Category: General

Why Investors in the Pharmaceutical Industry Should Start Investing in Diseases Affecting Poor Countries.
Let’s discuss why investors in the pharmaceutical industry should start investing in drugs, therapeutics and medical devices aimed at treating, managing and ameliorating diseases affecting middle income countries in particular and the ‘global south’ in general.

Why everyone has fewer children today than ever before
Child survival. The dramatic improvement in child survival globally has brought babies per woman to as low as 2.2 in Bangladesh; 2.3 in India and 3.97 in Ethiopia. These are not anomalies. This is the norm. Furthermore, in cities, such as the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, the number of babies per woman is less ...

Watch this space on GHW:
This week on GHW we're dissecting the myth of overpopulation as a global health issue.

Mini Hiatus
I don’t like to say it. But I will be taking a tiny hiatus from writing. I am, as ever, dedicated to contributing to this discourse with well researched pieces. Thank you very much to all who read – my readership has grown so much recently and I am grateful to you all. I am ...

The “Thinker’s” Guide to becoming a useful citizen of the world.
So this is going to be a very different kind of post. (New month, new me! Right?) I’m going to share some of my ideas about global citizenship; and how I feel about navigating life in both a sensory, intentional and intellectual way. Let’s hope I don’t ruffle too many feathers. But then again, that ...

Learning from Macron : Why simplified and antiquated assumptions about the world are a direct threat to public health
I went back and watched the French president’s full speech at this month’s G20 meeting in Hamburg, in the original language, in an attempt to gain an understanding of the point he was trying to make. Aware that the noise of the ‘soundbite’ media can often drown a well-intentioned message. I also listened to the ...

Today’s Agenda: World Health Assembly General Elections
Today I report to you from the Palais du Nations in Geneva where a secret ballot is currently being held for the new Director General of the World Health Organisation. Margaret Chan’s decade tenure has drawn to an end. Dr Chan will leave a strong legacy without a doubt, as did many before her. And today’s ...

Challenges Facing the South African Pharmaceutical Industry
I am a firm and unapologetic believer that the partnership of NGOs, national and international health governance with the pharmaceutical industry, rather than its exclusion, is vital to the effective treatment of disease globally.

Hans Rosling: A Tribute
He was a clinician and statistician whose research and accessible insights changed the way we view the world, and our understandings of the complex relationships between development and health.

Coming soon: Rethinking Rabies. A Breakthrough in Management?
Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic disease of global concern, resulting in over 55 000 deaths annually. Whilst standard post-exposure treatments are estimated to prevent hundreds of thousands of fatalities, these are not without shortcomings. Recent immunological research into novel treatments has revealed promising results. More on this later this week. For now, have a stellar ...