Some thoughts on health and healthcare

With the ongoing climate change and northward migration of mosquitos in Europe, I wonder if we should not consider changing the name of the ‘London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine’  (LSHTM) to ‘London School of Hygiene & Global Medicine’  (LSHGM) and the name of the Antwerp ‘Institute of Tropical Medicine’ (ITM) into ‘Institute of Global Medicine’ (IGM)? Also, instead of only thinking about pandemic preparedness (COVID-xx, …), should we not also consider endemic preparedness for tropical diseases moving north? Tropical species, such as mosquitoes, are moving northward as winters warm and spreading vector-borne diseases (e.g. Aedes albopictus, Aedes aegypti, etc.). Diseases, such as Chikungunya, Dengue, West Nile virus, Rift Valley fever, etc., are moving northward. It will take many years to adapt our lifestyle and healthcare systems to emerging diseases (cultural hysteresis). Think of one day sleeping under a mosquito net in Antwerp or London.

From 22 until 26 May 2023, the first UHasselt Summer School on Big Data for Health and Care was organized by Liesbet M. Peeters and her team of the  Research Group in Biomedical Data Sciences ( Big Data for Health and Care - Summer School ). The Summer School gave some fascinating insights on the potential of big data to revolutionize the way we approach healthcare challenges. The increasing availability of healthcare data will have the potential to gain new insights into disease prevention, diagnosis, crisis management, and treatment. Consequently, the power of big data in healthcare can make a meaningful impact on patient outcomes and how we deal with our healthcare challenges on a national and European scale. Many thanks to Liesbet Peeters and her colleagues for organizing this inspiring and exciting week. Many thanks also to Noëlla Pierlet (ZOL) and Peter De Jaeger (AZ Delta), to name a few, for the inspiring discussions. It was a pleasure to exchange ideas and inspiration w...