What Drives Me? My Family Curse
Kerala, India in the 1920s. My grandmother was giving birth in what I can only imagine was a hot and unventilated birthing room with low-skilled attendants performing her blood transfusion. That day doomed our family. Fast forward 65 years to the mid-1980s. My father, a pediatrician working in Saudi Arabia, was the youngest of seven […]
Harlem: Social Determinants of Health, Asthma and the American Dream
Harlem By Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode? […]
African Development and Public Health
A month ago, I attended the African Development Conference hosted by the Harvard Kennedy School of Policy. The conference’s theme was, “Looking South – Moving Forward – Fostering Development collaboration within the Global South.” The main emphasis throughout the conference was private public partnerships, talent and resources for development within the African continent. The conference […]
Health policy activism
Policy activism is now gradually appearing in the public health lexicon. Though still embryonic in professional practice, there appears to be a modest conceptual foundation that supports many of today’s public health policies and programs designed for expansive community engagement. Like many newly minted Masters in Public Health (MPH), I was also lost when I […]
Naloxone: Another Tool in the Toolbox
Every day in the United States, 120 people die as a result of drug overdose. Deaths from drug overdose have been rising steadily over the last two decades and are now the leading cause of injury death in the United States [1]. In particular, deaths from overdose involving heroin have almost quadrupled from 2000 to 2013, with […]
“Invest in the future: Defeat malaria” – Using Bicycles to Combat Malaria
Malaria continues to be the most serious mosquito-borne disease in the world today with the greatest burden occurring across sub-Saharan Africa. In this region alone, it is estimated that more than 250 million cases are recorded and nearly one million deaths each year (Kelly-Hope and Mckenzie, 2009). In Zambia, the burden of malaria was estimated […]
A journey to achieving a dream!
Throughout my childhood I dreamed of being a medical doctor and being able to save the lives of people suffering from diseases. I had a special interest in cardiology, hoping to become a heart surgeon. I was encouraged by my parents and teachers, and told that all it takes is hard work and determination to […]
Sharing Your Narrative Out of Respect for Those You Serve
Zainab Salbi took the stage at Chelsea Piers in New York City with such poise and grace. With light streaming in the large windows, I sat with the rest of the 2014-2015 class of Global Health Corps fellows in awe – drawn to her experience as she spoke with honesty and humility. Her words had […]
Minding the Gap
As a child, I remember carrying around my favorite Disney characters’ story books, like Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. I carried them not because I wanted to read, but to look at the pictures of the beautiful princesses in their pretty dresses and shoes. I am now an adult and I still find reading books a […]
Out of the Office
In February I had the privilege of traveling to Liberia. While there I worked on a number of projects with Last Mile Health’s staff on the ground, and in doing so strengthened our long-term communication and solidified some great friendships. But more importantly, I was able to see Last Mile Health’s programmatic work in action. […]