Scoping review identifies growing use of political economy analysis to help design fairer and more effective health systems
A new review has found that understanding politics, power and institutions is essential for explaining why some health policies succeed while others fail, highlighting the growing role of political economy analysis in…
A new study examining Iran’s health policymaking under prolonged economic sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of anticipating risks and building resilience into health policies before crises occur
A new study examining Iran’s health policymaking under prolonged economic sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic highlights…
New research shows improving nutrition could prevent child stunting, reduce chronic disease, and protect national income in two countries facing different stages of the nutrition transition.
Unhealthy diets are now recognised as a leading contributor to global ill health, linked both to persistent undernutrition in early life…
By Dr Catharina Boehme, Officer-in-Charge, WHO South-East Asia Region
PM Modi warns of the threat from antimicrobial resistance
In December 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a timely warning about one of the most serious yet under-recognised global health threats: antimicrobial resistance (AMR). PM Modi alerted…
By Manuela Colombini1 and Satya Shrestha2
1: Department of Global Health and Development, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom
2: Nursing and Midwifery Program, Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Nepal
When we talk about domestic violence (DV), it is not just a private matter confined within…
By Alastair Ager, NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Health in Situations of Fragility, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.
There’s a growing interest in the concept of fragility. Initially just a new label given to ‘failed states’ to foster a more respectful form of engagement with countries marked by deep…
By Bridget Pratt (University of Melbourne)
The status quo: Communities lack a say
Community engagement is gaining prominence in global health research. Growing consensus about the importance of community representation and participation for ethical research means research institutions and funding bodies now promote, or even mandate, community engagement as an…
By Michael R. Snyder (Johns Hopkins University)
With the five-year anniversary of the West Africa Ebola outbreak declaration approaching, now is an appropriate time to reflect on progress made in improving global public health preparedness. Has the international community learned the lessons of the 2014-16 Ebola epidemic? What…
By Adam Bertscher, Leslie London & Marsha Orgill (all authors University of Cape Town)
Alcohol is contributing to a growing global burden of non-communicable diseases. Some of these diseases are referred to as ‘industrial epidemics’ because they are the result of social or commercial determinants of health. In other…
By Raphael Lencucha, PhD (McGill University), Jeffrey Drope, PhD (American Cancer Society) and Ronald Labonte, PhD (University of Ottawa)
Government policy and tobacco
Why do some governments continue to support the production of harmful commodities? This question is most vexing to those striving to control what is one of the…
