Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Foresterhill Road, Aberdeen, AB25 2ZN, UK.
Gilbert Bain Hospital, South Road, Lerwick, Shetland, ZE1 0TB, UK.
Surgeon. 2022 Feb;20(1):48-56. doi: 10.1016/j.surge.2021.11.004. Epub 2021 Dec 27.
For most of its history, the contribution of the Scottish health service towards health needs outside of Scotland has been informal, ad hoc, and viewed as incidental to its core functions. A more globalised view is emerging, and in recent years, NHS Scotland has begun formalising the principles and mechanisms by which it will contribute towards health and human flourishing around the world. This article provides a brief historical overview of how Scottish medical personnel became involved in the introduction of Western medicine and public health in less developed countries, originally in parallel with colonial expansion and Christian mission outreaches. Following devolution in 1999 of many political powers from the UK Parliament to a newly-formed Scottish Parliament, Scotland's own international development strategy has been evolving. In 2016, the Scottish Government articulated a commitment to 'global citizenship', a pan-governmental, pan-societal engagement towards domestic and international achievement of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. Following a consideration of the risks and benefits of international volunteering to the Scottish health service, an NHS Scotland Global Citizenship Programme was established, which has catalysed policy development, created networking opportunities, the promulgation of best practice in international health work and the development of novel contracts which facilitate global health work in tandem with a Scottish employment contract. This article also outlines the various benefits of global health engagement for a health service in a high income country such as Scotland.
在其历史的大部分时间里，苏格兰卫生服务机构对苏格兰以外地区的卫生需求的贡献是非正式的、临时的，被视为其核心职能的附带产物。现在出现了一种更加全球化的观点，近年来，苏格兰国民保健制度已开始将其将为全世界的健康和人类繁荣做出贡献的原则和机制正式化。本文简要回顾了苏格兰医务人员如何参与在欠发达国家引入西方医学和公共卫生的过程，最初是与殖民扩张和基督教传教活动并行的。1999 年，英国议会将许多政治权力下放到新成立的苏格兰议会后，苏格兰自己的国际发展战略一直在不断发展。2016 年，苏格兰政府承诺“全球公民”，即政府和全社会都参与到国内和国际上实现联合国可持续发展目标。在考虑了国际志愿服务对苏格兰卫生服务的风险和收益之后，苏格兰国民保健制度建立了一个全球公民计划，该计划促进了政策制定、创造了网络机会、宣传了国际卫生工作的最佳实践，并制定了新型合同，这些合同促进了与苏格兰就业合同并行的全球卫生工作。本文还概述了高收入国家（如苏格兰）的卫生服务机构参与全球卫生工作的各种好处。
