Brazilian Delegation exchanges healthcare learning with IGHI

Clare McCrudden, IGHI's Helix Centre, presents to visiting delegation from Brazil

A delegation of Brazilians MPs and health regulators visited the Hamlyn Centre to learn about the work of the Institute of Global Health Innovation.

A delegation from Brazil visited the Hamlyn Centre on 18 October 2023.  The delegation included the four Brazilian Members of Parliament Nelsinho Trad MP, Vinicius Carvalho MP, Dr Zacharias Calil MP and Adriana Ventura MP as well as Dr Antonio Barra Torres, the President of the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa).

Professor Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena, Co-Director of Hamlyn Centre, welcomed the delegation to the Hamlyn Centre and, along with Dr Ana Cruz Ruiz, Project Manager of the Hamlyn Centre, demonstrated a number of innovations in robotic surgery.

Representatives from other parts of the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) then shared their projects with the delegation.  This included Dr Saira Ghafur’s work on the ECHO Framework for Cyber-security and Clare McCrudden showcased the OnTrack project for stroke rehabilitation.

The visit was very much an exchange of ideas.  Dr Matthew Harris (pictured left), from the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, spent several years as a family doctor in Brazil.  He has been instrumental in encouraging uptake of Community Healthcare Workers in the UK, a role which is central to the Brazilian healthcare system.  He is now seeking to understand if the treatment of burns through the grafting of Tilapia fish skin (a procedure pioneered in Brazil, where the fish comes from) could apply in the UK.  

Dr Zacharias Calil MP then presented on his hugely impressive work as a paediatric surgeon in Goiania.  There is much to be learned from his approach in using virtual reality in dealing with complex paediatric surgical cases (including conjoined twins) as well as non-surgical interventions to treat benign dis-figuring tumours. 

Peter Howitt, Managing Director of the Centre for Health Policy, IGHI, said: “It was a pleasure to share healthcare innovations we are working on with our guests from Brazil.  It was also exciting to hear of their new approaches to treatment.  I hope this can continue to be a partnership for the exchange of ideas.” 

Dr Antonio Barra Torres said “The Institute of Global Health Innovation, and the Hamlyn Centre in particular, is a beacon, shining a route to better days in mankind’s achievements.”