Blog posts

Making it pay by simple addition: win-win solutions for health and the environment

By Dr Kris Murray, Grantham Lecturer in Global Change Ecology

3D rendering of the Earth on a wheelchair

Our planet is ill. Ongoing loss and endangerment of species, degradation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems and their services, and man made changes to the global climate are dramatic symptoms of a major decline in the planet’s environmental health.

In glaring contrast, human health has improved, in some cases radically. Decreases in malnutrition, mortality due to infectious diseases and infant mortality rates, accompanied by substantial increases in life expectancy, can be observed in every major region of the world.

So why is health winning a war, while the environment is losing one?

At a fundamental level, there is a huge difference in investment. Human health is a global priority and survival, healthiness and well-being are personal objectives for almost everyone. Preservation of the environment simply isn’t. Spending on global health, for example, is at least an order of magnitude greater than for environmental conservation. (more…)

Controlling schistosomiasis: another reason why clean water is so important

By Dr Michael Templeton, Faculty of Engineering, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London

With World Water Day approaching on 22 March, research at Imperial College London is highlighting yet another example of why access to clean water is so vitally important to human health.

The research is seeking to quantify the role of access to clean water in reducing the odds of becoming infected with the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis.

A schistosomiasis worm

It has been estimated that 200 million people in developing countries are infected with the parasite causing this disease, which manifests itself in a range of symptoms, including enlargement of the liver and spleen, anaemia, increased risk of bladder cancer, exacerbation of the transmission of HIV and its progression to AIDS, and in extreme cases seizures. The parasite lives within infected people, with aquatic snails acting as intermediate hosts and releasing cercariae (the larval form of the parasite) into water bodies, which then penetrate the skin of other people who come in contact with the contaminated water. Preventing people from coming into contact with contaminated water and preventing urine and faeces from passing into water bodies should stop this cycle, however most endemic countries lack adequate water and sanitation provision. (more…)

Why Schools Should be on the Frontline in Combating Malnutrition

By Francis Peel from Imperial’s Partnership for Child Development.

cooks sturrring pot ghana 2010To celebrate International School Meals Day on the 5th March, schools from around the world share their experiences of school meals. It’s a fun way for school kids to learn what’s on their plates and on what children the other side of the world will be eating.

However given the depressing regularity of nutritional bad news focusing on obesity or malnutrition perhaps policy makers should be just as excited by school meals and the wider school health and nutrition movement which can provide countries with the tools to tackle this problem.

In fact, school feeding and school health programmes are present in almost every country in the world – low, middle and high income alike. However, the quality of these programmes is often the poorest where nutritional challenges are the greatest. Attention is needed to improve the quality of these programmes to reach children who have the most to gain.

The World Health Organisation estimates that 42 million infants and young children under 5 are overweight or obese in 2013 and by current trends this figure was likely to top 70 million by 2025. At the same time, in low and middle income countries, over a fifth of children under five are affected by stunting due to poor diets.  Often the same children are suffering from the double burden of malnutrition resulting in stunted due to poor diets followed by a higher propensity for obesity later in life. (more…)

World Cancer Day 2015

Today, 4th February, is World Cancer Day.  Taking place under the tagline ‘Not beyond us’, World Cancer Day 2015 will take a positive and proactive approach to the fight against cancer, highlighting that solutions do exist across the continuum of cancer, and that they are within our reach.

The campaign will explore how we can implement what we already know in the areas of prevention, early detection, treatment and care, and in turn, open up to the exciting prospect that we can impact the global cancer burden – for the better.

World Cancer Day is a unique opportunity to raise awareness that there is much that can be done at an individual, community and governmental level, to harness and mobilise these solutions and catalyse positive change. By moving forward together we have the potential to show: Cancer. It is not beyond us.

The Dividing Line in Cancer Care for 2030

A new report published by Macmillan Cancer Support discusses what cancer care might look like in 2030. (more…)

Celebrating the first ever Universal Health Coverage Day: 12.12.14

uhc-day-badge-enToday, the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) will join 500+ organisations around the world to launch the first-ever Universal Health Coverage Day. This historic coalition will mark the anniversary of a landmark UN resolution urging all countries to provide universal access to healthcare without financial hardship.

We believe that no one should fall into poverty because they get sick and need healthcare. Universal health coverage (UHC) is essential for making progress against challenges like HIV, cancer, Ebola, dementia, diabetes and mental health issues – and for creating a fairer, more resilient society.

Universal healthcare coverage is one of the seven forums at 2015’s World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), which takes place in Doha from 17-18th February and launched by the Qatar Foundation. (more…)

Tackling HIV associated Tuberculosis this World AIDS Day

By Professor Robert Wilkinson, Wellcome Trust Senior Fellow in Clinical Tropical Medicine, Director of the University of Cape Town Clinical Infectious Diseases Research Initiative (CIDRI) and Professor in Infectious Diseases at Imperial College London

AIDS dayToday, 1st December, is World AIDS Day, an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with the disease and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 78 million people have been infected with the HIV virus and about 39 million people have died of HIV.

