EuWHO: the first European simulation of a World Heath Assembly

EuWHO: the first European simulation of a World Heath Assembly
London 03-05 December 2010
At the RSM

RSTMH is delighted to be the main sponsor of EuWHO, Europe's first simulation of a WHO World Health Assembly, where several hundred delegates will come together from across Europe to discuss current topics of importance in health worldwide in plenary and regional sessions from the point of view of a designated UN member state. the theme is 'the right to health and access to essential medicines and vaccines'.

EuWHO is a rare and exciting opportunity for all delegates to develop key public speaking skills and contribute to a declaration that will be submitted to the WHO in Geneva. Certificates will be offered to all delegates.

Speakers will include:

• Professor Peter Piot, Director LSHTM and past Executive Director of UNAIDS and Permanent Undersecretary of the United Nation;

• Professor David Heymann, Chairman of the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) and Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology of LSHTM, past Assistant Director General at the WHO
  

• Professor Paul Hunt, the first Special Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health (2002-08);

• Professor Sir John Tooke, UCL Vice Provost (Health) and Head of UCL School of Life and Medical Sciences; and

• Dr Carole Presern, Managing Director, Special Projects at the GAVI Alliance and previously Councellor at the UK Mission in Geneva and member of the UK Delegation to the World Health Assembly

For further information and to book your place on this exciting event, please visit http://www.rsm.ac.uk/euwho

UK as a Global Hub for R and D

I went to a conference last week at the RSM that had a rather unexpected consequence for me. It was entitled ‘UK as a Global Hub for R and D’. Nothing remarkable in this excellent title you may say - we would all endorse it very strongly....at least in the UK! However, the extraordinary fact was that, at this meeting, there were many pharmaceutical companies mixing with scientific workers from universities and officials from the government. There was a spirit of wanting to share research and results between companies, as well as a will to work in the best places with a critical scientific mass (i.e. the universities).

This meeting would have been unthinkable only a few years ago; when I was Chairman of the Medicine Commission UK, when the cry was that never the two should meet and companies were very secretive about their basic sciences. Much has been said about the influence of pharmaceutical companies on medicine and, of course, this has a lot to do with marketing. However, even before we get to this stage there is much science to be conquered and many possible molecules to be investigated before we get anywhere near a drug that is marketable for humans with all its safety, quality and efficacy parameters honed to perfection. Last year there was, in fact,  a fall in newly active substances discovered (if one takes the influenza vaccines out of the equation) and also the number of drugs being fed into Phase III have been lower last year despite the increases seen at Phase I and Phase II. All very disappointing.

This meeting was jointly run by the ABPI and the BIA . Richard Barker, the director general of the ABPI, started with his four ‘Is’....Interdependence ( all working together, closer partnerships), Investment (including from the government ), Integration (increasing across industry/Whitehall and NHS) and lastly Innovation (the big society in action). Wonderful! The CEO of BIA, Nigel Gaymond, followed this by saying that the ‘UK should be the best place for life sciences in the world. There was certain urgency about this as other countries were jostling for this particular space. However, the Minister of State for Universities and Sciences said that there was a protected ring fenced budget for science and research and he was announcing Technology Innovation Centres by launching phase 1 of therapeutic clusters. These clusters would have a common purpose ( e.g. first one is  around inflammatory conditions e.g. arthritis and respiratory problems), with a talented pool of workers with comprehensive science and laboratory infrastructure amongst other things. The money set aside would also help enable clinical trials which have been difficult conduct in this country for a variety of reasons. The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (DH) talked about the health of the nation, the need to reduce public spending and although the NHS was protected to some extent by the cuts, this did not mean a protection from reform.

There were many excellent speakers talking about support for translational medicine (Sir John Bell), MRC translational funding schemes (Stephen Holgate), therapeutic clusters and how they would  work (Alistair Riddel).  A wonderful day with a spirit of collaboration, working together, networking, opportunities and innovation. A day of shared goals, a change in the culture of working (not ‘them and us’), and at the end, the delivery of new drugs for the benefit of our patients. An inspirational meeting.

For those unfamiliar with the drug industry there is a lot behind that packet of drugs on the shelf in a pharmacy...years of basic science looking for that molecule followed by drug development, a huge investment of funds, rigorous clinical trials establishing safety, quality and efficacy, acceptance by the various regulatory bodies, marketing, a constant post—marketing surveillance..... all before they are prescribed and taken by patients! It is a wonder that anything gets to occupy  that shelf!

Best wishes,
Parveen Kumar

For those interested in Global Health....

