World Health Day 2023; the World Health Organisation’s 75th anniversary. Public health successes that have improved quality of life during the last seven decades are being celebrated. And rightly so. Milestones include the discovery of antibiotics in 1950, the development of the inactivated poliovirus vaccine which has led to the near-eradication of polio and the recent announcement that 74 million lives have been saved through tuberculosis prevention, diagnosis and treatment since 2000.
Top Doctors proudly aligns itself with these celebrations. Our leading health specialists are at the forefront of clinical health research and charity work that seeks to improve just what World Health Day 2023 is all about; health success. There are many Top Doctors that have contributed to significant advances in their fields. Here is a selection of Top Doctors healthcare professionals improving public health in the present – and for the future.
“Tomorrow’s medicines today”
HER2-positive breast cancer has gone from being the worst in the early 2000s to the best type of breast cancer you can have. That’s because treatments are so effective now. Internationally-renowned consultant medical oncologist and breast cancer specialist Professor Andrew Wardley has been involved in the development of many targeted therapies throughout his career.
He says: “Throughout my career, I’ve been involved in the development of the most of today’s important drugs. These include Trastuzumab (Herceptin™), trastuzumab-emtansine (Kadcyla™), and pertuzumab (Perjeta™), trastuzumab-deruxtecan (Enhertu™), tucatinib (Tukysa™) amongst others.”
“There’s a whole host of drugs in use today, each of which has made a massive difference to patient quality of life as well as helping them to survive their breast cancer, if treatment is given early enough.”
He also advocates for breast cancer clinical trials. Considering how you can get access to tomorrow’s medicine today, he says: “Having access to clinical trials is a right that everyone should have. I’ve been involved in clinical trials for over twenty years and have seen many patients benefit from treatments within those trials before they become licensed drugs.”
New surgical techniques impress, even when it comes to bunions
People today might not realise just how labour-intensive, risky and potentially painful surgical techniques from the past were. Out of all the surgeries you could think of in the world, let’s look at bunion correction surgery.
Revered consultant orthopaedic surgeon Mr David Redfern and co-inventor of the MICA technique, highlights how traditional open surgical techniques in bunion correction surgery used a large oscillating saw. Yes, a large oscillating saw. Ouch.
He says: “It was used to make cuts through the bone so the necessary realignment can be achieved. This involves making a large incision and stripping the soft tissue from the bone and has meant that bunion surgery has developed a reputation for being painful.”
“The small size of the instruments used in MICA surgery means only tiny incisions need to be made and using X-ray imaging, the surgeon is guided precisely through the procedure. These smaller incisions leave the blood supply in this part of the foot intact and mean less soft tissue damage is sustained during surgery, ensuring a quicker and less painful recovery compared to open surgery.”
The evolution of this removal surgery is something we can all marvel at, even when it comes to bunions.
Health success thorough charity – but there’s more work to do
Consultant endocrinologist Dr Helen Spoudeas is the founder of Success Charity, which is the predecessor of her SUCCESS project, the first and largest neuroendocrine surveillance service in the UK.
It’s exclusively devoted to improving the quality of life of patients surviving a brain tumour in childhood. While technology has provided us with the possibility to cure brain tumours in children, the support they require afterwards is also just as essential but not as well funded. This is where Success comes in.
“A cure is not enough”
Dr Spoudeas states: “A cure alone is not enough. We also have to give back these children’s futures.
“Children with brain tumours (whether cancers or low grade) not only endure toxic chemotherapy on a vulnerable, growing body (at doses we adults wouldn’t tolerate), but they have an injury to the brain that we’ve ignored, we don’t recognise or routinely rehabilitate, and we don’t support beyond the end of treatment.
“Children can go on to experience blindness, deafness, paralysis, stroke, difficulties with memory, learning and behaviour, disfigurement, and bullying. Teachers often don’t understand this because they deem them cured. but these children struggle to keep up and as time passes, if they’re not supported, they slip away from their peers and their own potential.”
One of the many strands to Success’ work is advocating for further research.
Dr Spoudeas says: “There are many low grade (so-called benign) tumours where we simply don’t have randomised controlled trials about whether to treat them or not, or to operate or not.
“We’re advocating for further research that examines the long-term effects of brain surgery and chemotherapy on neurological development and, not least how structured and ongoing rehabilitation throughout vital growing years may benefit this.”
It shows there is still some work to do, despite all of the medical advancements in neurology. Which is why World Health Day 2023 is so important. We can look forward to the work that still needs to be done. It’s evident this is undergoing with the combined commitment and knowledge of the Success team.
More health success to come
It’s difficult not to have deep respect for the medical profession and our Top Doctors. They’re putting patient quality of life at the forefront of innovation. I know I’d rather undergo the MICA technique’s minimally invasive procedure in comparison having to be operated on with a saw.
Plus, it’s impressive to think about how in the early 2000s one type of breast cancer would have resulted in an even more difficult treatment journey than what it is today. It’s exciting how we can assist in making an appointment with a Top Doctors breast cancer professional at the forefront of this innovation.
The WHO says that World Health Day 2023 is “also an opportunity to motivate action to tackle the health challenges of today”. Learning all about Dr Helen Spoudeas, Success Charity and her team’s commitment to expanding what healthcare solutions can mean after a ‘cure’, shows that there is much more to come in terms of public health.
There are undoubtedly more ground breaking public health milestones to come in the next 75 years. Top Doctors wholeheartedly stands with the WHO in this journey: to achieve Health For All.
