Bridging the global divide: Manchester stakes its claim

20 Oct 2011

Lord David Owen is to be guest speaker at a special meeting in Manchester next week to launch a new initiative that is guaranteed to put the city at the forefront of global health.

The former foreign secretary and EU special envoy has been invited to give the Doubleday Lecture on behalf of the The University of Manchester’s Medical School and also to help support MAHSC – a partnership between the NHS and the University – as it announces it new global health focus.

Lord Owen is expected to speak about how access to and the delivery of healthcare is a product of politics and economics, and he will endorse Manchester’s role as a champion of global health, which is illustrated by its response to natural disasters, complex emergencies and the delivery of humanitarian assistance over the last 25 years.

Professor Ian Jacobs, MAHSC Director and Vice President of The University of Manchester, will introduce Lord Owen. He says we face multiple global health issues and, at times, potential conflicts. “We have sophisticated healthcare but huge divides of delivery between the wealthy and the poor, major advances in medical research but often poor translation to the patient. Manchester, however, combines excellence in academia, clinical service delivery, research management and education and is, I believe, well placed to lead the way in bridging those divides.”

Professor Tony Redmond, who has been appointed by MAHSC to head up its global health initiative, has an impressive track record of involvement in international emergency medical assistance, spanning over two decades -most recently when he headed up a medical team in China following the 2008 earthquakes and again in 2010 with the Haiti earthquake.

He believes that as improved and travel have increased people’s mobility, health education must now be seen in a global context. “Hospitals need to be equipped to treat diseases not traditionally seen in the UK, and requires the training for healthcare staff to identify them. Countries need to work together to share solutions to common problems, “he explains.

Afterwards, Professor Ashley Woodcock OBE will give the address as the newly elected President of the Manchester Medical Society. His work has already earned him huge recognition in environmental campaigning, and his research on CFCs was highlighted in the presentation, which earned the Nobel Prize for Al Gore for his work on climate change in 2007. “We need to take the lessons we learned from successful ozone layer protection and apply them to climate change. Prevention is always much better than cure.”