In this short blog I hope to explain how the two-week KEYSTONE course (23 February-6 March) in Delhi has transformed me by giving me a much wider field of vision. In these two weeks, it’s safe to say that I was pretty much “reborn” as a health policy and systems researcher, getting to know plenty of new lenses to understand the world and h...

I’ve been thinking a bit lately on how the post-2015 sustainable development (SDG) agenda could be promoted so that all people in the world would recognize it as their common agenda. I’ve come to the conclusion that, on top of a number of clear and hopefully measurable goals, targets and indicators, for an agenda as broad as this one, we als...

On April 10 and 11, all eyes in the Western Hemisphere will be on Panama City, hosting the Summit of the Americas. This event has been taking place every three years since 1994, and gathers around 34 members of the Organization of American States (OAS) to discuss present and future challenges of the region that comprises North, Central and South...

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...

I visited the movie theatre with my wife a few nights ago in Pune City, and we were excited to catch Kingsman – The Secret Service. It did not disappoint. With a healthy mixture of comedy, politically incorrect drama, and good action, it was quite a treat. Despite that, after exiting the hall, I was left with the same troubling feeling I got aft...

I usually refrain from commenting on a terrible human tragedy, and the crash of a German Wings plane earlier this week is certainly one beyond comprehension. However, this time I make an exception, being triggered by what very much sounds like an experience of synchronicity by a (not so distant) family member of mine around the time of the crash...

The last year saw the re-emergence of a century-old economic idea, namely that investing in health is (good) value for money. The Lancet Commission on Investing in Health (CIH), prompted by the 20th anniversary of the 1993 World Development Report, has argued that a Grand Convergence in health is possible by the year 2035. Global health 2035: a ...

There is quite some debate these days on whether the SDG agenda will turn out “transformative” or not, including in the health domain. Pundits differ (that’s why they’re called pundits), other observers say a paradigm shift is indispensable if real transformation and achievement of a broad agenda are to happen, and there is without any d...

The 20 KEYSTONE course participants are now back in their offices, campuses, clinics and research sites, scattered across India. They are beginning to digest the material presented over the two-week course (23 February to 5 March 2015), which began by asking “what is a policy?” and ended by examining the relationship between creating health ...