Funded by the UK government’s Department for International Development, the Health Partnership Scheme will harness the expertise of UK health professionals to improve health outcomes by transferring skills and supporting skills development in low income countries, as well as through promoting UK involvement in volunteering. Activities will be wide-ranging and include training and capacity-building for staff, providing practical skills, continuing professional development, and curriculum development.

Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, said:

“Britain’s doctors, nurses and midwives are some of the best in the world and by sharing their skills they can contribute to improving the health of people in some of the world’s poorest countries.

“THET have a proven record in helping countries share their expertise and learn from each other and they are on track to deliver a scheme which is both effective and innovative.”

THET’s Chief Executive, Pia MacRae, welcomed the launch and said:

“The Health Partnership Scheme builds on the long and constructive experience of UK health workers and institutions sharing their knowledge and expertise with counterparts in low-income countries.  Not only have these partnerships helped with the recruitment, training and retention of health workers in some of the poorest countries in the world, but they have also provided a valuable opportunity for UK-based health professionals to improve their skills in challenging environments, offering a training and development opportunity which directly benefits the UK health sector.”

The Health Partnership Scheme awards grants in three areas:

• Multi-Country Partnership grants – for effectively leveraging the knowledge and expertise from UK health partners in areas of health system strengthening and contribute towards meeting the Millennium Development Goal 4, 5, and 6 targets through projects with transformational impact.
• Paired Institutional Partnership grants – for the delivery of effective health partnership projects, encouraging reach into under-served and rural areas, and improving health outcomes over a broad thematic and geographical spread.
• Long-term volunteering grants – for the placement of UK volunteers who will support the delivery of projects.  Placements are for a minimum of six months and the focus is on health system strengthening and contributing towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals 4, 5, and 6 targets through Human Resources for Health capacity development.

In addition to grants, the Health Partnership Scheme includes fostering and brokerage activities through the provision of online and ‘real world’ support, community and resources for the formation and growth of effective partnerships that improve health outcomes in DFID priority countries.

The Health Partnership Scheme will target people in most need, with a focus on geographical areas defined as DFID priority countries, in particular in under-served and rural areas where health infrastructure is weakest.

Detailed application forms for Paired Institutional Partnership grants will be available from 1 August 2011. The first round of grants will be for existing partnerships seeking funding of up to £15,000 per year for one or two-year projects. A series of pre-application workshops will be held in Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow and London during August and September. Further information is on the THET website – http://www.thet.org/health-partnership-scheme/

-ends-

London, 10 January 2011: Today, THET announces a call for applications for project funding. Four grants of £20 000 are available to long-term health partnerships, or ‘Health Links’, between UK health institutions and their counterparts in developing countries. The purpose of the grant scheme is to improve global health outcomes for people living in poverty through more coordinated link activities.

The eligibility criteria for the grants are an expanded from the current International Health Links Funding Scheme. UK health institutions eligible are NHS Trusts, Health Centres/GP Practices, Royal Colleges, Professional Associations, Universities and Health Training Institutions. Developing country health institutions eligible are Public hospitals/clinics, Not-for-profit hospitals and clinics, Professional Associations, Universities and Health Training Institutions, Government Health Boards/Ministries of Health.

UK Links must be partnered with one or more of the developing countries identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having a critical shortage of health workers:

Angola; Benin; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Comoros; Congo; Cote d’Ivoire; Democratic Republic of Congo; Djibouti; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Morocco; Mozambique; Niger; Nigeria; Rwanda; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Somalia; Togo; Uganda; United Republic of Tanzania; Zambia; Zimbabwe; Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Cambodia; India; Indonesia; Iraq; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Yemen; El Salvador; Haiti; Honduras; Nicaragua; Peru;

In addition to meeting the eligibility criteria project proposal must meet the following selection criteria:

• Involve more than one institutional Link
• Focus on a single, coherent and time-bound project
• Focuses on improving health outcomes for people living in poverty
• Strengthen ties between Links working in similar geographical or clinical areas

The grant application process is threefold. Interested parties are invited to submit a completed expression of interest form by the 18^th of February 2011.  Shortlisted applicants will be contacted in mid March and invited to submit a full written project proposal and present their proposal to an independent selection panel which will award the grants.

Full application details, including application guidelines and forms to download, are available at www.thet.org. The deadline for expressions of interest is 5:00pm on Friday, 18 February 2011. Shortlisted applicants will be contacted in mid March and successful applicants will be announced at the end of May 2011.

