Nasreen Jessani (EV 2014)   The EV4GH is more than a program – its an experience – one that is similar to that first intense overwhelming first year at university where you plan to go predominantly for the learning but realize that country you are in, the people you are meeting and the networks you are making will transcend all that! Wh...

We’ve heard it for decades. Women’s empowerment and gender equity are key components in fighting poverty, realizing human rights, building stable societies, sustaining peace and promoting health. Arguably, both directly and indirectly, women’s empowerment is a contributing piece to all 17 sustainable development goals. And yet, this is an ...

The gift of time and the gift of energy are truly worth having, to the extent that a power couple rightly listed   them as superpowers earlier this week. One cannot buy time, but one can harness energy and delegate responsibilities in an equitable manner to ensure the time available is used optimally and in a way that wellbeing is improved. So...

Zika virus is making headlines all around the world. In Latin America, Zika caused little less than a turmoil. In less than a year, perception veered from one more dengue-like discomfort to that of a devilish threat, particularly so since its possible association with microcephaly. Not unsurprisingly in times when health is increasingly seen as ...

A beaming Trump, surrounded by hundreds of fans:   “Oh boy. We love UHC. We love UHC. Thank you. Thank you. Oh this is a great place to be. Thank you very much. Great evening. We will be celebrating for a long time tonight. Have a good time. Have a good time, folks. You know we weren’t expecting—a couple of years ago, we weren’t expecting ...

Confronted with the myriad of (interconnected) crises in Europe, people all over the continent are increasingly starting to wonder whether the EU is still ‘fit for purpose’. The reluctant remaining fans acknowledge that “if the EU didn’t exist, it would probably have to be invented again” (to help deal with 21st century global challeng...

The number one cause of ill health is poverty, and power is the underlying dynamic determining why the poor are poor, and – let us not forget – why the rich are rich. That’s how I see things, and that’s why I’m interested in understanding power as a distal but pervasive determinant of health, notably at the level of health policy. Howe...

    “We don’t want anything. We don’t need a single rupee or tea but only do something on water and give us drinking water”. – Hiren(a pseudonym), male, village health, sanitation and nutrition committee members, rural northern India   While conducting an implementation research study in a marginalized area of northern India, on the imple...

  Last January 29-31, 2016, I was blessed to attend the Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) – Thailand’s annual global health event – for the third time, and I felt very elated that this year’s award for public health went to Sir Michael Marmot – a global health icon who of course needs no introduction. This news did not come as a s...