Turn on a smart phone, drive in a car with electric batteries, watch wind turbines turn in the distance or solar panels on roofs, and you’re interacting with a range of technologies that are using the critical minerals that are replacing fossil fuel energy.
There is no doubt that the current excessive and inequitable consumption of the fossil fuel-reliant goods and services has to end. It is a major driver of climate change and ill health. Fossil fuel-linked air pollution alone is reported by the Global Climate and Health Alliance to be causing over 5.1 million deaths annually.
But in extracting critical minerals to replace fossil fuels, are we replicating the same harmful political economy and choices made by powerful corporations and policymakers? Are we replicating the ‘curse of oil’ in the critical mineral sector, with a disproportionate benefit for wealthy countries and transnationals and with ecological degradation, conflict and displacement in zones of extraction?
Globally, African countries, particularly in East and Southern Africa (ESA), are reported to hold high shares of the global reserves of the ’critical’ or ’strategic’ minerals extracted for low-carbon technologies, that is copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, manganese and rare earth elements. They are extracted in a range of ways by transnational corporation operations through to artisanal small-scale mines (ASM). While exports of these minerals are increasing, value-added processing is not. Several ESA countries have banned or taxed the export of the raw minerals, and some are introducing processes to increase the concentrations of the minerals exported. But these measures have been slow to translate into meaningful increases in value-added local processing in the region, given constraints in accessing the capital investments for this. There are some new planned initiatives, such as a cross-border DRC-Zambia plan to manufacture electric batteries for vehicles. But the range of battery storage devices used by many homes in the region for solar power continue to be imported.
A clear marker of the inequity in who benefits from this new version of the ‘gold rush’ in Africa is in their public health consequences. These public health impacts are most felt by mine-workers and by communities living around mines. As was found when a mine tailings-dam collapsed in Zambia spewing toxic chemicals into the Kafue river for over 100km, the exposed areas and communities can extend very far downwind or downstream.
Critical minerals have been linked in various studies and surveys to silicosis, tuberculosis and toxic metal poisoning from copper; lung disease, bronchitis, impotence and psychiatric symptoms from manganese; kidney, liver, heart disease and cancers from lithium and nickel; and to genetic damage and newborn malformations from cobalt. The economic insecurity and hazardous settings of informal and small-scale miners and surrounding communities combine to intensify these risks.
These social, environmental and health impacts take place in remote rural areas, making them invisible to the urban and high-income country users of the technologies they enable, and to some policy actors. The under-reporting of the health impacts in ESA countries externalises the burdens to workers and to adjacent and displaced communities and their children; groups who are already struggling with social and economic insecurity.
The energy transition that climate change is driving can neither can neither be “just” nor “green” if these health and well-being impacts are ignored.
The G20 Johannesburg Summit hosted under the South Africa presidency in November last year, reflecting the prior Social Summit, called for a more holistic global framework for equitable benefit-sharing in critical mineral value chains, “integrating economic, social, and environmental dimensions across the value chain – from extraction to processing, manufacturing, disposal and recycling”. Implementing this call requires changes in the trade, investment, tax and global rule systems that block equity, and that have done so from colonialism, to neoliberalism, to the financial and mercantile hyper-capitalism and imperialism that we are seeing today. For any progress in equitable benefit-sharing, people’s health and wellbeing must be central, and health should act as a marker of delivery of such change.
Making health a marker of equitable benefit-sharing means moving away from relying on ad hoc surveys to demonstrate risks and health impacts, as these are generally localised, reactive, and lack legal force to ensure change, except through persuasion or litigation. It implies institutionalising monitoring and responding to health impacts. One option is to implement health impact assessment (HIA) as a more systematic approach integrated in investment plans, in licensing, and during and after mining operations. Beyond preventing harmful exposures inside mines and emissions from mining processes, this includes tackling the waste discharge and toxic contamination of air, water and soil that harm food systems and living conditions, and the social, demographic, nutrition and livelihood risks to communities during and after mining operations. Integrating HIA can more proactively assess such impacts and profile measures to prevent unfair health burdens of critical mineral extraction in the ESA region. Environmental Impact Assessments are being done in all countries in the region, but they do not meet this need. They may protect the environment, but not the people.
For equity, HIA should be done with direct involvement of those affected in reviewing the findings and recommendations, through co-determination and with prior informed consent on key plans. Public reporting of HIAs should enable those affected - workers, ex-workers, pregnant women, children, displaced and other communities, social sectors, public service providers, and many others - to engage in shaping or ensuring the legal, work environment, service and system reforms and duties to protect health.
Not addressing people’s health and conditions in the fossil-fuel sector has led to litigation and conflict and left degraded ecologies and social deficits. Paying attention to people’s health in the extraction and processing of critical minerals is a key lever and a driver of demands for political economy changes and green transition plans that may actually reach and enhance people’s lives. It sends a clear message that a ’just green transition’ is not only about the product, it is about the system and the people.
We welcome your feedback or queries on the issues raised in this oped – please send them to the EQUINET secretariat. You can read more on health impact assessments and health in the mining sector on the EQUINET website at www.equinetafrica.org, and on critical minerals in the African Extractivism and the Green Transition website at https://www.aegt.ca/.
Current Issue
EQUINET NEWSLETTER 244 : 01 May 2026
CONTENTS: 1. Editorial, 2. Latest Equinet Updates, 3. Equity in Health, 4. Values, Policies and Rights, 5. Health equity in economic and trade policies, 6. Poverty and health, 7. Equitable health services, 8. Human Resources, 9. Public-Private Mix, 10. Resource allocation and health financing, 11. Equity and HIV/AIDS, 12. Governance and participation in health, 13. Monitoring equity and research policy, 14. Useful Resources, 15. Jobs and Announcements
1. Editorial
Let’s not repeat the ‘curse of oil’: Health is a central marker of equitable benefit-sharing from critical minerals in the green transition.
