As a doctoral student learning about respect and dignity in maternity healthcare, I set out this blog drawing on my nursing and midwifery education in India, where I witnessed and experienced objectification, sexualisation and social degradation of nursing professions and practitioners. Rather than receiving compassionate nursing education, my classmates and I confronted sexual harassment, […]
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Scaling Up Solutions: The Need for a High-Impact Innovations List
In global health, many promising innovations struggle to reach their full potential, especially in resource-limited settings. To help address this challenge, the World Health Organization (WHO) and global health leaders could consider establishing a High-Impact Innovations List (HIIL)—a strategic tool to identify and elevate innovations with the greatest potential to improve health outcomes globally. […]
A Silent Emergency: The Neglected Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in Sierra Leone
Over the past decade, the Sierra Leonean public health community has dedicated immense resources to combating deadly infectious disease outbreaks, including Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, and COVID-19. This fight has coincided with efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality, tackle malaria, and strengthen healthcare systems. However, a quieter crisis is emerging: a rapid […]
Opinion: In the face of backlash against women’s rights, we need accountability
As 2025 unfolds, the fight for women’s rights is confronting unprecedented threats. Hard-won rights for women and girls are being rolled back at an alarming pace, from restricted access to abortion care in the United States to Afghanistan’s silencing of women in public life and Iraq’s introduction of a law allowing girls as young […]
Compassion Amidst Conflict: The Vital Role of Social Helpers for Elderly Women in Ukraine
February 2025 marked three years since the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine which has deeply affected the country and its people, leaving widespread hardship and destruction in its path. Elderly women, who represent over 60% of Ukraine’s aging population, are among the most vulnerable groups impacted by the conflict, yet their plight remains […]
Union Budget (2025-26) and comprehensive primary healthcare system: Another lost opportunity?
The Union Budget 2025-26, driven by a vision for developed India by 2047, has evoked mixed response across sections. In her speech, the finance minister emphasized that a developed nation is essentially its people, and acknowledged that high-quality, affordable, and comprehensive healthcare is indispensable to development. However, this idea has long been enshrined in […]
Global trends in maternal care call for a decolonization approach
Self-managed abortion, or abortion self-care, is when a pregnant person obtains an abortion without supervision by a healthcare professional. Safe abortion self-care requires: Access to accurate information on the dosing, timing, how to manage pain, and when to seek further help; Access to medicines of reliable quality; Confirmation of success, and options for contraception. Abortions, miscarriages and births at home have a […]
Second Outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) in Tanzania: Urgent Response and Public Health Interventions
Introduction On January 20, 2025, a joint statement by Her Excellency Hon. Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, confirmed an outbreak of Marburg Virus Disease (MVD) following the detection of a positive case among 26 tested samples. The […]
Confronting the Neglect and Normalization of Chagas Disease in Bolivia
When speaking with American and Bolivian doctors, global health students, and public health advocates alike about the persistence of Chagas disease in Bolivia, I frequently hear statements like, “there’s just not enough education on the disease” and “people don’t know how to protect themselves from it.” But, how do we know what people know, […]
Polio beyond a medical problem
Polio—a disease that was once believed to be close to eradication worldwide—has reemerged in Pakistan compared with previous years, according to World Health Organization. The country reported 70 cases of poliomyelitis due to wild poliovirus 1 in 2024. This emerging situation impacts decades of global and national progress. Vaccination drives are under obstruction, with […]