Global Health – When aid has a future
What does global health look like beyond conference rooms and textbooks? In the seventh episode of the popular Insel Podcast, Philippe Schucht, Deputy Chief Physician and Head of Neuro-Oncology at Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, talks about his experiences in Myanmar, where modern neurosurgery encounters medical, structural, and social realities that are completely different from those in Switzerland.
Philippe Schucht is a professor of neurosurgery at the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital in Switzerland. Philippe previously worked in the townships of Khayelitsha, Cape Town (South Africa) and at the universities of Montpellier (France) and San Francisco (USA). He is the founder of Swiss Neurosurgeons International, a member of the board of directors, and responsible for the organization's medical development aid in Myanmar.
Swiss Neurosurgeons International
Founded in 2011 by Swiss neurosurgeons as an independent non-profit organization, Swiss Neurosurgeons International (SNI) has the following main tasks:
- Training and continuing education for medical personnel, especially neurosurgeons and specialists
- Improving medical infrastructure and access to specialized treatment.
- Promoting local treatment capacities through programs such as “Training of Trainers” and fellowships in Switzerland and in partner countries.
One focus of its activities is in Myanmar, where SNI works with local partners and Swiss institutes to provide expertise, training, and structural support to hospitals and specialists in order to improve neurosurgical care in the long term.
SNI is mainly funded by donations and the voluntary commitment of experts and focuses on sustainable capacity development rather than short-term aid missions.