/more

THET announces a call for applications for funding for projects to support health systems in developing countries /page2

Notes to the editor:

For further application details, please contact Rhonwyn Cornell at Rhonwyn@thet.org

For more information about THET and Health Links please contact Rachel Schofield on +44 (0)20 7290 3892, or by email at rach@thet.org

- ends –

London, 16 September 2010: Today, the International Health Links Funding Scheme (IHLFS) launched its third call for applications. The primary purpose of the Funding Scheme is to build the capacity of developing country health services through the reciprocal transfer of skills and knowledge between partners in the UK and those overseas. Grants are being made available to support projects run by long-term partnerships, or ‘Health Links’, between UK health institutions and their counterparts in developing countries.

The response to the two previous calls for applications, in September 2009 and March 2010, was overwhelming and the IHFLS has to date received an enthusiastic 285 applications. To date the IHLFS, which is jointly funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the Department of Health (DH), has awarded 62 grants to health institutions across the UK, working with partners in more than ten of the world’s poorest countries across Africa and Asia.

The Independent Selection Panel for the IHLFS, made up of seven volunteers offering a wealth of experience in international health, international development, public health, the management of international partnerships and grant making, have been pleased to see such a wide range of needed projects, including some projects working between health service delivery and professional bodies and others with a strong component of preventative and primary health care.

‘The financial support and practical advice that we have received from the International Health Links Funding Scheme will enable us to continue improving treatment for children with eye diseases in Kano, Nigeria. We are delighted by the Scheme’s support of our work.’ Rosie Brennan, Western Health and Social Care Trust/Kano Link

In this next round, Health Links are invited to submit applications for one year Project Grants of up to £15, 000. Recipients of the first two rounds of Project Grants have received funding to help with programmes ranging from maternal and neonatal care, burns, paediatrics, mental health, radiology, pharmacology and nursing. These Health Links are at the forefront of addressing neglected areas of health in countries which desperately need help.

‘The IHLFS funding will help reduce maternal morbidity and mortality amongst critically ill obstetric patients at Mulago Hospital. The new high dependency unit will provide high quality health care to prevent death in women with pregnancy complications such as eclampsia, haemorrhage and ruptured uterus. It will enhance interdisciplinary consultations between the obstetricians and physicians, haematologists, and anaesthetists and provide a space where technical knowledge gained through our health link can be put into practice‘. Dr Carol Porter, Liverpool Mulago Partnership

Start-up Grants of up to £3,000, which support the development of new and young Links, are available on a rolling basis throughout the year.  To date, 15 Start-up grants have been awarded, to develop new Links between the UK and Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Start Up grants are essential for laying down the foundations for a long and successful Link, often involving initial partner country visits, drafting memorandums of understanding, and conducting needs assessments.

“We were delighted to be awarded the funding from the IHLFS scheme. We feel that our project can help greatly to improve healthcare for women and children in Freetown and we are looking forward to getting started” Dr Angela Allen, Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board

The IHLFS is jointly managed by THET and the British Council. The Scheme makes £1.25 million available to support the work of Health Links each year. Both THET and the British Council are available to provide ongoing advice and information for applicants.

Full application details, including application guidelines and forms to download, are available at www.britishcouncil.org/learning-healthlinks. The deadline for the third round of Project grant applications is 5:00pm on Friday, 31 December 2010. Grants will be awarded from the beginning of April 2011.

- ends –

Notes to the editor:

More information about the IHLFS can be found at www.britishcouncil.org/learning-healthlinks

For further application details and information, please contact British Council at healthlinks@britishcouncil.org or on + 44 161 957 7480

For more information about THET and Health Links please contact Rachel Schofield on +44 (0)20 7290 3892, or by email at rach@thet.org

THET (the Tropical Health and Education Trust) is pleased to announce that Professor Sir Andy Haines, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has been appointed as Chairman of THET with effect from the 30^th of September 2010.

A GP by training with longstanding research interests in epidemiology and health services, Professor Haines was appointed with unanimous endorsement from the other Trustees in anticipation of Professor Stephen Tomlinson’s retirement from the THET Board at the end of September.

‘I am delighted to have this opportunity to work with the other members of THET’s Board and Executive team to ensure we continue to harness the expertise and commitment of UK health professionals, supporting their counterparts in some of the poorest countries in the world,’ said Andy Haines.  ‘Steve has provided leadership for THET for nearly four years, and I look forward to building on the foundations that both he, and THET’s Founder, Professor Eldryd Parry, have built.  We need to continue to respond to our partners, listening to how they believe we can assist in improving health outcomes through effective and sustainable training and capacity building.’

Professor Tomlinson commented: ‘I’m very pleased that Andy has agreed to be my successor as Chairman of THET. He will bring to THET, not only his distinction and international reputation in education, training and research, but also his background in primary care and public health. This will help to reaffirm and further strengthen THET’s longstanding commitment to Health Links reaching beyond secondary care in hospitals, to training and support of primary care professionals, so desperately required by those who need it most.’ ‘We are looking forward to welcoming Andy to our Board, and increasing the impact of the organisation with his advice, support and direction,’ added Pia MacRae, THET’s Chief Executive.

