Sister Surgeons
By Lauri Romanzi & Sohier Elneil
Sister SurgeonsOct 06, 2020
Ep22: Dr. Tahir Ghaznavi - Our Man in Afghanistan - updates us on the Taliban, 1 million Afghan children starving to death, and Afghan immigrants stuck in Uganda
Afghan refugees stuck in Uganda en route to USA, Pakistani flight fees out of Kabul up from 150 USD to 2,500 USD, the insurmountable Afghan winter and starvation certain to kill millions... and on the bright side, ongoing demonstrations in-country supporting the rights of girls and women. Dr. Tahir Ghaznavi is a physician and Programme Specialist with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) who first spoke with us in Episode 20 [posted 07 Sep 2021]. Though Afghanistan has fallen off the mainstream televised media outlets in the United States, it remains an evolving, downward-spiraling global crisis with U.S. citizens still stuck in-country and myriad qualified Afghanis still blocked from obtaining US visas while many unqualified Afghanis who circumvented process (with relative ease, it seems) now arriving to foreign lands in the EU and North America. To illustrate the painful truths, Pakistan International Airline jacking up its Kabul flights from 150 USD to 2,500 USD, and a group of Afghan refugees who are stuck in Uganda, a country with a long history of helping refugees make there way to the USA. We are not making this up.
We love to hear from our listeners! Today we launch the Sister Surgeons poll and question sections for this podcast. And you may also share your thoughts, questions and ideas with us by voicemail here: https://anchor.fm/l-romanzi-s-elneil/message
United Nations Radio updates on Afghanistan - https://news.un.org/en/tags/afghanistan
"Special Immigrant Visas for Afghans - Who Were Employed by/on Behalf of the U.S. Government" https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/special-immg-visa-afghans-employed-us-gov.html
"U.S. Refugee Admissions Program Priority 2 Designation for Afghan Nationals - United States Department of State" https://www.state.gov/u-s-refugee-admissions-program-priority-2-designation-for-afghan-nationals/
"Agencies distribute food. blankets, cash as hunger and cold threaten Afghanistan" (Reuters) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/agencies-distribute-food-blankets-cash-hunger-cold-threaten-afghanistan-2021-10-13/
"A Million Afghan Children Could Die in Most Perilous Hour" U.N. Warns (NY Times) https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/13/world/asia/afghanistan-united-nations-crisis.html?smid=url-share
Afghan refugees lingering in Uganda - (DW News) https://youtu.be/90wenUx4Xn8
All things Al Jazeera English on Afghanistan today - https://www.aljazeera.com/where/afghanistan/
Ep18: Florence Belleghem of One.Surgery shares her perspective on anaesthesia and the decolonization of global health
Florence Van Belleghem, MD, is an Anesthesia Resident in Belgium who has seen the good, bad and the ugly of global health work in her volunteer activities before and during medical school. As a result, she has developed respectful, mutually beneficial relationships with colleagues in low-income countries that she hopes to develop through a partner-led set of priorities with an eye on equity over the course of her career. Her vision, open mindedness and youthful wisdom have of these activities landed her in a leadership position within the groundbreaking One.Surgery, an open-source global platform for surgical advocacy and equity insights. She is the Chief Editor of Voices of One Surgery.
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Be in touch with Florence - florence@one.surgery
Join the movement of One.Surgery! https://one.surgery/
Ep21: Calling all students! Meet Tufts Medical Student Anusha Jayaram - the U.S. Co-Chair of the Global Surgery Students Alliance
Searching for a role model who can show you how to Stay in Your Lane while simultaneously accelerating gender equity in surgery and the decolonization of global health? The Sisters are thrilled to share the strategies, accomplishments and vision of Anusha Jayaram, a 5th year medical student at Tufts University and a recent graduate of the Research Associate Fellowship at Harvard's Program in Global Surgery and Social Change. She is also the North American Co-Chair of a dynamic group of undergrad and medical students dedicated to surgery - the Global Surgery Student Alliance. as well as a leader within The Gender Equity Initiative in Global Surgery.
