21/04/2026
Standing at the World Haemophilia Congress in Kuala Lumpur, I’ve been reflecting on something that has stayed with me throughout my career in trauma and orthopaedic surgery.
In well-resourced systems, haemophilia is a condition we can manage confidently—planned surgery, predictable outcomes, and reliable access to clotting factor.
In many parts of the world, that is still not the case.
Even today, patients can face severe disability or life-threatening bleeding simply because essential treatment is not available when needed.
After more than 25 years in practice across the NHS, the Middle East, and humanitarian settings, this contrast never becomes less striking.
It only becomes more real each time you see it.
Medicine is not just science. It is access
