17 April 2018, As Mother’s Day was celebrated across much of the Middle East and North Africa, a new Cervical Cancer Crisis Card highlighted the scale of the challenge and opportunity to tackle what is now considered an almost entirely preventable disease. Cervical cancer is a noncommunicable disease (NCD) caused by the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). Every […]

April 6, 2018, Over half of the world’s population is denied essential health services. This means scores of communities cannot get medicines they need, have no hospital to go to, are not being immunised and receive no advice about family planning. This is a sobering reminder on World Health Day. To make matters worse, ill health […]

March 17, 2018, Governments in countries such as Pakistan with exploding and rapidly urbanizing populations face increasing challenges to deliver ‘good government’. In contexts of scarce resources and declining trust, it is increasingly becoming difficult to ensure delivery of law and order, justice, services to bridge inequalities, market competitiveness, and effective and even regulation—the key government […]

March 8 , 2018, Over the last year, as the global momentum striving for women’s equality and gender parity gained momentum, we saw a sea change around the world. Women have demanded their right to work safely, be paid fairly, and live without fear of harassment and harm. This movement has been a long time coming, […]

March 1, 2018, Often in the background, nurses are the heart of every national health system. They do everything from caring for patients to giving lifesaving treatments in emergency; from supervising health workers to ensuring the correct information is passed between doctors and patients. In effect, nurses are the silent heroes. This week, a new global […]

16 Feb 2018, As the country gears up for a general election, it’s important to examine where and how human capital development features in party manifestos. Human capital development is being emphasized for a specific reason. Human capital development isn’t just inextricably linked to the principles of universalism and freedoms and to human rights, it is […]

October 11, 2017, Ghana’s obesity epidemic was in the spotlight this week as a hard-hitting long-read in the New York Times reflected on the changing food culture that is leading to expanded waistlines and driving an epidemic of diabetes and heart disease that is threatening to overawe already fragile health systems. As globalization has accelerated, an […]

October 3, 2017, Following the publication of my Op-ed “The Corruption Imperatives” in these columns on September 20, I received several communications asking that I elaborate on specific steps, which have a high likelihood of countering corruption in a national context.   As a starting point, I would like to reiterate the importance of building systems […]

September 20, 2017, We in Pakistan are slowly beginning to realize that corruption and collusion don’t just take an economic and social toll, but that the institutionalization of these practices now stands as one of the greatest obstacles to economic and social development, peace, and national security. As a problem, corruption is by no means specific […]

September 20, 2017, Corruption is now widely discussed and condemned in Pakistan. There seems to be a growing realization that corruption isn’t just about kickbacks, embezzlement, and fraud, but that with its complex fiscal, intellectual and ethical ramifications, it has far-reaching consequences. From endangering life, hurting prospects for development and economic growth and widening inequalities to […]