Aditi Das has been very busy on our behalf. Not only did she go to the Conflict and Catastrophe Forum’s medicine overseas event for us last week but yesterday, she went to a very high profile conference at the Royal College of Physicians on Global Health: Current Issues, Future Trends and Foreign Policy  and reports back for us here-RhonaYesterday I attended a conference held by the Royal College of Physicians, London entitled, Global Health: Current Issues, Future Trends and Foreign Policy’. I entered with high expectations which were thankfully not in the least bit dashed. This was an excellent yet tiring day that left me feeling enthused, educated and inspired.

For those of you who have not visited the Royal College of Physicians in London, it is truly a remarkable building.  As you enter, the high walls are laden with portraits of eminent doctors who have helped to shape the health care system that we are now part of today. Moreover, the library collections date back to 1518; an indicator of the rich historical underpinnings of this institution. Therefore, that the College decided to host a conference on Global Health is testament to the importance of this issue. This move also suggests that contemporary physicians are now starting to regard Global Health as an utmost priority rather than just a popular catch-phase. (more…)

As promised Leeds medical students, James Chan and Sunil Bhopal, tell us what happened at the pharma debate at Leeds University Medical School. A fantastic result I think! RhonaLots of debate at Leeds with Peter Mansfield (right) and Rory O’Connor (left)-photo by Lorraine Sue-Fern Yeung
What made 120 students stay late at University on a Friday evening last week? Well, Medsin-Leeds  and PharmAware Leeds  came together to put on a huge event, tackling a massive issue that managed to create a real buzz around the issue. The issue is that of pharmaceutical companies and their influence on doctor’s prescribing habits. To stimulate discussion and further exploration of this issue, the following motion was debated:

“The house believes the relationship between the medical profession and the pharmaceutical industry is detrimental to patient health”.

The event was introduced by Omar Jundi, PharmAware-Leeds co-coordinator. He explained that this is a large issue discussed by the profession and brought up often in medical journals etc. Four speakers, two for each side of the debate, had their say - and a lengthy, passionate question and answer session then ensued! (more…)

 James Matheson, the student representative of the Catastrophes and Conflict Forum at the The Royal Society of Medicine gives his take on last Friday’s Medicine Overseas event-RhonaPhoto from MSF
On 25 April, the Royal Society of Medicine in London hosted, ‘Medicine Overseas’, a one day event aimed at those with an interest in working in humanitarian medicine abroad. Speakers from international and non-governmental organisations were joined by educators and training organisations in order to introduce delegates to those people who could provide them with the necessary knowledge, skills and opportunities for work in the field.

The day, organised by the RSM’s Catastrophes and Conflict Forum highlighted some of the conflicts inherent in the way the humanitarian world does business and in the process of getting involved. Whilst all the speakers would have recommended getting involved in this challenging, rewarding and genuinely useful area of medicine, they also demonstrated it wasn’t easy. (more…)

Medical student, Aditi Das, reports on last Friday’s Conflict and Catastrophes Forum at the Royal Society of Medicine, London-RhonaPhoto from the ICRC
On Friday 25 April, the Conflict and Catastrophes Forum hosted a conference at the Royal Society of Medicine, London, entitled ‘Medicine Overseas’. This was a day long series of spectacular talks which aimed to provide an insight into the challenges, fears, hurdles and rewards of a career in humanitarian medicine. An impressive array of speakers from a range of diverse organisations including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) , Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the Department for International Development (DFID), and Medecins du Monde (MdM), each provided unique perspectives of overseas medical careers. In particular, they illustrated the controversies that underlie humanitarian medicine, including whether organisations should remain neutral in conflict settings and how health workers can prevent doing more harm than good. Moreover, the remarkable turnout of young doctors and medical students within the audience reflected that humanitarian medicine is an important field that the doctors of tomorrow need to take an interest in. (more…)

Today is World Malaria Day (it used to be called African Malaria Day). A posting on The Lancet Global Health Network asks where next for malaria? and looks at how the billions of dollars from The Gates Foundation to tackle malaria is being spent, including concerns from some experts that any advancements may not reach the people who need them most. I have also  copied for you below, a Lancet Comment by Raymond Chambers, Rajat Gupta, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus published today which focuses on responding to the challenge to end malaria deaths in Africa. And of course we have our own section on malaria in our article collection which have been written by students. I think that you will find all of these items very useful as malaria is such a massive global health challenge that has recently got a lot of renewed attention thanks to a recent announcement by the Gates Foundation  that malaria should be eradicated. Rhona

