Why 3.5 Billion People Lack Basic Oral Care—and What Needs to Change

13/04/2025 Maayan Hoffman

Half of the world’s population has no access to any kind of oral care and lives with untreated oral disease every day, according to Dr. Habib Benzian, a dentist and professor of epidemiology and health promotion at New York University. “There’s no other disease group that affects so many people,” Benzian said. In fact, oral […] Continue reading ->

Why Do Health Inequality Solutions Keep Failing?

15/03/2025 Maayan Hoffman

How can health inequality be reduced? This was the topic of the most recent episode of the Global Health Matters podcast with Dr. Garry Aslanyan. Understanding Health Inequality “Health inequity is produced by and within social relations that govern the production and exchange of concrete material things that we need to survive and flourish, to […] Continue reading ->

UNICEF: 1 in 7 Young People Live with a Mental Disorder. How Will We Address this Growing Crisis?

10/11/2024 Maayan Hoffman

One in seven young people aged 10 to 19 live with a diagnosable mental disorder, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). One in four children lives with a parent with a mental health condition. Suicide is the fourth most significant cause of death for adolescents globally. The economic cost of neglecting youth mental […] Continue reading ->

Could Vaccine Misinformation Lead to a Worldwide Health Crisis?

24/08/2024 Maayan Hoffman

How did vaccines, once hailed as essential tools for global peace, security and international cooperation, become something that some now fear could kill them? This is the focus of the latest episode of the Global Health Matters podcast, hosted by Garry Aslnyan. In an interview with author Peter Hotez, the discussion delves into how misinformation […] Continue reading ->

Positioning the University of Ghana as a ‘Research-Intensive’ Institution on Neglected Diseases

03/07/2024 Jessica Ahedor

Almost 15 years ago, when the University of Ghana established its Office of Research, Innovation, and Development, it did so with the goal of bolstering the West African nation’s research capacity. In the African region, where less than 0.5% of GDP is devoted to research, and a significant number of Africa’s educated is siphoned off […] Continue reading ->

What Role Does Capacity Development Play in Transforming Health Research?

22/06/2024 Maayan Hoffman

The latest episode of the Global Health Matters podcast, hosted by Dr Garry Aslanyan, delves into the extraordinary careers of two global health leaders and the crucial role that capacity development has played in their journeys. This episode, produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical […] Continue reading ->

Indonesian University Boosts Asia’s Public Health Programmes Through Research Training

18/06/2024 Kerry Cullinan

Growing up in Bangladesh where several infectious diseases transmitted by helminths (worms) take a large health toll, Tilak Chandra Nath has always been fascinated with the challenges of addressing diseases of poverty. During his postgraduate training as a TDR-supported fellow at the Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in Indonesia in 2016, he studied parasitic diseases, focusing […] Continue reading ->

How Do You Make a Global Health Podcast?

22/05/2024 Maayan Hoffman

Three years ago, Dr. Garry Aslanyan searched for a global health podcast he wanted to listen to. When he could not find one, he decided to start his own. “I like podcasts as a tool in other areas, such as politics and current affairs,” Aslanyan told Health Policy Watch. “Podcasts allow for the most open […] Continue reading ->

Empowering Global Health Reporting: Perspectives from Leading Journalists

13/04/2024 Maayan Hoffman

Health stories are not just about medical facts; they are intricate tapestries woven with economic, political, and social threads, according to two international health journalists. Stephanie Nolen, a global health reporter for The New York Times, and Paul Adepoju, a Nigeria-based freelance health journalist and scientist who writes for Health Policy Watch, were guests on […] Continue reading ->

Challenging the Status Quo: Six Steps Towards Empowering Communities in Global Health

23/03/2024 Maayan Hoffman

What actions and strategies are required for countries and communities to have more agency in their health? This is the topic of the latest episode of the Global Health Matters “Dialogues” podcast series, in which host Dr. Garry Aslanyan tries to “blow up some of the echo chambers that exist in global health.” In this […] Continue reading ->