Africa’s hidden drought: a desert of agriculture policy

I recently visited farmers in Limuru, a town outside of Nairobi, Kenya, where I met Angella, a 35-year-old single mother of three school-age children who lost her husband in a car accident seven years ago. For many seasons, Angella planted seed recycled from the previous year’s crop. Her harvest was never large enough to feed …

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We need an international environmental criminal court

NAIROBI – The announcement of the winners of this year’s Goldman Environmental Prize is an opportunity to celebrate activist leaders. But it is also a moment to recognize just how much courage their efforts (and those of a great many others) can demand. When my dear friend Berta Cáceres and I won the prize in 2015, Berta …

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Lessons Learned from the final Ebola outbreak in Guinea

In mid-March of 2016, I was a new field epidemiologist working in the West African country of Guinea. The Ebola epidemic seemed to be over: We were just 11 days away from being Ebola-free for 90 days, which would mark the official end of the country’s epidemic. Then field coordinator Dr. Angelo Loua walked into our small …

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New WHO Leader Could Improve Global Health Security By Turning WHO Upside Down

A month ago I downloaded all the CVs and applications of the three shortlisted candidates for the new WHO director general. I immediately noted that Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was the only one who directly called out the need to bolster the frail health frontlines of many poor countries. As an infectious disease epidemiologist who …

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New WHO Leader Could Improve Global Health Security By Turning WHO Upside Down

A month ago I downloaded all the CVs and applications of the three shortlisted candidates for the new WHO director general. I immediately noted that Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was the only one who directly called out the need to bolster the frail health frontlines of many poor countries. As an infectious disease epidemiologist who …

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