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On a rather unexpectedly chilly and rainy afternoon in Kathmandu, the atmosphere heated up with a delightful talk by Dr Michael Merson, Founding Director of Duke Global Health Institute based in the United States. The talk show, ‘Global Health: Emerging Issues and Challenges Ahead’ was organised by the Institute of Medicine (IoM), Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu.

Giving his opening remarks during the talk show, Dr J P Agarwal, the Dean of IoM expressed his happiness of seeing global health agenda being localised in Nepal through academic learning as well as high quality research.

Prem Basel from IoM in his brief presentation discussed about IoM’s initiatives in driving global health agenda forward. He discussed about the institutionalizing global health through various initiatives such as introducing academic courses on global health in partnership with academic institutions from abroad. He shared that in the latest 3 week course, there were students from 5 countries. Basel also shared that Global Health components were included in the medical education curricula of IoM. In order to mainstream the Global Health agenda, IoM has also introduced a Global Health Alumni. Likewise, Basel also shared that there are currently 2 studies ongoing on global health issues, in order to promote evidence based research on global health.

As the main highlight of the event, Dr Michael Merson gave his insightful talk on the emerging issues and challenges ahead on global health.

Reminiscing his first visit to Nepal, which was in 1969, Dr Merson gave an indication to a very young audience about the years of experience he had in the health sector, lightening the atmosphere.

Dr Merson talked through 5 major challenges that the world is facing in terms of global health:

• Unfinished Agenda of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
• Global Burden of Chronic Diseases
• Universal Health Coverage
• New Threats
• New World Health Order

Meticulously unfolding these 5 challenges, Dr Merson demonstrated through various figures and charts how the diseases are affecting human lives on a daily basis. Dr Merson also shed light on major global health problems such as tuberculosis, cancer, smoking, obesity, disability and anti-microbial resistance. He also touched upon increasing spread of epidemics and three major reasons for them to spread worldwide viz. mutation of organism into another species, adaptability in mosquito vector and living in new environments.

 

Dr Merson during his talk. Photo Credit: Sauharda Rai, DGHI

Diseases don’t occur in isolation. Dr Merson described how urbanization, industrialization and ‘McDonaldization’ is changing lifestyle and dietary patterns of people.

Dr Merson also educated a young audience with the current new world health order with the coming together of BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and how these nations are being united to become a global force – also in terms of health care. He was also equally concerned of the need of effective leadership of World Health Organization (WHO) to take ownership of the global health challenges and address them strategically.

Dr Merson ended his talk on a positive note that there are signs of revolutionary innovations in the health sector such as mHealth, use of cell phones and drones to reach out to the unreached populations, who need immediate care. With poverty level falling down and Low Incoming Countries (LICs) being gradually promoted to Middle Income Countries (MICs), Dr Merson views that there are better signs ahead in terms of global health.

In a nutshell, the talk programme was a perfect source of inspiration for young, budding academicians and practitioners of global health to understand the global perspectives and insights and localise them in country context for the noble purpose of saving human lives.

At a personal level, I feel privileged and honoured to meet him personally and be inspired from his words and deeds to contribute in this field, in my own small ways.