Every year, we look at the top global health issues coming our way in the next 12 months. But global health is a long game and it’s a brand-new decade, so this year, we’re looking ahead to the coming 10 years. From coronavirus to digital health to climate change, here are 10 of the global health issues that we at IntraHealth International will be watching in the decade to come. Infectious diseases & potential pandemics In 2018, Bill Gates told...

Natural disasters, lingering wars, bourgeoning epidemics—2018’s headlines revealed a lot about the sheer volume of our human need. And in one way or another, each of those needs has an impact on our health and well-being. Here are just a few of the big global health issues that we at IntraHealth International will be watching and responding to in the coming year.

Human beings do weird things sometimes. Or maybe the things we do as individuals only seem weird to others because they don’t know our particular quirks, preferences, and priorities. Think about it: Why do you live where you live? How did you choose your job? What makes you go back to work day after day? The answers are different for us all. Maybe we want to live close to our family. Maybe we love the city life, or our hometown is the only place...

Poring over data from his native Democratic Republic of Congo this summer, Jean Lambert Chalachala uncovered some interesting—and troubling—aspects of the DRC’s health workforce. For one thing, he says, a third of the nurses for whom there are data in the DRC are over 60 years old. “Do you understand what this means?” he asks. “The official retirement age in the DRC is 60—they should be retired. And we will need new nurses to replace them.” Since...

Today, health sectors around the world—including throughout Africa, South and Central America, and Asia—are swimming in data.New health information systems are helping officials track not only disease outbreaks and health care needs, but their countries’ health workforces as well. Countries can now find out how many health workers they have, whether those workers are up-to-date on their licenses and training, and whether they’re stationed in the...

Dykki Settle leads IntraHealth International and the IntraHealth-led Capacity Plus project’s efforts in health worker informatics, bringing a health worker-centered approach to the availability and use of high-quality information. Data, data, data—they’re the fuel that powers any robust national health care system. They can propel a country toward the Shangri-La of universal health coverage—or they can hold one back. IntraHealth’s Dykki Settle...

The nurses knew something was wrong. They were working the nightshift on Tuesday, August 28, when one of the male staff members quietly moved a young girl from the room where she was being treated to another room within the hospital. She had been brought in earlier that day after being kidnapped and assaulted by two boda boda (motorcycle taxi) operators. The men had raped her in turns, tied her up, and left her. She was eventually found by her...