Social Determinants of Health
October 20, 2024
Midwives on the Frontline: The Mental Health Toll in Haiti
Sara Jean is a midwife and mother living in Haiti. On World Mental Health Day, she shared her experience providing care for pregnant people and being pregnant herself amid political instability. In response to a question gauging the impact of the political crisis on her mental health and well-being, Jean reveals: “The ongoing political crisis…
July 9, 2024
The Shift Towards Private Education in Rural India
India’s education landscape is witnessing a significant shift, with nearly 50% of students now enrolled in 4.5 lakh privately managed schools, making it the third-largest school system globally. This surge is driven by low- and middle-income families seeking quality alternatives to government schools. The ‘State of the Sector Report on Private Schools’ by the Central…
June 11, 2024
Chiquita guilty of funding terrorists in Colombia
A South Florida jury just found Chiquita Brands liable for killings by right-wing paramilitary death squads that the the company financed in their banana plantations. Chiquita, formerly the United Fruit Company (UFC), has a long history of deadly repression against workers. The New Orleans-based multinational has long monopolized land and markets and controlled governments throughout…
February 10, 2024
More years of schooling improves all-cause mortality globally – Lancet
A systematic review and meta-analysis by the IHME-CHAIN collaborators (Lancet 23 January 2024) demonstrated that increased “years of schooling had a significant and consistent effect on all-cause mortality risk and that the protective effect of education persisted for female and male individuals, across all age groups, and all levels of Socio-demographic Index of the country…
June 21, 2023
Global Health Justice: The Intersection of Religion and Structural Violence
Global health justice is a powerful ideal, striving for equal access to healthcare and fair health outcomes worldwide. Religion and religious organizations have and continue to play a pivotal role in advancing this cause, championing compassion, care, and justice for the vulnerable. However, it is crucial to acknowledge that there are instances when religion can…
March 8, 2023
Poverty and Exploitation in Jobs, Housing, Banking
Desmond describes the structural role of exploitation in the persistence of poverty in the USA – that is also highly relevant to poverty globally. While we try to promote programs to aid the poor, ‘we have not confronted the unrelenting exploitation of the poor in the labor, housing, and financial markets,” This simply means that…