Set up over two decades ago, THET has supported the development of institutional health partnerships between UK institutions and their counterparts in the developing world.  THET runs the International Health Links Funding Scheme with the British Council.  To date the scheme has awarded more than 60 grants to Health Links.  To find out more about this scheme and other THET programmes, please visit the THET website at www.thet.org.

-ends-

Notes to the Editor

1. THET is an international development organisation committed to improving health services in developing countries through strengthening the long-term capacity of health workers. Based in the UK, we have over twenty years experience working with health institutions around the world, promoting action that is effective, sustainable and responsive. For more information please visit www.thet.org.
2. THET Trustees: Professor Sir Andy Haines, Professor Eldryd Parry (Founder), Professor Parveen Kumar, Dr Michael Pelly, Dr Colin Brown, Mr Olujimi Coker, Mr Andrew Leather, Dr Peter Homa, Ms Maura Buchanan, Mr David Cutler and Mr Jim Conybeare-Cross.
3. International Health Links Funding Scheme is jointly managed by THET and the British Council, and provides grants and support to health institutions across the UK, working with partners in 14 developing countries across Africa and Asia.  It is jointly funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Department of Health (DH): http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-healthlinks.htm
4. Professor Sir Andy Haines Andy Haines became Dean (subsequently Director) of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in January 2001. In that role he is responsible for the management of over 1000 staff and 3700 postgraduate students.  He was previously Professor of Primary Health Care and Head of the Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, at Royal Free and University College Medical School, and worked part-time as a general practitioner in North London for many years.  Before that he was a consultant in epidemiology at the MRC Epidemiology and Medical Care Unit. He was also formerly Director of Research & Development at the NHS Executive, North Thames and a member of the Council of the Medical Research Council.He has worked internationally, including in Nepal and the USA.  His clinical training included a senior house officer position at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases. His research interests are in health services research and epidemiology.  He has around 250 publications on these topic areas including many in high impact journals. In particular, he has undertaken a number of major intervention trials in primary care settings and has also studied the impacts of climatic influences on health.  He was a member of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their second and third assessment reports.  He also chaired a Task Force on Health Systems Research for WHO which reported in 2005.  He sits on many national and international committees including, until recently, the WHO Advisory Committee on Health Research. He is a member of the UUK Board and formerly chair of its Health and Social Care Policy Committee as well as chair of the MRC Global Health Group and member of the MRC Strategy Board.  He was knighted in the 2005 New Years Honours list for services to medicine.
5. Professor Stephen Tomlinson CBE MD FRCP FMedSci. Professor Tomlinson graduated in Medicine in 1968 from Sheffield and completed specialist training in diabetes, endocrinology, metabolic medicine and general medicine.  From 1993 to 1999 he was Dean of the Medical School and Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing in Manchester.  He established a link with Kumasi in Ghana based on exchanges of nurses, dieticians and chiropodists, to improve care for people with diabetes.  Subsequently, he was also involved in supporting THET initiatives in the provision of postgraduate medical education for young doctors in Ghana. He became Chairman of THET’s Board of Trustees in 2007.Professor Tomlinson held the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, College of Medicine from August 2001 to August 2004 before becoming Provost of Cardiff University.  He was President of the Association of Physicians of Great Britain and Ireland from 2002-2003.  Professor Tomlinson was a member, then Chairman of the British Council Health Advisory Committee and subsequently a member of the Council’s Science, Engineering and Environment Committee.  He has served on the Council’s Wales Advisory Committee and in 2007 he was awarded the CBE for services to medicine.

THET welcomes DFID’s announcement of a new Health Systems Partnership Fund which will enable more British health professionals to share their skills with midwives, nurses and doctors in developing countries through teaching, training and practical assistance.

The Fund will build on existing initiatives including the ‘International Health Links Funding Scheme’, which has already given out over 30 grants to support long term institutional partnerships between UK organisations and their ‘Links’ in the developing world.   We believe that it has the potential not only to improve health outcomes in the developing world, but also to strengthen the reputation of the UK health sector for outward looking, innovative work whilst seeking to train and grow our own health professionals through experiences both within and outside the UK.

UK health sector professionals have a proud history of engaging with colleagues in resource-constrained environments to identify innovative ways of transferring skills and improve quality of care.  Multi-disciplinary Links such as the Kings-THET-Somaliland Partnership contribute to a growing body of evidence which supports the thesis that long term institutional partnerships between UK organisations and their counterparts in developing countries can provide much needed structure and resources to channel individual initiative in ways that are more effective, sustainable and accountable to beneficiaries and donors.  Increasingly, training and practical assistance have been integrated within the context of broader health systems and in line with long term national development plans.

