DINESH PALIPANA WORLD LEADERS IN HEALTH RIGHT HERE ON THE GOLD COAST
A FEW years ago, I spoke to a senior medical colleague about spinal cord injury research. I was exploring the possibility of doing a study on the Gold Coast. “This kind of thing is for places like London, not here“, they retorted. I was quickly dismissed.
Fortunately, that attitude hasn’t prevailed. There were enough people in our city who believed in what we could do.
Fast forward to 2020. Today, Gold Coast has talented researchers who have attracted millions of dollars in investment to develop therapies for paralysis. We have collaborations with leading scientists around the world. They believe in us too.
But, it doesn’t stop there. Sometimes, even I’m surprised at just how much progress is realised on our home turf.
I once read a story about an American cardiologist who diagnosed a heart attack on an aeroplane using a small device connected to his phone. When I looked up the device, I was surprised to find that the company was found in Gold Coast.
I work with a lot of talent every day too. For example, one of my senior colleagues has contributed to work that improved the management of sepsis. According to the World Health Organisation, sepsis caused one in five deaths globally in 2017.
Another senior colleague is a global leader in the way we manage strokes. The citizens of our fair city are incredibly lucky to have access to timely world-class stroke management. Most people around the world don’t get the same treatment. We reduce lifelong disability through these cutting-edge techniques. Doctors from other countries are trained by us.
More recently, we’ve contributed to fighting the pandemic through a number of research efforts.
When it comes to transforming healthcare, we’ve done it. We are doing it. We can do it.
Michelangelo said that, “The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” With world-class hospitals, innovative universities, and initiatives like the health and knowledge precinct, we the tools to set our aim high – and to meet it.