International Festival of Public Health

The role of foreign medical teams in sudden onset disasters overseas

Professor Tony Redmond will discuss the background to the burgeoning popularity of one country sending medical teams to another country and the good the bad and the ugly that is associated with this. He will discuss the range of NGOs involved, the role of the International Red Cross Red Crescent movement and also UN organisations, particularly WHO. The talk will address the issues in the context of the recent earthquakes in Pakistan, China and Haiti and the lessons that can be drawn from these events. Professor Redmond will detail the background to the work of the foreign medical teams working group at WHO and his role there as Chairman. He will also discuss in detail the background to the UK International Emergency Trauma Register, the broader professionalisation agenda that this represents and the training opportunities that it offers.

Session Lead - Professor Tony Redmond

Professor Tony Redmond is Deputy Director of the Humanitarian and Crisis Response Institute at the University of Manchester and the Lead for Global Health at MAHSC. He is an expert in the humanitarian field, and a specialist in the allocation and practice of medical aid. He has been involved in international emergency humanitarian assistance for almost 25 years, organising and leading medical support to natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes in Armenia, Iran, Haiti and Cholera outbreak in Cape Verde), major incidents (e.g. Lockerbie Air Disaster, UN air Crash Kosovo), conflicts (e.g. Bosnia and Kosovo) and complex emergencies throughout the world. Professor Redmond has made a substantial contribution to the planning and delivery of aid which has earned him both an OBE and Soviet Order for Personal Courage for his work after the Armenian earthquake.