Statement from The George Institute regarding President Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization

As a medical research institute with a mission to improve the health of millions of people worldwide, The George Institute for Global Health is deeply dismayed by President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States (US) from the World Health Organization (WHO). This move will directly place millions of additional lives at risk around the world.

The WHO plays a vital role in protecting and promoting health around the world, not only by coordinating the global response to infectious disease outbreaks, but through strengthening health systems, increasing access to medicines, and improving monitoring and information sharing, particularly in resource-poor settings.

Recognising the WHO’s crucial work to support the right of every human being to the highest attainable standard of health, the United States of America has historically led the way in terms of its support for the agency; in 2018-2019, it was the largest contributor to WHO’s budget, providing 15% of the total.

The decision by the US to withdraw from the WHO as COVID-19 sweeps the world risks worsening the already dire consequences of this pandemic, which we know is striking hardest those most disadvantaged and marginalised in countries across the economic spectrum.

As a global community, this crisis reinforces the need to work together and strengthen the WHO, recognising that the need for a global health agency in our increasingly connected world is greater than ever. We strongly urge US political leaders to immediately reverse this decision.

Leads

Could these common medications reduce COVID-19 deaths?

Tue, 07/07/2020 - 12:00

ABC Radio National

COVID-19 and its impact on snakebite care in India: a bane or a boon?

Snakebite leads to nearly 81,000 to 1,38,000 deaths worldwide each year. Despite that, it fails to make a mark on the health policy agenda. Deaths due to snakebite are entirely preventable, given the patients receive adequate and timely treatment. However, it is unfortunate that deaths due to snakebite continue to occur even today.

Global Kidney Patients Trials Network (GKPTN)

EduSalts pre-trial launched in Zhenjiang city

Media release

Fri, 03/07/2020 - 12:00

On 18 June 2020, EduSaltS （School-based Education Program to Reduce salt）preliminary trial was jointly launched by the Chinese Center for Health Education (CCHE) and The George Institute China. Over 50 project personnel from Jiangsu province attended the online event.

Virtual Round Table 2: Telehealth for Strengthening Health Services Delivery

The George Institute for Global Health, India is organizing a series of online policy roundtable consultations on telehealth & virtual care for patients with chronic conditions. These consultations will bring together experts representing key stakeholders across the entire ecosystem to discuss unmet needs, user expectations, identify barriers and enablers towards a sustainable telehealth ecosystem. We aim to develop a policy brief on “Safe, Effective & Comprehensive Use of Telemedicine” with a focus on chronic conditions to support the implementation and scale up of telemedicine in India and other low- and middle-income country settings.

The second virtual round table is on Telehealth for Strengthening Health Services Delivery.

The experts will discuss:

Moving from Islands of excellence to coordinated care – role of technology
Emerging technologies and continuum of care – relevance to Primary Health Care
Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Care in a telehealth ecosystem
Investing in digital health for achieving Universal Health Coverage

Discussants:

Ms. Kavita Narayan FACHE, Technical Advisor, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, India
Dr. Kieran Walsh, Clinical Director, British Medical Journal, UK
Dr. Bastiaan Quast, Co-Secretary ITU-WHO Focus Group on AI for Health, ITU, Geneva
Mr. N.S. Viswanathan, Chief Financial Officer, MFine, India

Moderators:

Dr. Shenoy Robinson: Healthcare Industry thought leader, Chairperson CII Technical Committee on Health
Dr. Oommen John: Senior Research Fellow, The George Institute for Global Health, India

As the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted delivery of routine healthcare delivery services, the Board of Governors (BoG) of the Medical Council of India (MCI) released of Telemedicine Practice guidelines. The challenges posed by the pandemic and unmet need of health services delivery due to the lock down has generated unprecedented interest in the practice of telemedicine in India.

While telemedicine is an excellent and powerful tool for healthcare providers & hospitals to extend care, there are several challenges and opportunities for its sustainability and scale up. Telemedicine and Telehealth need to be comprehensive, safe, practiced ethically and in the best interest of the patient. The policy brief aims to address these critical aspects to create an enabling environment to leverage telehealth as an enabler for strengthening health services delivery and support universal health coverage in India and other low- and middle-income countries.