The second Women Leaders in Global Health (WLGH) Conference is being held on 8-9 November 2018. The conference is committed to “celebrating and supporting women in global and public health” and “will highlight emerging and established women leaders in global health”, with a strong focus on mentoring. (1) While we appreciate and support the initiative, we […]
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Beyond profit and convenience: towards humanitarian dedication and conceptual coherence in Global Health
The growing presence of China as a forceful proponent in Global Health is beginning to receive proper attention. There can be no doubt that the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI) of China has begun to define the range of realistic future scenarios for individual and concerted action. These scenarios should simultaneously account for both universalizing and […]
Weaponising the ‘Fog of War’: The challenge of fake news for humanitarian actors in conflict zones
“In war, truth is the first casualty.” – Aeschylus (Ancient Greek playwright & soldier) A recently released report on the Yemen conflict utilises a range of data sources to illustrate the Saudi coalition’s targeting of civilian, agricultural and fishing infrastructure, actions presumably intended to worsen the country’s existing humanitarian crisis. At the time of writing, […]
The WHO Astana Declaration: Where lies the future of primary health care?
Last week, governments of UN member states, academics and the international health community were hosted by WHO and the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan in Astana to reaffirm their commitment to universal primary health care. This pledge was first pronounced 40 years ago in Almaty on a Declaration that moulded the way primary healthcare works […]
Health literacy in four decades: from clinical challenge to a global social movement
The health literacy field is developing exponentially. Four decades ago it was alluded in an educational policy statement and later considered a challenge for filling in medicial forms and a barrier for communication and clinical practice. It was an issue discussed by few. Today, the collective health literacy actions characterise a global social movement on […]
Extending the Practical Approach to Care Kit to Community Health Workers
It’s a bright spring day with a light breeze carrying at times the fishy odours of a working harbour and at others the salt-fresh clean of the ocean. Across the bay winds the curves of Cape Town’s famous Chapman’s Peak drive. With views like that, this surely be must some of the most valuable real […]
Toxic masculinity: a poor excuse for poor global health
In 1978 the relatively unknown Australian Ken Warby fitted his boat, the Spirit of Australia, with a military surplus Westinghouse jet engine bought at an auction, and went on to set the world water speed record reaching 511 kilometres per hour. The record has lasted for 40 years; dozens of people have died chasing their […]
What drives commitment for nutrition?
Unhealthy diets and poor nutrition are among the greatest global health and development challenges we face today. Together they affect at least one in three people and no nation is untouched. The United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition 2016-2025 (the Nutrition Decade) provides a catalyst for aligning actions to improve nutrition everywhere, within a […]
Global health governance – to support the new or to strengthen the old?
The common norms and rules-based order on which international cooperation has been based for seven decades are increasingly being challenged. The rise of new economic powers since the post-1945 creation of the Bretton Woods institutions – including the establishment of the World Bank in 1944 and World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1948 – has caused […]
Poised to strike: global plan to tackle snakebite demands urgent action
Imagine it is twilight and you are walking back to your village after a long day working in the fields. Suddenly you feel acute pain in your calf. Out of the corner of your eye you see a flash of movement: a snake. Was it a cobra? A viper? Or a less harmful species? You […]