MDG10: The Millennium Development Goals Ten Years On
Medsin National Conference
6th & 7th November, Swansea University

MDG10 is the name for the Medsin National Conference 2010. Up to 350 Students will descend on Swansea for two days of world-class speakers, workshops, fringe events, and plenty of fun extras! Tickets are only £25, and include 2 night's accommodation, 3 meals, refreshments, and entertainment.

Speakers include Sir Michael Marmot, chair of the WHOs Commission On Social Determinants Of Health and author of the UK governments recent Strategic Review On Health Inequalities in England, Paul Collier, esteemed World Bank development economist and author of 'The Bottom Billion', Dr Godfrey Mbaruku, "A modern hero of maternal health" - The Lancet, and Sarah Edwards, head of policy at Health Poverty Action. Delegates will also have the chance to interact with experts in over 40 workshops, giving a chance for discussion, training and a bit of passionate debate. And, if that's not enough, there'll be additional events held by MSF and the STOP AIDS speaker tour, plus a global health fayre with stalls from a variety of charities, educational providers and electives organisations.

But MDG10 isn't just a conference; it's a chance for interested students to get together, network and have a bit of fun too. Evening entertainment is included in the ticket price, with a sit-down meal, "Welsh Ceilidh" band, Swansea's famous "Doc Rock" band & a late bar. Meanwhile, Saturday lunchtime will see delegates descend on the Wales National Pool Swansea for a massive pool party, complete with inflatables and a race to see who is the fastest Medsin branch. And, if that's not enough, how about a massive sleepover? Students will be accommodated in a local school, with showers and even gym mats to make it a little more comfy!

Again, tickets are only £25, and available from www.medsin.org/nationalconference.

Parveen's interview about malnutrition and healthcare in Liberia

Here's a video of an interview Parveen had with George, Merlin's Country Health Director for Liberia, about malnutrition and healthcare infrastructure in Liberia.  Please let us know what your thoughts are in the comments!



Apologies for the poor sound quality.  More videos and photos to come!

After a busy week...

This last week has been taken up with trying to catch up after Liberia - I got back on Monday.

Tuesday started with a 7.30am Breakfast meeting with a fascinating talk from Dr. David Heymann, Head of the Centre for Global Health Security, Chatham House. There are so many facets to this that one never thinks about. He turned up with a bottle of coca - cola - any ideas why? It has been in a podcast so I won't spoil it for you - listen to it on the RSM videos on the website.

This was followed by the RSM Council - we have an excellent, partly new, Council and I am very much looking forward to working with them over the next two years. I then saw a few patients and went onto the Royal College of Physicians for the Harveian Oration by Sir John Bell -a tour de force, followed by the Harveian dinner. This yearly pilgrimage is always excellent for networking but also learning from the lecture.

The rest of the week was equally busy but very varied...teaching my firm on the wards at the London, seeing patients, doing an extremely long clinic at Barts, a mentors' meeting to discuss how we were doing, RSM work (admin, answering letters, sorting diaries), and a THET evening saying goodbye to some Trustees and the chairman and welcoming new ones. THET stands for Tropical health and education Trust - a wonderful charity started by Eldred Parry which works mainly in Africa and forges links between institutions (hospitals/medical schools) with other institutions abroad. These 'Links' have the benefit of long term relationships so that the infrastructure and standards of these places can be raised by teaching the teachers. Do find out more on the THET website.

Next Tuesday 28th Oct- we have the first of the Young Civitas for Medics debate at the Royal College of Surgeons at 6pm. This is a free club/group started by medical students. There are 5 debates/talks on the NHS/policy etc over the academic year at different venues so that you can get to see them. Please join (free) on-line and book in. You can just turn up but it does help if you can pre-book as it gives the committee a better idea of the amount of refreshments to order. You learn the sort of things that your medical school doesn't teach you about your life in the NHS. We will be discussing the white paper on this occasion.

Hope you all had equally good weeks and enjoyed your weekend.

Best wishes,
Parveen

P.S. Promise to come back with more on Liberia soon.

A few photos from Parveen's trip

© Merlin

© Merlin

© Merlin

 Thanks to Merlin for sending these through!  More to come...

Liberia - Day Three

We left the hotel in Buchanan this morning - thank goodness the water had come on and there was a trickle to have a shower! The breakfast menu was the same as last night's dinner menu but ....no problems. We were picked up by the Merlin car. They have to report back to base everytime they stop or leave so that the centre knows where the car is in case of emergencies.

We visited the Merlin clinic, but there were no patients as it was a Sunday. They had a wonderful dedicated staff there. We interviewed the Merlin Country Director about malnutrition in children as they are all very small. I was surprised as the country is very fertile and and lush and there is enough rain (it's the rainy season from April to October). Apparently it is a lot about local superstitions and culture, for example: eggs are not given to children as they might become thieves; children are not allowed to eat chicken but are given the legs to chew on and adults eat the nutritious parts. Eggs and milk are imported from Lebanon and rice from China! No animals have been kept since the war when they all were confiscated. Little to no agricultural cultivation.

