The world was still amidst the making of new year’s resolutions when it was hit with the shocking news of the withdrawal of more than 90% USAID foreign assistance on January 20, 2025. At first, we thought Trump was just having a laugh and pulling the world’s leg with one of his classic bad taste jokes, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a...

Global health financing has entered a new reality, marked by drastic funding cuts from the US Government particularly under the renewed “America First” agenda of the Trump 2.0 era and a steady withdrawal of support from several donors over recent years. Development assistance for health already fell by 23.1% between 2021 and 2023, with 18 of 31 ...

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health threat, but its impact is particularly severe in Africa, where resistance infection rates and death are highest. In 2021 alone, there were 4.7 million deaths associated with AMR globally, with most of these deaths occurring in Africa, especially in West African countries, including Sierra...

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to represent the new Planetary Health Initiative of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) at the World Health Summit Regional Meeting  2025 in New Delhi – the first time the summit was hosted in South Asia. Gathering over 4,500 participants from 54 countries, the meeting brought toget...

Maternal health is defined as the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and post-pregnancy. Although some progress has been made in recent decades, it remains a significant public health problem in India.  Maternal mental health is obviously also part of maternal health, though it gets far less attention in my country. This article will ...

(A reflection on CSW69 and the need for transformative health responses in emergencies) As humanitarian crises multiply across the globe, from Gaza to Sudan to Yemen, the health needs of women and girls in conflict zones remain consistently underserved. Despite decades of global health and humanitarian interventions, current systems often fail ...

Despite growing global recognition of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) as a major health challenge, significant gaps remain in how the global NCD movement addresses the needs of conflict-affected populations, meaningfully engages youth leadership, and integrates a gender lens. These issues were particularly evident during the recent  4th Global ...

Governance, accountability, and leadership within health systems influence healthcare performance, equity, and resilience. Countries in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) and South-East Asia Region (SEARO) encounter intricate problems necessitating resilient governance structures, improved accountability systems, and augmented leadershi...

Immunization directly impacts health SDG 3 and contributes to 14 out of the 17 SDGs.   Although immunization is essential for reducing mortality, particularly among children under five,  and substantial progress has been made in recent decades, SDG3 immunization-related indicators continue to lag behind in sub-Saharan Africa. There are a number ...