TARSC/EQUINET and the AEGT Research teams, East and Southern Africa
Transformational change to break the link between climate injustice and mental ill-health in east and southern Africa
Nadine Nanji, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa
We often read about threats of war, conflict and climate emergencies, and earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, and wildfires seem to be more common. For those living in poverty, these threats add to existing stresses from in adequate housing, food, water and insecure livelihoods. Climate change is making farming more difficult, stripping away a food security as a safety net that came from rural production for those facing employment challenges. People are displaced by climate emergencies and conflict, losing social links and access to services. Structural drivers of deprivation, climate injustices and conflict combine in forms of systematic oppression that make their impacts hard to repair. Not surprisingly, this combination of climate stresses, conflict or deprivation are worsening existing mental ill-health. These stresses when chronic can also lead to forms of anxiety and trauma that include psychosocial and spiritual dimensions, including from situations where people feel powerless to change their circumstances. When climate injustice affects people’s ability to control their lives and mental wellbeing, seeing this only from a clinical lens can discount the range of drivers and forms of mental disorders, silencing those affected by them.
Transformational climate justice as a concept aims at change in drivers of inequity and mental health issues – particularly the unequal burdens of climate change and their roots in power imbalances and social, political, and economic systems. It focuses on generating long-term sustainable change in systems to confront these drivers, while recognising the silent burdens they cause, including for mental health. Transformations that are aimed at more equitable access to basic needs like water, food, and health care are inherent for climate justice.
When policies focus only or primarily on technical and ignore social responses, when they ignore indigenous knowledge systems in climate smart agriculture, or when they do not devolve resources to the community levels to enable more community-led responses, including in shaping plans, they can deepen power imbalances. Beyond changes in material and ecological conditions, transformational climate justice thus aims to build relations and cohesion within communities and in partnerships and collaborative activities with civil society and non-government organisations and public sectors. This can improve access to mental health counselling and services. More deeply, the social dimensions support the sharing of collective values and analysis, and the growth of social power, trust and confidence to produce change in other areas, including in service provision, in decision-making and in government policies and plans.
Transformational adaptation among communities thus focuses on power, collaborative action, and co-production. By integrating these features, they widen responses beyond technical or infrastructure projects to integrate justice and equity.
In South Africa, for example, just transition discussions have given evidence of contesting power and positions between private sector energy producers, communities, national and global funders and local climate change unions. Climate injustice in South Africa from floods has left people without shelter, support, or dignity. Amongst those affected, commercial sex workers facing deprivation and climate emergencies are pressured to engage in high-risk sexual activities and experience violence, amplifying their trauma and mental ill-health. Addressing the abuse, trauma and deprivation that are drivers of their mental ill-health means that beyond counselling adapted to their circumstances, they need housing infrastructures and food to improve their autonomy, including in reproductive health.
A further example is found in communities in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Kenya, where Ackerl and co-authors reported in 2023 that only 52% of households are food secure. The combination of floods, drought, asset deprivation and a lack of financial and social resources generate this insecurity and associated stress. Transformational adaptation is applied in a mix of intercropping and early planting strategies to reduce risk from unpredictable rains. Ethiopia’s Health National Adaptation Plan II (2024-2028) responds to the needs of pastoral communities experiencing environmental-linked distress by integrating mental health into primary health care, within the wider agro-ecological approaches.
Primary health care (PHC) offers an entry point for addressing the scale of community experiences of mental ill-health in a context of inadequate access to mental health services and professionals, engaging traditional, faith healers, clergy and imams or mission hospitals to provide social support and trauma counselling, and to ensure safe spaces for this, including for displaced communities. PHC offers a space for peer support approaches that function beyond clinical models, but need to be backed by training of primary care health workers to provide appropriate care for mental health issues. PHC services can integrate mental health screening into community-centred approaches that take climate emergencies and impacts into account as a source of vulnerability. The intersectoral approaches in PHC can connect mental health services with services that enable agriculture, or strengthen access to food, water and other forms of social support. These forms of collaboration across organisations, institutions and communities help to address the social disempowerment referred to earlier.
Early health warning systems and public education can provide evidence and information to tackle the stresses from climate injustice and mobile apps can provide information to and hear responses from those affected. Cultural and religious services and people can play the role of support systems for the mental health of communities affected by climate change. Education and outreach programmes and initiatives on climate change and future preparedness provide safe spaces to foster emotional wellbeing and self-expression in youth and school children. Specific interventions, such as therapy linked to farming activities, and drama and music therapies for children impacted by floods, and community-based psychosocial support, as currently implemented in Tanzania, can be integrated into measures for climate preparedness.
As a bottom line for the region, mental ill health from the combination of climate-related stresses interacting with socio-economic inequities calls for a transformational climate justice. This calls for more mental health and climate change policies and for interventions to be implemented in ‘bottom up’ approaches by communities and organisations in collaborative processes in east and Southern Africa. It implies integrating mental health in adaptation and recovery programmes, encouraging in inter-departmental collaborations between various sectors and training a spectrum of health workers, police, and community leaders on mental health and psychosocial support in the context of climate disasters, as for example in the training led by Africa CDC.
Particularly in east and southern Africa, where climate change may be amplifying power imbalances and increasing mental ill health, and where resources and infrastructures are limited, we need to link the transformations needed for climate justice to the range of systems for health. Beyond the integration of mental health into primary health care services, an interaction between PHC approaches and the initiatives in other sectors can build collaborative action to change the combination of conditions that are eroding mental wellbeing.
2. Latest Equinet Updates
Call for applicants for the 2026 online capacity building course on health impact assessment: opens April 20th 2026 and closes 5pm June 3rd 2026
Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET)
EQUINET through TARSC and in association with regional (SATUCC, Talk AB[M]R) and international partners (Nossal Institute of Global Health, C Dora Brazil) in partnership with the ECSA Health Community is convening its 2026 online training and mentored case work to build HIA capacities in ESA countries. The course will provide materials and interactive presentations and will mentor HIAs proposed by participant teams to build understanding and practical skills to implement HIA, including strategic HIA. It will cover the purpose, legal basis and principles, the methods, evidence, analysis in, reporting of an HIA and the monitoring and communication of recommended actions. We will use online (zoom) training sessions in four course blocks, staggered at intervals between July 7 and October 22 2026 with time for practical work and online tutorials for teams to implement their own proposed HIAs. Applicants for the course are asked to read the further information on the course and the application requirements in the full call at the website below and to email their applications to the EQUINET secretariat before 5pm Southern Africa time June 3rd 2026 with HIA TRAINING in the subject line. We look forward to your participation!
