INJURY PREVENTION SESSIONS Building the evidence for injury prevention in Nepal
The third session in the 'Injury Prevention Sessions', co-hosted by UNSW School of Population Health, Sydney and the WHO Collaborating Centre on Injury Prevention and Trauma Care at The George Institute for Global Health focused on building the evidence for injury prevention in Nepal.
The recording is available here:
Nepal is a country with a wealth of natural hazards. In recent years it has experienced extensive changes politically, socially and economically. Rapid urbanisation and motorisation have seen an extensive road building programme and increases in vehicle ownership without road safety infrastructure, coordination and leadership. Historically, health researchers have focused on infectious diseases, maternal and newborn health, with little capacity for injury prevention research.
It is in this context that, in 2017, the UK National Institute for Health Research funded Kathmandu Medical College to partner with the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK to establish the Nepal Injury Research Centre. Over the last four years the Centre has conducted a programme of studies to build an evidence base from which research-informed policy can be made. In this seminar, two early career researchers reflect on their learnings. Santosh Bhatta presents on the implications for policy and practice arising from hospital and community injury surveillance studies, and Preeti Gautam presents on how the team have enabled those whose voices are seldom heard to participate in road safety research.
The 'Injury Prevention Sessions' are action-focused conversations about how we learn from local solutions to address the global problem of injury. From practitioners to researchers to students, this informal forum brings together like-minded individuals to explore innovative injury prevention research methodologies and opportunities to work together to save lives globally. This webinar series is co-hosted by UNSW School of Population Health and the WHO Collaborating Centre on Injury Prevention and Trauma Care at The George Institute for Global Health.
Santosh Bhatta is a Research Associate at the University of the West of England (UWE, Bristol) UK, based in the Centre for Academic Child Health. Santosh has been working in the Nepal Injury Research Centre since its inception in 2017. Santosh obtained his master’s degree in Environmental Health and his PhD in Public Health from UWE Bristol, UK. Santosh has a special research interest in injury prevention and safety promotion in low- and middle-income countries.
Santosh has led some of the research projects in the Nepal Injury Research Centre including hospital and community-based injury surveillance studies and a study to evaluate systems for injury measurement in Nepal. He has supported other researchers on qualitative studies exploring community perceptions of home and workplace injuries and a systematic literature review.
Preeti Gautam
Preeti Gautam is a Public Health Professional who has worked for more than five years in the health sector of Nepal. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of the West of England, UK. Previously, she has worked with Nepal Red Cross Society in implementing community health projects where she realised the importance of evidence-based project evaluation for accountability. This is how she developed an interest in the field of research. Having being involved in the April 2015 Nepal earthquake post-response activities, she developed her interest in the injury prevention domain. Currently, she is a researcher at Nepal Injury Research Centre funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research.
Virtual Session 4: Effective pandemic response through primary health care – Learnings from COVID-19
The Primary Health Care Research Consortium (PHCRC) is a research global network with its secretariat at the George Institute for Global Health, India. The consortium promotes evidence generation, knowledge exchange and capacity building through south-south cooperation to reduce the research to policy gap in primary health care overall for efficient policymaking in low- and middle-income countries.
Continuing its webinar series Scaling New Frontiers in Primary Health Care Through Research and Partnership the consortium is proud to announce Virtual Session 4: Effective pandemic response through primary health care – Learnings from COVID-19 scheduled for:
8th Sept 2021, 15:00 BKK time | 18:00 NSW | 10:00 SAST | 13:30 IST
Our discussants
David Peiris: Director of the Global Primary Health Care Program (Better Care) and Co-Director of the Centre for Health Systems Science; Professor, Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, Australia
J. Jaime Miranda: Research Professor, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine and Director of CRONICAS Center of Excellence in Chronic Diseases, at Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH) in Lima, Peru.
Sunanda Ray: Adjunct Professor at the University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine, Botswana, Botswana
Moderator
Sairat Noknoy: Vice President at Royal College of Family Physicians of Thailand
The session concludes with a Q&A session where the audience can engage with the panelists.
The virtual series is a time to come together and discuss ideas. Join the conversation by using the hashtag #StrongerwithPHC & follow our Twitter handles on @care_PHCRC & @GeorgeinstIN.
Replacing table salt with a reduced-sodium, added-potassium ‘salt substitute’ significantly reduces rates of stroke, heart attack and death, according to the results of one of the largest dietary intervention studies ever conducted.
Our latest study examining grocery shopping data for over 7000 households shows Australians are having way more added sugar than they should.
Health Equity in the SDG era: Perspectives from Southeast Asia
The George Institute for Global Health, India in collaboration with the Southeast Asia Region of the International Working Group for Health Systems Strengthening (IWG) is proud to present their sixth iteration of the Global Lecture Series on “Health Equity in the SDG era: Perspectives from Southeast Asia”.
