Her journey mirrors thousands across Sierra Leone — where PIH teams are rebuilding trust in the health system, one mother and one clinic at a time.

💛 Donate by Dec 2 and your gift will be doubled for Giving Tuesday. pihcanada.org/stepup

Months later, Fatimata can walk again.
Her daughter, Bintu, is healthy, laughing, and full of energy.

What began as a story of loss became a story of resilience. “I want to go back to school and become a lawyer,” she says.
“I want to help others the way they helped me.”

When it was time to give birth, the team performed a safe cesarean section — ensuring both mother and baby survived.

Across Sierra Leone, fewer than half of women give birth with a skilled attendant.
Fatimata was one of the lucky ones — but luck had nothing to do with it.

Through telemedicine, they connected with specialists hundreds of kilometres away and built a plan.
Then came the long months of treatment and rehabilitation.
A nurse checked on her every single day.
Every meal was planned to rebuild her strength.

When Fatimata arrived at the PIH-supported Jojoima Health Center, she was weak, terrified, and ready to surrender.
The nurses didn’t hesitate. They lifted her gently and refused to let her lose hope.

Doctors soon discovered the cause — tuberculosis had attacked her spine.

Tagging for visibility in case this is of interest for your networks:
@rpanchasi.bsky.social, @petitegeek.bsky.social, @minisciencegirl.bsky.social, @stevennuss.bsky.social, @picscanada.bsky.social, @smcrage.bsky.social, @sfucoastalhaz.bsky.social, @tsk.bsky.social, @sandrasmiley.bsky.social

If you care about social justice, public health, or systems thinking, this one’s for you (or your students!) Sign up: www.bouncelife.com/events/69051...
#StudentLeadership #GlobalHealth #UBC #SFU
If of interest: @mikeblazanin.bsky.social, @stewartprest.ca, @ralphjanik.com, @trevortombe.bsky.social

Solve a real global health challenge, pitch solutions, and learn with peers across disciplines.
And yes, there are cash prizes & food.

If of interest @nedasoc.bsky.social, @alanrichardson.bsky.social, @profkharrison.bsky.social, @bmatb.expmicromech.com, @sethabrutyn.bsky.social

Reflections by @mbrender.bsky.social
Read the full Devex piece here:
www.devex.com/news/africa-...

What’s your take—how do we fix foreign aid to truly serve people?
#GlobalHealth #AfricaCDC #ForeignAid #HealthEquity #HealthSystems #Devex #HealthJustice

Global health equity has to be grounded in dignity.
And that means recognizing how debt repayments are eating up health budgets.
Health care should not be charity. It should not be fragile.
It should be public, trusted, and comprehensive.
That’s what we all should be pushing for.

Cost-effective, sustainable, efficient... those are the metrics that keep getting repeated in different permutations to determine who deserves health care. Because even if 40% of aid is used well, it’s still not enough if the standard of care is something we wouldn’t accept for ourselves.

The article states that many countries fall short of their target of spending 15% of their budget on health care, but fails to mention that many countries are spending more on servicing debt than on health.
How can we expect strong health systems to flourish under that kind of burden?

Let's start with this: yes, aid needs to be more efficient.
More aligned with the ministries of health.
Less duplication.
More public sector capacity.
Fewer parallel systems.
And this should be a wake-up call to all of us in the sector.

This year’s program draws on the latest issue of Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, which explores the frontiers of mental health today.

🔗 Learn more & register: pihcanada.org/mental-health-matters
#MentalHealthMatters #GlobalHealthEquity #PaulFarmer

🗓️ Schedule:
1:30 | Opening
1:45 | Panel: Global mental health care delivery & research
2:35 | Panel: U.S. mental health advocacy & policy
3:30 | Keynote Address
4:30 | Closing

This event is hosted by @pih.org, @harvardmed.bsky.social, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and @harvardgh.bsky.social.

Hear from leading experts on how comprehensive, justice-driven approaches can transform mental health care — globally and within the U.S.

3) And if you don’t care about health equity at all, but about who is more “deserving” of health care based on their passport or background? Well, there’s a word for that. 🌫️

2) We also know that supporting local communities doesn’t require abandoning global ones. And framing things as either/or is, at best, a false equivalence. Because you either care about heath disparities and what causes them -> local AND global… or you don’t.

That is absolutely vital and something we are proud to partake in: whether by following the lead of and supporting Indigenous communities in their fight for #healthequity, #knowledgeexchange, #communityorganizing, and many more. This is essential work. 💯