As infections surge again, and countries across the world face wave after wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination is being touted as the most effective way of reducingboth deathsand hospitalizations. For good reason. Yet, in spite of efforts by governments to facilitate COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and uptake and in so doing, improve vacci...

“I think (others do not think, or do not think properly), therefore I am (others are-not, lack being, should not exist or are dispensable) “ (Maldonado-Torres’ critique of French philosopher René Descartes, 2007:252) This well-known quote from Descartes personifies some of the ways that have framed and informed our approaches to global h...

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the first (COVAX) vaccine doses were administered on the 1st of March 2021,  in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana more in particular.  Kenya followed closely with its first batch of COVID-19 vaccine (AstraZeneca) arriving on the 3rd of March, bringing a ray of hope in a dire pandemic situation. Since then, vaccine donations have ...

There has been much attention to health systems resilience in recent years – remember that it was the epitome of the 2016 HSR global symposium. Since the arrival of the pandemic, it has become even more prominent and is now increasingly also linked to pandemic preparedness and response. So yes, here’s another editorial on this somewhat gloss...

On 5th September 2021, over 500,000 farmers gathered in Muzzafarnagar, a town located 130 km from New Delhi, to protest a set of three legislations or “farm laws”, passed by the government last September. This gathering or “Mahapanchayat” is the latest in what can be considered one of the longest and most powerful mass mobilizations in ...

I turned 65 in July, and have shifted since August 1st to the status of (young) retiree. That is indeed the rule at the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, and for that matter also at Belgian universities. Not that I would have considered to stay longer (even if it were possible). I was/am actually looking forward to more time for o...

Benefit finding (looking for positive aspects while living through a difficult situation) is a skill we had probably practiced before, but COVID-19 pushed us all to identify good things coming out of a very difficult season for humans on planet earth. Benefit finding was a key concept as we implemented a resilience programme with young people li...

As U.S. and other NATO troops are leaving Afghanistan, and the macro-economic situation deteriorating rapidly,  the country finds itself once again on the brink of collapse. Echoes of desperation, fear, helplessness, and chaos fill the air as the Taliban take back control and are cracking down on individuals they believe to have helped or worke...

Most of the focus in the debate on COVID-19 vaccination has been on the global aspects so far. Global vaccine inequity, vaccine nationalism, rich countries failing to deliver on their pledges to the COVAX scheme,  a lack of convincing G7 and G20 commitments (and donations) at one summit after another, tricky Trips waiver negotiations, recently a...