This blog post was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

Avatar photo

Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

Part of UK in Ukraine

29th September 2011

Two hearts are better than one

What is the healthiest place in Kyiv?  At a recent reception at the residence, I began to suspect it might be my lounge.  The reason was that the room was crammed with over 80 guests representing the cream of the Ukrainian medical profession and, in particular, many of the country’s top interventional cardiologists.  Other medical experts with whom I chatted included trained first response specialists.  If anyone planned to fall ill, this was the place.

The occasion for the reception was an event organised for AstraZeneca, an international biopharmaceutical company with its HQ in London, to mark the creation of the Association of Interventional Cardiologists of Ukraine.  In the last 25 years, the number of people in Ukraine with heart disease increased three-fold, and the death rate for those diseases increased by 45%.  The aim of the new Association is to improve medical care for patients with a view to cutting these rates.

The UK is always keen to support initiatives and innovations in health care in Ukraine.  We hope the creation of the Association of Interventional Cardiologists will help contribute to medical and scientific development here.  And I hope I don’t need the services of any of the eminent men and women present at the reception any time soon.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

Follow Leigh

Tags

association cardiologists general Health hearts interventional of uk Ukraine

Links