During the COVID-19 pandemic, the term ‘supply chain disruption’ rose to considerable prominence. Many private sector and for-profit development partners regularly use it to explain their underwhelming performance in fulfilling key global health contracts. However, a closer examination of these ‘humanitarian warriors’ annual reports reveals ...

Last week WHO declared, in a twist of irony, the end of the  COVID-19 global health emergency on European Tourism Day (5 May).  As you might recall, the region was the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic for quite some time. Moreover, Europe accounts for approximatively 1 in 2 international tourists in the world. While thankfully the emergency st...

I come from a tribal area in the northern part of India, but I grew up in a town that was about a hundred kilometres away. Throughout my life, I had heard and read about the difficulties people face in accessing healthcare services in  my tribal region which increased during the winter season due to heavy snowfall, which often results in it bei...

A small fish swims up to an older fish and says: “I’m trying to find this thing they call “the ocean”.” The older fish says, “The ocean? That’s what you’re in right now.” “This?” says the young fish. “This is water. What I want is the ocean!”  When looking for a catchy introduction, I remembered the previous dialogue fr...

As most of you will know, West Africa is no stranger to epidemics. In recent history, the subregion has seen several infectious disease outbreaks of epidemic proportions, with cholera, measles, and yellow fever among the most prevalent outbreaks. And in 2014, of course, there was the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra ...

Hassan (pseudonym) left Guinea in 2016, after saving the money necessary to make his way to Europe. His whole family contributed. He crossed the Sahara Desert on foot, but was arrested by the Algerian police at the Moroccan border and imprisoned. Again, his family contributed to pay for his release. From Algeria he crossed to Morocco, where afte...

Malaria remains a persistent global health crisis, with Africa bearing the greatest burden. With a staggering 95% of (global) malaria cases and 96% of deaths, the disease poses a disproportionate burden on the continent. Despite significant strides in prevention and treatment, malaria still claims countless lives, underscoring the urgent need fo...

This week’s Fifth Global Forum on Human Resources for Health in Geneva concluded with a powerful message from Dr. Tedros, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), reminding us that health and care workers deserve more than just thanks. “They deserve quality education and training, they deserve safe working conditions, the...

Every country in the world is responsible for providing services, security and sustaining wellbeing for all its people. As a consequence, all nations have policies that focus on ensuring the provision of healthcare services for their population, even if in many countries that remains a work in progress. A well-functioning health care system is c...