In 2020, when my dental colleagues and I organized the first oral health advocacy walk in our rural community in Ekiti State, Nigeria, people asked us questions on the streets. The most common was around why we were focusing on this issue at all. In my nine years as a dentist, I have seen […]
Latest articles
Bridging the global health divide: reflections of scholars in the global south
The agenda to decolonize global health has gained prominence internationally as a movement against the systematic dominance of former colonizing nations in research, policy and practice. A balanced composition of member representatives from different world bank regions seeks to address growing inequalities between nations. Scholarship programs have done a tremendous job harnessing resources for […]
India’s rapid urbanization demands healthy urban planning: an opportunity to revive the WHO healthy cities approach?
India has been transitioning from rural to quasi-urban due to rapid urbanization over the last two decades and is expected to continue in the coming years. It is estimated that 43.2% of India’s population, i.e., 675 million people, will reside in Urban conglomerates by 2035 (UN-Habitat 2022). While urbanization has provided economic growth and […]
At COP27: Address the health impacts of climate change, focus on local solutions
For many years, addressing climate change has largely hinged on macro-level government policies and market-driven approaches to halt emissions. While societal and economic shifts remain critical, we increasingly recognize the present, life-altering impacts of climate change on every aspect of life from food security and water access to health risks and economic challenges. Climate […]
Mental health crisis in war-torn country – Ethiopia
The 2019 novel coronavirus shocked the world beyond our wildest imagination. The severe impact of this pandemic hinted at the fragility of our public health policy, disaster preparedness, and global collaboration. This global crisis is not entirely unprecedented; different scientific community members have predicted this and warned us, with a minor or insignificant response. […]
Global Health’s Identity Crisis
Lately, the field of global health–led by journals like the BMJ Global Health that often set the discourse–has opened itself up for introspection. Researchers and writers from around the world have been critiquing the field, its theory and praxis. As encouraging as this attempt at introspection and critique is, it runs the risk of […]
No visa, No worries! Making global health conferences accessible for all
Imagine you are attending a panel held by the largest conference in your field and none of the panelists show up. This was the scene at AIDS 2022, a conference held in Montreal this past July, by the biggest AIDS advocacy organization – the International AIDS Society (IAS). The scene was captured in a […]
Equity at the intersection of tuberculosis and disability
One in seven people—more than one billion individuals worldwide—have some form of disability. One in four people, or 1.7 billion individuals, are infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the infectious agent that causes tuberculosis (TB). TB is a disease that causes visible and invisible disabilities, a disease whose treatment can cause disability, and a disease which disproportionately affects […]
An opportunity to step up: World Field Epidemiology Day
The COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing multi-country monkeypox outbreak have shown that competent field epidemiologists are needed worldwide, now more than ever. As we commemorate World Field Epidemiology Day, we are presented with another chance to reflect on the emergence and development of field epidemiology training programmes (FETPs) across the world. Many more people […]
The impact of the war on the healthcare system in Ukraine
On February 24, 2022, Russia commenced a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. The targeting of healthcare facilities has become part of the strategy and tactics of Russian invaders. The Ukrainian healthcare system was not exemplary even in peacetime. People suffering from chronic diseases often faced interruptions in the supply of medicines, doctors complained about […]