We love to hear from our podcast community - share your thoughts, questions and suggestions with Sister Surgeons here
Gender Equity Initiative in Global Surgery on Twitter Website https://gendereqglobalsurg.wixsite.com/geigs
Harvard Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) https://www.pgssc.org
Lancet Commission on Global Surgery https://www.thelancet.com/commissions/global-surgery
Global Surgery Student Alliance (GSSA) - who we are
https://www.globalsurgerystudents.org/who-we-are
https://www.globalsurgerystudents.org/chapters-new
USAID https://www.globalsurgerystudents.org/usaid
Mobile Surgery International https://mobilesurgery.international/
G4 Alliance https://www.theg4alliance.org/
GSSA is linked to InciSioN https://incisionetwork.org/ International Student Surgical Network
Ep20: Dr. Tahir Ghaznavi shares hopes & fears for women & girls of Afghanistan - feat. Guest co-host Midwife Dr. Pandora Hardtman
An Afghan national, Dr. Tahir Ghaznavi shares his unvarnished, insider perspective on the impact of the US withdrawal on women and girls in Afghanistan with Lauri and guest co-host Dr. Pandora Hardtman. Pandora is an international Midwifery leader who has worked extensively in fragile states and refugee communities.
Share your comments, questions and suggestions with Sister Surgeons - we love to hear from our listeners!
Dr. Mohammed Tahir Ghaznavi of Afghanistan is a Programme Specialist with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), currently stationed with UNFPA Libya and Tunisia. Dr. Ghaznavi is a committed, results driven, public health crusader physician with a Masters degree in health systems management and policy from University of Colorado Denver – School of Public Health. Tahir's career includes a diverse clinical and public health background with a focus on formulating health policies and programs for curative, preventive and promotive healthcare at speciality hospitals, academic health centres and community based healthcare with a focus on RMNCAH, Immunization, Nutrition, Mental health and Disability.
Follow Dr. Mohammed Tahir Ghaznavi on Twitter
Follow Dr. Pandora Hardtman on Twitter
Join Dr. Mohammed Tahir Ghaznavi on LinkedIn
NY TIMES April 2021 'Afghan women fear the worst, whether war or peace lies ahead' By Thomas Gibbons-Neff, Fatima Faizi and Najim Rahim
Read about and watch Dr. Ghaznavi's interview at Afghanistan's premiere Government Hospital Maternal and Reproductive Health - Malalai Maternity Hospital in Kabul
Take a photo tour (Getty Images) of Malalai Maternity Hospital
Ep19: Honorary Sister Mark Shrime on health & financial risk in rich and poor countries
Rwanda has better health insurance- Mutuelle de Sante - than the United States where citizens live in constant, birth-to-death risk of catastrophic health expenditure. Yes, America, we're talking about you. In this episode, Suzy, Lauri and honorary Sister Professor Mark Shrime ponder healthcare financial risk across the international spectrum, where Rwanda's Mutuelle lies in close proximity to the UK's National Health Service and Canadian Medicare, while the U.S., with it's debacle of racial/ethnic inequity in maternal health safety, decreasing life expectancy and expanding healthcare deserts, seems incapable of expanding either Medicaid or Medicare into guaranteed lifetime coverage for citizens of the "best nation on Earth".
Professor Mark G. Shrime, MD, MPH, PhD, FACSis O’Brien Chair of Global Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Lecturer in Global Health and Social Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. He previously served as the founder and Director of the Center for Global Surgery Evaluation at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and as Research Director for the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard.
His academic pursuits focus on surgical delivery in low- and middle-income countries, where he has a specific interest in the intersection of health, impoverishment, and inequity. His work aims to determine optimal policies and platforms for surgical delivery that maximize health benefits while simultaneously minimizing the risk of financial catastrophe faced by patients. In 2018, he was awarded the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Award by the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery. His research has been supported by the Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation and by an anonymous donation to the Center for Global Surgery Evaluation; he has previously received research support from the GE Foundation’s Safe Surgery 2020 project and the Steven C. and Carmella Kletjian Foundation.
He is currently the Principal Investigator on a randomized controlled trial of financial incentives for surgical patients in Guinea and the Principal Investigator on a prospective extended cost-effectiveness analysis of maxillofacial surgery in West Africa.
When not working, Mark is an avid photographer and rock climber and has competed on Seasons 8, 9, and 11 of American Ninja Warrior.
Medical Deserts in the United States - on Wiki!
Nowhere to Go: Maternity Care Deserts Across the U.S. - March of Dimes 2020 report on USA maternal healthcare
The 3-Delays model as adapted by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery (LCoGS)
World Health Organization initiatives for Universal Health Coverage (#UHC)
Ep 17:Infection Prevention on Planet Earth with Dr. Unarose Hogan
Meet one of the Sisters' favorite behind the scenes colleagues - Dr. Unarose Hogan. From Ireland across Europe, much of Africa and into South East Asia, Unarose supports colleagues to prevent infection even when health systems appear to barely have enough to get by.