The government’s renewed commitment to reducing maternal and child mortality rates is also welcome, and particularly in the broader context of health systems strengthening designed to improve the health of vulnerable populations.  The Health Systems Partnership Fund has the potential to amplify existing initiatives aimed at reducing maternal and child deaths, as well as encourage new holistic programmes, designed with partners to improve public and medical education, access to services and delivery of care.

-Ends-

Notes to the Editor:

1. THET is an international health charity committed to improving health services in developing countries through strengthening long-term capacity. Based in the UK, we have over twenty years experience working with health institutions around the world, promoting action that is effective, sustainable and responsive. For more information please visit www.thet.org.
2. International Health Links Funding Scheme is jointly managed by THET and the British Council, and provides grants and support to health institutions across the UK, working with partners in more than ten of the world’s poorest countries across Africa and Asia.  It is jointly funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the Department of Health (DH): http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-healthlinks.htm
3. NHS Framework on International Development has been developed to provide greater clarity on how NHS agencies and individuals can best maximise their potential to contribute in a sustainable and appropriate way to capacity-building in developing countries. For more information on this Framework please visit http://www.ihlc.org.uk/Framework/framework.htm
4. For examples of ‘Health Links’ which have undertaken specific activities to support maternal and child health, see examples such as the Gwent-Southern Ethiopia Health Link and the Kambia appeal on the THET database: www.thet.org

For more information about THET and Health Links please contact Rachel Schofield on +44 (0)20 7290 3892, or by email at rach@thet.org .

King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre formally launched a new global health partnership with the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET) on 4 February 2010.

Renewing an existing 10 year partnership between THET and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, (one of the founding members of King’s Health Partners) this new partnership will allow King’s Health Partners and THET to take steps to develop further their shared agenda and create a new centre of activity within King’s Health Partners.

The new partnership aims to expand delivery of the ‘Health Systems Strengthening’ work, as well as to promote greater involvement of younger members of the health profession by creating further opportunities to be engaged in and learn about global health.

The launch saw guest presentations and speeches from representatives of the existing partnership organisations as well Edna Adan Ismail, former Foreign Minister for Somaliland and Professor Christopher Whitty, Chief Scientific Advisor and Director of Research at the Department for International Development.

The event was held at the Weston Education Centre based on the King’s College Hospital site, which will now be the home of the Somaliland team from THET, to strengthen the joint working on this partnership.

Robert Lechler, Executive Director of King’s Health Partners said; “We view Global Health as an important part of the work we are doing across clinical care, research, and education and training. As an Academic Health Sciences Centre, we aim to influence healthcare both nationally and internationally. This new partnership with THET will play a key role in our aspirations to be a leader in global healthcare education, and is soon to form part of a wider Institute of Global Health Education and Training at King’s Health Partners.”

Pia McRae, Chief Executive at THET said; “We are delighted to be extending our collaboration with King’s Health Partners, following ten years of successful partnership in Somaliland supporting both the training of health professionals, as well as the development of a health infrastructure.  We share some key values with King’s Health Partners including an interest in how to support UK health professionals in providing service to developing countries through working alongside (and at the request of) overseas colleagues.  Going forward, we aspire to build on our shared commitment to increasing the understanding, education and awareness of UK health sector students, as well as staff, in global health issues and the needs of developing countries.”

Andy Leather, Director of the King’s International Development Unit, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added; “King’s College Hospital have had a long standing relationship with THET and I am excited that this extended partnership as King’s Health Partners will not only further strengthen the capacity building and educational work in Somaliland but will also catalyse research partnerships with institutions there.”

- Ends -

Notes to editors

1. To view the presentations from the event, please click on the following link:
   http://www.kingshealthpartners.org/khp/multimedia/presentations/
2. Contact: Kami Paulson or Clair McInally, King’s Health Partners. Tel:  020 7188 4058/43 or email
   kingshealthpartners@kcl.ac.uk
3. King’s Health Partners Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) is a pioneering collaboration between King’s College London, and Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts.

King’s Health Partners is one of only five AHSCs in the UK and brings together an unrivalled range and depth of clinical and research expertise, spanning both physical and mental health. Our combined strengths will drive improvements in care for patients, allowing them to benefit from breakthroughs in medical science and receive leading edge treatment at the earliest possible opportunity.

For more information, visit www.kingshealthpartners.org

THET is an international health charity committed to improving health services in developing countries through strengthening long-term capacity. Based in the UK, we have over 20 years of experience working with health institutions around the world, promoting action that is practical, sustainable and responsive.
For more information visit www.thet.org