I was on a conference marathon, attending 3 prominent international conferences in the area of Public Health (QHR2016, APHA2016 & HSR2016) and an intense training program (EV4GH) across several cities of the U.S. & Canada. It was during my visit to these places that I found numerous homeless people sitting along the street side with notes saying...

I hate to break it to all of you but after just a few days of “executive orders” (and linked nauseous pictures), it’s clear that with the Donald we can just about forget about global health, let alone planetary health. Sorry Richard. There’s just no way you can frame global health appropriately for the new times, in order to “get his o...

Next month, Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH), Kampala, Uganda and Nottingham Trent University (NTU), UK in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Uganda are organising a symposium on the contribution of Community Health Workers (CHWs) to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The symposium will ...

Despite recent positive rhetoric by the IMF, WB and the EC to reform conditionality policies, a gap persists between the declared intentions and the general practice. It is time for the three institutions to turn the rhetoric into reality.   The mandates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) include the obligation to f...

 A personal reflection on the EV4GH 2016 program   First Off, young energy, a diverse group of participants, and emotions The stage had been set: early November 2016, the Emerging Voices for Global Health 2016 (EV4GH)  program reached Vancouver, to train before the fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR 2016). The EV4GH progra...

During the Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) 2016 training and the Fourth Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (HSR 2016) in Vancouver, scholars discussed the inequities in health systems across the globe and deliberated the power and politics involved in structuring (or hampering) a just system. Empirically, several sessions expl...

I hate to say it, but the “president-elect” will soon be the real president of the US.  Can’t wait. So, while I, in line with many others in the ‘la la liberal’ world, await the climate disaster and nuclear Armageddon that might accompany Trump’s first (and hopefully also last) term, here are some tips and tricks for surviving the n...

A dramatic 2016 is finally over. In Venezuela, the year brought with it sinking health and social indicators, and 2017 does not bode well either. Previously-eradicated diseases such as malaria and diphtheria have resurfaced. Maternal and pediatric healthcare services are steadily collapsing, and malnourishment among children is on the rise. The ...

As 2016 came to an end, I was taking stock of notes I took through meetings and conferences I attended, including the Emerging Voices in Global Health 2016 training program preceding the Global Symposium on Health Systems Research 2016 in Vancouver. I came across quite a few ‘quotable quotes’: “seize the smaller opportunities you get, you ...