You can access the recording here.

Dr. Matthew Harris speaking at the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign.

On Thursday, January 25, the Bay Area Global Health Alliance joined Alliance member Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign for their new Innovation and Health Equity Discussion Series. For this session, the Alliance and Stanford Biodesign co-hosted Dr. Matthew Harris, Clinical Senior Lecturer in Public Health Medicine and Honorary National Health Service Consultant in Public Health Medicine at Imperial College London, to discuss his newly released book, Decolonizing Healthcare Innovation: Low-Cost Solutions from Low-Income Countries. The book presents a pathway for the United Kingdom’s (U.K.) National Health Service to adopt low-cost but effective innovations from areas of the world traditionally seen as beneficiaries rather than providers of help and support.

Alliance Executive Director, Sara Anderson speaking with event attendees.

Dr. Harris began his presentation by illustrating how many low- and middle-income countries have found solutions to healthcare issues that are safe and clinically effective, yet these countries are viewed solely as passive recipients of aid rather than providers of help and support. “We often find that the ingenuity of global South researchers and clinicians gets erased,” said Dr. Harris.

Attendees posing with Dr. Matthew Harris and Sara Anderson.

In his talk, Dr. Harris aimed to dismantle the perpetuating worldview that research and innovations from non-traditional geographical regions are insignificant. “The logic of modern medicine is grounded in this idea of modernity, and modernity is grounded in this idea of European countries being more advanced than other countries. You can see how this perspective can influence where we pay attention to when we source innovations,” said Dr. Harris. You may access the recording through this link.