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Our Vision & Mission

UK-Med / Our Vision & Mission

01Mission and vision

Natural disasters, disease outbreaks and conflict can hit at any time. The people affected are often the world’s poorest and most vulnerable and the health problems they experience post-disaster are long-lasting. We believe that they deserve the highest quality emergency healthcare. We seek to save lives, but also build resilient health systems so people can lead healthy lives in the future. When disasters hit, we believe in a world prepared to help.

There are simply not enough trained clinical staff globally to provide emergency healthcare following these events. We train experienced UK doctors, nurses, paramedics, midwives and other health professionals to respond to disasters around the world, and work with local emergency medical teams to build their resilience to future threats.

4-year-old Anowar, after being treated for diphtheria by UK-Med members, Kutupalong, Bangladesh. Photo Credit: DfID . Russell Watkins

02History

We have been responding to emergencies around the world since 1988, when a team of eight Manchester clinicians led by our founder Prof. Tony Redmond, went to Armenia in aid of those who had been hit by a devastating earthquake.  When Ebola hit West Africa in 2014, killing over 11,000 people, we recruited, trained and sent 150 NHS clinicians to work in treatment centres alongside local health workers to help bring the outbreak under control.

We have trained over 1100 UK clinicians to deploy overseas, representing a huge global resource and benefiting their roles within the NHS. We have deployed clinicians following 12 large-scale natural and manmade disasters, treating patients in emergencies in Armenia, Iran, China, Haiti, Nepal, Cape Verde Islands, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Gaza, the Kurdish refugee crisis and the Siege of Sarajevo. We have delivered training to thousands of healthcare workers in local and regional medical teams in Sierra Leone, South Sudan, China, Malawi, Myanmar, Armenia and Uganda.

Nurse Becky Platt at the Diphtheria Treatment Centre in Kutupalong, Bangladesh. Photo Credit: DfID/ Russell Watkins

03Our work

We have four main project areas.

  1. Emergency response
    We prepare emergency medical teams who are ready to respond from the UK to disasters around the world.
  2. Providing expertise
    Using our unique access to UK medical expertise we can respond to calls for specific medical and coordination experts.
  3. Building resilience
    We support training of healthcare workers and medical teams in countries at high risk, or suffering the legacy, of disease outbreaks, conflict or natural disasters.
  4. Raising standards
    We work with academic bodies to apply research to humanitarian responses to ensure those affected by disaster receive with best possible care.
We believe in a world prepared to help when disasters hit. We’re ready. Join us.