Blog posts

Search for an immortal cure: The urgent need for global cancer care

By Centre for Health Policy Intern Natasha Chainani

A few days ago, the American Cancer Society reported an incidence of 4.3 million cancer cases in China in 2015 alone along with 2.8 million deaths due to cancer[1].

A few years ago, during my early teens, when I was just learning the ways of the world, I was told I had lost family members to cancer. Throat cancer and pancreatic cancer to be precise.

A few decades ago, the scientific and clinical world was just discovering what cancer was and its capabilities.

And today, 4th February 2016 is World Cancer Day.

Introducing HarvardX’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Practical Improvement Science in Healthcare: A Roadmap for Getting Results

Developed through a collaboration between HarvardX and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, ‘Practical Improvement Science in Health Care: A roadmap for getting results’ is a free online course, which starts 20th January and lasts for 6 weeks.  It aims to provide learners with the valuable skills and simple, well-tested tools they need to translate promising innovations or evidence into practice.

Learners will dive into short, engaging lectures and have access to additional materials and resources. They also will have full access to the social network provided by the edX platform, which provides immediate peer-to-peer feedback and facilitates shared learning.

The course is designed so that learners will begin building and applying basic practical improvement skills right away, regardless of their role in health or health care, and regardless of previous improvement experience.

Part 4: The future of Universal Health Coverage and how we can achieve it globally

To mark Universal Health Coverage Day on 12th December, we interviewed former CEO of the NHS and Adjunct Professor at IGHI, Sir David Nicholson.

Universal health coverage (UHC) improves how health care is financed and delivered – so it is more accessible, more equitable and more effective.

In the final video of our series below, Sir David talks about how the key to obtaining and maintaining UHC across the world is to get the support required from leadership and politicians in order to make it happen.

He provides examples of countries that are already working towards UHC and addresses how IGHI are contributing towards the UHC system in order to make quality and safe healthcare a reality for all. 

Part 3: Universal Health Coverage in the UK

In the third of our video series with Sir David Nicholson, former CEO of the NHS and Adjunct Professor here at IGHI, Sir David talks about how the delivery of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) took route in the UK.

The current UHC model has been serving us well for over 60 years.  However, there is still room for improvement and there are challenges ahead which we must face in order to sustain UHC in the UK.

To mark Universal Health Coverage Day (12.12.15), Sir David Nicholson provides a few suggestions on how we can achieve and maintain a safer, robust and resilient model for UHC, which will allow us to sustain the current model of care for generations to come.

Part 2: The economic and political case for Universal Health Coverage

By Dr. Matthew Harris, Senior Policy Fellow in Public Health, Institute of Global Health Innovation

I never really stopped to think why there was a need for a Universal Health Coverage Day.  Who could argue against the need for healthcare?  Who could argue against the common sense policy of equal access to health care, for equal need – irrespective of ability to pay?  However, despite many advances around the world in providing universal health care for whole populations, there are still many places where people suffer catastrophic financial burden as a result of relatively simple healthcare needs.

There have been many successes, but there is still a long way to go.

Part 1: The importance of Universal Health Coverage Day

Ensuring universal access to effective, quality and safe health care services, without the fear of financial hardship, is a basic human right.

Universal Health Coverage Day, commemorated each 12 December, is the anniversary of the first unanimous United Nations resolution calling for countries to provide affordable, quality health care to every person, everywhere.

The United Nations has adopted 17 sustainable development goals for eliminating poverty and building a more resilient planet. One of those goals includes providing universal health coverage.

Universal health coverage improves how health care is financed and delivered – so it is more accessible, more equitable and more effective.

World Toilet Day 2015: Making sanitation sustainable and safe

By Dr Michael Templeton, Reader in Public Health Engineering

Today, Thursday 19th November, is World Toilet Day. Sadly, it is estimated that 2.5 billion people around the world still lack access to an adequate toilet. Many others rely on only basic pit latrines which eventually fill up and can become unsanitary. Many countries failed to meet their Millennium Development Goal target for access to improved sanitation, and the recently stated Sustainable Development Goals continue to emphasise improving sanitation as a key objective towards global development.

Research at Imperial College London by the group of Dr Michael Templeton in the Environmental and Water Resource Engineering section of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering is investigating ways to make sanitation more sustainable and safer.

The importance of the Access to Palliative Care Bill 2015

By Mark Steedman from the Institute of Global Health Innovation

The Access to Palliative Care Bill is to be given its second reading tomorrow (23rd October). While palliative care is widely viewed to be excellent in the UK, there are gaps in access to it, and this Bill hopes to eliminate these gaps.

The Bill’s stated aim is to “make provision for equitable access to palliative care services; for advancing education, training and research in palliative care; and for connected purposes”.

I’ve now worked in palliative care for two and a half years, and despite the knowledge I’ve gained and the progress I’ve seen, I’m still amazed at the reception I get when I speak at conferences.

World Food Day – Of abundance and scarcity

By Saba Fatima Mirza, Institute of Global Health Innovation to mark World Food Day 2015

When we talk about food, we must talk about its abundance and scarcity.

According to a recent United Nations report, about one-third of the world’s food, a shocking 1.3 billion tonnes, is thrown away each year. While some of this waste is a spinoff of the production phase of the food cycle, a higher portion of food is wasted at the consumption stage in high-income countries. This has to do with a combination of dietary habits and consumer behaviour.

Food supply is also abundant in high-income countries, and over eating has become a serious issue.

Photographs that change the world

By Student Challenges Audience Choice Award winners Jacob Levi, Amanda Stenbaek and Hiba Saleem-Danish

In Feb 2015, we took part in the IGHI Student Challenges competition and won the 3rd place prize of £1000, towards our Photovoice App Development Project.

Photovoice is a research method, which is already in use globally, whereby photographic data is collected and analyzed in order to gain insight into various health, social or community problems. Currently, the methodology is inefficient and expensive. Cameras are distributed to communities in and they’re asked to capture images, which depict a problem in their life, however, our concept was to modernize and improve the Photovoice methodology in a digital age.