Forces join for global health
By Megan Beauchamp
May 12, 2009 10:55 p.m.
Addressing critical global health issues that span across international boundaries has become increasingly important with the recent spread of problems like the swine flu and other chronic diseases.
The UCLA School of Public Health is collaborating with the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research to address such issues, said Dr. Osman Galal, a professor of community health sciences in the School of Public Health.
“Kuwait has the highest rate of diabetes in the world,” Galal said.
“The School of Public Health will work with (the Institute) to reduce the influence and prevalence of chronic diseases in Kuwait by assessing the implementation of new healthcare methods and talking with health providers.”
On May 4, Linda Rosenstock, dean of the School of Public Health, signed a memorandum of understanding between the School of Public Health and the Kuwait Institute to establish a five-year Strategic Alliance for Joint Collaboration.
The program, which was formulated and negotiated over the last 12 months, is expected to focus on research and training issues that are critical to Kuwait and the region at large. The Strategic Alliance will result in jointly launched research initiatives, especially in the areas of nutrition, diabetes and obesity, Galal said.
The collaboration was initiated in 2008 by Galal, the future director of the collaboration, on UCLA’s behalf.
According to the Institute’s Web site, the mission of the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research is to prompt scientific and applied research, especially in matters related to industry, natural and food resources and other constituents of national economy, and to serve the goals of economic, technological and scientific development in Kuwait, the Gulf region and the Arab world.
The alliance will generate mutual benefits from the establishment of the proposed research and education collaborations in fields including global health, food and nutrition policy, Galal said.
“The partnership of the School of Public Health and the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research will allow learning about public health to occur on both sides of the ocean,” said Fred Hagigi, a professor in the Department of Health Services.
Part of the school’s role in the collaboration is to assess healthcare in Kuwait, including participation in Kuwait conduction of a national survey of public health and to make broad assessments of the public health needs of the country, Hagigi said.
The collaboration will facilitate the establishment of an internationally recognized research and training and education program at the Institute, Hagigi added.
A Global Health Training Center will be established in Kuwait to implement training, workshops, seminars and policy recommendations, said Shira Shafir, the UCLA Global Health Program coordinator.
“The establishment of a Global Health Center in Kuwait will allow an exchange of faculty between UCLA and the Institute to improve skills,” Shafir said.
The collaboration will meet these objectives through research and mentorship of research scholars, joint publications, conferences, training and education.
“Kuwait’s public health initiative is one of the models other developing countries are following,” Hagigi said. “We are working on establishing an improved medical system in Kuwait and once it is established it can be applied to other countries as well.”
