Last week marked the annual  Canadian Conference on Global Health  (CCGH), bringing together academics, practitioners, and policy makers around the theme of governance – specifically, the power and politics that have become so characteristic of global health today. From October 17-19 ( with a side event on the 20th), the focus was on all cou...

This year, International Women’s Day (IWD) is a mixed one for us Canadians – in the world of global health policy and practice, we are heralded as a beacon for global health leadership on women, and for highlighting Canadian women’s leadership in global health. The ethos of feminism espoused by the current government was demonstrated ...

It’s almost that time again in Canada – the federal government is gearing up toward October, when the next election will be held. The scenario is already quite different from that of the last election in 2015, when public efforts to oust a right-leaning government whose policies had become largely unpopular, proved successful.  Strategic vo...

Well, that was interesting. The G7 countries (plus or minus 1—more on that later) and a handful of low and middle income countries (LMICs) met last week in Canada, and the world is still reeling from the drama. I hate to say it, but that’s what seems to happen these days, when you leave it up to politicians to solve the world’s problems....

Last week, in the run-up to the 71st World Health Assembly (WHA), the Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2) organized an excellent workshop on “40 years of the Alma-Ata: Translating Health for All into the Present and Future”, bringing together academics and civil society organizations from around the world.  We can only hope that the ideas discu...

A recent article by my friend and editor-in chief of BMJ Global Health, Seye Abimbola, on the North/South framing for development and health resonates more than ever. At the core of the development story is its history of conquest and domination, with colonial rulers helping themselves to cheap labour and natural resources. It has evolved, of co...

Canadian leadership in global health: sounds great, right? In Canada, we are well regarded internationally for UHC—anchored in the Canada Health Act, and implemented domestically in our 13 health systems (whether it is equitable is a question we are now grappling with—but more on that later). I’m told that the WHO considers Canada as a lea...

Last month was a busy month in the world of global health. The spotlight was on WHO’s 142nd Executive Board meeting, and the thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW) for 2019-2023, to be formally approved at this year’s (71st) World Health Assembly, if all goes according to plan. The Prince Mahidol Award Conference (PMAC) had its annual ga...

Two weeks ago Kent Buse and Sarah Hawkes, a couple sharing the pursuit of “understanding and social justice” published a commentary on the upcoming SDGs. We find the article very useful in that it provides a good review of how health will be positioned in the post-2015 development era, and more specifically on how a single health goal and re...