DRC’s Ebola Outbreak: The Vast Mobilisation That Doesn’t Measure Itself (Part II) 21/09/2026 Mukesh Kapila The world has ridden fast to rescue DRC from Ebola. But four months on, nobody can say for sure how many agencies are responding, how many people they employ, how much money has arrived, or what it bought. There are, however, coordinators galore. But the virus is still outwitting them. Time and again, we learn […] Continue reading -> DRC’s Ebola Lessons: Learned and Unlearned (Part I) 14/09/2026 Mukesh Kapila The lethality of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is not just in its genome. Neither is it entirely explained by the country’s internal instability and defunded, broken health infrastructure. Have we allowed the virus to outsmart us by overlooking past lessons? The signs around the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak indicate […] Continue reading -> Clashing Convictions of Taliban and the West is Costing Afghan Lives 31/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Two sets of dogmas contend in Afghanistan: those of the Taliban and the West. Neither side pays the real price for their beliefs. Ordinary Afghans do with their lives. Some aid agencies labour quietly to bring help and hope through a dozen practical ways that bypass competing doctrines. They deserve support. In March last year, […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> The HIV Deaths Nobody Can Count 04/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Eighteen months into the dismantling of the global AIDS response, how many have died? The honest answer is that nobody knows. Rio’s numbers are inferences, its assumptions and projections disputable. But 30 years and tens of billions of dollars into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we should not still be guessing. The week’s Vital Signs came from […] Continue reading -> Markets Offer Costly Cures while Courts Ensnare Prevention; meanwhile Ebola Response Stumbles 27/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila A trillion-dollar food industry sues to keep prevention at bay while governments spend billions subsidising the drugs that treat what bad diets do. Meanwhile, Ebola outruns a hollowed-out WHO, and its Director-General’s legacy hangs on whether he can get a grip. ‘If all else fails, sue’ Last week’s most telling global health story was not […] Continue reading -> Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
DRC’s Ebola Lessons: Learned and Unlearned (Part I) 14/09/2026 Mukesh Kapila The lethality of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is not just in its genome. Neither is it entirely explained by the country’s internal instability and defunded, broken health infrastructure. Have we allowed the virus to outsmart us by overlooking past lessons? The signs around the DRC’s 17th Ebola outbreak indicate […] Continue reading -> Clashing Convictions of Taliban and the West is Costing Afghan Lives 31/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Two sets of dogmas contend in Afghanistan: those of the Taliban and the West. Neither side pays the real price for their beliefs. Ordinary Afghans do with their lives. Some aid agencies labour quietly to bring help and hope through a dozen practical ways that bypass competing doctrines. They deserve support. In March last year, […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> The HIV Deaths Nobody Can Count 04/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Eighteen months into the dismantling of the global AIDS response, how many have died? The honest answer is that nobody knows. Rio’s numbers are inferences, its assumptions and projections disputable. But 30 years and tens of billions of dollars into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we should not still be guessing. The week’s Vital Signs came from […] Continue reading -> Markets Offer Costly Cures while Courts Ensnare Prevention; meanwhile Ebola Response Stumbles 27/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila A trillion-dollar food industry sues to keep prevention at bay while governments spend billions subsidising the drugs that treat what bad diets do. Meanwhile, Ebola outruns a hollowed-out WHO, and its Director-General’s legacy hangs on whether he can get a grip. ‘If all else fails, sue’ Last week’s most telling global health story was not […] Continue reading -> Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Clashing Convictions of Taliban and the West is Costing Afghan Lives 31/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Two sets of dogmas contend in Afghanistan: those of the Taliban and the West. Neither side pays the real price for their beliefs. Ordinary Afghans do with their lives. Some aid agencies labour quietly to bring help and hope through a dozen practical ways that bypass competing doctrines. They deserve support. In March last year, […] Continue reading -> Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> The HIV Deaths Nobody Can Count 04/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Eighteen months into the dismantling of the global AIDS response, how many have died? The honest answer is that nobody knows. Rio’s numbers are inferences, its assumptions and projections disputable. But 30 years and tens of billions of dollars into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we should not still be guessing. The week’s Vital Signs came from […] Continue reading -> Markets Offer Costly Cures while Courts Ensnare Prevention; meanwhile Ebola Response Stumbles 27/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila A trillion-dollar food industry sues to keep prevention