Health Links

Professor Eldryd Parry established the Tropical Health Education Trust (THET) in 1988 to support healthcare training institutions in Africa. THET’s fundamental principles are to provide multidisciplinary support and to respond to needs and goals defined by partners in developing countries. The first major THET link was started in 1998 between Nottingham City Hospital and Jimma, Ethiopia and there are now over 100 Links between UK organisations and institutions in developing countries. 

Essential reading on Health Links is available in the THET Links manual:

  • Links are all about people working together to share ideas, knowledge and friendship to improve health care. 
  • By doing this within an organisational agreement, Links have the potential to be strategic and long term, better able to inspire change. 
  • A Link is a formalised voluntary partnership between counterpart health organisations in the UK and a Developing Country (DC). 
  • The primary purpose of Links is to build the capacity of the DC organisation, but there are also important secondary benefits for the UK health sector. 
  • The activities that Links support can be very broad and range from training and capacity-building for staff, providing practical skills, continuing professional development, supporting improvements within DC organisations, facilitating research and curriculum development. 

The benefit of Links to NHS organisations has been recognized in the publication ‘Global Health Partnerships, the UK contribution to health in developing countries’ by Lord Crisp.

The Framework for NHS Involvement in International Development sets out the UK policy context, the key principles for effective involvement in international development, the benefits of NHS involvement in international development, the architecture for NHS activity to support developing countries and good practice for organisations, individuals and employers.

UK Government funding for Links is available through the International Health Links Funding Scheme (IHLFS), managed by THET in partnership with the British Council. 

Help and advice on all aspects of Health Links is available from THET and the International Health Links Centre at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. The IHLC provides information on training and volunteering and hosts a Humanitarian Response Register for those who wish to volunteer in acute/chronic humanitarian emergencies.