Dear
Colleagues,
From
where I sit (yes, I mostly sit these days, not in sort of a zen way, but behind my laptop, actually, in not exactly the most
adventurous town in Belgium 😊), this
week was marked by two common themes.
World
AIDS Day,
themed ‘global solidarity, shared responsibility’ this year, led to a number of
pieces and reflections ‘drawing lessons from the HIV battle for the Covid
pandemic’. Kent Buse et al’s (Devex) op-ed, “COVID-19 and the neo-public health movement —
bringing back the public” (linked to the Call to reclaim comprehensive public
health), was perhaps the most prominent case in point. (If you haven’t
signed the call yet, please do so. )
Like probably most of you, I quite agree
with their conclusion: “The COVID-19 pandemic has reinvigorated the
conversation on what a 21st-century public health system should look
like. Only a science-based public health movement rooted in public interest,
based on the values of participation, transparency, and...