Unarose Hogan, (PhD, MSc, BSc, R.N.) has spent the past seventeen years working in global health security, infection control, academia and clinical practice; primarily living in Sub Saharan Africa but also working in Central and South East Asia and Eastern Europe. Presently she is an Infection Control Advisor with Americares, a health-focused relief and development organization operational in 90 countries.
At the start of COVID-19, she was working with WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, focusing on hospital readiness for COVID-19 in the EURO region, specifically in Armenia. Formerly she has worked in several positions with WHO (in Albania/ Geneva) and served as Infection Control Advisor for Medical Operations during the Ebola Response with United Nations Mission Emergency Ebola Response (UNMEER, Sierra Leone).
She has worked as an infection control lecturer in the school of nursing and midwifery at the University of East Anglia, UK. She holds an adjunct Faculty position with the school of medicine, the University of Limerick on a Master of Public Health. She has published broadly in operational research in low-income countries.
Unarose is a board member at the Irish Global Health Network.
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Links for our most curious listeners:
Global Alliance of Nurses and Midwives(GANM)
African Infection Control Network (AICN)
Asia Pacific Society for Infection Control (APSIC)
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)
European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) WHO Infection ControlEp16: Sarah Craven and Rachel Moynihan rock the world at UNFPA
If you are a girl, a woman, or know someone who is, join us in celebrating the pivotal role played by The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in securing the rights of girls and women to live as empowered, foundational citizens. Or maybe you need to know how the 43rd president of the United States -GW that is - came by the moniker "Rubbers Bush". We got it all, right here!
UNFPA was established in 1969, 4 years before the 1973 United States' landmark reproductive rights case of Roe v. Wade. The UNFPA is the largest international source of assistance for population programs and the leading United Nations (UN) organization for the implementation of the 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. In the United States, UNFPA has 2 main offices, one at the famous United Nations HQ in New York City, and one in Washington, D.C..
Join Sister Surgeons as we talk with the Director and 2nd in command of the UNFPA Washington D.C. office, Ms. Sarah Craven and Ms. Rachel Moynihan, an indefatigable and dynamic team of champions for women's rights and health.
SARAH CRAVEN – DIRECTOR OF UNFPA WASHINGTON
A policy advocate and attorney with experience in global health and human rights, Sarah Craven currently serves as the Director of the Washington Office of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. In this role, Sarah leads UNFPA’s strategic engagement with policy makers and civil society to advance programs and policies that empower women and girls globally. Prior to her work at UNFPA, she held positions at the National Women’s Law Center, the U.S. Department of State and on the legislative staff to U.S. Senators Tim Wirth (Colorado) and Spark Matsunaga (Hawaii). She holds a B.A. from Macalester College, a M.Phil. from Cambridge University (UK) and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center where she was a Public Interest Law Scholar. In 2010, she was named one of Macalester College’s Distinguished Citizens.
RACHEL MOYNIHAN - ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST OF UNFPA WASHINGTON
Communications and Policy professional at the United Nations in Washington, D.C., lover of podcasts, politics and Donald Glover. She holds a Master's in Public Policy from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. She is a proud alumn of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
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Support your legislators who support UNFPA - Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Barbara Lee (D-CA)
UNITED NATIONS ORGANIZATIONS - WASHINGTON D.C. OFFICES
As discussed in today's podcast, here are the links to UNFPA website, UNFPA Internship program, Friends of UNFPA website, UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATIONS founded by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, UNICEF website, UNHCR website
Ep15: WASH what? Susan K. Barnett on Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
As we live our way into conditions of chronic pandemic occurring inside rapid shifts in climate, water security is less assured no matter where you are in the world. In addition to drinking water, competition for the water we need for sanitation and hygiene is mounting, from households to hospitals. Challenges include long-standing global inequities between rich and poor countries and growing local inequities between rich and poor areas within wealthy countries, such as the ongoing water supply debacle in Flint, Michigan, USA.
Sister Surgeons has the pleasure of talking with Susan K Barnett, an award-winning investigative journalist (ABC News PrimeTime Live, 20/20 & DatelineNBC), turned to strategic media/communications/ advocacy for nonprofits, and founder of Cause Communications.
