About Us

Health Policy Watch reports on the leading global health policy challenges & trends, linking journalists in global North and South on an independent, non-profit platform. Sign up here for daily email alerts. Follow us @HealthPolicyW.

Health Policy Watch provides open-access reporting that serves all stakeholders in the global health policymaking community by enhancing transparency and informed engagement.

Working on a “networking” paradigm for health policy coverage, Health Policy Watch is partnering with professional, accredited journalists reporting from key regional policy hubs across Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America so as to better incorporate and advance local perspectives on top global health policy issues. Health Policy Watch aims to offer:

  • Critical coverage that goes beyond fast-breaking health emergencies to reflect research, policy and governance debates and developments;
  • Ensure regional trends, challenges and debates are reflected in global processes;
  • Advance a holistic approach to breaking news in a global health community where issues are often addressed by distinct professional sub-communities working in silos;
  • Provide a virtual meeting place that links the dots and brings a disparate community into closer communication.

Editorial Team

Health Policies network of correspondents includes journalists reporting from Geneva, New York City, Nairobi, Delhi, Washington DC and elsewhere.

Elaine Ruth Fletcher, Editor-in-chief (Geneva)

Fletcher is a veteran news correspondent as well as a former editor at the World Health Organization (WHO), where she co-founded and managed the BreatheLife campaign on air pollution, climate and health (www.breathelife2030.org). Ms. Fletcher also served as a managing editor for the UNICEF/UNDP, World Bank WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases (TDR), reporting on trends in diagnosis and treatment of malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and other neglected diseases of poverty, as well as issues of access to essential medicines and health technologies.

Prior to that, Fletcher served as a correspondent for major newspapers such as the San Francisco Examiner and Newhouse News Service, including first-hand reporting from the Middle East on the impacts of poverty, conflict and unsustainable development on the health of women, children and other vulnerable groups.

Fletcher is a co-author or editor of over three dozen peer-reviewed journal articles and WHO reports on various aspects of health and development, including: environmental management of vector borne disease; maternal and child health; environmental risk factors for non-communicable diseases; urban health, air pollution and sustainable development; traffic injuries; climate change and health; health equity; and access to health services.

Kerry Cullinan, Deputy Editor (Cape Town)

Kerry Cullinan is a multi-award-winning South African journalist who ran Africa’s first independent non-profit health news agency, Health-e News, for 14 years. The South Africa-based agency, founded during the country’s unfolding HIV crisis, supplied health news to a range of clients across television, print, radio and multimedia platforms.

She is the previous health editor for openDemocracy, a global online platform based in the UK. 

 

Regional Correspondents and Contributors

Disha Shetty (India)

Disha Shetty is an award-winning science journalist based in Pune, India. She reports on climate, health, women, and development issues. Disha holds an MA in Science, Environment and Medicine Journalism from Columbia University in New York, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, India.

 

Paul Adepoju (Ibadan, Nigeria)

Paul is a Nigeria-based scientist and freelance journalist with extensive experience covering Africa’s development, science, health and tech ecosystems for leading international media outlets.

 

 

Josephine Chinele (Malawi)

Josephine Chinele is a Malawian Multi-Award Winning international investigative Journalist. She is a passionate science journalist and has reported extensively on health, human rights and social justice.  

One of the stories she published with us on the use of drone technology in delivering Polio vaccines received an honourable mention at the 2023 Science for Africa Foundation’s inaugural Africa Science Journalism Awards. The competition aims at recognising and honouring outstanding reporting on science and development in Africa.

Jyoti Pande Lavakare (Delhi, India)

Jyoti Pande Lavakare is an independent journalist focusing on environmental health issues, and a former financial and business reporter for Dow Jones Newswires, The Business Standard and India Ink. her first book, “Breathing Here is Injurious To Your Health” is due to be published by Hachette in 2020.

 

 

Kizito Makoye Shigela  (Tanzania)

Kizito Makoye Shigela is a seasoned environmental journalist, media researcher, and fixer hailing from Tanzania, whose unwavering commitment to his craft has garnered him recognition and acclaim worldwide. With a strong passion for health and environmental issues, he has dedicated his career to shining a spotlight on pressing ecological concerns and their profound impact on human and policy implications. Throughout his extensive tenure in the field, Makoye has contributed significantly to various international news organizations, leaving an indelible mark on the realm of heath and environmental journalism.

