Promoting ‘No Harm’ Approaches to Global Health Placements for Professional Volunteers and Students in Low and Middle-Income Countries

2020 has seen the culmination of paradigmatic shifts in the organisational infrastructure shaping
global health. The establishment of the Global Engagement Directorate in Health Education
England (HEE) coincides with the creation of the Foreign and Commonwealth Development
Office. Both developments reflect growing concern about sustainability, efficacy and reciprocity
in overseas development work and increasing interest in optimising opportunities for mutually
beneficial knowledge mobilisation. Professor Ackers’ research has directly contributed to
national policy changes in England, Scotland, Norway and most notably Uganda, as well as to
non-governmental organisation practices, resulting in more sustainable ‘No Harm’ approaches to
the placement of volunteers in the health systems of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
This has led to sustained health systems change in Uganda, where the first ever see-and-treat
cervical screening programme in a Ugandan public health facility has been established and the
continued presence of UK volunteers alongside Ugandan health workers has transformed a
failing health centre into one of the best-performing Community Health Centres in the country.

This case study was submitted to REF 2021. For more information and to download the full case study, click here