Global Health Unfiltered

Send us Fan Mail In Bunia, in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri Province, an Ebola outbreak is unfolding without the tools the world usually relies on to stop one. There's no vaccine. No approved treatment. And the strain behind it — Bundibugyo virus — doesn't even present the way Ebola usually does, making it harder for health workers to recognize and harder for communities...

Send us Fan Mail When Yvette Raphael walked into a stakeholder meeting in Kigali in 2019 and asked Gilead's lead researcher, "What are you going to do differently?", she was doing her job. As co-founder of Advocacy for Prevention of HIV in Africa and chair of the Global Community Advisory Board for the PURPOSE 1 trial, Yvette has spent decades ensuring that women most affected by HI...

Send us Fan Mail The America First Global Health Strategy promises something African health advocates have demanded for decades: ownership. Through time-bound bilateral compacts, countries co-finance health programs with the US, gradually taking over as American funding tapers. By year five, they're supposed to own and sustain these systems themselves. But what if ownership without authority...

Send us Fan Mail 2025 was the year the comfortable illusions of global health shattered. The U.S. withdrawal from WHO, the dismantling of USAID, and controversial bilateral agreements exposed uncomfortable truths about power, dependency, and who really benefits from "global health partnerships." In this special year-end episode, we hear from global health leaders across the world reflect...

Send us Fan Mail This is a continuation of our previous episode with Emilie Koum Besson discussing the various forms of aid dependency. In this episode, we focus on the relationship between aid and dependency as well as pragmatic solutions.  To support us, consider becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon or making a one-time donation via PayPal . Subscribe to our weekly newsletter : globalhealthunfi...

Send us Fan Mail For decades, global health has treated aid dependency as a neutral, technical condition, something to measure and manage. But what if dependency is actually a feature of the system, not a bug? Emilie Koum Besson introduces a "Matrix of Dependency Dimensions," revealing eight distinct forms, ranging from historical and epistemic to what she calls "hidden co-dependenc...

Send us Fan Mail In this conversation, Dr. John Nkengasong of the Mastercard Foundation and former PEPFAR and Africa CDC lead, discusses the evolution of public health in Africa, highlighting Rwanda's leadership in health financing and his own journey through various roles in public health. He emphasizes the need for a new public health order in Africa, focusing on domestic financing, the imp...

Send us Fan Mail Exciting News! We're launching a new Podcast! We’re excited to introduce our new podcast: Africa Health Weekly — your primary source for the latest health news, innovations, and stories shaping healthcare across the continent. Each week, host Beverly Ndifoin provides timely updates on disease outbreaks, vaccine rollouts, health workforce challenges, policy changes, medical in...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Emmanuela Amoako discusses her journey as a pediatric oncologist and her innovative COMPASS project, which aims to improve childhood cancer detection in Ghana. She emphasizes the importance of empowering caregivers and the challenges faced by children with cancer in low-income countries. The conversation also covers the need for expanded pediatric oncology units, the African C...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Global Health Unfiltered, hosts Desmond Jumbam and Ulrick Sidney Kanmounye discuss the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit held in Accra, Ghana. They are joined by Dr. Victor Bampoe and Dr. Ngozi Erondu, who share insights on the summit's key outcomes, including the Sustain Initiative aimed at enhancing African health governance and financing. The conversation...

Send us Fan Mail This week's conversation dives into the implications of the US's withdrawal from WHO and the halting of USAID funding. Our guest, Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, shares her insights on the disbelief surrounding these actions, the false narratives that have emerged regarding aid, and the responses (or lack thereof) from African leaders. The discussion emphasizes the need for a...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, host Desmond Jumbam speaks with Dr. Seye Abimbola about his book, 'The Foreign Gaze: Essays on Global Health.' They discuss how personal experiences, especially familial influences, shape views on global health. Dr. Abimbola shares his mother's impact on his understanding of health systems and social determina...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, host Desmond Jumbam discusses the critical intersection of climate change and health with Vanina Laurent-Ledru, Director General of Foundation S. They explore the urgent need for locally-led health adaptation solutions, the barriers to effective funding, and the importance of collective action in addressing climate health im...

