Blog posts

How nurses and midwives are essential to achieving universal health coverage

Two female nurses laughing and smiling.

By Nicolette Davies, IGHI’s Head of Operations

Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is a basic human right. The WHO’s Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom, continues to highlight the importance of UHC by focusing its World Health Day on this topic. Dr Tedros’ top priority is equity for health for all, but how will we achieve the World Health Assembly’s ambitious target of 1 billion more people benefiting from UHC within five years? (more…)

Where are the ‘Toyotas of healthcare’ we need for universal health coverage?

A globe surrounded by a stethoscope.

By Jonty Roland, IGHI Honorary Research Fellow and Independent Health Systems Consultant.

By dedicating this World Health Day to universal health coverage (UHC), the WHO is continuing to relentlessly bang the drum for ‘health for all’ under its charismatic Director-General. This is a beat that more and more countries are now marching to, with dozens of governments having announced UHC-inspired reforms since Dr Tedros took office two years ago. (more…)

Why patient engagement matters

A photograph of a female doctor smiling in discussion with another female doctor.

By Dr Lisa Aufegger, IGHI Research Associate

Patient engagement has become a key priority in today’s health and care systems. And some have argued it’s essential for the sustainability of the NHS.

Patient engagement (PE), the involvement of patients in their medical process, is not a new concept. It first appeared in the late 80s, when the US Food and Drug Administration brought together patients, government, industry, and academia to identify and remove barriers to successful HIV drug and treatment development. Since then, PE activities have blossomed across clinical and non-clinical areas, and generated meaningful insight into and impact on quality improvement in healthcare service and delivery.

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How can we safely and effectively dose medicines for children with obesity?

The legs of an overweight child standing on a set of digital scales.

By Alex, Nick, Jonny and Calandra, IGHI’s Helix Centre.

The number of children with obesity has risen rapidly over the past 40 years.

According to data from the World Health Organization the number of overweight children increased 8-fold between 1975 and 2016, from 1% of children to 6% of girls and 8% of boys. In 2013 there were 42 million under-fives worldwide who were overweight or obese. And over a quarter of 2-15 year olds in England are estimated to be overweight or obese today. This poses a significant challenge to the safe and effective dosing of medications for children. (more…)

On entrepreneurship and seizing opportunities to make healthcare safer

A photo of Ana talking on stage

By Ana Luisa Neves, co-founder of momoby, GP and IGHI Research Fellow. 

At momoby, we believe every woman should have access to prenatal care, regardless of where she lives. To tackle this challenge, we’re developing a low cost, pocket-sized device that tests for diseases that could harm pregnancy, using a single drop of blood. (more…)

Celebrating our women at IGHI

Women at IGHI

It’s Women at Imperial Week, an opportunity for us to celebrate some of the fantastic females who help keep our Institute brimming with brilliance.

To mark the occasion, in honour of International Women’s Day, we spoke with a handful of women from across IGHI’s Centres to learn more about what they do, what makes them tick, and the females who inspire them the most.

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How light can offer earlier detection and improved monitoring of cancer

By Dr Alex Thompson, Lecturer in sensing in cancer

World Cancer Day provides an opportunity both to celebrate the huge progress that has been made in the fight against cancer and to remember the challenges that lie ahead. While cancer survival has doubled in the UK over the last 40 years, the disease still causes more than one out of every four UK deaths. (more…)

Life after winning IGHI’s Student Challenges Competition

 

Nate Macabuag presenting his project to the 2018 judging panel.

By Nate Macabuag, 2018 winner of IGHI’s Student Challenges Competition. 

Hey, I’m Nate, co-founder of Mitt, our prosthetic wearables start-up. We’re tackling the barriers that come with limb loss by building accessible, easy-to-use prosthetic limbs for people across the world.  (more…)

International Migrants Day: A time to reflect on health, human rights and mobility

migration queue
“International Migrants Day, offers a rallying point for everyone across the world who is concerned with the protection of migrants”

By Professor Stephen A. Matlin, Visiting Professor, Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London

The 2001 UN General Assembly Resolution proclaiming 18 December each year as International Migrants Day recalls the obligation to respect the rights of all individuals as set out in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It invites Member States and intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to observe the day by providing information on the human rights and fundamental freedoms of migrants, sharing experiences and designing actions to ensure their protection, among a myriad of other activities.

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