Blogs

Why youth activism in global health is needed more than ever

The world is experiencing one of the most turbulent periods of the twenty-first century. International cooperation on global health is declining, and major agencies—including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and UNAIDS—are grappling with  severe cuts. The second Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing, launched at the World Health Assembly in May 2025, points to concerning trends […]

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A quarter of the world’s population are adolescents: major report sets out health and wellbeing trends

The Lancet has released its second global commission report on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing. Adolescents are defined as 10- to 24-year-olds. The report builds on the first one, done in 2016. The latest report presents substantial original research that supports actions it recommends to be taken across sectors as well as at global, regional, country and local level. […]

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Vlogging tips for wannabe global health influencers

Don’t get carried away by the title of the blog, I am certainly no influencer, not by a long stretch but I wanted to grab your attention😊. When I had the career turning point of being part of the Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) Programme in 2014, I took to blogging and absolutely loved […]

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Dear President Ramaphosa, you are probably happy the youth are leaving so there’s no Arab Spring in SA

The future envisioned and fought for by the youth of 1976 is gone. Forty years later, you and your comrades have taken away the future of young South Africans. Dear President Cyril Ramaphosa and Comrades, I doubt you will read this, I doubt you will care, I doubt you will or can do anything, but […]

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Unpacking Gender Equality And How To Positively Contribute To Change – Dr Shakira Choonara

We often use the term “gender” but what does it mean? Often the terms “sex” and “gender” are commonly used interchangeably ( to mean the same thing) but there is a significant and important difference. Sex refers to biological differences between males and females. Gender refers to socially constructed characteristics of men, women, and other genders (e.g. transgender individuals). […]

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The opportunities and perils of the digital age for gender equality

Last month (6-17 March 2023) gender equality activists convened at the Sixty-seventh Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York and virtually. This year’s theme was centred on, “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.  This theme is under the banner of Sustainable […]

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Networking & Hobnobbing 101: The Road to Bogota, 7th Global Symposium on Health Systems Research

THEE programme of programmes has kicked off –  Emerging Voices Global Health #EV2022. We are also about a week away from the biennial Global Symposium on Health Systems Research #HSR2022. Post COVID-19 I think we’re all on shaky ground (or at least I am) when it comes to interacting with humans one again (gulp) or even having […]

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Medical xenophobia: It’s time to level the power imbalance in healthcare facilities

Dr Shakira Choonara is a multi-award-winning public health practitioner, activist and 2017 woman of the year in health. This piece is written in her individual capacity and not representative of any organisation. Let’s talk about the deep irony of discrimination and the intersectionality between class and migration. On the one hand, black patients who are […]

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Getting Help for Gender-Based Violence – Dr Shakira

Sometimes, we may find ourselves in situations where we convince ourselves that abusive situations are “normal”, and we don’t seek out help. In some cases, there are clear signs of abuse e.g., physical violence, but in other cases, it could involve someone trying to control everything you do, threatening, bullying you, forcing you to have […]

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How we can combat mental health stigma – by Dr Shakira

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression, anxiety and behavioural issues are the leading mental health conditions among teenagers. If you know someone who’s suffering from depression, they may not want to go about their daily tasks e.g. not eating, not sleeping, not speaking to anyone. Anxiety is having constant feelings of worry- those who have anxiety […]

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