Susan leads communications for projects focused on her passion: Water. Global Water 2020 pushed to get the foundation for health—water, toilets, hygiene—into health facilities because 100s of 1000s lack this most basic need. It puts women & children at particular risk. GW2020 also focused on water as a path to security. Faiths for Safe Water engages leaders in advocacy around the single symbol all religions share: Water. Faith in Foreign Assistance advocates strengthening USG support for foreign aid.
Domestically, Susan leads communications for Auburn Senior Fellows, 25 justice-centered faith leaders.
She has produced several films including a series for rainforest dwellers in Borneo linking forest and human health, which aided ending logging in one of Borneo’s last rainforests.
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For the DEEP DIVERS:
On Twitter, start with @WASHAdvocate @GlobalWater2020 @USAIDWater @WaterAid @UN_Water @WorldBankWater
Global Water 2020 WASH legacy list, from global awareness days, legislation, the (Sister Surgeons' fave) First Ladies of Latin America and Africa and The Rotary to Youtube channels, NGOs, United Nations organizations and USAID. For those who want to join the cause, if it has to do with water or WASH, start here!
Global Water 2020 has gathered a broad selection of resources highlighting the US Government's global water efforts, leadership and Federal funding testimonies given to the House Appropriations Subcommittees on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs (SFOPS) and Labor, Health and Human Service, Education and Related Agencies (Labor HHS), the World Health Organization's solidarity statement created in partnership with Global Water 2020, Funding sources for WASH and Global Water 2020's wide array of open source materials for WASH advocacy, policy and implementation.
Ep14: Equity Matters - Dr Michelle Joseph on the Future of Fairness
"If they're not there, it ain't fair."
Within the influential world of high-level global health conferences lives a sad and recalcitrant injustice. Though international in design and scope, high-profile meetings too often fail to include professional healthcare colleagues who actually live and work in the low-income countries (LIC) that are the raison d'etre of these gatherings. So if LIC colleagues can't be there, is it really global? Whose voice truly matters?
With their ground-breaking work in the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard Medical School, Michelle and her team are leading the way towards actualizing equity as the prime tool with which to ensure and normalize the global health conference participation of LIC colleagues.
Michelle Joseph, MD, PhD is an academic trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, Instructor at Harvard Medical School in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine on the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change. She graduated from University College London and trained on the Warwick Orthopedic Programme. In 2018, she was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and appointed as a National Institute Health Research Clinical Lecturer at the University of Warwick. Michelle has research interests in trauma systems strengthening in low-middle income countries and the development of health equity frameworks. She is the Principle Investigator on the PROTHA Study (PROject Trauma HAiti), IMPACT Study (Integrated Military Partnerships and Civilian Trauma Systems), CER Study (Conference Equity Research) and Racial Health Equity Framework Study.
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The Conference Equity Team's website - follow, or better yet, participate in, the conference equity team's progress
The Equity Team's Twitter feeds & faves - @MichelleJoMD @Anudarizorigt @VelinLotta @jwlartigue @ulricksidney @FutureAfroNS @DrBarnabasAlay @desmondtanko @pgssc @ughe_org @SisterSurgeons
The team's first publication - Conference Equity in Global Health: a Systematic Review of Factors Impacting LMIC Representation at Global Health Conferences
Michelle Joseph - Harvard Catalyst Profile
Program in Global Surgery and Social Change - Harvard Medical School - Faculty and Fellows
Ep13: Stay in your lane part 3: Prof Salome Maswime, Head of Global Surgery at U Cape Town, on the decolonization of global health
Dr. Salome Maswime is an ObGyn, Professor of Global Surgery and maternal/newborn health champion based in South Africa. She shares the why and the how of staying in one's lane as a necessary mandate for the decolonization of global health. But that's not all... Want to be of real use when working outside your own country? Prof Maswime shares her wisdom and advice.
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Prof Salome Maswime on Twitter
Prof Salome Maswime Wikipedia bio
Prof Salome Maswime Lancet profile
Discovery Foundation Harvard Mass General Hospital Fellowship - Dr. Maswime's grant
Ep12: Stay in your lane part 2 - Equity, Ethics and Evidence in Global Health - mapping the journey
Sister Surgeons reviews evidence on the where, what and how global health is undergoing transformation through remedial decolonization, and how it supports the work of students, health trainees and accomplished health professionals who are, or who hope to, "be the change they want to see in the world". Here are some tools to guide your journey as an equity champion, particularly when engaged outside your home countries.
