Progress towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) has been slow in many low income countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). In these settings, poor communities continue to suffer from financial hardship due to catastrophic health expenditures and many people succumb to morbidity and premature death as a result of poor quality ...

As a young researcher, I think we all can identify with the opening paragraph of our thesis or research articles which state ‘According to the Millennium Development Goals-MDGs’… Like it or not, the MDGs filtered down from the global level to shaping the research agenda and influencing planning processes at health facilities. The Sustainab...

After several years of consultation, the SDG agenda was launched last week with much fanfare in New York.  Amongst the various health-related targets established by the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.c aims to: substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the heal...

I have been occupied (possessed?) by thoughts related to the planning of my doctoral studies in the broad area of environment and health. One major dilemma is: where should I pursue it? Besides not wanting to spend much time away from my family, I am also concerned about flying (or travelling long distances) – not because it is not enjoyable, ...

Between the years 2000 and 2001, Uganda experienced an Ebola outbreak in three of its districts. This outbreak was then considered to be the largest on record, infecting over 425 people. Of course, the mortality and morbidity rates of this outbreak have since been dwarfed by the more recent outbreak  in West Africa. Ebola epidemics can be quite...

The ongoing refugee crisis in Europe is described as the most important one since the second world war. That might be a bit of an overstatement, but with mass media and social media spreading 24 hours a day heartbreaking images, the global impact of this crisis is certainly very real. Later this week, the issue will also be a hot button-issue a...

For the past few years I have been involved in teaching Management to government doctors in India.  My research and interactions with government doctors have made me realize that improved work motivation is the single most important factor for organizational success and so I have gotten more and more interested in understanding work motivation....

Last week, I attended the MAGic2015 conference at the University of Sussex (UK). Social anthropologists convened to discuss “Anthropology and Global Health: interrogating theory, policy and practice”.  (I will spare you my talk which was about methodology – in case you’re interested, we can discuss it someday over a good glass of wine)....

The population of the world can be understood in terms of the “haves” and the “have-nots”. As has been pointed out by many, the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are intended for both developed and developing countries, unlike the MDGs which were largely focused on improving the situation in developing countries. In addition, in a...