Forced by climate to leave our homes for an uncertain future
EQUINET; TARSC; CITE: Online video podcast, April 2026
Climate change has displaced about 22 million people in Sub Saharan Africa, most migrating within Africa. By 2050 this figure is estimated to rise to 100 million people. Migration has been beneficial and has been happening for thousands of years. But this climate-induced migration is particularly disrupting low-income families, leaving women, children and older people behind as ‘trapped populations’ to manage lives with dwindling resources. This video podcast tells this story and what can be done to prevent and mitigate impacts of climate on migration that are widening inequalities and undermining well being, and to protect those affected in sending and receiving countries and along the route.
Health equity as a lever in climate justice: Shared learning and responses between East and Southern Africa and South East Asia
EQUINET; United Nations University: Online webinar recording, February 2026
Climate-related challenges affect every experience and dimension of health equity in the region. EQUINET is exploring this in a series of cross-cutting webinars. In 2026 we are now engaging across regions and networks to understand where we have shared priorities and responses to build wider alliances in advancing health equity for climate justice. This webinar involved brief presentations from EQUINET and its network members in ESA and from UNU and three country speakers from SE Asia on the issues and actions on health and climate. Panellists and participants shared priorities between the two regions and where they may also have alliances on shared responses.
Health equity as a lever: Health and climate justice in mineral extraction in East and Southern Africa
EQUINET; TARSC; CITE: Online video podcast, November 2025
Across the world, the race to go green has sparked a new rush for critical minerals, like lithium, cobalt and rare earths to use in new technologies to replace the fossil fuels that harm the planet. Mines are expanding across east and southern Africa, taking over land, and forests. Huge quantities of minerals are being exported outside the region, suggesting a promise of incomes and wealth. But behind every shining electric battery lies a darker story. This video podcast presents issues raised in the dialogues in EQUINET on the challenges for health equity and climate justice of the extractive sector and the proposed responses for preventing these impacts.
3. Equity in Health
Socioeconomic and national disparities in disability distribution among population in five East African countries: insights from the demographic and health surveys
Luoga P; Mahiti G; Nyamhanga T; et al: International Journal for Equity in Health 25(61), 1-12, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-026-02781-7, 2026
This paper examines socioeconomic and national disparities in reported disability among individuals aged 5–95 years across five East African countries. Secondary data from the most recent Demographic and Health Surveys were analysed, comprising a weighted sample of 216,420 individuals from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Malawi, Kenya, and Tanzania. Multivariable modified Poisson regression was used to assess associations between disability status and demographic and socioeconomic factors. Overall disability prevalence was 15.4%, with the highest recorded in Kenya and the lowest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Females, rural residents, separated or widowed individuals, those from the poorest households, and those in female-headed households had higher prevalence ratios of reported disability. The association between age and disability varied by educational attainment. The findings highlighted significant and unequal disability burdens across East Africa, with female gender, poverty, rural residence, and marital separation as key associated factors. Targeted interventions and further research into underlying mechanisms are needed to improve support systems for vulnerable populations.
4. Values, Policies and Rights
Conflict deepens health crisis across Middle East, WHO says
World Health Organization: WHO Newsroom, March 2026
In the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, health systems across the region are under severe strain as injuries, displacement, and attacks on healthcare mount. By early March alone, Iran reported over 1,300 deaths and 9,000 injuries, Lebanon at least 570 deaths and 1,400 injuries, and WHO verified 43 attacks on healthcare facilities across both countries since 28 February. Over 100,000 people were reported as displaced in Iran and up to 700,000 in Lebanon, with crowded shelter conditions raising risks of respiratory and diarrhoeal diseases. In Gaza, WHO report that medical evacuations remained suspended and hospitals have continued to operate under critical shortages, while temporary airspace restrictions have disrupted WHO supply shipments affecting over 1.5 million people across 25 countries. Humanitarian health emergency appeals across the Eastern Mediterranean Region — where 115 million people require assistance — remain 70% underfunded. WHO calls on all parties to protect civilians and healthcare, ensure unimpeded humanitarian access, and pursue de-escalation.
SATUCC strengthening labour rights and regional cooperation
Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council: SATUCC, Botswana, 2026
On Workers' Day 2026, the Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC) emphasises building cohesion within the labour movement to address challenges posed by digitalisation, remote work, and casualisation. Key demands include the right to unionise, strike, and broader socio-economic rights such as housing and citizenship. In 2026, the Secretariat reported a renewed commitment to strengthening labour rights, promoting decent work, deepening regional cooperation, and responding proactively to the evolving world of work. The Decent Work in Construction project supports labour law compliance and working conditions in South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, and had reached over 1,000 workers by early 2026. SATUCC is monitoring violations of labour rights — especially freedom of association — and promotes the formalisation of informal work arrangements, including collective bargaining frameworks in the construction sector. In the extractive sector, SATUCC advocates for community rights, protection against land displacement, and advocates for corporate accountability. The 2026 programme combines policy engagement, grassroots implementation, and strong advocacy on both traditional labour concerns and emerging challenges, positioning SATUCC as a critical voice for workers across Southern Africa.
Values, trade-offs and ethical choices in climate-related health research
Singh J: Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 104:140–140A, doi: https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.26.295841, 2026
The author argues that climate–health research is not value-neutral and that the values shaping research priorities, methods, and policy recommendations must be made explicit. Climate-related health harms are unequally distributed and often irreversible, creating strong ethical reasons for deliberate priority-setting, even under conditions of scientific uncertainty. Key value-laden trade-offs are illustrated through energy policy decisions, where governments must weigh economic stability and livelihoods against the health harms of carbon-intensive systems — choices that evidence alone cannot resolve. Drawing on analyses of UN system frameworks, the author identifies sustainability, equity, justice, and solidarity as recurrent values across climate, health, and humanitarian policy domains. Additional research ethics values — beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, respect, and scientific integrity — are consistently at stake, particularly in studies involving vulnerable populations with limited adaptive capacity. Constrained funding environments and contested acceptance of climate science can shape which questions are pursued and which populations remain visible in research agendas. Making values explicit does not replace evidence or legal frameworks, but provides a shared language for navigating difficult choices in a field with high stakes for health, equity, and future generations.