Send us Fan Mail Our guest is Dr. Adji Bousso Dieng, AI researcher at Princeton University and Google. We explore Dr. Dieng's journey from Senegal to Princeton University, the role of Africa in the global AI landscape, the challenges faced in AI development on the continent, and the importance of education and awareness in leveraging AI for development. The conversation highlights the potenti...

Send us Fan Mail This week's conversation focuses on the current spread of M-Pox (formerly Monkeypox) in Africa and the response to the outbreak. Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious disease expert at Emory University, discusses the history of M-Pox outbreaks in Africa and the factors contributing to its spread. The conversation also explores the role of African governments, the Africa CDC, and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, our guests, Sipho Dlamini, Esmita Charani, Everisto Benyera, and Kwesi Amoak, discuss their research projects on decolonizing global health. They explore topics such as the definition of global health, indigenous knowledge practices, mentorship in global health partnerships, and cross-pollination between Universities and local communities in Africa. Our guests hig...

Send us Fan Mail Guest: Dr. Nicholas Okumu, Orthopedic Oncology Specialist and CEO of Stratos Medical Key Points: Kenya faces a shortage of healthcare workers, with around 4,000 trained physicians, dentists, and pharmacists currently unemployed. Recurring strikes by healthcare workers are common, often related to compensation disputes and lack of implementation of collective bargaining agreements....

Send us Fan Mail Nandita Venkatesan, a Tuberculosis (TB) survivor and advocate, shares her journey of becoming a TB survivor and the challenges she faced in diagnosing, treating, and recovering from the disease. She discusses the stigma and misconceptions associated with TB and the need for greater awareness and understanding. Nandita also highlights her involvement in a lawsuit against Johnson &a...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Chinonso Egemba, also known as Aproko Doctor, shares his journey of becoming an influential health educator on social media. He discusses the challenges of balancing medical practice and content creation, as well as the importance of using humor and storytelling in health education. Dr. Egemba also addresses the issue of misinformation and fake news in the health space and hig...

Send us Fan Mail We are thrilled to have Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi back on the show. Our conversation explores the impact of prophets and spiritual healers on people's health across Africa and beyond. We discuss the disturbing revelations from the documentary about TB Joshua and the manipulation, abuse, and exploitation committed by him and other religious leaders. We examine the prevalence of...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Ismahan Soukeyna Diop, a psychologist and psychotherapist from Senegal, discusses her groundbreaking work in African mythology and storytelling in the field of mental health care. She introduces TAMPSY, a revolutionary psychotherapeutic tool rooted in a decolonial approach that is transforming mental health care in Africa. The conversation explores the importance of culturally...

Send us Fan Mail In 2002, Patrick Awuah left his lucrative job as an executive at Microsoft, moved back to Ghana, and founded Ashesi University. Realizing that a root cause of underdevelopment was poor leadership, Patrick set up Ashesi University to train the next generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Ghana and Africa. Today, Ashesi University is one of the leading Universities on t...

Send us Fan Mail We are delighted to bring you Season 3 of the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, a podcast about the unspoken realities of global health in Africa and the world. We've got a great lineup of exciting guests from across the continent and beyond. Subscribe to this podcast and consider giving us a five-star review if you enjoy the work we do. Your support goes a long way to ensure...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, a podcast about the unspoken realities about global health in Africa and the world.  Our guest today is Dr. Ruth Musila, Global Policy and Industry Partnerships Lead at Takeda. Dr Musila holds a PhD in Pre-Clinical Drug Development. She has held Research Fellow positions at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Nat...

Send us Fan Mail Do you have an opinion on a current event or topic in global health? Do you want to share your voice with the world? If so, then you need to learn how to write a powerful opinion piece! In this training session, you will learn: How to identify a timely and relevant topic How to develop a strong thesis statement How to support your thesis with evidence How to write a clear and conc...