and the engagement of medical schools and health organisations is sure to be very valuable. On the 3rd February, Healthy Planet are publishing their report “Unhealthy Investments”, co-authored with MedAct, The Climate and Health Council, Medsin and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. This will be a crucial step towards further engagement on fossil fuel divestment from the health sector. It will involve a panel of expert speakers to discuss the question of whether organisations which work to improve health should continue to invest in fossil fuel extraction and production companies. Should the health sector be taking more of a lead in this issue? There is certainly great potential in engaging with the process and evaluating how best our pension and endowment funds can be invested towards a healthier and more sustainable future.

 

More information on the report launch can be found here: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unhealthy-investmentsshould-health-organisations-divest-from-fossil-fuels-tickets-15237083527

 

References

[1] http://www.carbontracker.org/

[2] http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/polluterwatch/Dealing-in-Doubt—the-Climate-Denial-Machine-vs-Climate-Science/

[3] http://peopleandplanet.org/fossil-free

[4] http://gofossilfree.org/commitments/

[5] http://www.foe-scotland.org.uk/air-pollution

 

 

Eleanor Dow – Medical student at the University of Edinburgh and coordinator of Healthy Planet UK, a network of students raising awareness of the links between climate change and health.

http://www.healthyplanetuk.org/

 

The health & environmental impact of global health research

August 19, 2014 Environment and Health, Health and Wellness Promotion, Uncategorized No comments

“How does one cross the Atlantic in an environmentally-friendly way?” I asked myself.* A few weeks earlier I had been challenged by a fellow student who had attended a university-run course “Carbon Conversations”. I then began to reflect on the health and environmental impact of my global health research and to consider ways in which I might reduce my climate change burden. Struggling to find a satisfactory answer to my question, I approached a local sustainability advisor who explained that the alternatives to “door-to-door” air travel were likely to involve significant time costs and/or financial costs. No feasible alternatives. It was a disappointing response, especially after reflecting on the potential global health cost of spending over 20 hours on aeroplanes for my research. Could a solution be found to minimise the global health impact of overseas travel which remains essential for many studying and working in global health with limited time and restricted budgets?

It is widely accepted that high carbon usage and emission contributes to global climate change. Studies have reported that the likely direct health impacts of global climate change include those associated with an increase in heatwaves and a rise in vector-borne diseases such as malaria. Indirect health impacts may include sanitation problems secondary water shortages and malnutrition due to a rise in food costs as a result of reduced food production. People living in less developed regions are predicted to experience the greatest direct and indirect health impacts of climate change.

Hard policies are already being implemented by national and global bodies to reduce carbon emissions through initiatives such as improving rail networks and increasing taxes on fuel and high-emission vehicles. Could “softer” approaches at a local level be effectively employed by individual members of the working and studying global health community in order to tackle the problem of climate change which threatens to have a negative health impact on many populations? It is certainly never too late to consider this suggestion. It was only in 2013 that the UN Development Programme for Europe and Asia for the first time assessed the carbon footprint of one of its global health projects. We know that travel and transportation are important contributors to the climate change problem, and that many staff and students in global health are likely to travel for work purposes. Perhaps responsible travel is an approach and practice that could be promoted more widely and emphasised more strongly within the global health community.

Practically speaking, adopting this approach might mean that within academic departments of global health, individuals who plan to travel would be encouraged to consider and attempt to address the issue of climate change when writing project proposals, funding applications, dissertations, and theses. For example, a postdoctoral researcher applying for funding to attend a global health conference in Brussels might choose to budget for the additional time and financial cost of travelling to Paris by ferry and train. At the same time she could be offset these extra costs against savings made by booking more modest accommodation. Similarly, a PhD student involved in global health data collection in Asia might include a reflective paragraph in his thesis acknowledging the health impact of climate change due to travel. He could also describe the challenges encountered and steps taken to reducing the travel-related carbon emissions associated with his research.

Finally, we need to consider not only the immediate costs of changing our travel habits, but also the longer-term global health costs of not taking action to promote a low carbon future worldwide. Time and money are important and even when both are limited, global health workers and students can still explore and consider more responsible ways of travelling. If we choose to spend years studying and working to improve global health today, let us also choose to leave a shrinking carbon footprint that will have not have a significant negative impact on global health tomorrow .

 

 

Dr Anne Aboaja

Dr Anne Aboaja, is a Global Health PhD Researcher, Psychiatrist and Member of the Global Health PhD Network at the University of Edinburgh

 

Foot note

*When I asked this question, I did not have in mind ticking a box during an online airline booking in order to offset my carbon emissions. Instead I entertained the idea of spending a couple of weeks on a low-cost transatlantic crossing followed by a scenic, and possibly bumpy, road trip on public transport to my destination, sensibly using the time to read and critically review journal articles, write papers for publication, practise language skills, and creatively think through research problems encountered. Unrealistic? Maybe. Maybe not. In the spirit of sustainable global health? Definitely.