It’s Thursday evening in Tokyo and the High Level session of the UHC Forum just closed, with Japanese calligraphy celebrating the ‘Health for All’ slogan. Over the last days,” Tedros” and “Jim” were at the centre of events, applauded as popstars, framed by a different celebrity ‘band’ at each session: Secretary General Gutierre...

On the 12th of December 2012, the United Nations passed a resolution calling for all nations to provide affordable and quality health care for all their citizens. Since then, December 12 has been designated the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day. This year, to mark the fifth anniversary of this important resolution, various groups have organise...

I always had trouble convincing my friends from the North how important an issue like responsiveness of human resources for health (HRH) is. I understand, though, it is very difficult for them to assess news articles like ‘Is there a cure for bad behavior: the toxic demeanor of many Bangladeshi doctors is a disease unto itself’, or ‘Patien...

This morning, I learnt from a somewhat similar-minded but slightly older colleague that the School of Life has ‘cheerful despair’ badges. They seem to sell well in our times. On a chilly December day like today, I tend to think we could use a few of these in global health as well. Indeed, our world has become so unpredictable and looks so d...

Earlier this month, I was shocked to see a headline in a leading national newspaper  stating how a recent doctors’ strike against the proposed medical establishment amendment bill in Karnataka had resulted in the death of six patients. Karnataka, one of the southern states in India, was first in the country when it announced its plan of rolli...

On 22nd and 23rd November 2017 at a special session of the Executive Board (EB) held in Geneva, WHO’s new Director-General (Dr. Tedros) presented and received comments from the Executive Board and other Member States on the organization’s draft strategy document – the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW). The GPW is meant to be a roadmap f...

2017: A year with multiple hurricanes of category 4-5 devastating Texas, Florida and the Caribbean islands; monsoon floods displacing millions and killing thousands in South Asia; record wildfires burning ~8.5 mn acres of land in the western US, leaving people around Oregon, Washington and California choking on dangerous levels of smoke; and Del...

Loss of freedom of mobility makes me uncomfortable and claustrophobic. A few years ago, on my first day as a student in Europe, I took a walk at 0100hrs. Not because I had to be someplace. But because I could. Of course. No place, and no one is immune from sexual abuse. As the Harvey Weinstein saga of sexual harassment unfolded over a month ago ...

On a cold Monday (November 13th), I had the opportunity to attend the 2017 Academy of Medical Sciences and The Lancet International Health Lecture, by Dr. Samuel Myers, who is Director of the Planetary Health Alliance and affiliated to the Harvard School of Public Health. The lecture took place in London, one of my favourite cities. In the very ...