On way back in our 4 wheel-drive jeep we passed :

* palm trees (nuts for oil), pineapple plants, casava (main staple diet), sugar beet...being sold by families living in the mud thatched huts.

* Street lights outside Monrovia were lit by solar energy
* Firestone -whole area for rubber plantation - good housing, supermarket, well looked after and even have their own hospital.

We went to see administer of the JFKennedy training centre and hospital. Impressive - starting courses for radiography this time, others - nursing , midwifery, physicians assistants - all 3 years. Wanted to see inside wards but it was rest time! At the moment I am sitting in hot airport lounge waiting to board flight to London via Brussels.

It was an excellent, fascinating, packed 3 days - we managed to do a lot - thanks to Merlin, who are regarded as saviours as they were here during the war. A very interesting insight into how a country is trying to get back on its feet after a really devasting, bloody civil war.

I was accompanied by the CEO of Merlin - Carolyn Miller and a new MP Esther McVey. As you can imagine the conversation from three different perspectives was very thought provoking. Paul Summerfield from the RSM organised this trip with Merlin and I would like to thank him and Merlin for making this so possible and educating me.

For more information about Merlin's work in Liberia and elsewhere, please visit www.merlin.org.uk

Best Wishes,
Parveen

Day two - we arrived safely in Buchanan

It was a long bumpy ride over a dirt track with lots of pot-holes.

The hospital was very primitive and desperately needs help. There are only one or two doctors to provide care for 80 patients. The drug anaesthetic machine was provided by Merlin. We met with the Director of the county who told us that the area has the highest maternal mortality rate in Liberia.

We arrived at our hotel to find there was no water or electricity, and it is very hot and sticky. However, this was compensated by the most beautiful view of the sunset over the sea – from my hotel room window.

Please forgive the shortness of this blog – there is no way to use email here and I had to send this by text message!

Best Wishes,

Parveen

And so to Liberia!

I met Carolyn Miller, CEO of Merlin and Esther McVey at Heathrow to catch plane to Casablanca (no time to play it once, let alone again!). We caught our connection to Monrovia, arriving around 2am local time (one hour ahead of UK). We then had a 45min drive in the dark to Monrovia and our hotel. We have had very little sleep, and were woken up by torrential equatorial rain dropping noisily on tin roofs. Reminded me of my old boarding school days in the foothills of the Himalayas!

Had a very busy day. We met the Minister of Health (a surgeon), the President - an amazing woman who has been President for four years or so and has made a huge difference to the country, and the WHO Director for Liberia. We visited a Merlin Women and Child Health Clinic, and met the Dean of the Medical School (only qualify 13 per year!) and many others. The Maternity Clinic was run by committed Merlin charity workers. Very noisy with screaming chidren - one of whom was a six-month old with probable malaria. It was very depressing seeing an 11-year old girl having counselling for HIV and a pregnant girl who was only 13 year's old. Much of it was rudimentary but making a significant differnece.

It is very hot and humid with mosquitos flying around. An epidemic of malaria - falciparam.

Tomorrow we leave early for a four-hour drive to Buchanan.

All very fascinating!

Best Wishes,
Parveen

Trip to Liberia with Merlin International

I can’t believe that any of you will be interested in reading this Blog, but have been pushed by Sarah Pott (the Digital Marketing Manager at the RSM) to do this! I would love your feedback on whether this is useful.


One of the first things you realise when you become President of the RSM is that a term of two years is a very short time, and during my term I will be trying to take forward as many things as possible. My two main projects to action are global health and patient benefit and empowerment.


In terms of global health, we have set up an international committee led by B Sethia to take the RSM forward in this area. We are going to run a workshop on global health on 14 March 2011: further information on this will be posted in due course.


Tomorrow I leave for a four-day trip to Liberia with Carolyn Miller, CEO of Merlin International, and Esther McVey, a new MP who is passionate about global health. We are hoping to visit Merlin’s Maternity & Child Health Clinics to see whether we can help in any way. My hope would be to find ways in which the RSM could help to improve the situation. It would also give me a firsthand view of what deprivation and poverty mean to people around the world.


I hope to be able to post blogs during my trip, so keep watching this space.


Best wishes,
Parveen

P.S. To find out more about my trip to Liberia, here's a link to more information on the RSM site. And to see more about what Merlin do, visit their website.

Welcome to Professor Parveen Kumar's blog!

We've set up a blog for the new RSM President, Parveen Kumar.  To view Parveen's inaguration ceremony at the RSM, click here.