History, International Relations and Medical Humanities as tools for strengthening and widening health management

We at CGHH believe that history and the medical humanities have important roles to play in helping the global public health community to respond to the challenges of today. That is the ethos behind the Global Health Histories initiative, which has been running since 2004. Whilst seminars are an important part of delivering this message, we also recognise that a hands on, collaborative and inclusive approach with partners is a crucial component in using history to help shape a healthier future for everyone.

On 7 September, Professor Sanjoy Bhattacharya delivered an afternoon training seminar titled, ‘Strengthening and Widening Health Management: History, International Relations and Medical Humanities as tools for increasing information and relevance of government policy’ to staff from the College of Medical administrators of Sri Lanka. The training was built around sessions explaining how the study of recent history can be used critically to collect information about the political and social complexities of health campaigns, as well as the multi-faceted social and cultural responses to these interventions. Drawing upon Prof. Bhattacharya's work on the formation and expansion of the World Health Organization, the worldwide eradication of smallpox, and the connections between the international and national explications about how primary healthcare could promote the provision of universal health coverage, the training session involved a mixture of presentations and practical breakout sessions. The latter involved attendees being divided by specialty and then being shown how to problematise the recent history of the work of their Departments through peer interviews. Attention was paid to issues of institutional and individual bias, the dangers of retrospective diagnoses, the challenges of US- and Euro-centricism, and the importance of using correct ethical frameworks and protections, as well as multiple languages relevant to the geographical areas being studied.

The event was organised by the University of York in collaboration with the College of Medical Administrators of Sri Lanka, held at the Kingsbury Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Participants included officials from all ranks of Sri Lankan Government, including medical and public health administrators from across the country, and sixty medical administrators from around Sri Lanka, who are in the process of moving into senior administrative roles after completing their MD training in specialist subjects. The training followed Global Health Histories (GHH) Seminar 102 ‘Strengthening Universal Health Coverage for the fight against Anti-Microbial Resistance’, held earlier in the day.

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all involved in the planning and running of this event, including College of Medical Administrators of Sri Lanka, the WHO Regional Office for Europe and the Wellcome Trust.