Global Health Unfiltered
A podcast about the unspoken realities of global health in Africa and the world.
Episodes
Putting communities first in HIV Research with Yvette Raphael
Send a textWhen Yvette Raphael walked into a stakeholder meeting in Kigali in 2019 and asked Gilead's lead researcher, "What are you going to do differently?", she was doing her job. As co-founder of Advocacy for Prevention of HIV in Africa and chair of the Global Community Advisory Board for the PURPOSE 1 trial, Yvette has spent decades ensuring that women most affected by HIV are
Paying more and Owning less with Nelson Aghogho Evaborhene
Send a textThe America First Global Health Strategy promises something African health advocates have demanded for decades: ownership. Through time-bound bilateral compacts, countries co-finance health programs with the US, gradually taking over as American funding tapers. By year five, they're supposed to own and sustain these systems themselves.But what if ownership without authority is just
Unmasking Global Health: Reflections on 2025
Send a text2025 was the year the comfortable illusions of global health shattered. The U.S. withdrawal from WHO, the dismantling of USAID, and controversial bilateral agreements exposed uncomfortable truths about power, dependency, and who really benefits from "global health partnerships."In this special year-end episode, we hear from global health leaders across the world reflecting on
Unpacking the Anatomy of Aid Dependency with Emilie Koum Besson (Pt 2)
Send a textThis is a continuation of our previous episode with Emilie Koum Besson discussing the various forms of aid dependency. In this episode, we focus on the relationship between aid and dependency as well as pragmatic solutions. To support us, consider becoming a paid subscriber on Patreon or making a one-time donation via PayPal. Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: globalhealthunfiltered.co
Unpacking the Anatomy of Aid Dependency with Emilie Koum Besson (Pt 1)
Send a textFor decades, global health has treated aid dependency as a neutral, technical condition, something to measure and manage. But what if dependency is actually a feature of the system, not a bug? Emilie Koum Besson introduces a "Matrix of Dependency Dimensions," revealing eight distinct forms, ranging from historical and epistemic to what she calls "hidden co-dependency,&quo
Shaping Public Health Leadership with Amb. John Nkengasong
Send a textIn this conversation, Dr. John Nkengasong of the Mastercard Foundation and former PEPFAR and Africa CDC lead, discusses the evolution of public health in Africa, highlighting Rwanda's leadership in health financing and his own journey through various roles in public health. He emphasizes the need for a new public health order in Africa, focusing on domestic financing, the importanc
Introducing Africa Health Weekly Podcast
Send a textExciting News! We're launching a new Podcast! We’re excited to introduce our new podcast: Africa Health Weekly — your primary source for the latest health news, innovations, and stories shaping healthcare across the continent. Each week, host Beverly Ndifoin provides timely updates on disease outbreaks, vaccine rollouts, health workforce challenges, policy changes, medical innovati
Fighting Childhood Cancers in Ghana with Ella Amoako
Send a textDr. Emmanuela Amoako discusses her journey as a pediatric oncologist and her innovative COMPASS project, which aims to improve childhood cancer detection in Ghana. She emphasizes the importance of empowering caregivers and the challenges faced by children with cancer in low-income countries. The conversation also covers the need for expanded pediatric oncology units, the African Cancer
Achieving African Health Sovereignty with Victor Bampoe and Ngozi Erondu
Send a textIn this episode of Global Health Unfiltered, hosts Desmond Jumbam and Ulrick Sidney Kanmounye discuss the Africa Health Sovereignty Summit held in Accra, Ghana. They are joined by Dr. Victor Bampoe and Dr. Ngozi Erondu, who share insights on the summit's key outcomes, including the Sustain Initiative aimed at enhancing African health governance and financing. The conversation explo
Weaning off Foreign Aid with Catherine Kyobutungi
Send a textThis week's conversation dives into the implications of the US's withdrawal from WHO and the halting of USAID funding. Our guest, Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi, shares her insights on the disbelief surrounding these actions, the false narratives that have emerged regarding aid, and the responses (or lack thereof) from African leaders. The discussion emphasizes the need for a critic
Navigating Colonial Love with Seye Abimbola
Send a textIn this episode of the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, host Desmond Jumbam speaks with Dr. Seye Abimbola about his book, 'The Foreign Gaze: Essays on Global Health.' They discuss how personal experiences, especially familial influences, shape views on global health. Dr. Abimbola shares his mother's impact on his understanding of health systems and social determinants. T
Scaling funding for local climate-health solutions with Vanina Laurent-Ledru
Send a textIn this episode of the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, host Desmond Jumbam discusses the critical intersection of climate change and health with Vanina Laurent-Ledru, Director General of Foundation S. They explore the urgent need for locally-led health adaptation solutions, the barriers to effective funding, and the importance of collective action in addressing climate health impacts.
