The experiences described in this blog are drawn from ongoing ethnographic fieldwork conducted among homeless women with maternal and child health concerns. This is from a project entitled Promoting Evidence-informed Interventions for Communities of the Homeless through an Action Network with the George Institute for Global Health, India. I have...

Last week, a “rate” list from a leading for-profit private hospital in Delhi went viral on social media, probably because of the sheer obscenity of the charges that it displayed. The costs for a bed, as per the list, ranged from Rs. 25,000 (about $330) per day in a general ward (no private room, without isolation or ventilator) to Rs. 72,000...

The world is reeling in the throes of its greatest pandemic since the Spanish Flu of 1918. Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19), a ( mainly) respiratory illness caused by a novel coronavirus has disrupted human lives, economies and governments on a global scale, and the end is not in sight.  By now, there are over 7 million (confirmed) cases and more ...

Early May, a review paper on Ebola published in the New England Journal of Medicine triggered some controversy, being authored by researchers from high-income countries only. Among  other things, the review reminded us that safe burial practices that respect cultural values are needed to prevent Ebola transmission during traditional funerals. Th...

Policymaking is an inherently political process marked, more often than not, by ambiguity, negotiations and shifting priorities. Policy actors (elected leaders, bureaucrats, technocrats, civil society activists, lobbyists, media…) play an important role in agenda setting and policy formulation – stages we will focus on in this article. Each ...

It’s that time of the year again. Happy European spring days where one would usually see country delegates and the global health crowd gathering at the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva. A bit like cows entering a meadow after a year in their stalls. Each year at the WHA, country delegates come together to agree upon some sensitive ...

If the world needed proof of international cooperation in the midst of the ever-widening gulfs between increasingly nationalistic democracies, it got one – the first ever virtual World Health Assembly that concluded 19th May. Not only did capitals express solidarity (many, dialling in from cloistered chambers), there was a resounding support for...

The novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic has sent the world into a state of panic leading, among others, to closure of international borders and the threat of another global economic meltdown. The global health security crisis also tests the resilience and functioning of health systems all over the world. In less than five months, COVID...

At the time of writing this article, more than 4 million people globally have fallen prey to the novel Corona virus, with over 248 thousand deaths, and the end is not in sight. According to the latest WHO situation report (as of May 11), the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has entered the community transmission phase of the pandemic with 18, 198 conf...