at bay while governments spend billions subsidising the drugs that treat what bad diets do. Meanwhile, Ebola outruns a hollowed-out WHO, and its Director-General’s legacy hangs on whether he can get a grip. ‘If all else fails, sue’ Last week’s most telling global health story was not […] Continue reading -> Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Fauci: The Oracle Who Went Silent At The Wrong Time 17/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Twenty-five democracies managed to examine their COVID pandemics without smashing their national crockery. The United States produced a partisan committee and a pre-emptive pardon that silenced the one man who could explain to millions of angry, confused Americans why they suffered so badly. But in his final martyrdom, Anthony Fauci may have done the rest […] Continue reading -> The HIV Deaths Nobody Can Count 04/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Eighteen months into the dismantling of the global AIDS response, how many have died? The honest answer is that nobody knows. Rio’s numbers are inferences, its assumptions and projections disputable. But 30 years and tens of billions of dollars into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we should not still be guessing. The week’s Vital Signs came from […] Continue reading -> Markets Offer Costly Cures while Courts Ensnare Prevention; meanwhile Ebola Response Stumbles 27/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila A trillion-dollar food industry sues to keep prevention at bay while governments spend billions subsidising the drugs that treat what bad diets do. Meanwhile, Ebola outruns a hollowed-out WHO, and its Director-General’s legacy hangs on whether he can get a grip. ‘If all else fails, sue’ Last week’s most telling global health story was not […] Continue reading -> Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
The HIV Deaths Nobody Can Count 04/08/2026 Mukesh Kapila Eighteen months into the dismantling of the global AIDS response, how many have died? The honest answer is that nobody knows. Rio’s numbers are inferences, its assumptions and projections disputable. But 30 years and tens of billions of dollars into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, we should not still be guessing. The week’s Vital Signs came from […] Continue reading -> Markets Offer Costly Cures while Courts Ensnare Prevention; meanwhile Ebola Response Stumbles 27/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila A trillion-dollar food industry sues to keep prevention at bay while governments spend billions subsidising the drugs that treat what bad diets do. Meanwhile, Ebola outruns a hollowed-out WHO, and its Director-General’s legacy hangs on whether he can get a grip. ‘If all else fails, sue’ Last week’s most telling global health story was not […] Continue reading -> Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Markets Offer Costly Cures while Courts Ensnare Prevention; meanwhile Ebola Response Stumbles 27/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila A trillion-dollar food industry sues to keep prevention at bay while governments spend billions subsidising the drugs that treat what bad diets do. Meanwhile, Ebola outruns a hollowed-out WHO, and its Director-General’s legacy hangs on whether he can get a grip. ‘If all else fails, sue’ Last week’s most telling global health story was not […] Continue reading -> Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Vital Signs: Reading Critical Developments in Global Health 20/07/2026 Mukesh Kapila Last week, one phrase — “self-reliance” — did more work in global health than any medicine, as global agencies continue operationalising donor retreats they can no longer disguise. The strategy’s real-world test is unfolding in eastern Congo, where the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record is outrunning a struggling response. The institutions of global health spent […] Continue reading -> It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
It Is Time to Streamline the Global HIV/AIDS Architecture 01/12/2023 Mukesh Kapila I endured a dreary weekend in a Paris hotel while others rushed home. As the junior English speaker of a task force of United Nations (UN) member states, it fell to me to finalise our report. It was the early 1990s and we had travelled across Asia, Africa and Latin America collating confusing evidence and […] Continue reading -> Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Geopolitics at Heart of Elections for New Director of WHO Western Pacific Region 28/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila The World Health Organization (WHO) is busy electing new leaders in three of its six regions. Previous articles have considered the issues at stake and the candidates competing for the position of regional director in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) and the South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO). This article, the final one in the […] Continue reading -> Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts
Shenanigans in WHO South-East Asia as Politician’s Daughter Contests Regional Director Election 18/09/2023 Mukesh Kapila Election fever is sweeping through the World Health Organization (WHO) in three of its six regions – Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO), South-East Asia (SEARO), and Western Pacific (WPRO). It matters who becomes their regional directors because they have considerable decentralised authority to influence the health chances of billions. Its regions also make or break WHO globally. […] Continue reading -> Posts navigation Older posts