Racing to AI - Is Africa Being Left Behind? with Adji Bousso Dieng
Send a textOur guest is Dr. Adji Bousso Dieng, AI researcher at Princeton University and Google. We explore Dr. Dieng's journey from Senegal to Princeton University, the role of Africa in the global AI landscape, the challenges faced in AI development on the continent, and the importance of education and awareness in leveraging AI for development. The conversation highlights the potential of
Uncovering the root causes of the mpox outbreak with Boghuma Titanji
Send a textThis week's conversation focuses on the current spread of M-Pox (formerly Monkeypox) in Africa and the response to the outbreak. Dr. Boghuma Titanji, an infectious disease expert at Emory University, discusses the history of M-Pox outbreaks in Africa and the factors contributing to its spread. The conversation also explores the role of African governments, the Africa CDC, and the i
Expanding the Circle of Knowledge in Global Health
Send a textIn this episode, our guests, Sipho Dlamini, Esmita Charani, Everisto Benyera, and Kwesi Amoak, discuss their research projects on decolonizing global health. They explore topics such as the definition of global health, indigenous knowledge practices, mentorship in global health partnerships, and cross-pollination between Universities and local communities in Africa. Our guests highlight
Striking for Doctor's Rights in Kenya with Nicholas Okumu
Send a textGuest: Dr. Nicholas Okumu, Orthopedic Oncology Specialist and CEO of Stratos MedicalKey Points:Kenya faces a shortage of healthcare workers, with around 4,000 trained physicians, dentists, and pharmacists currently unemployed.Recurring strikes by healthcare workers are common, often related to compensation disputes and lack of implementation of collective bargaining agreements.Poor remu
Battling Tuberculosis and Big Pharma with Nandita Venkatesan
Send a textNandita Venkatesan, a Tuberculosis (TB) survivor and advocate, shares her journey of becoming a TB survivor and the challenges she faced in diagnosing, treating, and recovering from the disease. She discusses the stigma and misconceptions associated with TB and the need for greater awareness and understanding. Nandita also highlights her involvement in a lawsuit against Johnson & Jo
Going viral: Social Media & Health Education with Chinonso Egemba aka Aproko Doctor
Send a textDr. Chinonso Egemba, also known as Aproko Doctor, shares his journey of becoming an influential health educator on social media. He discusses the challenges of balancing medical practice and content creation, as well as the importance of using humor and storytelling in health education. Dr. Egemba also addresses the issue of misinformation and fake news in the health space and highlight
Unpacking fake prophets, healers and healthcare in Africa with Catherine Kyobutungi
Send a textWe are thrilled to have Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi back on the show. Our conversation explores the impact of prophets and spiritual healers on people's health across Africa and beyond. We discuss the disturbing revelations from the documentary about TB Joshua and the manipulation, abuse, and exploitation committed by him and other religious leaders. We examine the prevalence of faith
Exploring Afrocentric Mental Healthcare with Ismahan Soukeyna Diop
Send a textDr. Ismahan Soukeyna Diop, a psychologist and psychotherapist from Senegal, discusses her groundbreaking work in African mythology and storytelling in the field of mental health care. She introduces TAMPSY, a revolutionary psychotherapeutic tool rooted in a decolonial approach that is transforming mental health care in Africa. The conversation explores the importance of culturally appro
Fostering the next generation of African Leaders with Patrick Awuah
Send a textIn 2002, Patrick Awuah left his lucrative job as an executive at Microsoft, moved back to Ghana, and founded Ashesi University. Realizing that a root cause of underdevelopment was poor leadership, Patrick set up Ashesi University to train the next generation of ethical and entrepreneurial leaders in Ghana and Africa. Today, Ashesi University is one of the leading Universities on the con
Season 3 Trailer: We're taking it up a notch
Send a textWe are delighted to bring you Season 3 of the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, a podcast about the unspoken realities of global health in Africa and the world. We've got a great lineup of exciting guests from across the continent and beyond. Subscribe to this podcast and consider giving us a five-star review if you enjoy the work we do. Your support goes a long way to ensure we ke
Improving Health Systems in Africa Through Pharmacy with Dr Ruth Musila
Send a textWelcome to the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, a podcast about the unspoken realities about global health in Africa and the world. Our guest today is Dr. Ruth Musila, Global Policy and Industry Partnerships Lead at Takeda. Dr Musila holds a PhD in Pre-Clinical Drug Development. She has held Research Fellow positions at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the National I
