Syria Today: Health & Politics

7 - 8.30pm, Thursday 2nd October 2014

UCLPartners Global Health Lecture Series

An autumn lecture series on global health issues designed for doctors in training in the London area.

Since the beginning of The Syrian Uprising in 2011, more than 200,000 Syrians have lost their lives in the conflict between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule. The WHO estimates that 9.3 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and 73% of hospitals are out of service.

In this lecture, Mr Omar Gabbar, consultant surgeon and medical lead for Hand in Hand For Syria, will talk about the work he has done in Syria and the challenges of providing healthcare in a conflict zone.

Dr Talal Al-Mayhani, a Syrian academic, will outline the region’s political situation to help us understand how the current Syrian healthcare crisis has come about.

Speakers

Mr Omar Gabbar, Hand in Hand For Syria

Omar is a consultant orthopaedic & spine surgeon at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. He leads Hand in Hand For Syria’s British-based medical team.

Hand in Hand For Syria have been at the forefront of humanitarian aid in Syria since August 2011.

www.handinhandforsyria.org.uk

Dr Talal Al-Mayhani, University of Cambridge

Talal is Medical Researcher at the University of Cambridge. He co-founded ‘Building the Syrian State’; a political and civil organization that aspires for a political solution, and peaceful change, in Syria.

He writes regularly opinion pieces on political and cultural issues in the Middle East, and publishes in a number of leading newspapers and supplements in the Arab World.

Talal works closely with CARA (the Council for At Risk Academics), an organisation established 1933 in response to Nazi persecution of academics in Central Europe (including doctors & dentists). It continues its work today, supporting persecuted academics from across the globe.

 www.cara1933.org

Venue

Harry Messey Lecture Theatre
25 Gordon Street, Ground Floor
UCL
London
WC1E 6BT