The Southeast Asia Region of the IWG & The George Institute for Global Health, India, will be delving into a discussion on health equity in the SDG era. With eminent panellists from diverse contexts in the domain of health equity. The presentations will bring diverse national experiences on health equity –oriented research, policy, and capacity-building initiatives from across the region.
Area of focus
Worldwide concern over disparity and inequities resulted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) commitment to “leave no one behind” the field of health equity research, with long origins in movements for social justice and health for all, is now increasingly established the world over. Progress on understanding health inequities and tackling them in a holistic and sustained fashion, however, has been uneven. Quite often, across regions, the lowest hanging fruit in tackling inequity have been chosen over more comprehensive, difficult, and participatory processes.
Despite sizeable social progress in the post-colonial period for several countries in the Southeast Asian region, the high burden of maternal and child mortality is joined by drivers of climate degradation, epidemiological transitions leading to heightened burdens of non-communicable diseases, challenges of over and under nutrition and health systems that, in many cases are chronically underfunded. The challenges of understanding and addressing health equity are clearly large, and those who have been at the frontlines of tackling these thorny issues may have some insights on what has worked, and what has not on the national and even regional scale.
Speakers
Antonio Bonito - World Health Organisation, Regional Office & former Executive Director, the National Institute of Health, Timor Leste
Dr Sohana Shafique – Deputy Project Coordinator, Urban Health Research Group, icddr,b, Bangladesh
The session concludes with moderated discussions and Q&A session where the audience can ask questions. Follow and engage with the George Institute on social media handles. Follow us on Twitter & Facebook @GeorgeInstIN
[1] Friedman EA, Gostin LO, Kavanagh MM, et al. Putting health equity at heart of universal coverage—the need for national programmes of action. BMJ; 367. Epub ahead of print October 25, 2019. DOI: 10.1136/BMJ.L5901.
[2] Rasanathan K, Diaz T. Research on health equity in the SDG era: the urgent need for greater focus on implementation. Int J Equity Heal 2017 151 2016; 15: 1–3.
[3] Wagstaff A, Eozenou P, Neelsen S, et al. Introducing the World Bank’s 2018 Health Equity and Financial Protection Indicators database. Lancet Glob Heal 2019; 7: e22–e23.
[4] CU T. Health Inequalities in South Asia at the Launch of Sustainable Development Goals: Exclusions in Health in Kerala, India Need Political Interventions. Int J Health Serv 2018; 48: 57–80.
Statement on the IPCC ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis' report
The George Institute for Global Health is calling for the urgent phase out of fossil fuels after the release of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ‘Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis’ report. The report shows that without immediate action, global temperature increases as a result of human-induced climate change will exceed 1.5C around 2030. This increase means that within the next decade, extreme weather events will become more common, food security will be jeopardised, and the social and environmental determinants of health will be exacerbated, having serious consequences for global health.
Professor Robyn Norton AO, Principal Director of The George Institute for Global Health, said:
In compromising sustainable development, climate change risks leaving communities experiencing the most disadvantage behind. High-income countries have a responsibility to the global community to reduce their emissions immediately and must commit to providing the necessary resources to support low- and middle-income countries to mitigate and adapt to climate-related disruptions.
Adaptive responses include strengthening healthcare systems to cope with the adverse consequences of global heating, as Professor Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director of The George Institute, India, explains:
“The increase in extreme heat waves due to global warming seems to be accelerating the rate of chronic kidney disease among at-risk populations, for instance among young agricultural workers in rural regions in India. Heat stress and dehydration are compounding factors in kidney damage and increase the likelihood of severe disease. Alongside immediate action to halt rising global temperatures, governments and researchers must scale-up surveillance to better understand the scale of the heat stress neuropathy epidemic.”
Dr Kate Hunter and Dr Julieann Coombes, Co-leads of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research Program at The George Institute, Australia said:
“Global warming represents one of the most significant threats to global health in the 21st century. Remedial action must ensure meaningful involvement of those most impacted. Effective, inclusionary approaches in Australia must privilege the voices and knowledges of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Traditional Custodians of the lands, and given the wealth of their lived experience of the effects of climate change on the environment and its relation to health and wellbeing.”
Co-Chair of The George Institute’s Planetary Health Working Group, Chelsea Hunnisett commented:
“It is time for governments to take the findings of the IPCC seriously. As we approach COP26, governments must set out an ambitious agenda to rapidly decrease their dependence on fossil fuels. This is crucial to protecting the planet and the health of everyone who lives on it.”
Find out more about The George Institute for Global Health’s planetary health work here.