Chetan Bhattacharji (India)

Chetan Bhattacharji writes primarily on climate, air pollution and sustainability issues, and he’s also a consultant on climate comms strategies with several organisations. He has been a journalist for 30 years, mostly at India’s NDTV network where he was senior managing editor till mid-2023 in charge of the newsdesk and editorial lead. Alongside that, for over a decade he’s worked extensively on air pollution and climate change be it for broadcast and digital coverage or policy analysis.

Jeffrey Moyo (Zimbabwe)

Jeffrey Moyo is an award-winning Zimbabwean freelance journalist, a New York Times freelancer who has also worked for other international media outlets, including The Globe and Mail.

 

 

Rahul Basharat Rajput 

Rahul Basharat Rajput is a multimedia journalist based in Pakistan. He holds Bs (Hons) degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from Pakistan. In 2018 he was awarded International Center for Journalists fellowship in USA and in 2021 China International Press Communication fellowship in China. Since 2016 he is reporting on the issues of public health, climate change, human rights, education, politics and political economy.

 

Kate Okorie (Nigeria)

Kate Okorie has extensive experience reporting on developments within Africa’s public health and environmental sectors, including climate change. Her reports have appeared in News24, Kenya’s The Star and HumAngle, among others. She holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Media and Communications at the Pan-Atlantic University.

 

Svĕt Lustig Vijay

Svĕt holds a Masters in Public Health at the London School of Tropical Hygiene and Medicine. During his studies, he researched the promise of psychedelic-assisted treatment at a drug treatment centre in the Amazon rainforest. Prior to his studies, Svĕt contributed to programs addressing the social determinants of health with Partners in Health in Peru. Svĕt works with ShareAction, a UK-based charity that champions responsible investment, on the commercial determinants of health. As a contributing reporter for Health Policy Watch, Svĕt works on the commercial determinants of health, mental health, and the intersection between climate and health. Svĕt was born and bred in Geneva, with Czech and Indian heritage.

Strategic Communications

Maayan Hoffman 

Maayan Hoffman is the CEO of Hoffman Communications, a strategic communications company. She has nearly 30 years of experience as a journalist and strategic communications consultant, leading content, marketing, and strategy teams at top-tier corporations and NGOs. Her work has been featured in publications such as the Washington Post, American Spectator, Fox, The Hill, and Roll Call.

 

Interns and Fellows

Sophia Samantaroy (Washington, D.C)

Sophia is a graduate student in Epidemiology at the University of Rochester, where she researches the intersection of environment, infectious diseases, and social determinants of health. Her interests have led her to conduct community-engaged environmental health research to reduce chemical exposures. Sophia is passionate about addressing the health manifestations of injustice; she leads efforts to improve food security through the Food Recovery Network. A recent graduate with a BA in History and a BS in Environmental Health, Sophia interests span the global and development dimensions of environmental health, infectious disease, and policy. 

Governance

Health Policy Watch received start-up support from the Loterie Romande and the Camino Stiftung, and launched its website in early 2019.

Based in Geneva, Health Policy Watch is a project of Global Policy Reporting, a non-profit association established under Swiss law, which also houses Intellectual Property Watch.  The work of Health Policy Watch is overseen by a Board of Directors. Board members serve in a personal and voluntary capacity for 2 year, renewable terms. We are in the process of expanding our Board to include among our other noted representatives, more diverse membership from the global public health community.

Board of Directors

About us Carlos Dora

Dr Carlos Dora, MD, PhD. HPW Board Chair – President, International Society for Urban Health; former WHO Coordinator, Public Health and Environment

Carlos Dora is the president at the International Society for Urban health and former coordinator at the Public Health and the Environment Department at the World Health Organization (WHO), where he led work on health impacts of energy, transport, and housing sector policies; health impact assessment (HIA) and managing health risks and benefits. Dora also led the development of a forward-looking urban health initiative aimed at enhancing cities’ capacity to derive health co-benefits from urban policies as well as WHO’s work on health and sustainable energy policies; and a “Health in a Green Economy” series focusing on health benefits from climate change mitigation. He previously worked at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; the WHO Regional Office for Europe, with the World Bank, and as a senior policy adviser to the WHO director general. At the beginning of his career, he managed primary health care systems in Brazil, also practicing clinical medicine. He earned his MSc and PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His publications cover the health impacts of sector policies, health impact assessment, and health risk communication.