Bonus: How to Write Opinion Pieces for Change
Send a textDo you have an opinion on a current event or topic in global health? Do you want to share your voice with the world? If so, then you need to learn how to write a powerful opinion piece!In this training session, you will learn:How to identify a timely and relevant topicHow to develop a strong thesis statementHow to support your thesis with evidenceHow to write a clear and concise argumen
Decolonizing Our Minds With Dr. Catherine Kyobutungi
Send a textThis episode of global health unfiltered is brought to you with support from the Decolonisation and Global Health Research Exchange Network. Our website globalhealthunfiltered.com is your one-stop shop for everything global health unfiltered. Here, you will find previous podcast episodes and blog pieces. We want to hear from you so share your perspectives on this episode, past episodes,
Elucidating Mental Health in Zambia With Saphira Munthali-Mulemba
Send a textWe have a new website where you can access everything about Global Health Unfiltered. You can listen to previous episodes of the show and share your perspectives and engage with other listeners. Just go to globalhealthunfiltered.comToday we will be talking about mental health in Africa, a topic that we’ve wanted to cover on the podcast for the longest time and we have an amazing guest w
Challenging Dominant Global Health Narratives With Prof. Iruka Okeke
Send a textThe “decolonize global health movement” has grown in popularity recently. Is this movement new? Is it helpful or harmful? On this episode, we are joined by an expert who has been working in global health for many years and will share her thoughts on this issue. For this episode, our guest is Prof Iruka Okeke.Iruka is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Microbiology at the University of Ibadan
Analyzing Nigeria's Anti-Brain Drain Bill with Ifeanyi Nsofor
Send a textNigerian medical and dental graduates are emigrating in droves to high-income countries such as the USA, UK, and UAE. In response to this crisis, Rep. Ganiyu Abiodun Johnson has sponsored a bill amending the 2004 Medical and Dental Practitioners Act. Nigeria-trained medical and dental practitioners will have to work in Nigeria for five years before they are granted a full license. To di
Examining Dependency In Global Health Financing With Sam Oti
Send a textWelcome once again to the global health unfiltered podcast, a podcast about unspoken realities about global health in Africa and the world. Today, we will be talking about funding global health initiatives; who funds what? How are the decisions made? Are African countries too reliant on external funding for public health? And we have an awesome guest with tons of experience in this sec
Elevating Genetic Research In Africa with Ambroise Wonkam
Send a textIn today’s episode, we discuss genetic research as it pertains to the African genome. Joining us today to talk about this topic is world-renowned geneticist, Ambroise Wonkam. Ambroise Wonkam is a Professor of Genetic Medicine and director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins University. Professor Wonkam received medical training from the Faculty of Med
Fostering African Medical Journals With Raoul Kamadjeu
Send a textThis is the first episode of a six-episode series that we will be realising once a month for the next six months. This special series is thankfully supported by the "Promoting Decolonization using innovative knowledge practices" grant hosted by the Center for Tropical Medicine and Global Health of Oxford University's Nuffield Department of Medicine. In these six episodes,
Championing Safe Maternal Surgical Care With Salome Maswime
Send a textWelcome back to a new year and a new season of global health unfiltered! Thank you to all the fans who tuned in last year and continue to listen in. One of the goals of the show is to highlight African global health leaders who are leading public health initiatives on the continent and we have just one such leader to open our season. We are so excited to have host Prof. Salome Maswime,
Innovating African solutions to global health challenges with Yap Boum
Send a textWelcome to the final episode of our first season. In this episode, Ulrick converses with Dr. Yap Boum about the importance of identifying and supporting African solutions and innovations to global health challenges. They discuss lessons on African innovation during covid-19, the importance of African-led research, and a new innovation called The Village. Professor Yap Boum II is the Exe
Bringing down global health's Berlin Wall with Ulrick Sidney Kanmounye
Send a textWelcome, everyone. In this episode, we discuss how global health conference locations influence power dynamics and representation.Unfortunately, global health conference locations serve as an uncharacteristic, perennial, and highly effective gatekeeping mechanism. This “Berlin wall” keeps low- and middle-income country (LMIC) researchers outside global health decision rooms allowing LMI
