SMARThealth offers a new approach to disease detection, management and treatment – strengthening primary care systems, building the capacity of health workers, and improving health outcomes for patients. SMARThealth (Systematic Medical Appraisal, Referral and Treatment for common health conditions) was developed by The George Institute for the management of chronic diseases. It leverages a low-cost, digital platform which can be used by health workers to significantly improve patient care, especially in contexts where health services are limited. Deployed on hand-held digital devices, SMARThealth uses evidence-based algorithms and guidelines to help community health workers assess chronic disease risks for people in their communities. People identified to be needing further care are then referred via the platform for clinician follow up. Extending SMARThealth The first iteration of SMARThealth was ‘HealthTracker’ used in Australia in 2009 to analyse the electronic health records o

By utilising a life-course approach to the prevention of non-communicable diseases, when women are screened during pregnancy. The physiological changes in a woman’s body during pregnancy to support fetal growth and wellbeing and prepare for labour and birth have been compared to a nine-month marathon that finishes with a sprint. For some women, this pregnancy “stress test” will result in medical complications of pregnancy, such as gestational diabetes (“GDM”, affecting approximately 1 in 7 pregnancies globally), high blood pressure disorders (affecting up to 1 in 10 pregnancies globally) and anaemia (10-40%). Existing mental and physical health conditions may also worsen. The course of a woman’s pregnancy also gives a window into a woman’s future health, as the effect of pregnancy complications on mother and child do not end with the pregnancy. For example, after hypertensive pregnancy there is at least doubled risk of cardiovascular disease (beginning within 5-10 years of

Globally efforts to improve women’s health largely focus on maternal health, overlooking women’s health needs beyond pregnancy and childbirth. The weight given to the maternal health outcome neglects the full range of women’s health. Diseases that affect women are substantially under-studied and under resourced. Gynaecological cancers and conditions like endometriosis, uterine fibroids, poly cystic syndrome, and cervical cancers might have been better understood if they also affected men. Since these are women-specific health issues that affect a woman’s quality of life across her lifespan, there has been little investment, particularly in low-and middle-income countries, to improve early diagnosis and treatment. For example, approximately 180 women globally with endometriosis remain undiagnosed and suffer from its symptoms like pain and infertility for almost seven years before getting diagnosed. Hence, more research and concerted action is needed to improve women’s health and to ensure tha

We conduct large scale work to influence global health policies and practice. For example, a large scale cohort study recruiting 40,000 people in 21 low and middle-income countries is informing development of better fracture care in resource-poor settings. In India, we have reviewed national injury surveillance systems and made recommendations to Government regarding their strengthening and expansion. We evaluated the pilot cashless scheme of health insurance for road crashes victims and made recommendations for effective coverage and performance benchmarking. The findings have contributed to expansion of the scheme across all National Highway’s in India , under the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) bill 2016.

The George Institute has a highly skilled team which works to conceptualise, develop, and deliver innovative and impactful clinical trials, characterised by the following features: Reducing trial ‘waste’ Ensuring that clinical trials are efficient is crucial to minimising research ‘waste’, which most commonly results from the costs associated with poorly conceived research questions, inappropriate study design, failure to adequately report on all areas being analysed, and inefficient operational conduct. Trial efficiency can be improved via two key mechanisms- by design and by conduct. Trial design involves the development and application of innovative statistical methods including adaptive and pragmatic designs. The first involves adapting some elements of the design as the trial progresses (rather than waiting for the trial to end). A pragmatic trial evaluates a health intervention in a setting as close as possible to real-world conditions. Adaptive designs help to gener

The health of women and girls, people with variations in sex characteristics (intersex people) and trans and gender-diverse people has been understudied in health and medical research. An almost exclusive focus on male cells, male animals and men in health and medical research has led to poorer health outcomes and evidence gaps for women, intersex people, and trans and gender-diverse people, and inefficient health spending. Women’s health research often focuses only on their sexual, reproductive, and maternal health rather than the leading causes of death and disability for women. Research on intersex and gender-diverse people is even less developed and availability of health data remains a challenge. For some health conditions, we also have very little information on men and boys, given the conditions occur predominantly in women. The Centre for Sex and Gender Equity in Health and Medicine is addressing these inequities through world-class research, advocacy for policy change, and capacity building

The purpose of FoodSwitch is to bring transparency to the world’s food supply with a vision of an optimised food system for human health and the health of our planet. There are many studies highlighting the link between diet, ill-health and disease. Globally, 1 in 5 deaths are associated with poor diet, with cardiovascular disease being the biggest contributor, followed by cancers and type 2 diabetes. In addition, it is estimated that between 30% and 40% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) are attributable to the global food system. To achieve our purpose, we collect and analyse information from packaged food labels to generate data and insights that can influence government policy and industry practice toward improved food environments. Additionally, we have several apps that allow consumers to make better food choices: Our FoodSwitch App provides simple health and nutrition information on a scanned product and suggests healthier alternatives to 'switch' to, and