UK, Asia partners win $5Mn to research inclusive healthcare access
ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM — A groundbreaking research project spanning Vietnam, Thailand, India, and the United Kingdom has been awarded more than £4 million (US$5.39 million) by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to revolutionize inclusive healthcare.
The initiative, titled The Social Participation for Universal Health Coverage: evidence-informed NetWorks Advancing Inclusion (SUNWAI), seeks to determine how health systems may more effectively meet the needs of underrepresented communities, with a special focus on sexual and gender minorities.
New project to advance equity in Asian health systems
Led jointly by Northumbria University in the UK and the George Institute for Global Health in India, the five-year project will explore how social participation can improve universal health coverage by making health systems more representative and equitable.
Collaborators include Mahidol University in Thailand, Hanoi Medical University in Vietnam, and the University of Essex.
The project places strong emphasis on studying how healthcare systems engage with communities beyond treating them as patients.
“For me this project is important because we’ll be looking at the differences and similarities in social participation for health across the Asian nations involved,” said Dr. Meghan Kumar, Principal Investigator at Northumbria University.
“This includes looking at communities who may often be underrepresented and looking at different approaches to improve inclusion and equity of access,” Dr. Kumar added.
This scope includes gender-affirming healthcare services for LGBTQ+ communities, as well as systemic accountability measures to ensure patients’ rights are respected.
With three doctoral students joining the effort and the involvement of grassroots organizations, the research will rely heavily on qualitative methods such as community witness seminars and learning labs to generate sustainable models of inclusive care.
Dr. Devaki Nambiar, also a Principal Investigator from the George Institute for Global Health, emphasized the significance of this collaboration.
“The SUNWAI consortium is a bold and ambitious effort to claim space for sexual and gender minority collectives and [organizations] to shape health systems and reform. For this to happen, our consortium will learn how to truly listen to each other – SUNWAI means being heard in a number of Asian languages,” Dr. Nambiar explained.
SUNWAI project ties local progress to global impact
Although the project is centered in Asia, its findings could ripple globally, offering lessons for Western healthcare systems that continue grappling with equity.
Recent legal and policy shifts in Vietnam, Thailand, and India provide diverse case studies on health inclusion. These approaches could help the West refine its methods for meeting the needs of sexual and gender minorities.
SUNWAI researchers believe these insights could spark new approaches to universal health coverage beyond Asia, where marginalized groups still often face gaps in access to equitable care.
As Northumbria University stated, the initiative forms part of its broader mission to “reducing health and social inequalities, contributing to the regional and national workforce and improving social, economic and health outcomes for the most [marginalized] in society.”
This £4 million (US$5.39 million) investment underscores a growing recognition that inclusive healthcare is not a localized issue but a global priority. The next five years may transform access in Asia and influence how health systems worldwide address equity in the years ahead.
