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Urban greenspace cools cities and reduces rainfall runoff but these effects have been difficult to quantify. Ennos's research is the first to give realistic figures for the contribution of greenspace and assess its potential to climate-proof cities. Key research findings have furthered the concept of green infrastructure, influenced local and national planning policy [text removed for publication]. Novel mapping tools developed by Ennos have had international impact, including use in the city master plan for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Community forests have altered their planting practises as a result of Ennos's research findings.
LSHTM research led to the development of a computer-based tool known as the Lives Saved Tool (LiST), which has been made available to international organisations, governments and NGOs free of charge. It allows policy-makers and programme managers in the 75 countries with the highest number of child deaths to identify which policy and programme choices are likely to have the greatest impact in cutting neonatal and child mortality. Since its 2008 launch, LiST has been used widely by international agencies, foundations, bilateral agencies, large NGOs and individual countries to determine investment priorities and programme choices.
Work by LSHTM researchers has led to a greater understanding of Plasmodium malaria parasite species and contributed new methodologies for diagnosis. As a result, patients with the uncommon species P. knowlesi and many hundreds with P. ovale spp. have been correctly diagnosed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and the rapid detection of parasite DNA is revolutionising clinical trial design. The work has led to the successful commercialisation of a low-cost, easy-to-use malaria testing kit for use in developing countries. Through media outputs and further research, the work has taken awareness of the issues surrounding malaria diagnostics to an international audience.
Reading research has led to changes in policies and activities of national and international organisations that support the development of smallholder agriculture, particularly those who focus on provision of climate and weather information. Over the 2008-2013 period, the research has resulted in improved understanding of farmers' perceptions and information needs together with the design and implementation of methods for providing climate information services that better reflect smallholders' requirements. The research has to date had impact on the policies and activities of organisations responsible for design and delivery of climate information and services in at least 10 countries in Africa and South Asia and benefited thousands of farmers.
LSHTM researchers carried out the initial trials of intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi), a strategy to improve malaria control in very young children. LSHTM staff were active in setting up and running a dedicated research consortium which developed and executed a research agenda to provide data to inform policy. School staff presented evidence to a series of WHO policy-making meetings which in 2009 recommended that IPTi should be included as part of routine malaria control. This policy, which has been adopted in one country and discussed by eight others, has the potential to benefit hundreds of millions of lives.
Onchocerciasis (river blindness) is a debilitating disease of major public health importance in the wet tropics. The African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC) seeks to control or eliminate the disease in 19 countries. Accurate mapping of Loiasis (eye-worm) was a requirement for implementation of APOC's mass-treatment prophylactic medication programme in order to mitigate against serious adverse reactions to the Onchocerciasis medication in areas also highly endemic for Loiasis. Model-based geostatistical methods developed at Lancaster were used to obtain the required maps and contributed to a change in practice of APOC in a major health programme in Africa. Our maps are used to plan the delivery of the mass-treatment programme to rural communities throughout the APOC countries, an estimated total population of 115 million.
The impact outlined here derives from research done by Professors Ivor Gaber and Jon Silverman in the related fields of political reporting, justice and democratic accountability through freedom of expression. This work, conducted under the aegis of the Centre for International Media Analysis, Research and Consultancy (CIMARC) at the University of Bedfordshire (UoB), has influenced both the policy environment and professional practice. For example, (in Gaber's case) improving the news coverage of elections in Nigeria, Malawi and Uganda; and (in Silverman's) working towards post-conflict reconciliation in Liberia and Sierra Leone, through an analysis of the media's reporting of war crimes trials.
Public financing of health services in low income countries was challenged by the World Bank's Agenda for Reform in 1987, which advocated increased roles for private sector, private insurance and user fees. This was followed by a wave of reforms implementing this approach. McPake has been involved in researching the implications of this shift since this period and has published a series of influential articles that have had a demonstrable impact on this debate. Removal of user fees for all, or selected, services or for selected population groups has occurred in many countries, including 28 of 50 countries with the highest maternal and child health mortality included in a recent survey (http://bit.ly/17FUiDM). Witter is the lead researcher who has examined country level experiences of removing fees and it is demonstrable that her work has been applied in specific countries to shape the details of policy and has also had a major influence on the global debate.
Prior to the E.G. West Centre's research, low-cost private schools were not on any agency's radar as having a positive contribution to make to "education for all"; our work changed that position dramatically. In terms of significance, since 2008 the research has led to changing awareness, attitudes and policies embracing a positive development role for low-cost private schools from international agencies such as DFID (Department for International Development) and national governments. Philanthropists and investors have also been inspired by the research to bring funding and expertise to improve opportunities for children in these schools. The reach of the research has extended to 20 countries in five continents, including Burkina Faso, China, Dominican Republic, Ghana, India, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sierra Leone and South Sudan.