First Oxford India Lecture highlights: Role of 'smart health in improving access to healthcare

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MBAUniverse.com News Desk |
September 20, 2014
University of Oxford organised the first 'Oxford India Lecture' by Professor Robyn Norton, in New Delhi on September 15, 2014..
'Digital and mobile phone technologies can help in diagnosing patients with disease or at high risk of disease, increase the role of healthcare workers' Prof Robyn Norton, Prin Dir, George Institute for Global Health

University of Oxford organised the first ‘Oxford India Lecture’ on the theme ‘Mobilising healthcare: harnessing science, technology and entrepreneurship’ delivered by Professor Robyn Norton, Principal Director of The George Institute for Global Health and James Martin Professorial Fellow at the University of Oxford, in New Delhi on September 15, 2014..

This is the first time such an event in India has been organized and is only the second time that University of Oxford has done so outside the UK. The first one was organized last year in Shanghai in China. It reflects the strong ties the University has in India, particularly through world-class partnerships with many Indian research institutions.

Professor Norton’s lecture, for an invited audience was introduced by the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Professor Andrew Hamilton. Speaking on the occasion Professor Andrew Hamilton said ‘We are delighted to be holding the first Oxford India Lecture in New Delhi. We want to celebrate the many links between Oxford and India that have existed for many years. Indeed, the large number of research partnerships that exist between Indian institutions and Oxford University is likely to surprise many people.’

Delivering the lecture Prof Norton said ‘Solving the large challenges facing healthcare systems around the world will require a huge shift in the way care for patients is provided. Currently 5 of 7 billion people on the planet do not have access to safe, effective and affordable healthcare, transformative change is required if the healthcare needs of the world are to be met. Healthcare services must move away from their reliance on expensive hospital care to a greater focus on primary care and preventive health services. Patients and populations must also be more actively engaged in their healthcare, and mobile technologies will be part of the solution.’

In her view Digital and mobile phone technologies can help in diagnosing patients with disease or at high risk of disease, increase the role of healthcare workers other than doctors in clinical decision making, and enable patients to monitor their own condition or manage their own treatment. She said ‘Mobile phone ownership in India means they have more reach than the health infrastructure,’ Professor Norton pointed out. ‘Even if individuals don’t have a phone, someone will have in any village.’

One example is a ‘smart health’ project being trialled in India by The George Institute for Global Health, with the support of the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Oxford University. Health workers in rural areas are being trained to use a smart phone programmed with custom-designed software, to help them identify and manage people with heart problems.

In the UK, there is increasing demand for care but also increasing pressures on the NHS’s finances, coupled with a need to move away from hospitals to care provided in people’s homes and communities. In India, there is a great challenge for healthcare systems and infrastructure to achieve universal health access, reach large rural areas, and cater for the growing middle classes without the increase in health spend breaking the bank.

‘Both countries face a similar problem for different reasons,’ said Professor Norton. ‘They both need to move to affordable new systems capable of satisfying growing healthcare demands. This is where we see technology having a huge amount to offer.’

She used her lecture to look at how technology, together with cutting edge research and expertise from business, can ensure that many more people can access decent healthcare in the years to come. She gave a number of examples of medical research taking place in India through Oxford-India research partnerships and through the work of the George Institute for Global Health.

The research is showing that the lower-level health workers in the field are identifying health problems and recommending the best treatments equivalently to highly-trained doctors in more well-equipped clinics.

With there being many times fewer doctors per head of population in India than in the UK, approaches like this could make a significant difference in improving access to the best healthcare.

Oxford and India

The University of Oxford’s longstanding connections with India date back to 1579, when Father Thomas Stephens from New College was the first recorded Englishman to visit India. Ties have strengthened through time, with the creation of the Boden Chair in Sanskrit in 1832 and the arrival of Oxford’s first Indian students in 1871. The Indian branch of Oxford University Press, established in 1912, has a proud tradition of publishing its own distinguished scholarly list.

Oxford University has started a new postgraduate degree in Modern South Asian Studies, including language studies, and the new MSc in Contemporary India welcomed its first intake of students in 2008.

In addition to the growing number of students from India, 381 in 2013 (mostly postgraduates), there are 112 academics from India working at Oxford and over 1,521 graduates of Oxford live in India today.

Oxford-India research partnerships

The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc), working with the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Oxford, has made a breakthrough with a new design for an affordable prosthetic hand. An international collaboration has been formed with the aim of developing this design and readying it for commercial manufacture. The IISc, with its expertise in affordable and appropriate design, will work together with biomechanics and clinical trials experts at the University of Oxford and with experts in commercialisation at both centres.

The India-Oxford (INDOX) Cancer Research Network is a partnership between Oxford University and 12 leading cancer research centres in India, and has established itself as India’s leading academic oncology network. INDOX is currently conducting a series of case-control studies to investigate the risk factors for common cancers in the Indian population, and provides training and fellowships to Indian clinicians and scientists.

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