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Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world - by Anand Giridharadas
Velin L, Lartigue J, Johnson SA, et al: (2021) Conference equity in global health: a systematic review of factors impacting LMIC representation at global health conferences BMJ Global Health; 6:e003455. Dr. Michelle Joseph is the head of this project at the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change, Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Michelle Joseph on Twitter
Hudspeth et al: Reconfiguring a one-way street: Equity in training - includes California's ground-breaking Guest Physician licensure process
Umoren, et al: (2012) Evidence of reciprocity in reports on international partnerships. Hindawi
Ep 11: Stay in your lane part 1 - Equity, Ethics & Evidence in Global Health
Sister Surgeons shares Global Health Equity and Ethics for health professionals seeking global health opportunities. This installment of Stay In Your Lane rolls through portions of Lauri's 2020 presentation entitled Equity, Ethics and Evidence: a lens on doing no harm while being of use overseas at the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Health at University of California Health Sciences: San Diego. In this episode, we roll through the Equity and Ethics portions. We'll cover Evidence in a follow-on podcast.
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Here are the links we review in this episode:
American Association of Family Practice: Clinical Care – Public Health Venn diagram
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030: Reducing Maternal Mortality
WHO: Health Systems Equity vs Equality
Consortium of Universities in Global Health (CUGH): Monitoring and Evaluating Global Health
CUGH WEIGHT Guidelines homepage
ACOG Global Health fellowships and residency program opportunities
Ethics in Global Health prep – Stanford University
Ep10: Somaliland in the HOUSE! Dr. Shukri Mohamed Dahir shares her story
Dr. Shukri M. Dahir is a woman to watch in global health and a General Surgery resident at Edna Adan University Hospital in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Shukri joins Lauri and Suzy to launch 2021 Season 2 of Sister Surgeons, sharing her experiences and professional visions as a champion for Somaliland, a talented physician and surgeon, a healthcare strategist and an Africanist leader in the making.
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College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa
The PanAfrican Medical Journal
Ethiopian Journal of Reproductive Health
Ep9: Pale, Male and Stale - a contemporary ponder with Prof Geoffrey Cundiff
Honorary "Sister" Geoff Cundiff joins Suzy and Lauri to consider what it means to be a privileged white male academic Obstetrics and Gynecology leader navigating anti-racism and the decolonization of healthcare as these forces transform the very landscape he helped to shape. To quote Bette Davis' line in the Hollywood classic, All About Eve; "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night!"
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Professor Geoffrey Cundiff, University of British Columbia
Nell Irvin Painter: The History of White People
Ep8: Canadian vs U.S. healthcare with Professor Geoff Cundiff
Professor Geoff Cundiff, honorary "Sister", worked in the United States for many years before emigrating to Canada to work at the University of British Columbia. Together we tackle the burning question: Is Canadian healthcare "healthier" than healthcare in the United States? Comparing and contrasting the health systems and the Obstetrician/Gynecologist physician education and training processes, Geoff and Lauri explore the much-welcomed shift in health systems research to include the perspective of the patients in measures of success and failure. If "we treasure what we measure", which do we care more about - the patients or the profits?
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Related links:
Professor Geoff Cundiff, University of British Columbia
National Bureau of Economic Research: Comparing the U.S. and Canadian Healthcare Systems
Olga Khazan in The Atlantic: What If America Had Canada's Healthcare System? (hint: Medicare for All)
EP7: Pandemic pipelines and bottlenecks in global health
Suzy and Lauri anticipate impacts, both negative and positive, of the 2nd wave of the pandemic on global health collaborations.
Have a question or comment? Click here!
Related links:
Voice of America: In Tackling COVID-19, Africa Gives World Lesson.
EP6: COVID19 - catalyst for change in global health?
In this episode, Suzy and Lauri take a break from living inside COVID19 challenges to ruminate on the not-so-evident, emerging and potential future positive impacts of the pandemic on global health. As the pandemic enters the 2nd wave that is sure to wreak havoc on resource-poor and poorly implemented health systems, we take a moment to remember that disaster also brings opportunities. In this episode we explore the revitalizing aspects emerging in global health, either due to or accelerated by the COVID19 pandemic. As the 2nd tsunami wave crests over the heads of all who live in the USA and UK, we consider the potential for favorable circumstances behind the immediate and most dire impacts. Global work requires a constant revision and rethink on how we do what we do - hint keywords - sovereignty, reciprocity, bilaterality, resilience, strategic dialogue replacing one-way monologues...