About us Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck

Dr Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck (Chair Emeritus and Founding Member) – Executive Director, Forum on Trade, Environment & the SDGs (TESS) 

Dr. Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck is the Executive Director and Founder at the Forum on Trade, Environment, and SDGs. She is currently supporting negotiations on a global treaty on plastics. Previously, she has worked and published on issues of sustainable development, trade and intellectual property for a range of non-governmental and international organizations. Deere-Birkbeck was previously a senior researcher at the Geneva Graduate Institute’s Global Governance Centre as well as a senior research associate at the Global Economic Governance Programme at the University of Oxford. Carolyn has also served as the Assistant Director of the Rockefeller Foundation responsible for grant making in the area of global economic policy and sustainable development. Carolyn holds a DPhil (Oxon) and an M.A. (SAIS) in International Relations.

 Dr Krishna Bose, PhD, MPH – Senior Associate, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, adolescent & youth sexual and reproductive health.

Dr. Krishna Bose is a public health scientist and researcher with extensive experience in adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health with a focus on monitoring and evaluation of ‘real world’ program experience in low- and middle-income countries. Dr Bose served as a senior technical advisor at Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, for a Gates-funded Adolescent and Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Program. Following her retirement, she remains a senior associate. Earlier, Krishna served for two decades as a scientist, technical officer and international consultant in the WHO Adolescent and Youth Health and Development Program. Her work included supporting national governments, local UN offices, NGO partners and Adolescents and Youth. Prior to joining WHO, Krishna served at UNICEF Headquarters and before that as a US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Services (EIS) officer, where her focus was on smoking and other adolescent risk behaviors. Dr. Bose holds a PhD in chemistry from Carnegie-Mellon University and an MPH from the University of Michigan.

Dr Mukesh Kapila, MD, PhD – Author, consultant and former under-secretary general of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Dr Mukesh Kapila has held multiple senior posts in the international health and humanitarian sector, including as director of WHO’s Department of Health Action in Crises (now Emergencies); under secretary general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and UN Resident and Humanitarian coordinator, Sudan. He also led major health, development and humanitarian initiatives in the UK government and the World Bank. Earlier in his career, he served in the UK National Health Service and the UK’s Department of Health, leading the first nationwide HIV initiative. He holds degrees from the University of Oxford and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and is the author of Against a Tide of Evil, an account of the Darfur genocide.

 Keith B. RichburgWashington Post Editorial Board member and Op-Ed Columnist; former foreign correspondent in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and Asia

Keith B. Richburg is a member of the Editorial Board of The Washington Post and a Post Global Opinions columnist, where he writes primarily about foreign policy issues. From 2016 until mid-2023, he was Director of the Journalism and Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Former Washington Post Foreign Editor and Foreign Correspondent Richburg spent more than three decades with The Washington Post, as a reporter, foreign correspondent and foreign editor. He covered the invasion in Iraq in 2003, the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, the U.S. military intervention in Somalia, the genocide in Rwanda, the 1997 Hong Kong handover to China, the Asian economic crisis, and the Chinese Communist Party Congress in 2012 that brought Xi Jinping to power. He has won several awards, including the George Polk Award, the Overseas Press Club Award, the National Association of Black Journalists Award. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting from Africa.

Dr Bruno LanvinPresident, Smart City Observatory at IMD

Dr. Bruno Lanvin is the former executive director of INSEAD’s Global Indices, including the Global Information Technology Report (GITR), the Global Innovation Index (GII), and the Global Talent Competitiveness Index (GTCI). Prior to that, he spent a decade at the World Bank as senior advisor for E-strategies, Regional Coordinator (Europe and Central Asia) for ICT and e-government issues, and Chairman of the Bank’s e‐Thematic Group. Prior to that, he held senior positions at the United Nations in New York and Geneva. Dr Lanvin holds a BA in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Valenciennes (France); an MBA from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) in Paris; and a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris I (La Sorbonne) in France. He also received degrees and certifications from INSEAD (IDP) and MIT ‘Smart Cities). A frequent speaker at high‐level meetings, he advises a number of global companies and governments and has been a member of numerous boards, including those of IDA and Govtech (Singapore) and ICANN. His most recent books include ‘Sixteen Shades of Smart (2020), ‘Cities in Times of Global Emergencies’ (2022°,  ‘The Future is Young’ (2023), and ‘Prosperous and Inclusive Cities’ (2024).

