Last month (6-17 March 2023) gender equality activists convened at the Sixty-seventh Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York and virtually. This year’s theme was centred on, “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. This theme […]
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A story of field-worker bags from Jharkhand, India
Field-workers are the anchors of any large-scale field-based research, especially when there are house-to-house visits for anthropometry, symptom-screening for diseases, and counselling. Their contribution to these studies cannot be more emphasized. Researchers look at data they bring, try, and make sense of the lives and diseases of the research participants, report, publish, present in […]
Operating for the earth and humanity: urging greener global surgical solutions
Surgery is a crucial medical intervention that saves lives and improves health outcomes for millions worldwide. It is a necessary component of modern healthcare, and access to surgery is necessary for many people to receive life-saving treatment. However, despite its importance, surgical systems have been identified as a significant contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, […]
African problems need African solutions; the crucial role of community level partnership-working
Much has been written in global health research about the need for meaningful North-South partnerships where problems are identified, and solutions devised and tested by those who live, love, and work in the communities where these problems exist. In this blog we provide a window into the story of a robust partnership as a […]
The incubator for success: how mentorship and career development can boost Nigeria’s public health sector
In March 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) released an alarming report that highlights the pressing health workforce challenges faced by several countries worldwide, with Nigeria being one of the most affected. The report sheds light on the country’s declining number of health workers despite its poor health indices, high burden of infectious diseases, […]
The doctor exodus – with focus on the Scandinavian context.
The last few years we have increasingly been reached by news of the nurse staffing crisis. Nurses are leaving the public health sector in drones and around the globe there is a growing wave of nurses strikes and protests. They demand better staffing, more humane workload, fairer wages, and rightfully so. From personal experience, […]
Faith leaders in the fight against the pandemic
A 2020 study by Afrobarometer revealed that across 34 countries in Africa, faith leaders are more widely trusted than any other public leaders. According to another survey by Pew Research Center, American adults who regularly attend religious services said they would trust their clergy’s advice on vaccines. Faith leaders, in general, command great respect […]
Hand in hand with traditional healers: benefits and challenges
The shaman and I alternate. He circles the mother in labour, burning plants and ringing bells to release the negative energy in the room. When contractions start, it is our turn: and eventually together we deliver the baby. Traditional healers are indispensable to indigenous communities in Indonesia. Even in severe medical cases, many patients […]
Transformative action with and for children and youth in street situations
As stakeholders, researchers, and young people with lived experience on the streets who have been participants in and beneficiaries of research and members of research teams, we believe in and support the critical role research plays in enabling evidence-based decision-making to transform the health and social and economic well-being of children and youth in […]
Reducing avoidable death – immediate care is essential
A short while ago I was in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, a country immersed in a longstanding civil war. I had moved fast to get there. A double bombing had been triggered in a populated area and nearly 500 victims had been involved. At least 25% had died, most before they reached hospital. […]