Zimbabwe National One Health Strategic Plan 2026–2030
Government of Zimbabwe: Harare, December 2025
Zimbabwe's National One Health Strategic Plan seeks to align with the Global Quadripartite One Health Joint Plan of Action and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, specifically SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). The plan aligns with Zimbabwe's National Development Strategy 1, NDS 2 priority areas, and Vision 2030, which emphasise sustainable development, food security, climate resilience, and inclusive growth. Strengthening governance, aligning policies, and fostering collaboration among key One Health ministries and departments — including the Ministry of Health and Child Care; the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Development; the Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Wildlife; and the National Biotechnology Authority — as well as other relevant stakeholders, is identified as central to building and implementing a comprehensive One Health framework.
5. Health equity in economic and trade policies
America First, Africa Last: Data Extraction from Africa's Bodies and the Erosion of Health Sovereignty
Sule A: Pambazuka News, January 2026
This commentary analyses the America First Global Health Strategy (AFGHS), launched by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in September 2025, and the bilateral health agreements subsequently signed with 14 African countries — including Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia — worth a combined $16 billion. Drawing on a detailed reading of the publicly available U.S.-Kenya agreement, the author identifies deeply asymmetric terms that amount to a surrender of health sovereignty. Key concerns include: the granting of U.S. FDA emergency use authorisation to mandate medical products in signatory countries during outbreaks; requirements for African countries to share pathogen specimens and genetic sequencing data with the U.S. within five days of a request for a period of 25 years with no reciprocal obligation; U.S. access to participating countries' digital health infrastructure and data systems; and a legal clause explicitly stating the agreement confers no rights or obligations under international or domestic law. The author situates these arrangements within a longer history of the exploitation of African bodies for medical research, and argues that health data has become Africa's new gold — extracted, commercially exploited, and sold back to the continent at a premium. The author calls on the African Union to convene an emergency summit on the bilateral agreements, to negotiate collectively as a bloc on their status, ensure full transparency and legislative scrutiny, and insist on reciprocity and legal enforceability in any future agreements.
Capitalising (on) industrial epidemics: examining the influence of the 'Big Three' asset managers on corporate governance in key health-harming commodity industries
Wood B; Slater S; Friel S; et al: Globalization and Health, 1-14, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-026-01194-z, 2026
The Big Three asset managers — BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street — collectively managing close to US$25 trillion in assets, are among the most prominent shareholders across forty leading corporations in ten key health-harming commodity industries, including tobacco, fossil fuels, ultra-processed food, weapons, and gambling. Analysis of their 2024 shareholder meeting voting behaviour found that all three voted in favour of all identified management proposals to boost shareholder payouts and authorise political lobbying, while overwhelmingly opposing shareholder proposals calling for social and environmental objectives to be incorporated into corporate policies. Seven such proposals may have succeeded had they received Big Three support. The findings suggest the Big Three are reinforcing shareholder primacy in health-harming industries, risking perpetuation of health inequities. The authors recommend that states take greater action to regulate private finance — including through mandatory exclusion of unsustainable assets and credit guidance policies — to prioritise health equity over narrow financial interests.
Engaging the Influence of Global Private Actors in Health in Sub-Saharan Africa
Loewenson R; Sekalala S; Chatikobo T: International Journal of Health Policy and Management, 15:9541, doi: https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.9541, 2026
Drawing on a desk review of over 219 public domain documents across five sectors — food, essential medicines, extractive industries, information, and finance — this viewpoint maps the pathways through which powerful private actors (PPAs), including transnational corporations, private financial institutions, philanthropic foundations, and ultra-wealthy individuals, influence health and health policy in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Private equity and venture investment in SSA grew 66% between 2017 and 2022, with TNCs controlling the bulk of the region's US$12.7 billion pharmaceutical market. The authors identify five interlocking drivers of PPA influence: a neoliberal policy context that has shrunk the state and weakened market regulation; narrative and agential power used to promote pro-market framings and suppress alternatives such as IP waivers; tax concessions and corporate tax abuse that limit public revenues and weaken health systems; SSA representation deficits in key global forums including OECD and UN platforms; and the marginalisation of civil society, which undermines public interest accountability. In response, the authors outline four areas for engagement: institutionalising evidence generation and challenging harmful narratives; shifting from voluntary to legal regulatory measures; widening debate on economic policy alternatives; and strengthening unified continental platforms for global negotiations on IP, tax, and UN reform. The authors conclude that addressing PPA influence requires confronting the neoliberal rule systems that underpin it, building political economy alternatives that more sustainably and equitably promote health and well-being in SSA.
Exploring a Road Map to Achieving Tobacco Endgame in sub-Saharan Africa: A Qualitative Study Among Stakeholders From 12 Countries
Egbe C; Ngobese S; Khan A; et al: Global Health: Science and Practice 14(1), 1-15, doi: https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-24-00351, 2026
This paper explores sub-Saharan African tobacco control stakeholders' perspectives on tobacco endgame strategies suitable for the region. Twenty-nine stakeholders from academia, civil society, and government across 12 sub-Saharan African countries were interviewed online using a semi-structured schedule, with interviews analysed thematically using NVivo 12. Stakeholders broadly supported tobacco endgame adoption, citing tobacco's negative impacts on health, the environment, and the economy. Proposed strategies were grouped into five themes: product-focused, user-focused, market- and supply-focused, institutional structure-focused, and legislation implementation-focused. Stakeholders emphasised that endgame approaches should be Afrocentric and sensitive to regional dynamics, and that success depends on political will, multisectoral collaboration, adequate resources, public buy-in, and monitoring of the tobacco industry.
The health toll of economic sanctions
Lancet Global Health (Editorial): The Lancet Global Health, e1327, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(25)00278-5, 2025
Economic sanctions imposed by the USA or EU were reported in this paper to be associated with an estimated 564,258 deaths annually from 1971 to 2021 — exceeding annual battle-related casualties — while their success rate in achieving stated policy aims was around 30%. All economic sanctions are ultimately noted to function as sanctions on health, undermining access to medical products, healthcare services, and determinants of health such as food security, with disproportionate effects on children, women, and marginalised populations. The editor suggests that countries wielding economic sanctions must monitor their health consequences, establish explicit exit mechanisms, and weigh whether the health toll constitutes a justifiable trade-off.