Pauline Lubens, PhD, MPHUniversity of California and Swords to Plowshares; former award-winning photojournalist 

Dr. Lubens is a policy analyst at Swords to Plowshares, a San Francisco-based U.S. veterans’ rights organization focusing on veteran homelessness. Her work centers on the health of war-affected populations and the toll of war on public health infrastructure. Additionally, she teaches War and Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health and contributes to the Veterans Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Lubens is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist during her previous career as a photojournalist at the San Jose Mercury News and Detroit Free Press, where she documented the personal impact of war, disasters, humanitarian response, and global health crises. In 2010, she transitioned to public health, earning a Master of Public Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her experiences covering the health impact of wars, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, motivated her to focus on war’s effects on public health. She completed her PhD in public health at the University of California, Irvine in 2018.

Professor Olumide A.T. Ogundahunsi – Director Office of Strategy and Programme Management & Professor of Pharmacology, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria. Former scientist WHO/TDR.

Professor Olumide A.T. Ogundahunsi is the director at the Office of Strategy and Programme Management & Professor of Pharmacology, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Nigeria.  With over two decades of experience as a scientist and manager at the World Health Organization (WHO)/TDR, Dr Ogundahunsi worked to build and promote partnerships with academic and research institutions in developing countries, and international research consortia and government agencies. He oversaw a multidisciplinary portfolio of research and training grants and initiated a postgraduate training scheme in 7 faculties of public health in universities across multiple continents with a focus on research aimed at addressing barriers to quality health care. Dr Ogundahunsi also led a strategic partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), PATH and the WHO to strengthen capacities of low- and middle-income countries for optimal access to and delivery of new health technologies. He played a key leadership role in the establishment of the Malaria Research Group and Malaria Research laboratories at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. He holds a doctorate in Pharmacology from the University of Ibadan.

Dr Michaela Told – director HI5 Governance and visiting lecturer, University of Geneva.  

Michaela Told is the director of HI5 Governance and a visiting lecturer at the University of Geneva. As the former Executive Director of the Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Michaela holds extensive knowledge of migration, development, global health, and gender. With over a decade of experience in the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, she managed projects globally and led their Principles and Values Department, advising National Societies and participating in strategic decision-making. Previously, she worked with the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as Secretary General of an international women’s human rights NGO in Geneva. Michaela also co-heads the WHO Collaborating Centre on Governance for Health and Global Health Diplomacy in Geneva. She co-established the Global Health Centre, focusing on training professionals in global health leadership and diplomacy, advising on policy making, and researching complex health issues. She holds three Master’s degrees in development economics, social work, and women & development, along with a PhD in Cultural Studies.

Treasurer

Vijay Srinivasan- Head of Business Development, Glownexus SA.

Vijay Srinivasan is the Head of Business Development at Glownexus SA, based in Switzerland, where he has been instrumental in driving business growth and fostering strategic partnerships. Prior to Glownexus, Vijay held key leadership roles across IT sectors. As Senior Client Partner Consumer Goods at Atos Consulting, he drove consulting business growth in Suisse Romande, emphasizing digitalization. Earlier, as Head of Consulting CEE and Managing Director at Cambridge Technology Partners, he built and managed teams, driving significant revenue and profitability. Vijay’s career includes roles as VP Consulting EMEA at Novell and Cambridge Technology Partners and Associate Vice President at Cambridge Technology Partners. With a background spanning over 30 years, he brings expertise in P&L management, human resource development, sales, and strategy to his current role. Vijay also serves as treasurer to Health Policy Watch. He holds an MBA in International Business and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from The George Washington University.

In memorium

Pedro Roffe (passed 2023)–former Director of the UNCTAD-ICTSD Project on Intellectual Property and Development

Pedro Roffe was a catalyst and an influential leader in the global debates shaping today’s international intellectual property system, particularly its interface with a range of issues such as technology transfer, trade, development, investment and public health. At the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) where he spent most of his professional career, Roffe played an instrumental role in the negotiations on the International Code of Conduct on Technology Transfer and in pioneering the debate on the implications of the TRIPS Agreement for developing countries. Upon leaving the United Nations, Pedro joined the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) where he spearheaded a vast body of policy research addressing the many dimensions of the global intellectual property system, and identifying new directions and policy options for development.

Dr Susan K. Sell (passed 2023)-  Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University 

Susan was Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University. She was Professor Emerita of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, and past Director of the Institute for Global and International Studies, Elliott School of International Affairs. She published widely on the politics and history of international policy debates on intellectual property, trade and investment.

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All published reports are vetted by professional journalists and editors under the strictest criteria for accuracy – and in light of our mission to provide a fair and neutral ground for dialogue and debate. Health Policy Watch cannot, however, be held liable for any errors, inaccuracies or misrepresentations that may inadvertently occur in our published news reports, or any losses occurred by readers or institutions as a result of the publication and viewing of content on our site.

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