Lancet Comment: Responding to the challenge to end malaria deaths in Africa
With World Malaria Day, April 25, 2008, the international community-led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon-throws its weight behind an ambitious campaign to expand access to a comprehensive set of malaria-control interventions in sub-Saharan Africa with the aim of ending malaria deaths on the continent in the near future. (more…)

Hector Georgiou, medical student and Co-Chair of the Imperial College School of Medicine Surgical Society, London, tells us about last month’s National Medical Student Prize Night hosted by the Surgical Society. The winners are also listed below along with the winning abstract. Well done everyone. Rhona 

The 2^nd National Medical Student Prize Night was hosted with great success by the Imperial College School of Medicine (ICSM) Surgical Society on Wednesday 12^th March 2008 at the Charing Cross Hospital, London. This is an annual event organised by the Society hosting medical students from across the nation, aiming to give them the opportunity to display their work and have the chance to win cash prizes.

This year’s event saw sixth formers and medical students from all across the United Kingdom compete in three separate competitions:

1. ‘100 Years of Science: What is the greatest development within the past century?’ - Poster Competition open to Sixth Formers
2. ‘Describe the most important development in medical and/or surgical science in the last 25 years’ - Poster competition open to Pre-Clinical medical students
3. ‘An interesting clinical case that you saw over the past 12 months’ - Oral presentation competition open to Clinical medical students (more…)

Edward Stourton and Paul Hunt (taken for the Merlin website)

A wee while ago we featured the public interview between Paul Hunt, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Right to Health,  and the BBC broadcaster, Edward Stourton, which was hosted by the humanitarian NGO, Merlin, at the Frontline Club. So I thought you might like to know that the highlights of this interview are now available online here. The podcast is in five short parts, includes discussions on the meaning of the right to health and its implications; how it makes a positive, practical difference; the limitations of the role of UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health; and the role all health workers can play in its delivery. Well worth a listen. Rhona

Something serious to talk about today: Cluster bombs and why they should be banned. This is a topic that all students should know about and hopefully also get campaigning about. Here’s why.

A report just published by the  the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Prohibiting Cluster Munitions: Our Chance to Protect Civilians draws attention to this unacceptable loss of life and severe hindrance to human development caused by cluster munitions and compiles yet more evidence on why a ban on the use of all cluster munitions is urgently needed.

So what exactly are cluster bombs (often referred to as cluster munitions)? Basically, they are exploding devises designed to cause as much damage as possible to civilian populations by dispersing multiple smaller bombs (the jargon is “submunitions) that scatter over a wide area. Although designed to explode when they strike the ground, many of the ‘bomblets’ fail to function and remain as deadly explosive remnants. Like landmines, these lethal devices can continue to kill and injure for decades. (more…)

Sarah Walpole, a medical student at Leeds University, UK, reports on the Junior Member’s Forum of the British Medical Association where junior doctors and medical students met to discuss the question “Doctors: a voice for social conscience?” RhonaFrom The Communications Network

Last weekend around 70 junior doctors (and a few medical students) from around the UK met for the British Medical Association (BMA)’s annual Junior Members’ Forum (JMF). The Forum asked the question “Doctors: a voice for social conscience?” and talks by eminent speakers were followed by working groups to put into the action the ideas inspired by these speakers.

Dr Richard Taylor famously stood as an independent candidate in his local parliamentary elections when the closure of his local hospital was threatened. Dr Taylor’s efforts were successful, and Kidderminster hospital stayed open. Speaking on Saturday at the JMF he explained how he had never planned to go into politics, but was sufficiently moved by his concern for the hospital where he worked as a consultant. In the light of recent moves allowing private contractors to bid to run hospitals in the UK, this reminder of the link between local and national governance and health service provision was very pertinent. (more…)

Photo from The Citizen
Just to let you know that this week’s podcast is now up. In it, among other things, I interview Joshua Schulman-Marcus (a fourth year medical student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA, Sarnoff Cardiovascular Foundation Fellow, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston AND prolific writer and blogger for The Lancet Student) about the three part series he has written for us on the global diabetes epidemic. Part one is on foot disease, part 2 focuses on eye disease, and part 3-just published this week-is on access to insulin and other drugs that help to manage diabetes. We also discuss possible ways forward to help tackle the chronic disease epidemic.

I also just want to highlight the most recently published articles which you can see on the links to the left. Finally, as we have featured the post-election violence in Kenya, in the brilliant articles by Paul Park (winner of last month’s Lancet Student prize) I thought you might be interested to read the Lancet Comment published in this week’s issue that I have copied for you below by some health workers in Kenya, Charles O Obonyo, Dickens SA Omondi, and Pauline Mwinzi. Bye for now and I hope you have a good weekend- Rhona (more…)