6. Poverty and health
Poverty is a social issue, not a mathematical problem: examining the lessons for beneficiary identification from implementation of the UHC indigent program in Kenya
Maritim B; Mbau R; Musiega A; International Journal for Equity in Health 25(40), 1-16, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-026-02767-5, 2026
This paper evaluates the implementation of Kenya's Universal Health Coverage (UHC) 'indigent' program, (using the term in the paper) which aimed to expand financial protection and health service access for poor households through subsidised insurance under the National Health Insurance Fund. A qualitative process evaluation was conducted using document reviews, semi-structured interviews with 23 key informants, and a validation workshop with 57 stakeholders. Implementation deviated from the original centralised design, with counties assuming control over beneficiary identification due to national data gaps, incomplete rollout of the Harmonised Targeting Tool, and political and operational constraints. Variations in targeting methods, reliance on under-resourced community health actors, and delays in biometric registration contributed to partial enrolment, exclusion errors, and beneficiary mistrust. Although some counties reported increased service utilisation, this was limited by unregistered dependents and low beneficiary awareness. Concerns were raised about SHA's proposed use of proxy means testing, citing risks of exclusion, manipulation, and failure to reflect locally constructed definitions of poverty. Kenya's experience is noted to underscore the need to align national targeting frameworks with local realities, invest in policy capacity, and prioritise community validation and communication.
7. Equitable health services
A framework policy analysis of single-dose HPV vaccination adoption in East Africa: a rapid review
Umutesi G; Weiner B; Jewell T; et al: BMC Health Services Research, 1-34, March 2026
This paper analysed the adoption of single-dose HPV vaccination policy in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Tanzania three using the Health Policy Triangle Framework. Peer-reviewed and grey literature published up to December 2024 were screened using pre-set inclusion and exclusion criteria, with data extracted and summarised through rapid qualitative analysis. The following common themes emerged across all three countries: i. Political will to address cervical cancer as a public health priority was central to initiating policy revision. ii. This was further supported by WHO endorsement of the single-dose schedule and national evidence on disease burden and single-dose efficacy. iii. National Immunisation Technical Advisory Groups played a pivotal role in providing evidence-based guidance to policymakers. These findings highlight key considerations for HPV vaccination policy revision in comparable settings.
Impact analysis of flood-induced changes in geographical accessibility and coverage to healthcare in both public and private sector, 2024, Kenya
Robert B; Muchiri S; Kahoro E; et al: International Journal of Health Geographics, 1-42, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12942-026-00461-x, 2026
This paper quantifies geographical losses in health facility accessibility resulting from flooding compounded by a doctors' strike in Kenya. Pre-flood baseline and three post-flood scenarios were defined using satellite-derived flooding extents, with travel times estimated via a least-cost path algorithm across 10,995 health facilities. Pre-flood, average travel time to the nearest facility was 19.6 minutes, with 94% of the population accessing care within 30 minutes and 20 of 47 counties averaging under 2 hours. Under maximal flood extents, 30-minute coverage dropped to 73%, only 5 counties retained under 2 hours' travel time, and county-level coverage losses ranged from 1% to 51%. In arid counties, populations facing over 2 hours' travel time rose from 4–12% to 15–31%. Integrating disaster preparedness into county health planning is argued to be essential to strengthening nationwide health system responses.
Spatial distribution, integration and determinants of family planning service provision in Lubumbashi, DRC: a cross-sectional analysis from a health facility census.
Mosuse M; Mpoyi T; Libertini L; et al: Reproductive Health, 1-29, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-026-02303-2, 2026
This study examined the spatial distribution, maternal and child health (MCH) integration, and determinants of family planning (FP) service provision in Lubumbashi. Data were drawn from a 2023 census of 1267 health facilities. Descriptive analyses summarised FP service availability by health zone, sector, facility type, MCH integration, monthly birth volume, medicine stock, and mean cost of vaginal birth. Multilevel logistic regression identified facility-level determinants of FP provision. Geospatial analyses mapped service availability using 1 km coverage buffers, population-adjusted facility density, and FP-MCH integration levels by health zone. FP provision was strongly associated with high monthly birth volumes, public ownership, and integration with MCH services. Geospatial mapping showed that 94.3% of women live within 1 km of a facility offering FP, but service density and FP-MCH integration were lower in peripheral health zones. Despite near-universal geographic access, MCH integration remains suboptimal and coverage gaps persist in peripheral areas. The authors recommend that underserved health zones be prioritised for both facility-based and outreach FP interventions, and for subsidised or free services in areas dominated by private for-profit facilities. Additional demand-side barriers — including stockouts, costs, fear of side effects, misinformation, and partner-related constraints — are argued to warrant further investigation.
8. Human Resources
Behind hypertension in white-coat heroes: a cross-sectional study exploring the link between burnout, occupational factors with hypertension in Kinshasa’s healthcare workers, Democratic Republic of Congo
Khonde R; Tricas-Sauras S; Labat A; et al: BMC Public Health, 1-42; doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12889-026-27191-w, 2026
This cross-sectional study investigated the prevalence of hypertension and its associated factors among healthcare workers in Kinshasa's hospitals in December 2023 to January 2024, focusing on occupational factors. Of 566 healthcare workers enrolled in the study, 55% were female and 45% were male, with a mean age of 39.0 ± 10.4 years. The prevalence of hypertension was 23.3%, with 57.6% of hypertensive participants unaware of their diagnosis at the time of data collection. The socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with hypertension were age ≥ 40 years, physical inactivity, being overweight and being obese. Seniority ≥ 10 years, night shift work, and burnout syndrome were also associated with hypertension. The authors note that addressing hypertension requires tackling both lifestyles and modifiable work-related factors, integrating healthy practices, routine blood pressure monitoring with structured shift schedules, stress management programs, and supportive workplace environments.
Counseling strategies and challenges for addressing infertility and infertility concerns following female genital fistula repair: perspectives from fistula care providers in Uganda
Kantipudi S; Senoga U; Nalubwama H; et al: BMC Women's Health, 1-23, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12905-026-04388-0, 2026
This qualitative study explores the counseling strategies employed by fistula care providers in Uganda, the challenges they face, and implications for practice, using key informant interview of thirty providers. Providers used individualized strategies including emotional support, expectation-setting, and specialist referral, with tailored approaches based on patients' hysterectomy status. Cultural attitudes toward infertility and patients' financial constraints further shaped the counseling process. Key challenges included the emotional toll of discussing sensitive issues, insufficient training, and limited access to specialist care. Findings indicate that effective infertility counseling after fistula repair requires a comprehensive approach spanning medical, emotional, and social dimensions. Enhancing provider training in counseling skills and integrating psychosocial support are observed to be critical steps toward improving care quality.
