Global Health Hub - Open meeting

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Date 18/02/2021 at 19.00 - 18/02/2021 at 20.00 Where Zoom (online)
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An informal get-together to discuss the next steps of Wolfson's Interdisciplinary Research Hub on Global Health.

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Calling all Wolfson students: Are you interested or researching in the field of global health? Join the Interdisciplinary Research Hub on Global Health and discuss your ideas.

Agenda

  1. Introduction to Global Health Hub at Wolfson College
    1. What is Global Health?
    2. What is the purpose of this session?
       
  2. Breakout session 1
    1. What areas of global health are you interested in?
    2. What should be the goals of the Global Health Hub?
       
  3. Reconvene
     
  4. Breakout session 2
    1. How can the Global Health Hub engage with this field?
    2. How do you think this field will change in the next 20 years?
    3. What are the most important innovations in this field?
       
  5. Reconvene
     
  6. Summary: What next?

 

Completed Minutes Summary

Aim

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss how the Global Health Hub (GHH) might work and who might get involved in GHH events.  The meeting was attended by a variety of people including students, research associates, and fellows. Some attendees had been to previous GHH events and liked the variety that the Wolfson Hubs provide while others were curious about what the GHH has to offer. There were also attendees with general interest in health and disease, who wanted to meet people with insights into this field, or who simply wanted to sample college life online.

The Global Health Hub aims to be a place for Wolfson members to meet and discuss important issues relating to Global Health. WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. When asked “What does global health mean to you?”, attendees mentioned addressing health inequalities, the knock-on effects of the current pandemic, and the social/environmental determinants of health.

Session 1

The meeting was split into two breakout sessions. During the first session, groups considered what they wanted the GHH to achieve and how the Hub could be structured. Discussion highlighted a shared objective: to embrace internationalism and interdisciplinary collaboration. Key comments are given below:

  • Core network for global health that facilitates personal connections;
  • Encourage centralisation and intersection;
  • Attract additional expertise;
  • Link with Wolfson’s Sustainability and Gender Hubs;
  • Take advantage of international networks at Wolfson including alumni and part-time students;
  • Share information and collaborate with different groups (e.g. other disciplines/age groups/sectors etc.) to make real change;
  • Facilitate discussions at college level between different people in different areas at different stages in their careers;

Attendees did not want the GHH to be too formal. One person suggested that the GHH could be structured as an interdisciplinary forum for considering specific global health problems. Another person suggested the GHH include a lecture series for students in which the lectures would consist of career/networking-based talks (e.g. Where you should connect to relevant people; What the deficits are in a particular global health area; What skills that area of global health needs). The Hub could be either a broad GHH or focus on prespecified priority areas. Lunchtime might be a good time for international calls to make GHH events more accessible for Wolfson members/alumni across the world.

Session 2

Attendees discussed specific interest areas during the second session. Groups considered the most important breakthroughs and challenges in their particular interest area. Most groups also used this time to chat and get to know each other better.  

The UN Sustainable Development Goals were highlighted as important for defining key global health challenges. Citizen science, the importance of strategy at the community level, and the design of communities were emphasized as important for prevention and intervention of health problems. Inequality and basic health needs were raised as important challenges to global health. Rolling out vaccines in an equitable way was also mentioned including the effect of local vs central coordination of vaccination and policy as well as health systems strengthening. 

The GHH could engage with various global health areas by:

  • Looking at similarities/differences in international context;
  • Considering how can we work together;
  • Posing the same question and getting various international perspectives;
  • Remembering that global problems may require different solutions in different places across the world;
  • Link with people working in education.

Next Steps

There was support for an event with a single big question addressed from lots of different angles. The aim of this type of event would be to give insight into the way different people/fields solve global health problems.

Thank you to everyone who attended, we look forward to seeing you at the next GHH event!