As I speak to my father in India from hundreds of miles away, I can’t help but feel the helplessness in his voice. He has been a practicing cardiologist for over 30 years. One amongst the doctors in a country which has a ratio of 0.8 physicians per 1000 people which falls drastically short of the standard value. Like every other physician he i...

No irony is in place when reflecting on a World Health Day in pandemic times. Hope is what I felt when I received an invitation for Word Health Day’s WHO webinar: ‘An urgent call to work together to tackle health inequities’. Delight is what I felt early morning April 7th, when WHO sent out in advance the accompanying brief ‘It’s time ...

Quality of Care (QoC) is at the center of the global Universal Health Coverage (UHC) drive, aiming to ensure a higher likelihood of desired health outcomes with the services provided. Nowadays, the use of incentives is increasing to improve health care performance, worldwide, but it’s fair to say that there’s still a long way to go, certainl...

Recently, on the 8th of February, International Epilepsy day was celebrated in more than 130 countries to raise awareness about the disease. Epilepsy is a chronic, non-communicable neurological disease, affecting approximately 50 million people worldwide, with 80% of them residing in low- and low-and-middle income countries. Many people with epi...

As co-chair of the ACT-A Facilitation Council, Norway has been a leading proponent of the need for global solidarity to achieve equity in access to Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics. By contrast, domestic debates about Norway’s ongoing vaccine roll-out have taken a distinctly populist and nationalist tone in recent weeks. While N...

After various stretches of lockdowns and the related dire political, social, and economic consequences, the world has welcomed the news that several companies – including Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer – are approaching an effective vaccine for Covid-19. Approximately 200 more are in the pipeline, of which 48 in clinical and 164 in pre-clin...

The Global Hunger Index (2020) recently ranked India 94th out of 107 countries, despite a declining undernourished population. Some of the stats speak volumes: the National Family Health Survey-4 (2015-16) found 35.7% children aged less than five years were underweight, and 38.4% were stunted. The need to address malnutrition is thus more urgent...

Warning: dark satire Someone, who was recently side chatting during a virtual meeting showered me with her frustration that the global health discussions are way too “healthy” these days. We should really get some unhealthy stuff mixed into these, she said, as humans have done for forever, for entertainment. I agreed with her, especially as ...

It has been one year since the Government of India declared all of rural India – Open Defecation Free (ODF) – a landmark moment for sanitation in India. This achievement is considered a success of the government’s flagship programme – Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) (which translates to Clean India Mission). With World Toilet Day coming up n...