And here's more for the student inside each of us:
The challenges and opportunities of a global health crisis: the management and business implications of COVID-19 from an Asian perspective https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7216126/
COVID-19 as a global challenge: towards an inclusive and sustainable future
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30168-6/fulltext
EP5: Global health ethics with Dr. John Varallo -"honorary sister" and champion of global health equity
Dr. John Varallo is the Global Director of Safe Surgery at the Johns Hopkins Program for Global Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics, also known by its acronym, JHPIEGO. John works both overseas, running JHPIEGO programs in low-income countries in Africa and Asia, as well as with marginalized communities in the USA. During the COVID pandemic, he has been working with underserved communities in Alaska.
In Episode 5, we explore the ethics of providing health care in poor communities in other countries and in our own here in the medically underserved zones of the United States. John shares his lens as a teacher, health strategist, global health leader, and lifelong champion of global, and local, heath equity.
Global health ethics: critical reflections on the contours of an emerging field, 1977–2015
It’s far too complicated’: why fragmentation persists in global health
The financial sustainability of the World Health Organization and the political economy of global health governance: a review of funding proposals . "We argue that while financial reform requires institutional changes to enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency, it is also deeply tied to the political economy of state sovereignty and ideas about the leadership role of the WHO in a crowded global health governance context."
EP4: De-colonizing Global Health with Dr Sierra Washington
The roots of global health are anchored in historic programs designed to keep colonizers healthy during flares of endemic illness. The underpinning goals included maintaining apace the flow of resources out of the colonies to the colonialists' home country, even, and especially, when these endemic illnesses decimated the colonized, indigenous populations whose health was excluded from colonizers' programs to combat, for example, malaria, yellow fever and cholera across African and Asian colonies.
Today, the decolonization of global health is gaining momentum. Sister Surgeons will explore this topic in a series of podcast episodes.
With Episode 4, we begin unpacking of the decolonization movement with Dr. Sierra Washington, Director of Global Women's Health at SUNY Stonybrook's Renaissance School of Medicine in Long Island, New York. Dr. Washington has a broad platform of global health experience including years lived in Tanzania and Rwanda where she supported academic and non-governmental organizations to build capacity and strengthen systems for women's health. What does global health have in common with white supremacy? What does the movement to decolonize global health have in common with anti-racism and Black Lives Matter? Dr. Washington spells it out...
Here are a few links for Sister Surgeon fans who want to explore further-
Ethics in Global Health trainings and publications include works such as:
https://bmcmedethics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12910-018-0278-1
https://www.who.int/ethics/publications/global-health-ethics/en/
https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/global-health-ethics-home-and-abroad/2010-03
Harvard University's platform:
https://twitter.com/DecolonizeGh
Uganda US woman starts charity, plays doctor, kills children, no regulation
Uganda - No White Saviors grass roots organization
https://twitter.com/nowhitesaviors
EP3: Handmaid's Tale 2.0? A global lens on eugenics, contraception, egg freezing and forced hysterectomies
Dr. Sierra Washington, Director of Global Health for the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the State University of New York/Stonybrook Renaissance School of Medicine, talks with the Sisters about the history of the Eugenics Movement, contraception/family planning in the US and across the world, egg freezing for professionals and forced hysterectomies for detained immigrants within the world of reproductive health and rights.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-eugenics-and-birth-control/
https://www.cdc.gov/tuskegee/index.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/18/egg-freezing-start-ups-funded-or-run-by-women.html
EP2: UN General Assembly, World Health Assembly, Race and Health during COVID-19
Suzy and Lauri explore the "how to" of getting involved in global health through UNGA and WHA annual events, and how it all ties into today's dynamics around race, health and COVID-19.
Suzy and U.K. colleagues recent peer-reviewed publication:
Harvard Business Review:
The Disproportionate Impact of Covid-19 on Black Health Care Workers in the U.S.
United Nations General Assembly 75 (#UNGA75)
World Health Assembly 73 (#WHA73)
EP1: Sister Surgeons begin the journey with who, what and why
Dr. Lauri Romanzi, from New York City, and Dr. Suzy Elneil, from London, start the conversation on how global surgeons, as women and champions of women's health and rights, are navigating the pandemic as mentors and colleagues. It's different for girls - no matter what or where one does what one does.