Medical device challenges and global priorities

Linnet, one of our Country Programmes Coordinators, travelled to the WHO in Geneva to attend the third Global Forum on Medical Devices. Here follows an account of her time there. 

The successful 3^rd World Health Organisation’s Global Forum on Medical Devices was held over three days in Geneva. It brought together over 600 delegates from around the world, including three THET representatives (Andrew Jones, Anna Worm and myself). The great thing about the forum is the variety of people who attend from Beninese biomedical engineers to representatives of UN agencies and the private sector all exploring how to improve the medical equipment ecosystem.

Anna ran an interactive workshop (Gradian Health and THET collaboration) on the role of BMETs in the Healthcare Technology Management lifecycle and presented new data that suggest the status of medical equipment in sub-Saharan Africa is more positive than most publications indicate. It was great to see so many backgrounds coming together to look at not just problems but solutions. The outcome of the workshop will be shared with the participants, and the presentation on African data is now available; click here to get a copy.

On Thursday, Andrew co-chaired two sessions, one on Human Resources and Medical Devices, where six abstracts were presented by LMIC representatives on collaboration and their experiences as BMETS in low resource settings and a plenary session with international partners sharing ideas and views.

Throughout the three days there were plenary sessions showing how the issue of medical devices is an intrinsic part of so many global health priorities from NCDs to Reproductive, Maternal Neonatal Child and Adolescent Health and looking at how medical device challenges effect these global priorities.

The collaborative feeling of the conference was reinforced by the messages from all corners of the world emphasising how we must all work together, from funders to government representatives, supranational organisations to the engineers on the ground, we all have a part to play. As one delegate from IFMBE (International Federation of Biological and Medical Engineers) said “partnerships are vital.” With so many challenges to overcome we need to all work together.

The global forum was a great chance to share experiences and lessons learnt from all over the world, and while each context faces its own challenges and different stakeholders have different priorities, there were great examples of innovations being showcased and it was clear that we could all take something from each other’s experiences. 

Linnet Griffith-Jones

Country Programmes Coordinator

THET 

Strengthening Global Mental Health partnerships - #LetsTalk Depression

A new mental health collaborative was inspired to come together after the Health Partnership Symposium, Petty and Randy explain why sharing knowledge and practice across country borders is so crucial in the battle to improve mental health care. 

“Seeing mental health and substance misuse patients suffering, neglected by the community, families and other healthcare workers; motivated me to work with mental health. Working as a health Administrator and a Project Coordinator at a Tanzania National Mental Health Hospital, I found I could help these individuals so that they can be provided with an environment that will allow them to recover from their illnesses, reduce relapses and lead a normal life.”

Perpetua Mwambingu- Tanzania Link Project Coordinator

“In Ghana mental illness is often attributed to spiritual causes and people who suffer from mental illness do not get the help that they need. Stigma and discrimination is high and people who suffer from mental illness lose their dignity, respect and self-worth. My passion for awareness creation and advocacy and my belief that someday Ghana will appreciate the importance of mental health motivates me even during moments of burnout”

Randy Agbodo- Project Lead for Ghana - Zambia - NHS Highlands Partnership

The Story Remains the Same

According to the World Health Organization, for every four people, one will be affected by a mental or neurological disorder in their lifetime. The magnitude of mental health burden is not matched by the size and effectiveness of the response it demands. Currently, more than 33% of countries allocate less than 1% of their total health budget to mental health[1].

Sadly, in Tanzania and Ghana where Randy and I are working, the story remains the same, mental health services are underfunded, and most of the donor funded programs go to communicable diseases. There is inadequate human resource and insufficient supply of medications. Stigma and discrimination towards persons with mental disorders is still prominent and effective mental health prevention and promotion programs are woefully inadequate.

 No Health without Mental Health

Depression is ranked first in the list of top ten leading causes of years lived with disability (YLDs)[2]. Globally, an estimated 350 million people of all ages suffer from depression[3]. At its worst depression can lead to suicide and close to 800,000 people die due to suicide every year[4].

This is why it is so vital that World Health Day this year is addressing depression, bringing it to the fore of global health discussions. It gives health managers and policy advisers the opportunity to appreciate that depression affects productivity and therefore prioritizing and investing heavily in mental health would, in the long run, culminate in populations with healthy outcomes, respect for human rights and stronger economies.

The Health Partnership Symposium ‘effect’

In order to make this a reality, we believe that collaboration and the sharing of approaches is key and at the recent Health Partnership Symposium, organized by THET, we found we were not alone in this thinking.

Our passion for working in mental health was further cemented at the event where a certain chemistry brought colleagues from Ghana, India, Kenya, Nepal, Scotland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia together to form the ‘Mental Health group’.

We all wanted to come together to tackle and develop our learning on different mental health issues.  Ultimately we wanted LMIC’s to start collaborating and to share experiences which can strengthen the partnerships we work in. That’s when a luncheon ‘chat’ was called, then a dinner ‘talk’ happened and then we came to form a WhatsApp group, a way for us to easily reach out to each other.

The world is facing many challenges; political unrest, war, economic hardship, unemployment, etc., all are contributing factors to depression. This must be a wake-up call for the global community, the need to re-think, and re-act to this global crises, now is the time to re-set our priorities with regards to mental health and to act together through partnerships and shared learning. After all there is no health without mental health.

Perpetua Mwambingu

Tanzania Link Project Coordinator,

Tanzania

Randy Agbodo

Project Lead for Ghana - Zambia - NHS Highlands Partnership,

Ghana

[1] http://www.who.int/whr/2001/media_centre/press_release/en/

[2] http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs369/en/

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

Raising the Profile of Family Planning in Uganda

Clare Goodhart, USHAPE Clinical Lead, reflects on the progress made in the partnership between the Royal College of General Practitioners and Bwindi Community Hospital, Uganda. Over the last two years they have been working to strengthen the capacity of the health-system in South-West Uganda to promote sexual and reproductive health. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that family planning and the use of contraception have led to a reduction in the transmission of HIV/AIDS, reduces the need for unsafe abortion and prevents the deaths of mothers and children.

'Promotion of family planning – and ensuring access to preferred contraceptive methods for women and couples – is essential to securing the well-being and autonomy of women, while supporting the health and development of communities.' WHO, 2016

In sub-Saharan Africa, their remains an acute need to raise the profile of family planning, not least in rural Uganda.

USHAPE (Uganda Sexual Health and Pastoral Education) is a THET funded project which has been addressing local misconceptions that act as barriers to women controlling their fertility.

‘We have been using a novel ‘whole institution approach’ to raise the profile of family planning which is taken for granted in most continents of the world. Through the ‘Training of Trainers’ model we are able to provide Ugandan health workers with the knowledge to go on and teach more nurses and midwives, both pre-service and in-service, as family planning providers and advocates. This approach is currently being adopted by three rural nursing schools in south-west Uganda. Staff and students develop their confidence by training community health workers and teachers who are then able to take messages directly out into the community.

Babrah, a young midwife is one of twelve USHAPE trainers, and 150 new providers in south-west Uganda. Her contagious enthusiasm for USHAPE is ensuring that all women who pass through the maternity wards are given a clear idea about how to nurture their new baby, by spacing the next pregnancy. She goes further than this by volunteering to teach at youth outreach events in remote villages, and is now personally supporting a thirteen year girl in her ambition to return to education.

Babrah is part of the USHAPE ambition to scale up training across south-west Uganda, but also the ambition to benefit specific individuals.’

Clare Goodhart, 

USHAPE Clinical Lead,

Lensfield Medical Practice, UK