Global Health Institute

On Tuesday, February 11, 2020, the Conversations in Global Health lecture series had the pleasure of hosting a discussion on improving health equity with Dr. Deus Bazira, the Co-Director of Georgetown's Center for Global Health Practice and Impact (CGHPI). Dr. Bazira shared an empowering story about his journey from Uganda to Washington, D.C. with an emphasis on regulating the quality standards for the delivery of health services and focusing on the people who are being affected daily by global health issues. Over the course of the evening, Dr. Bazira spoke about the trajectory his education and career took to lead him to where he is now: working to improve the health of vulnerable communities and achieve health equity internationally by understanding health care systems and its patients. 

Dr. Bazira has experience focused on the intersection of healthcare services and emerging economies of developing countries. Even though the initial education he received from Uganda helped him in promoting health equity, it had a drastically different focus. His background was in pharmacy, but he also had a desire to influence policy after his time engaging in politics as President of his university. Following his undergraduate education, Dr. Bazira went back to school two more times to learn about strategic management and economics with breaks in between to work in the military, Ministry of Health, and USAID. His education and work experience clearly indicates that Dr. Bazira wanted to create structural changes to institutions to make an impact rather than interacting with patients daily. 

For many developing countries, what we typically would consider to be “global health initiatives”, is viewed as basic healthcare. For this reason, Dr. Bazira emphasized that regardless of background, in order to make changes in global health, it is important to understand healthcare systems. Health systems and health promotion are not two distinct features of health care that should be treated differently. Rather, increasing access to quality healthcare is dependent on having a strong backbone for a good healthcare system. For example, using the HIV care system as a model for primary care throughout hospitals would help increase access. Additionally, Dr. Bazira began to speak about the role of the private health sector to deliver health services and underlined the importance of improving regulations with strong enforcement methods. Whether they are public or private interventions, sustainability of these interventions needs to be more cost effective and focused on individualized care for patients. 

Dr. Bazira was capable of having this knowledge and making successful changes due to his strong foundation in pharmacy, management, and economics. Not only did this demonstrate the importance of understanding the intersection of these subjects to fully understand global health, but it also demonstrated how important it is to continue learning. Hearing about his education made me begin to wonder whether I wanted to pursue higher education or if I wanted to get out into the field and start working. However, I soon realized that the biggest takeaway from all his experiences was that no matter in what form, the learning never stops. In higher education or out in the field, being aware of what you know and have yet to learn are both essential to make an impact in global health. That, and truly learning about the functions of a healthcare system. 

Zulekha Tasneem (SFS ‘22) is an undergraduate studying Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a concentration in Global Health and Biotechnology in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

From Merck & Co. to Rabin Martin,. Jeff Sturchio. Ph.D. has years of experience exploring public-private solutions to the pressing healthcare issues in our world today. On Tuesday, February 4th, students in the “Conversations in Global Health” course had the opportunity to hear the career path of Dr. Sturchio and his insights on the role of private actors in global health. 

Very different than past speakers the class had hosted, Dr. Sturchio elaborated on how the private sector has much to contribute to accomplishing universal healthcare coverage. He spoke of past successes, such as the Merck-Washington University partnership to advance bioinformatics in the mid-90s and his consulting experience of encouraging the use of generic medicine and local clinics in Kenya to reach a larger population suffering from hypertension. He also was prepared to speak to the political economy aspect of healthcare: the current coronavirus epidemic is having huge consequences on the global economy, and no country can truly have a totally public health care system (even the UK’s exemplary National Health Service has private clinics). As reflected in his article “Global health disruptors: the global healthcare market,” Dr. Sturchio stressed the fact that no minister of health can tackle these issues alone. 

Therefore, from HIV/AIDS to asthma to achieving the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals, the public and private sectors must play an active and cooperative role into the future. “The issue is not the lack of money, but misallocated money,” he said during the discussion. To achieve this monetary efficiency, Sturchio further drew from his experiences at multinationals and consulting firms. He explained that anyone researching a cure to a disease—regardless if it’s the government, a private firm, or academia— is equally committed to finding the solution. His work “The Road to Universal Health Coverage” further explains the urgency of this multifaceted approach to healthcare. The book speaks to how governments would be better equipped to respond to natural disasters with the help of the private sector, and that “the lack of adequate numbers of trained health workers is arguably one of the biggest barriers to UHC [universal health coverage] implementation.” If the world is going to continue seeing breakthroughs in healthcare, it is imperative that governments, private firms, and academia continue to work together. 

Overall, I found Dr. Sturchio’s conversation with us very informative and well thought out. He inspired us that no matter what degree we may be pursuing as undergraduates, anyone can get involved in global health. Businessmen and politicians as well as scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals all must work together to resolve these dilemmas, from epidemics and natural disasters to the new implications of aging societies. 

Joey Edmundson (SFS’22) is an undergraduate studying international economics. He is currently enrolled in the India Innovation Studio and plans to study abroad in India in Spring 2021.