IWG members across the globe contribute their leadership, expertise, and voice every day towards the betterment and strengthening of both local and global health systems.
Here we highlight thought leadership and scientific publications organized through IWG member efforts.
Open Letter to G7 and G20 leaders: resolve global crises to secure our future
By Joy Muhia, Malvikha Manoj, and external collaborators
We write as a collective of young global health scholars and professionals who recognize the urgency of the challenges we face and the limited time we have to address them. We call on G7 and G20 leaders to act on commitments made and to strengthen global governance to address three interconnected challenges of our time: the COVID-19 pandemic, antimicrobial resistance and the climate crisis.
Global Health Is Broken, But Young People Plan to Repair It
By Madhukar Pai – IWG Members Joy Muhia and Malvikha Manoj are featured
“We cannot overcome these crises in silos – we need the collective. And this is where we fail – we don’t have the global leadership (or investment and prioritization) to inspire collective action to tackle these crises,” said Malvikha Manoj, an emerging public health systems and policy practitioner, and Chair at the International Working Group for Health Systems Strengthening.
Power Cuts in South Africa Wreak Havoc on Health Care
By Nadine Nanji
Power is a fundamental need in the modern world. The neglect or lack of a dependable electrical power system can destroy the economic growth of a country. An inadequate and unreliable supply of power can also take down a country’s health system
Who Gets to Govern in Global Health? The prevailing status quo threatens ‘Health for All’
By Malvikha Manoj and external contributors
Ultimately, there cannot be ‘health for all’ without leadership reflective of all. As we continue to witness leadership failures to improve the status quo, it is also worth asking, can we solve global health challenges by waiting for those in power to realize their privilege and relinquish their power? Or, can we do more to start claiming the room? As emerging professionals in global health, we are not prepared to stand by and inherit this status quo.
Bottom-Up Responses: Lessons from Cape Town’s Community Networks that inspired collective action in a time of crisis
By Lynn Bust, Philip Dambisya, Bronte Davies, Ramonde Patientia
Acknowledging the strengths of self-organising networks to address local issues first-hand is a critical step towards reimaging what a stronger, more responsive health system looks like in any context.
Another Code Red for Humanity: Global Vaccine Inequity
By Malvikha Manoj, Reiner Tamayo, Ghiwa Nasser Eddine, Magali Collonnaz, Marali Singaraju, Ramonde Patientia, Joy Muhia, Meg McCarty, Toluwani Oluwatola, Manik Inder Singh Sethi, Laura Neenan, and external collaborators
Global vaccine inequity is the canary in this coalmine, driven by colonial-era socio-economic and political orders. Whether the argument is ethical, economic, or epidemiological, we need to rise above vaccine injustice, if we are to be liberated from this pandemic.
You cannot practice public health without engaging in politics
By James Coughlan, Laura Haywood, Magali Collonnaz
Public health is inherently political, practicing it is complex and can be frustrating, especially under the harsh spotlights of social media. But if public health is to inform policy making, not just in relation to health, but to broader social and economic policy, then its practitioners need to embrace new perspectives.
Cape Town Together: Film Review
By Laura Haywood, Faye Roderos, Bronte Davies
The documentary is an inspiring story of hope and action in a time of catastrophe. It carries viewers through a multitude of emotions that anyone can attribute to their personal COVID-19 pandemic experience: a dance between fear, joy, frustration and confusion, with glimmers of hope and an overriding call to action
International Working Group for Health Systems Strengthening 