Unravelling the implementation of the technical support from the provincial health administration to district health management teams in the Democratic Republic of Congo: a realist evaluation
Bosongo S; Chenge F; Belrhiti Z; et al: BMC Health Services Research, 1-44, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-14403-7, 2026
The authors examined how, for whom, and under what conditions technical support works in Tshopo Province, DRC, using a realist case study design and document reviews, interviews, questionnaires, and routine health information system data. Challenging conditions — including limited resources, hierarchical culture, poor leadership, and narrow decision spaces — hindered the capacity building and motivation of Provincial Health Administration (PHA) staff, resulting in mixed competencies. This compromised the quality of technical support provided to District Health Management Teams (DHMTs), which fell short of being personalised, problem-solving-centred, and regular. Sub-optimal support undermined PHA staff credibility among DHMT members, limiting their active participation and learning, and resulting in inconsistent management capacities and low motivation, self-efficacy, and perceived autonomy.
WHO: Developing countries seek actions on inequities in international recruitment of health workers
Third World Network: TWN Info Service on Health Issues (Apr26/02), April, 2026
Low and middle income countries are are seeking concrete measures to address inequities in the international recruitment of health workers. A Resolution on the Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel is scheduled to be adopted at the 79th Session of the World Health Assembly (WHA79) to take place from 17 to 23 May at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. This resolution attempts to address structural inequities faced by source countries caused by the uneven progress in the application of the different provisions of the Code. In ongoing negotiations, low- and middle-income countries have called for concrete measures such as ring-fenced taxation to address inequities, emerging from the migration of workers. High-income countries continue to oppose.
9. Public-Private Mix
Stakeholder Perceptions on Innovative Private Pharmacy Distribution Channels and Implications for Medicine Quality in Zambia: A Qualitative Study
Matafwali S; Bond V; Clarke S; et al: Global Health: Science and Practice 4(1), 1-14, doi: https://doi.org/10.9745/GHSP-D-24-00248, 2026
This paper provides the first comprehensive investigation of stakeholder perspectives on innovative pharmacy distribution channels and their implications for pharmaceutical quality assurance in Zambia. Fifteen stakeholders representing key sectors of the pharmaceutical supply chain — including wholesalers, retailers, regulators, national medicine supply agencies, professional pharmacy bodies, and supply chain experts — participated in semi-structured interviews analysed using bottom-up thematic analysis. Four interconnected theme categories emerged: current supply chain challenges, potential benefits of innovative pharmacy approaches, limitations and shortcomings, and recommendations for improvement. Findings suggest that innovative distribution approaches will face many of the same regulatory and structural constraints as traditional systems, and cannot fully circumvent existing access challenges.
10. Resource allocation and health financing
Early impacts of PEPFAR funding freeze on HIV service delivery in mid-Western Uganda
Zakumumpa H; Adolf A; Kiplagat J; et al: BMC Health Services Research 26(368), 1-12, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-14165-2, 2026
The authors assess evidence on the examined the effects of abrupt aid cessation through exploring the early impacts of a PEPFAR funding freeze, announced on 20 January 2025, on HIV service delivery in the Fort Portal region of mid-western Uganda. In-depth interviews were conducted with 36 health workers across eight HIV clinics, and six focus group discussions were held with 48 people living with HIV. Four broad themes emerged. First, widespread uncertainty and confusion affected oversight and frontline service delivery. Second, anticipatory antiretroviral stockpiling by patients contributed to facility-level stock-outs. Third, multiple HIV services were discontinued, including prevention programmes, viral load testing, key population services, and community outreach. Fourth, the loss of PEPFAR-salaried staff disrupted clinic operations, undermined sub-national governance mechanisms, and impeded routine data capture. The findings highlight the severe consequences of abrupt external funder withdrawal and underscore the need for planned transitions and strengthened financial, technical, and management capacity in recipient governments. Further research on the medium- and long-term impacts of the funding freeze is suggested.
Implementation of WHO-PEN interventions in Eswatini: an assessment of health equity and out-of-pocket expenditure for diabetes and hypertension care
Harkare H; Ginindza N; Stehr L; et al: International Journal for Equity in Health, 1-36, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-026-02829-8, 2026
The authors assessed the impact of the WHO Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease (PEN) interventions on health equity and out-of-pocket expenditures in Eswatini. A cluster-randomised controlled trial was conducted among adults aged ≥40 years with diabetes, hypertension, or prediabetes, comparing two intervention arms — differentiated service delivery (facility- and community-based streamlined care) and community delivery platforms (monthly outreach) — against a nurse-led standard of care. Access to care was largely independent of socioeconomic status, with the exception of blood pressure measurement rates, which differed between the poorest and richest quintiles in the differentiated service delivery. Participants in the differentiated service delivery incurred lower total expenditures per visit than those in the other types. Transport was the largest cost driver, with total direct expenditures ranging from USD 2.65 to USD 3.96 per visit. The WHO PEN package had limited impact on health equity. A differentiated service delivery model showed potential to reduce out-of-pocket costs.
Who remains uncovered? Assessing inequalities and determinants of national health insurance enrolment among informal sector workers in Kenya
Wamalwa P; Strupat C; Singh K; et al: Global Health Research and Policy 10(16), 1-17, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41256-025-00461-7, 2025
This paper examines socioeconomic inequalities in national health insurance enrolment and determinants of participation among informal sector workers in Kenya. Overall, 21.75% of informal sector workers were enrolled. Pro-rich inequalities were observed, with a concentration index of 0.35. Older age, non-agricultural employment, microfinance membership, higher education, prior positive healthcare experience, and higher socioeconomic status were positively associated with enrolment, while larger household size was associated with lower odds. Enrolment rates remain low and pro-rich inequalities persist among informal sector workers. The authors recommend that policies to improve uptake include differential premium structures, expanded targeted subsidies, and enhanced awareness campaigns, and that the findings are relevant to other low-resource settings transitioning toward national health insurance and universal health coverage.