Challenging power asymmetries in global health with Lazenya Weekes-Richemond
Send a textWelcome to our tenth episode!! Many have expressed deep frustrations about the lack of representation of people from the "Global South" on decision-making tables including decisions around research priority, programs, policies, and funding. Our guest today shares her experience and opinions on the matter. Lazenya Weekes-Richemond worked in global health for 14 years before dec
Building a New Public Health Order for Africa with Ebere Okereke and Sheila Mburu
Send a textInfectious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV remain major causes of death and disability in Africa accounting for about 1.2 million deaths every year in Africa. By 2050, it is estimated that up to 4 million deaths could occur on the continent due to emergent infectious pathogens and increasing antimicrobial resistance. The covid-19 pandemic has revealed uncomfortable realitie
Classifying countries and people with Themrise Khan
Send a textIn this episode, we discuss words. Not just any words but words we use in global health to classify countries and people. Words like global North, global South, HIC, LMIC, developing and developed countries, first and third world. If you work in global health on international development, chances are that you have used at least one or several of those terms. But these terms that we use
Dissecting the foreign gaze in global health with Seye Abimbola
Send a text"Every narration places the spectator in a position of agency" - Manthia DiawaraIn this episode, we discuss equity in global health research with Dr. Seye Abimbola. Seye is a senior lecturer at the University of Sidney and editor-in-chief of BMJ Global Health. He is an advocate for the decolonization of global health and has written and spoken extensively on the subject global
Designing safer roads in Africa with Etta Madete
Send a textEvery year, 1.3 million people die from road traffic accidents and millions more are injured. Despite having only about 60% of the global vehicle fleet, low and middle-income countries account for 93% of all deaths from road traffic accidents. Designing roads that take into account safety can prevent road crashes and save lives. In this episode, we discuss why many roads in Africa often
Making sense of COVID-19 in Africa with Ngozi Erondu
Send a textAt the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many predicted that the impact of the disease in Africa would be catastrophic. However, it seems the pandemic did not pan out as predicted. In this episode, we unpack how the COVID-19 pandemic has played out on the African continent with Dr. Ngozi Erondu, a trained epidemiologist and global health security expert. We discuss the scale of the COVID
Advocating for overlooked childhood cancer patients with Ella Amoako
Send a textThis week we shine the spotlight on our very own co-host Dr. Ella Amoako. Ella is a pediatric oncology fellow at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana. We discuss Ella's inspiring journey to becoming a pediatrician in Ghana, the challenges she's faced in providing pediatric oncology care in Ghana, and how she continues to advocate for children with cancer. She believes that geog
Daring to dream: A neurosurgeon's journey in Ghana with Teddy Totimeh
Send a textThe opportunity to dream as a child can be a powerful thing. In this episode, we converse with Dr. Teddy Totimeh, a neurosurgeon at the University of Ghana Medical Center in Accra, about the opportunities he had as a child that enabled him to dream about becoming a neurosurgeon and the many enablers, including mentors and teachers, that helped him to make that dream a reality. We also d
Daring to invent the future with Yaw Bediako
Send a textDr. Yaw Bediako is the founder and CEO of Yemaachi, a biotechnology company in Ghana which aims to accelerate the development of cancer detection and cure strategies in Africa using cutting-edge immunogenetics, bioinformatics, and artificial intelligence. We discuss his vision for Yemaachi, challenges faced and lessons learned as well as problems in global health research.Learn more abo
Meet the hosts
Send a textWelcome to Global Health Unfiltered, a podcast about unspoken realities and stories in Africa and the world. In this episode, you'll get to meet your hosts, Ella Amoako, Ulrick Sidney Kanmounye, and Desmond Jumbam. We discuss our reasons for starting this podcast and touch on topics that we will dive further into in the upcoming episodes. This includes the challenges of practicing
Global Health Unfiltered! - Trailer
Send a textWelcome to the Global Health Unfiltered Podcast, a podcast about unspoken realities about global health in Africa and the world. Join us every two weeks as we discuss important global health topics with guests from across Africa and the World. Hosts: Ella Amoako, Desmond Jumbam, Ulrick Sydney KanmounyeContact us: unfilteredgh@gmail.com Artwork: Chidiebere IbeTheme music: Antidote by Ket
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