Burnet’s experiences in Tibet and parts of China demonstrate a commitment to working with communities to address health issues caused by poverty and marginalisation.
In the early part of the 21st century, Burnet Institute established a presence in China’s north-west that is home to a number of ethnic minorities.
We worked alongside Mother and Child Health (MCH) hospitals, designing training programs to improve the delivery and quality of health services provided.
“We work in challenging contexts with a range of diverse partners and governments. These diseases are diseases of marginalisation and poverty. That’s why we are there in the first place.” —Professor Robert Power AM
We also worked with local communities to identify the health problems of concern. Lower back pain emerged as the number one issue, caused by the heavy manual labour of transporting water over long distances in containers strapped to the back.
The co-designed solution was the Happy Back Tap Platform, a simple structure that meant containers could be filled while standing, eliminating the need to haul the heavy weights from the ground onto the back.
Where are we now?
- In Tibet, we trained 5,500 health staff (equivalent to a third of the region’s health workforce), delivering major health system improvements and credible improvements in staff performance.
- We helped 36 county hospitals and four Mother and Child Hospitals (MCH) pass institutional classification, enabling access to more Government funding.
- We supported the development of over 12 locally-tailored policy and guideline publications across the region.
- And we co-designed the Happy Back Tap Platform a low-tech solution that made it possible to fill heavy water containers while standing.