Dr. Man-Chiu Poon receives prestigious international award

By Laurie Wang
Posted August 7, 2008

Dr. Man-Chiu Poon: Photo submitted.When Faculty of Medicine professor Dr. Man-Chiu Poon went to Tianjin, China, in 1993 for a workshop, he didn't expect it would lead him to receive the esteemed World Federation of Hemophilia 2008 International Healthcare Volunteer award 15 years later.

"After the workshop, the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) approached me about working with folks in China to get a World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) twinning program. So I looked into it and started writing to a few clinics about establishing Chinese hemophilia twinning centres," explains Poon, a professor in the Departments of Medicine, Paediatrics and Oncology, University of Calgary.

A twinning program allows staff at a clinic in a developed country to work with another clinic in a developing country to promote hemophilia care. They help with staff training, patient education and also advise the clinic on infrastructure and planning. The first Canada-China twin was made between a hemophilia centre in Tianjin and Calgary's Southern Alberta Hemophiliac Clinic in 1997.

"Since 1997 a number of Chinese hematologists and nurses have come here for five to eight weeks of training," Poon says. "We also helped them develop education materials for health-care professionals and patients."

More twinning programs

In 2000, Poon helped establish another Canada-China twin between a centre in Ottawa and one in Guangzhou, China. A third twin was established after, with one clinic in Shanghai twinning with clinics in both Calgary and Ottawa. Poon and his team also began working with centres in three other Chinese cities. Together with this network of six collaborative Chinese centres, they helped with patient registries, laboratory diagnosis, and nursing and physiotherapy training.

The WFH has recognized Poon's efforts with the International Healthcare Volunteer Award. This award honours a volunteer healthcare professional who has made a global impact by providing care and treatment for people with hemophilia.

Poon adds that the twinning model is working well and benefiting both countries. "We want to look at the whole thing with the perspective of the whole country, instead of just two or three clinics. As the different centres begin to do their own outreach work, gradually this will spread to the rest of the country and these centres can train and equip other centres."

A manual for hemophilia nursing and for home physiotherapy management was recently completed. Poon, his team and the six centres are now helping develop train-the-trainer programs for hemophilia nursing and hemophilia physiotherapy to reach out to professionals beyond the core network.

"We're also establishing hemophilia clinical research initiatives," Poon adds.

Impacting patients

He explains that treatment can be very expensive for hemophiliac patients in China and in the past, patients who needed treatment couldn't get it. The creation of more treatment centres will increase access for patients.

"There's quite a bit of dialogue going on in China now for patients to get the service they need," Poon says. "In some cities, there's now medical insurance for patients so they can receive treatment and products. It's a major advance for patients. It's the most inspiring part of this-seeing patients being positively affected."

It takes teamwork

Poon is quite pleased with the award, but is quick to acknowledge it wasn't just one person's work that earned it.

"It took a lot of teamwork, a lot of support from the people on the teams in Canada and China. We also received a lot of encouragement from the Canadian Hemophilia Society and the WFH who supported the international initiative," he says. "The award is also a testimony of the University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine's unique environment for encouraging and supporting international health care activities. Its long history of supporting development of medical education and medical schools in a number of developing countries is well known and respected."

About the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary

The U of C's Faculty of Medicine is a national leader in health research with an international reputation for excellence and innovation in health care research, education and delivery. Through its educational programs, the Faculty of Medicine trains the physicians and scientists who will lead the next generation of health practitioners. Through its clinical work, continuing medical education programs, and close relationship with the Calgary Health Region, the Faculty of Medicine moves new treatments and diagnostic techniques from the laboratory bench to the hospital bedside efficiently and effectively, improving patient care.

If you like this story and think others should read about it--why not spread the word!? Use the links below to let others know!

Digg it! | Reddit.com | del.icio.us | facebook