The Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) student association have just presented a research award to researcher and medical doctor Per Kallestrup. He receives the award for his special efforts in putting global health on the agenda.

2015.11.20 | Christina Lund Højfeldt

The Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM) student association have just presented a research award to researcher and medical doctor Per Kallestrup.

The Medicines for People award goes to researcher and medical doctor Per Kallestrup. He receives the award for his efforts to put global health on the agenda. The Universities Allied for essential Medicines (UAEM) student association is behind the award.

Per Kallestrup is director of the Centre for Global Health (GloHAU) at Aarhus University. The centre’s objective is to examine how the primary care sector can be used to raise the state of health globally.

Through research and teaching the centre identifies the factors that have an impact on global health and how different models for health financing can increase access to healthcare services. All of these are initiatives to improve health globally.

Award given for his broad commitment and special efforts

Per Kallestrup and the work of the centre is very closely related to the theme of UAEM's Access to Medicines week, which this year focused on the WHO's agreement that medicines should be developed on the basis of patients' needs rather than a desire for profit.

This is a topic that many people have not heard about, but which is nonetheless very relevant, as it also has importance for the pricing of new medicines in wealthy countries such as Denmark, Norway and the United States, and therefore not only low and middle-income countries.

Per Kallestrup is also chairman of the international development programme Partners in Practice under The Danish College of General Practitioners. The purpose of the programme is to develop and implement development projects in the field of general practice. It is currently represented in Rwanda and Nepal, both of which are low-income countries where strengthening the healthcare sector makes sense.

Read more about Make Medicines for People Not for Profit.

UAEM:
Universities Allied for essential Medicines (UAEM) is an interdisciplinary international student organisation working to improve global access to medicines. In Aarhus, the association members come from Medicine, Political Science, Economics and Management and Law. In Denmark, UAEM is part of IMCC – the International Medical Cooperation Committee, which is a student organisation and NGO with the declared aim of improving health globally. UAEM has two overall aims: to create greater access to essential medicines in developing countries by introducing socially responsible patents; and to create a greater focus on research into neglected tropical diseases that affect the poorest parts of the world.

Further information

Associate Professor, PhD, GP Per Kallestrup
Aarhus University, Department of Public Health
Mobile: (+45) 2092 6528
per.kallestrup@ph.au.dk