Lunchtime webinar: Pulmonary rehabilitation in the 'global south': challenges and opportunities

In this session, we will discuss the burden of chronic respiratory disease that disproportionately impacts on people living in the ‘global south’. Most evidence for pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) comes from high income countries (HICs). Applicability of this evidence to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) needs careful attention. Regional variation in disease burden, risk factors, and resources exist, warranting a stronger effort to ensure global representation when global validity of research is being sought. We cannot truly standardise PR practice globally if the supporting globally oriented PR literature consistently underrepresents LMICs. The PR space needs to do more to impact those regions in most need. 

  Fanuel Bickton is a physiotherapy lecturer, researcher and international speaker based at the Kamuzu University of Health Sciences and the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Programme in Malawi. He holds an MSc degree (with Distinction) in Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy from the University College London, UK. In 2019 and 2020, respectively, he was awarded the UK’s Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTMH) Early Career Grant and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)–Wellcome Partnership for Global Health Research International Master’s Fellowship which enabled him research PR in LMICs. He has recently been awarded a four-year Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) PhD Fellowship. He is sought after as a speaker, particularly in topics related to health inequalities for people with chronic respiratory conditions.