Health is a holistic and integral concept: defining it as the absence of disease or physical ailments is reductionist and limited. WHO defines health as as a complete state of well-being, which can only be achieved if human rights are fully respected, without distinction of any kind. Sadly, this concept, of which the relevance is global, does no...

I was fortunate enough to have just attended the World Health Summit! Berlin was a gracious host to this Summit, the first time the Summit collaborated with the World Health Organization as a joint sponsor. As a result, people came from around the world, committed to improving health as a global priority. It was a pleasure to watch so many peopl...

Earlier this year the World Health Organisation (WHO) published its report on world mental health which is designed to inspire and inform better practices in mental health, globally. Whilst the report illuminates the need for multisectoral action and collaboration between different stakeholders, the report targets decision-makers in the health s...

In case you’ve never heard of the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH), here’s a short refresher. In times gone by, some of us hoped that the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) framework would bring “Health for All” a bit closer. That didn’t happen. We lost ourselves even more than before in lifestyle and risk factor bubbles. The ...

Globally, medical students and doctors with disabilities have been denied their rightful inclusion. This also rings true for India, where almost 80,000 doctors graduate each year. It is estimated that so far 0.38% of 1614777 medical and dental aspirants registered as having a disability. Only 43% of these cleared the qualifying nationwide entran...

Uganda has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the second wave (June – August 2021). As of October 13,  Uganda had recorded 124,808 cases and 3,152 deaths. The social and economic impact has also been huge. And so, just like in other parts of the world, the COVID-19 vaccines have been seen as a ray of light, restoring so...

Blessed are those that get invited to High-Level summits, and even more so if they take place in Paris. On 5 and 6 October 2021, the French Minister for Solidarity and Health, Olivier Véran hosted a global mental health summit in the French capital, the 3rd edition already in a series of global mental health summits that aim to put mental healt...

In their recent  comment  titled “Beyond behaviour as individual choice: A call to expand understandings around social science in health research”, Nakkeeran and colleagues reminded the social science and health community about the need to scrutinize and address the underlying structural and institutional factors that perpetuate “behavio...

Norway plays a leadership role in the global pandemic response as co-lead of the Access to Covid-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) and chair of the World Trade Organization TRIPS Council. The country is also a key negotiator in discussions on new financing instruments for pandemic preparedness and response. In addition, Norway is one of the five coun...