Women’s health: end the disparity in funding
Editorial published in the Nature Journal on May 3, 2023
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has marked the 30th anniversary of a law that made it compulsory to include women and under-represented groups in research and clinical trials. However, female participation rates in some studies remain low, and funding for conditions that disproportionately affect women is lower than for those affecting men. Menopause, which is under-studied despite its importance for the health of half the world’s population, highlights the need for the NIH to classify women’s health research in a way that allows data to be tracked, policymakers, advocacy groups, and researchers to better understand where funding gaps lie, and start to address them.
Why Public Health Needs the Private Sector
Opinion piece published on March 31, 2023 in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Blog
Concerns exist about private sector partnerships regarding cost and accountability. Yet, experts highlight the private sector’s expertise and resources for public health crises. Renewal of the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing Innovation Act aims to improve emergency response capabilities. Clear guidelines are crucial for accountability in private sector collaborations. Public-private partnerships extend beyond pandemics, benefiting areas like improving indoor air quality in public spaces.
Indigenous health-care sovereignty defines resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic
Comment article published on May 6, 2023 in The Lancet Although remoteness can create structural difficulties in responding to a pandemic, it could also delay the onset and therefore reduce the effects of the pandemic.6 A key factor of the COVID-19 response in Arctic Indigenous communities was their ability and capacity to exercise control over their health-care systems and homelands—ie, the health-care sovereignty of the Indigenous Peoples. Such control rests in the capability of Indigenous Peoples to make their own decisions about pandemic public health measures, such as quarantines and vaccinations, therefore greatly increasing the success of these measures.