11. Equity and HIV/AIDS
Prevalence and determinants of ability to refuse sex among women of reproductive age in Tanzania: evidence from national representative surveys
Moshi F V; Buname R E: BMC Women's Health 26(65), 1-16, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-04203-2, 2026
The authors investigated the prevalence and determinants of reproductive-age women’s ability to refuse sex analysing secondary data from the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey for 9,090 women aged 15–49. The study found that 69.6% of Tanzanian women of reproductive age had the ability to refuse sex. After adjusting for confounders, women’s ability to refuse sex was associated with their higher levels of their and their partners’ education, wealth, awareness of sexually transmitted infections, prior HIV testing, media access, and contraceptive use, albeit with some geographical variability.
Factors associated with unawareness of HIV-positive status among individuals aged ≥ 15 years in Tanzania: Evidence from the Tanzania HIV Impact Survey 2022–2023
Damian D; Cosmas S; Wang A; et al: BMC Public Health 1-22, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12889-026-26597-w, 2026
This paper estimated the proportion of individuals aged ≥15 years living with HIV in Tanzania who were unaware of their status, and identified factors associated with that unawareness, using data from the Tanzania HIV Impact Survey 2022–2023. Of 1,850 individuals aged ≥15 years who tested HIV-positive, 266 were unaware of their status. Males were more likely to be unaware than females. Those aged 15–24 were over five times more likely to be unaware compared to individuals aged ≥55 years. Individuals reporting no condom use at last intercourse were more likely to be unaware of their status, while those with at least one partner known to be living with HIV were less likely to be unaware. Despite robust HIV case-finding efforts in Tanzania, 1 in 6 people living with HIV remained unaware of their status. Targeted case-finding in men and young people, and HIV prevention strategies are thus proposed.
Geospatial and multilevel analysis of lifetime HIV testing uptake among high-risk adults in Mozambique: evidence from the 2022–2023 DHS
Yewodiaw T; Endalew H; Getnet M; et al: International Journal of Health Geographics, 1-11, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12942-026-00462-w, 2026
This paper investigates the prevalence, spatial distribution, and determinants of lifetime HIV testing among high-risk adults aged 15–49 in Mozambique, using 2022–2023 DHS data. A cross-sectional analysis of 15,393 high-risk adults applied descriptive statistics, spatial analyses, and multilevel logistic regression to identify individual- and community-level factors associated with testing uptake. Overall, 63.7% of high-risk adults had ever tested for HIV. Uptake was higher among females, urban residents, and those aged 25–34, and lowest among adolescents aged 15–19. Wealth, education, marital status, employment, media exposure, and HIV knowledge were all positively associated with testing. Significant regional disparities were observed, with southern provinces showing higher uptake than northern and central provinces, and spatial analysis confirmed clustering of low-testing hotspots in northern and central rural areas. Individual and community factors together explained 62.9% of between-cluster variance. HIV testing in Mozambique remains uneven across sociodemographic and geographic groups. The authors recommend targeted, equity-focused interventions to reach adolescents, men, rural populations, and residents of underserved provinces, with priority given to community-based testing, health education, and addressing geographic barriers
Hypertension is a marker of the micro-epidemiologic transition in ageing HIV populations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania (AFRICOS, 2013–2023)
Mayambala D; Ojjambo W S; Lwanga C; et al: BMC Public Health https://doi. org/10.1186/s12889-026-27241-3, 2026
This paper estimated the association of hypertension with all-cause mortality among adults aged ≥40 years. At enrolment, 18.6% were hypertensive; 60.1% experienced hypertension during follow-up, and all-cause mortality was 6.4%. Excess mortality was largest among adults aged 50–59, men, underweight participants, and those with suppressed HIV viral load. Among underweight participants, hypertensives had 3.6-fold higher mortality than non-hypertensives; among those with suppressed viral load, the association was 2.3-fold. In adjusted models, mortality odds were higher among participants aged ≥60 and those with high viral load, while overweight and obese participants had substantially lower odds. These findings reflect a demographic transformation of the HIV epidemic in East Africa, where mortality among people living with HIV increasingly reflects a chronic disease burden, with hypertension emerging as a key driver.
12. Governance and participation in health
From PHEIC to PHECs: reclaiming Africa's agency in global health security governance
Evaborhene N: Globalization and Health 22(18), 1-10, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12992-025-01177-6, 2026
Following COVID-19, the African Union elevated the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to autonomous status, empowering it to declare Public Health Emergencies of Continental Concern (PHECs). This mechanism was first operationalised in August 2024 in response to sustained mpox transmission across 13 AU member states — where 17,541 cases and 517 deaths had been recorded, representing a 160% rise in cases compared to the same period in 2023 — despite the WHO's earlier lifting of its own PHEIC. Applying the Critique, Reform, Withdrawal, and Transformation (CRWT) framework, this commentary argues that the PHECs represent both a strategic withdrawal from overreliance on the WHO PHEIC system and a transformative effort to embed African-led governance rooted in Pan-African solidarity. The mechanism mobilised USD 10.4 million in emergency AU funding and a tripartite vaccine distribution agreement, demonstrating its capacity for rapid resource mobilisation. Key recommendations include a tiered activation system for early response, a Pandemic Peer Review Mechanism modelled on the African Peer Review Mechanism, a dedicated AU Health Protocol to formalise Africa CDC's authority, and closer integration with continental financial instruments. The authors argue that PHECs represent a critical reconfiguration of Africa's role in global health — from recipient of external interventions to architect of regional norms and accountability — not by rejecting multilateralism, but by recalibrating it on African terms.
Participatory research and community engagement in climate and health research
Palmeiro-Silva Y; Nyamwanza A; Vu A: Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 104:206–208, doi: https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.25.294164, 2026
Drawing on two case studies, the authors argue that ethical participatory research on climate change and health requires ongoing negotiation of power, participatory priority-setting, and holistic risk assessment. The first case study, an impact evaluation of climate adaptation actions in rural Zimbabwe (2019–2022), found that researchers needed to revise their initial selection of adaptation interventions after community consultation revealed that psychosocial distress from droughts was a more pressing local concern than the externally identified priorities. The second case study examined informal outdoor workers in Viet Nam facing heatwaves and extreme rainfall, identifying ethical risks including potential reprisals from employers for worker empowerment activities, the overshadowing of immediate socioeconomic concerns, and difficulties translating findings into policy. The authors identify three core ethical dilemmas: i. whose priorities shape the research agenda; ii. how to balance scientific rigour with participatory integrity; and iii. how to manage the tension between urgent climate timelines and the time required for meaningful community engagement. The authors conclude that ethical participatory research in climate and health must go beyond procedural compliance, to recognise communities as knowledge producers, address structural inequities, and ensure that research outcomes deliver tangible benefits to participants.