Globally, about 35 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2013. An estimated 0.8% of adults aged 15–49 years worldwide are living with HIV, although the burden of the epidemic continues to vary considerably between countries and regions.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains most severely affected, with nearly 1 in every 20 adults living with HIV and accounting for nearly 71% of the people living with HIV worldwide.

HIV associated Tuberculosis

The risk of developing tuberculosis (TB) is estimated to be around 15-20 times greater in people living with HIV than among those without HIV infection. (more…)

WaterAid UK / International World Toilet Day

Today 36 prominent international health and development experts including representatives from WaterAid, The World Medical Association, the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Amref Health Africa,  Bangladesh Medical Association, British Medical Association, Commonwealth Medical Association, Global Health Council, Indian Medical Association, International Confederation of Midwifes, Nigerian Medical Association, and the Royal College of General Practitioners amongst many others, have called for an end to a crisis that has claimed the lives of over 10 million children under the age of five since the year 2000.  

In an Open letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, the signatories, representing over 620,000 health professionals globally, highlight the desperate waste of life caused by people not having access to a basic toilet. Without basic sanitation, children have no choice but to live and play in areas contaminated by human waste.

One in three children globally does not have access to a basic toilet, which alongside unsafe drinking water and a lack of hygiene services, contributes to the world’s three main killers of children: undernutrition, pneumonia and diarrhoea, the letter states.

The letter, coordinated by the international development organisation WaterAid, has been published to coincide with World Toilet Day. It is also signed by IGHI’s Professor the Lord Darzi  and highlights that the sanitation ‘crisis touches every moment of every child’s life, from birth to adulthood, if they are lucky enough to make it that far‘. (more…)

Raising awareness about female genital mutilation: What can we do to help?

By Sunila Prasad, Imperial Hub

guest speaker
Guest speaker Ms Hoda Ali

On 16th October, Imperial Hub hosted its inaugural talk of The Challenge Series – a series of seminars aiming to inform students on key issues.

Imperial Hub was honoured to host special guest speaker and FGM survivor, Ms Hoda Ali, and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial, Dr Naomi Low-Beer, to offer their insights into the increasingly prevalent issue of female genital mutilation (FGM).

With Hoda as the first speaker, the audience was immediately immersed into the world of FGM through the perspective of a survivor. Having experienced FGM at the age of 7 in her native Somalia and then forced to flee her war-torn country, she finally settled in the UK to work as a sexual health nurse and FGM campaigner. Hoda’s story was inspirational, and she went on to explain the devastating impact FGM can have on a victim both physically and mentally and how she survived it. (more…)

How Innovation Can Help To Reduce the Future Economic Burden of Mental Health Disease

By Sarah Jones and Naomi Radcliffe in support of World Mental Health Day

A recent survey by the WHO found that amongst its member countries, the lifetime risk of mental health illness was between 18 – 36%. [1] Yet the vast majority of people are undiagnosed or not receiving treatment, especially in low-income countries. The World Economic Forum estimates that between 2011–2030, mental health conditions will be responsible for the total loss of $16.2 trillion to the global economy. We can compare this to five other non-communicable diseases – cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer and diabetes – which together will account for the loss of $30 trillion by 2030. To put these figures into perspective, the total global spending on health in 2009 was only $5.1 trillion. [2]

Rising direct costs are partly due to an ageing population and a greater proportion of individuals over the age of 75 years, which have resulted in more people living with costly conditions such as dementia. [3] We also have higher expectations on the level of care that we should receive. In high-income countries, this translates into demand for new and expensive treatments and drugs that may only elicit marginal benefits in comparison to existing treatments. [4] (more…)

SCI needs to expand coverage to help treat 100 million children a year against bilharzia (schistosomiasis) and worms.

By Professor Alan Fenwick OBE, Director of SCI (Schistosomiasis Control Initiative), Imperial College, London)

A schistosomiasis worm
A schistosomiasis worm

Schistosomiasis is a type of infection caused by parasites that live in fresh water, such as rivers or lakes, in subtropical and tropical regions worldwide.  It is also known as bilharzia.

The Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) at Imperial College London supports Ministries of Health and Education in 16 countries to deliver medicines to treat people infected with schistosomiasis and three intestinal worms. The medicines are donated by various pharmaceutical companies, Merck KgGA (praziquantel), GSK (albendazle) and Johnson and Johnson (mebendazole), and for the most part, the targets are school aged children.

Treating children for schistosomiasis
Treating children for schistosomiasis

The SCI’s role includes advocacy at all levels in the countries from Ministers down through regional officials to teachers and health staff who deliver the medicines. These medicines are safe to swallow and effective. For the most part they are delivered annually through schools or through communities. We assist the countries with mapping so that the geographical distribution of the diseases is known, and then with preparing medicine donation requests. (more…)