Personal & Professional Aspirations in Global Health
(Note: This reading reflection paper was written in the second half of 2020 — August 30 — as part of an Introduction to Global Health course)
Global health thrives on the use of a multidisciplinary approach and stakeholders working in synergy to achieve health equity worldwide, where existing public health systems and structures within individual countries either foster or hamper the attainment of specific goals and/or the pace of progress towards health equity. While thematic distinctions about what global health, international health, and public health cover is possible and there have been attempts at this subcategorization, it is more important to note that global health, international health, and public health operate based on similar principles and have impacts that are cumulative.
My academic exposure to field of global health include taking two undergraduate courses — Medical Geography and Introduction to Global Health. I have also taken a graduate course where the focus was on reading policy papers measuring the impacts of selected health interventions. In terms of work experience, I was part of the research chain for some health initiatives. For these projects — qualitative research on care seeking behavior for under 5-years old for pneumonia and diarrhea in two endemic states in Nigeria; understanding access and attitudes to contraceptive usage in key cities in Nigeria, and an evaluation of a mobile health training platform for Community Health care Workers (CHW) in 3 states — I participated in the questionnaire design, training of field and data entry staff, data analysis, and report writing.
The field of global health and health in general — without the enigma “global” prefixed — appeals to me because of the link between an individual’s health and their ability to achieve their potential as a human being. When health breaks down other things soon begin to fall through, including educational attainment and sources of livelihood. A sick person cannot go to school or earn income. During my career, I look forward to contributing towards promoting health outcomes for children and women especially, empowering individuals through education, behavior change communications and the creation of enabling environments and systems either at an INGO, a government health agency, as a consultant, or as a social entrepreneur. I plan to focus on maternal and child health because disadvantages that set in when a child is in the mother’s womb and in the first 5 years of life often are very crucial for an individual’s consequent development. I am also interested in adolescent mental health, reproductive health, and the prevention and management of degenerative diseases. My list is evolving and largely flexible.
My dream job will involve understanding the demographics and health needs of target populations through participatory and community-based approaches, the underlying factors and relationships between those needs and social and environmental determinants, co-creating solutions, educating target groups, implementing solutions, measuring their effectiveness as shown in improved sustainable health outcomes and value for money, and as needed, obtain more financing to scale solutions.
During the Approaches to Global Health course this semester I look forward to learning about the history of some of the health issues I am interested in, what has worked or hasn’t worked and the reasons why so I can talk confidently about these health issues and also use the knowledge gained as a foundation or lens through which I think through future initiatives or interventions I may get to work on soon.