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 ...

As of January 19th, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has documented more than 100,000 cases and 3,445 deaths from COVID-19. That is bad enough for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) which has about 6 million inhabitants. Unfortunately, that’s not all, however. While the COVID-19 “natural disaster” has been unfolding in the region, ...

An alarming outbreak of  meningitis has been gripping the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) since mid-April. Reminiscent of the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the lack of information and transparency surrounding the disease has hindered efforts to understand its causes and the affected population. Informal reports suggest that the...

In a recent blog, Hellowell and colleagues express concerns about the ability of the private health market to survive the shock of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). They call on governments to support the private sector in mitigating the risks imposed by the COVID-19 crisis. WHO’s recommendation for a ‘whole-of-society- ...

As of May 15, 2020, The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq has confirmed 397 COVID-19 cases and five deaths. While this number might seem low, the outbreak has serious political ramifications for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The outbreak triggered a reactionary response among authorities in KRI. Recognising that decades of au...

Doctor Shayan Askary was one the many doctors who decided to boycott work and demand better working conditions through a protest that started on 25 March  2018, in the streets of Erbil in Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI). What she and her colleagues did not expect was the violence encountered from the authorities refusing to respond to their dema...

Mid-afternoon, week-II of the Emerging Voices for Global Health program, I look at the participants around me at the 2016 Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) and notice that a policymaker who just arrived and I are the only ones from the Middle East and North African (MENA) region The limited participation from the MENA region is intriguin...