The 99% Don't Need a Billionaires' Forum. They Need Democratic Power
Ricks J: allAfrica.com, January 2026
As world leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2026, the author argued that the Forum — despite its rhetoric of dialogue and shared problem-solving — serves the interests of a wealthy elite without delivery for the global majority. The wealthiest 0.001% now control three times more wealth than half of humanity combined, yet WEF's political influence perpetuates corporate tax reductions, regressive consumption taxes, and the thriving of tax havens. The author contrasts this with the 'We the 99 People's Summit' held in Johannesburg in November 2025, where movements from across the world adopted a ten-point, people-centred roadmap calling for taxing the super-rich and big tech, closing tax havens and shell companies, protecting civic and cultural rights, and ending occupation and genocide. At a time when multilateralism is being increasingly undermined, the author rejects substitutes for democratic global governance and argues that legitimacy comes from people, participation, and collective power.
US's new scramble for Africa is biomedical imperialism
Mhaka T: Al Jazeera, March 2026
In a rapidly expanding network of bilateral health agreements the United States has been negotiating across Africa under its America First Global Health Strategy, more than 20 memoranda of understanding are already signed with African governments and total commitments approaching $20 billion. The author notes that Zimbabwe withdrew from a proposed $367 million agreement after describing it as an unequal exchange; Kenya's High Court suspended a $2.5 billion agreement on data protection grounds; and Zambia's proposed $1 billion partnership reportedly included a clause linking termination to a separate minerals compact covering copper and cobalt. The author situates these arrangements within a longer history of colonial medical exploitation — from forced drug trials during sleeping sickness campaigns in French Equatorial Africa to Pfizer's controversial 1996 meningitis trial in Nigeria — and warns that bilateral agreements risk undermining the WHO Pandemic Agreement's pathogen access and benefit-sharing framework. The author calls on African governments to negotiate collectively through the African Union and Africa CDC rather than accept fragmented, asymmetric bilateral pacts that risk reproducing colonial extraction in new scientific form.
13. Monitoring equity and research policy
Addressing priority gaps in access and quality of NCD services in primary care settings in Rural Kenya: a participatory approach to intervention development
Ouma O; Omondi D; Museve E; et al: BMC Primary Care, 1-55, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/ s12875-026-03295-5, 2026
An analysis of gaps in primary healthcare (PHC) service delivery for diabetes mellitus and hypertension (HTN) to collaboratively identify and co-design tailored improvement interventions used a participatory research approach using five-steps: situation analysis, stakeholder engagement to identify service delivery gaps, prioritization of interventions, implementation planning informed by contextual factors and monitoring and evaluation. Two multi-stakeholder workshops were conducted involving health management teams, PHC workers, community health promoters, patients, and researchers. Priority interventions co-designed through the participatory approach included targeted PHC worker training, improved access to clinical guidelines, structured mentorship and supervision, strengthened community outreach, and improved availability of diagnostic tools and essential medicines. The action and evaluation steps are still to be covered. Participatory approaches to intervention development is argued to facilitate stakeholder ownership and contextually appropriate solutions.
Experience with the mobile health application ‘mSaada’ to facilitate home-based human papillomavirus testing in Western Kenya
Nguyen N; Woldetensae M; Choudhri S; et al: BMC Global and Public Health 3(92), 1-10, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s44263-025-00213-2, 2026
mSaada, a mobile phone application, is designed to facilitate counselling, data collection, and client follow-up for human papillomavirus (HPV)-based cervical cancer screening in western Kenya. Community health promoters (CHPs) in Kisumu County are trained in mSaada-assisted HPV screening before offering self-collection testing during routine home visits. HPV results and follow-up information are communicated to women by text or home visit and recorded in clinic files. Women testing positive were offered thermal ablation treatment at local health facilities free of charge. All CHPs completed an mSaada usability survey and focus group discussion at the end of the pilot.. Device and application issues were minimal, with charging problems, slow performance, and QR code scanner malfunctions being the most common. Usability scores indicated high satisfaction. mSaada proved a useful tool for facilitating HPV-based screening during home visits, and workflow observations and qualitative data identified specific improvements in workflow, device quality, and app design to enhance impact and sustainability.
14. Useful Resources
Webinar: No to War and Aggression: Defend People’s Lives and Health
Organised by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (PHM-India) in association with the People’s Health Movement (PHM), April, 2026
In this webinar, the speakers raised the ongoing crisis and health impacts due to military aggression with particular focus on Palestine, Lebanon, Cuba and Iran. The webinar foregrounds multiple voices of resistance and solidarity from across the globe, asserting the primacy of people’s health and peace over militarism and imperialist aggression. Speakers included Ubai Al-Aboudi, Bisan Center, Ramallah, Palestine, Zeina Mohanna, AMEL, Lebanon, Jennifer Cardona Malaver, ALAMES on Cuba, Aziz Rhali, Global coordinator, PHM, Prabir Purkayastha, Delhi Science Forum and Newsclick, India and Anand Grover, Advocate and former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to health
15. Jobs and Announcements
18th World Congress On Public Health: Health Without Borders: Equity, Inclusion, and Sustainability
Cape Town, South Africa: 6-9 September, 2026
The 18th World Congress on Public Health (WCPH) will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, organised by the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) in collaboration with the Public Health Association of South Africa (PHASA) unites public health professionals, policymakers, and advocates to address the world's pressing health challenges. Taking place for the first time in Southern Africa, the event offers a powerful platform for African voices to engage in and contribute to global public health conversations. The theme, "Health Without Borders: Equity, Inclusion, and Sustainability," reflects the urgent need for collective action in a world shaped by conflict, political instability, epidemics, and systemic injustice. Key thematic areas include equity in healthcare access, inclusive and diverse health policies, and the building of sustainable and resilient health systems. Registration is online. Delegates can expect dynamic workshops, networking opportunities with global health leaders, and the development of actionable strategies to advance health equity worldwide.
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