08/02/03
An academic link with Uganda is helping to improve services for patients diagnosed with AIDS and cancer. Dr Kevin Corbett from the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences has teamed up with healthcare professionals in the African nation to share specialist knowledge and develop research skills.
Dr Corbett, a primary care nurse lecturer, has recently returned from a two-week visit to Uganda funded by the British Council's Higher Education Links Scheme. A major part of his itinerary involved working at Africa Hospice, where he helped establish a new research programme for physicians, nurses and social workers. "Africa Hospice is not a traditional Western-style facility with in-patient beds, but a community-based palliative care network for people who may live many hours away from a GP," Dr Corbett said. "It is keen to develop a local research programme to underpin services for patients who have a wide range of health and social care needs."
Dr Corbett is no stranger to Uganda. He first visited the country in 2000 at the invitation of the Uganda Martyrs University to deliver several papers at a conference on HIV and AIDS. A firm believer in the benefits of international co-operation, he has since collaborated with the University to plan a new postgraduate diploma in health promotion. "Improvements in healthcare often depend on our ability to share expertise across diverse cultural, geographic and institutional boundaries," he said.
Dr Corbett plans to return to Kampala later this year, accompanied by Nancy Lartey, a Clinical Development Manager from the Wandsworth Primary Care Trust. He is also arranging for other senior academics from his Faculty to work in Uganda as part of the Links Scheme.
Bridge - The Kingston University magazine
February 2003