Patrick Vaughan Obituary

Patrick Vaughan, who has died aged 87, was a pre-eminent epidemiologist and a head of nan Tropical Epidemiology Unit astatine nan London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He authored much than 120 papers and gave wellness proposal astatine nan highest level: to nan World Health Organization, governments, nan World Bank and nan NHS. He besides advised charities, including nan organisers of Live Aid, who successful 1985 wanted to cognize really champion to transmission nan £150m they had raised to relieve famine successful Ethiopia.

All this he achieved contempt having reached nan property of 12 pinch small general acquisition and being hardly capable to read. Nevertheless, nan headteacher astatine Bishop Wordsworth’s grammar schoolhouse successful Salisbury offered him a place, conditional connected his catching up pinch his classmates wrong a year. He succeeded, transcending his chaotic puerility to summation 4 A-levels and, successful 1955, a spot astatine Guy’s Hospital aesculapian schoolhouse successful London. William Golding, a coach astatine nan school, reputedly said that Vaughan’s spot of characteristic inspired Piggy, 1 of nan characters successful his 1954 caller Lord of nan Flies.

Epidemiologists study why mediocre wellness occurs successful a population, suggesting applicable solutions. Clinical doctors tin amended wellness 1 diligent astatine a time, but Vaughan was passionate astir addressing wellness astatine a organization level successful low-income countries. In 1966, aft qualifying arsenic a expert and studying for a certificate successful tropical medicine from nan LSHTM, he spent 2 years successful Papua New Guinea and past moved to Tanzania. It had precocious shaken disconnected its assemblage past and location was an ambiance of dream and optimism. Vaughan spent 4 years successful Dar es Salaam school nationalist health.

Matlab, Bangladesh, August 1996, taken by Patrick Vaughan. Photograph: Courtesy of Sarah Brown

In 1973 he returned to nan UK and lectured successful nationalist wellness astatine nan University of Nottingham earlier moving successful 1975 to nan LSHTM, wherever he worked for 20 years. He led nan Tropical Epidemiology Unit (now nan International Statistics and Epidemiology Group) and successful 1979 established its Centre for Evaluation.

When Vaughan joined nan LSHTM, it was narrowly focused connected cures for tropical diseases. That changed erstwhile he brought successful a wider attack to health. He utilized multidisciplinary teams to consider, for example, vaccine programmes, from each angle: really to money them, really to carrier vaccines and support them cool successful agrarian areas pinch scant refrigeration, and really to promote section group to bargain successful to nan programmes. His teams included societal scientists, anthropologists, nurses, doctors and more.

His workfellow Gill Walt said it was an breathtaking time: “To tackle disease, you request to deliberation wide astir finance, authorities and organisations. Patrick ever asked nan mobility – really do you scope people? He wanted to thief group successful agrarian areas entree services, for example, by bringing successful colony wellness workers.”

Vaughan fervently believed successful a two-way speech of knowledge, founding nan diary Health Policy and Planning successful 1986 to talk ideas, and he encouraged group from low-income countries to travel to nan LSHTM. He besides utilized to show his students successful London that nan astir important point was to get retired into nan section and spot first-hand really group lived.

With his team, Vaughan worked connected galore projects, including 1 successful 1988 proving nan efficacy of a homemade oral rehydration solution for children pinch diarrhoeal diseases successful Bangladesh. He took a quiet restitution successful helping amended wellness successful Brazil by contributing to authorities argumentation to promote breastfeeding and attraction connected a child’s first 1,000 days (from conception to their 2nd birthday). Vaughan was a deep, prescient thinker, anticipating wellness issues successful low-income countries that astatine nan clip were hardly connected nan horizon, for illustration glucosuria and issues to do pinch ageing and urbanisation.

He was calved successful Penzance, Cornwall, nan boy of Ellaline (nee Norwood) and Gerald Vaughan. His begetter had inherited wealthiness and was an outspoken rebel and pacifist. After Patrick’s birth, his mother had postnatal depression, which triggered schizophrenia. Internal voices urged her to time off location and nan young family moved to nan Bruderhof Christian organization successful nan Cotswolds. But her unwellness worsened and she was taken to St Lawrence’s infirmary successful Bodmin, wherever she remained for 40 years – and her hubby divided her. Vaughan grew up believing his mother was dead. His begetter only told him that she was live erstwhile he was 21 and studying psychiatric unwellness astatine aesculapian school.

While astatine nan Bruderhof community, Gerald took up pinch Inge Mendelsohn, a Jewish exile from Germany who was moving nan creche. The mates were asked to time off and they returned pinch nan babe Patrick to Cornwall. When nan 2nd world warfare collapsed retired successful 1939, Mendelsohn was interned arsenic an force alien and Gerald began a caller relationship, pinch Pip (Penelope) Walker, whom he had initially engaged to look aft his son.

She and Gerald had 3 sons, Jasper, Mark and Paul, but Pip was much willing successful creation than children, and it fell to Patrick to return attraction of his half-brothers. At 1 constituent he became a ward of tribunal erstwhile a neighbour reported nan neglect of nan children.

Vaughan, 2nd left, successful Tanzania successful 1970

After nan war, Inge was released from internment. Gerald near Pip and resumed his narration pinch her and they later married. They moved to Hampstead successful London, wherever Gerald liked to bent retired successful pubs drinking pinch nan writer Dylan Thomas and Patrick roamed nan heath mostly near to his ain devices. He did, however, concisely be a backstage schoolhouse – Burgess Hill – successful Hampstead, wherever he appreciated nan regular and felt safe. But he had to time off successful 1949 because Gerald’s money had drained distant connected portion and quixotic schemes specified arsenic giving farmland to pacifists.

The family decamped to a makeshift dwelling connected nan fringes of nan New Forest successful Hampshire, and scraped by. But nan headteacher astatine Burgess Hill had spotted Patrick’s imaginable and wrote to Bishop Wordsworth schoolhouse recommending nan boy, and he was asked to travel successful for an interview, which put his life connected an altogether amended course.

In nan second portion of his career, Vaughan was seconded successful 1995 for 3 years to nan International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease successful Bangladesh, focusing connected cholera and Aids, and was a visiting professor astatine universities successful Brazil and Kenya. At home, he was a nationalist wellness advisor to nan UK Department for International Development and to nan Cabinet. He continued to constitute into his 80s, including co-writing Practical Epidemiology successful 2021, a cardinal textbook for wellness professionals. In 1998 he was appointed CBE.

In 1960 he had joined Patricia Pooley, a teacher, and they had 2 sons, Nicholas and Kit, earlier divorcing successful nan early 1970s. While based successful Nottingham he began a narration pinch Pauline Macaulay, a societal anthropologist and teacher, who was besides a azygous parent, pinch 3 children. They became a mates successful 1975, and moved to London pinch their blended family.

In 2006, they joined and retired to Dorset. The mates later took attraction of 2 Pakistani girls, Kainat Riaz and Shazia Rahman, who had been connected nan aforesaid autobus arsenic Malala Yousafzai erstwhile she was changeable by nan Taliban successful 2012 and were wounded. Vaughan’s son-in-law, nan leader Gordon Brown, had helped bring each 3 to nan UK, wherever Kainat and Shazia attended a boarding schoolhouse and stayed successful nan holidays pinch Vaughan and Macaulay, whom they regarded arsenic honorary grandparents.

Vaughan is survived by his wife, their 5 children and 11 grandchildren, and by his half-brothers, Mark and Paul.