Promoting Well-Being: Attracting Ideas and Preventive Policy
By Margaret Yemington (SFS’27)
On April 8, 2025, Keith Martin, M.D., joined the Conversations in Global Health: Global to Local class to speak about his life and career in understanding health across borders. Dr. Martin remarked that experiences in his youth in Catholic school, as a 19-year-old security guard in a maximum-security prison, and as a custodian in a hospital each contributed to his social conscience, and his decision to pursue medicine was ultimately driven by his desire to “make a difference,” “reduce suffering,” and “save lives.”
Dr. Martin emphasized preventive measures for promoting well-being on a broad scale. In particular, he stressed the importance of seeing the “arc of people’s lives,” building “secure environments,” and addressing health determinants. Throughout his life–as a student, physician, and politician–Dr. Martin has sought out experiences that have expanded his knowledge and awareness of the political, environmental, commercial, and social determinants of health. In this way, he has concerned himself not only with the symptoms of health inequities but also with their root causes.
Of course, treating the roots of unwellness is a superhuman task–one all the more complex on an international scale. For this reason, Dr. Martin emphasized the importance of cooperation and starting somewhere. His own fealty to both of these sentiments is evidenced in his career and multitude of projects. Dr. Martin recounted that during his tenure in Canada’s House of Commons, he was constantly trying to attract ideas. In this pursuit, his strategy was sometimes simply putting out “bad” ideas, hoping someone would offer amendments or alternatives.
As for idea implementation, Dr. Martin talked about paying attention to consumability. For example, an 800-page report compiling all the data in the world to support an idea will not convince a policymaker who has 15 minutes to read it. Consumability isn’t all about length, though. Data, even concisely presented, doesn’t sell itself. Dr. Martin cited optics, stories, and visuals as vital to passing health legislation.
Dr. Martin is the founding executive director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. In his work at the Consortium, he seeks out and collect ideas from talented and eager students and academics. Working in nongovernmental organizations, Dr. Martin has spent a great deal of time connecting people who want to get involved with opportunities to do so.
While not related to infectious disease and so perhaps not the most immediately evocative of “global health” policy, Dr. Martin cited his work on preventing explosive and firearm-related deaths. After treating a young patient who had been severely injured by a landmine, Dr. Martin returned to Canada and promoted the Ottawa Treaty–an international agreement banning anti-personnel landmines. As a politician, it was important to Dr. Martin that his conscience take first priority, especially over party loyalty. In describing his involvement in the Ottawa Treaty, Dr. Martin expressed that his willingness to forgo credit helped to facilitate the process, highlighting the importance of putting human outcome over political capital.
Margaret Yemington (SFS '27) is an undergraduate at Georgetown University majoring in culture and politics. She is a student in the Conversations in Health: Global to Local class.