“Water is another matter, has no direction but its own bright grace” [from “Water” by Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet]. I turn on the kitchen tap but no water flows. Surprised, and a little confused, I go to the bathroom—nothing. The shower—dry. Then I recall the notice seen earlier in the hotel lift. Something in Spanish […]
Category: Global health
Saleyha Ahsan on providing medical care in Syria
It had been raining for three days solid before I arrived at Atme refugee camp, in North Syria. I was there with Rola*, a British Syrian doctor and medical co ordinator of UK registered charity, Hand in Hand for Syria, to review the camp’s medical centre. Children wearing sandals came to speak to us. I […]
Lifebox Q and A: El Salvador—education, education, education
A pulse oximeter in the operating theatre doesn’t make surgery safer; it’s the anaesthesia provider using the oximeter effectively who will save lives. For Lifebox, the BMJ’s Christmas charity, provision of education is inseparable from donating equipment. That’s why we’re excited to share a recent conversation with Sandra Leal the president of the association of medical […]
Farah Kidy on volunteering in India with the Institute of Rural Health Studies
After years of planning and plotting, I was finally getting ready to head off to India. This was going to be a voyage of discovery; I was going to explore my roots, live village life, and hopefully, “do a bit of good.” I arrived at Hyderabad’s shiny new airport—complete with a WH Smith and a […]
Andrew Moscrop: Primary healthcare in Nepal
I am willing it not to snow anymore. It has snowed for the past two days as I walked to the settlement of Simikot. There is an airstrip here, but the flights out of this remote north west corner of Nepal are even more weather dependent than our donkeys have been and I am keen […]
Seye Abimbola on what Nigeria could learn from China’s healthcare system
The look of surprise, bordering on cynical incredulity, was still there on the face of my fellow Nigerian “emerging voice” as our Chinese counterpart finished up his presentation introducing the Chinese health system during the 2012 emerging voices training programme in Beijing. He raised his hand to ask a question and I knew what it […]
Radhika Arora et al: Challenges and opportunities for female health systems researchers
Juggling personal and professional lives in search of the perfect balance is an art that women and men across the world, in different spheres of work, are familiar with. How does this play out in the life of a female health researcher? At the Health Systems Research Symposium held in Beijing recently, a group of […]
Is abortion worldwide becoming more restrictive?
In her feature on bmj.com, Sophie Arie has tried to answer the question, “Is abortion worldwide becoming more restrictive?” The answer, as expected, depends on what you’re looking at, and where you’re looking. The good news for women is that in recent decades laws have changed so that, if a woman’s life is at risk, […]
Lifebox Q and A: Rwanda—unmet surgical need and a surgical safety crisis.
Just 3.5% of the 234 million major operations taking place each year are in low-resource settings, often carried out in very dangerous conditions due to lack of resources and training. Lifebox Foundation, the BMJ’s christmas charity, works in more than 70 countries to improve the quality and safety of surgical care. They spoke recently with […]
Rakhal Gaitonde et al: The mortar that holds the BRICS together
We are young researchers from Brazil, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS). Given our collective experience as citizens and researchers in these countries, and deeper understanding gathered during our three weeks in Beijing as part of the “Emerging Voices” at the second Global Symposium on Health Systems Research, we would like to share our vision […]