Women health-care volunteers in low-income countries such as Afghanistan, Nepal and Ethiopia play a vital role in the health-care system, yet they are undervalued and undertrained. Many community health programs use volunteer Community Health Workers (CHW) to provide basic health-related services to rural and remote populations. Most of these thousands of volunteers, trained for a short period and supported by... Continue Reading →
Single-fathers have three times higher chances of dying compared to single-mothers and partnered-fathers, a recent study published in the Lancet Public Health found. The study used Canadian Community Health Survey between the years of 2001 and 2012. Families with single-parents are increasingly becoming common in high-income countries. Although most of them are headed by single-mothers,... Continue Reading →
International Women's Day, March 8th, is supposed to be about freedom, equality, and empowerment of women. Yet, many different societies have turned it into a celebration of women's status as is. Honoring motherhood and celebrating love objects are mere praises for the reproduction capacity of women and in turn a promotion of patriarchy. A gift... Continue Reading →
This administrative/political stand-off offers three ‘governance’ lessons for Afghanistan: use of local knowledge to expand legitimacy, inclusive central administration, and decentralization of authority and responsibility.
Since Harvey Weinstein’s case, sexual harassment and sexual assault have been condemned by almost everyone. The #MeToo movement went viral and thousands agreed with it. But recently, a backlash to #MeToo led by French actress Catherine Deneuve and others like Margaret Atwood has surfaced. Questions about what constitutes sexual harassment have become prominent. Are all sexual advances harassment and all... Continue Reading →
As countries work towards implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, they must monitor and evaluate not only the outcomes (ie, the targets and indicators), but also the processes through which these outcomes will be achieved. Of notable importance is the degree of inclusiveness of these processes. Over the past 7 months, I have been... Continue Reading →
Since the adoption of the United Nations resolutions to ‘transform our world by 2030’ and ‘leave no one behind’ – also known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development the Afghan government has shown a keenness to implement the resolution and march toward sustainable development. A three-phase Afghanistan Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) process including nationalisation, alignment, and implementation... Continue Reading →
The Afghan Ministry of Public Health has recently announced a User Fee Regulation under which user fees will be levied for services in secondary and tertiary public health facilities. The details of how much will be charged, for what services, and when the regulation will actually come into effect are yet to be known. What is known... Continue Reading →
Presented with the question as to ‘why you ended up in research’ in the first ever Starting Investigators Workshop by the CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH) in Ottawa, I said, "my interest in research dates back five generations in our family.” I was kidding, obviously. Yet, there is a tinge of truth in... Continue Reading →
