UWaterloo Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research - CCGHR

02/14/2020

Are you interested in presenting your research at Western University’s largest undergraduate research conference? Applications are now open for the 2020 Western Student Research Conference (WSRC)! WSRC is a platform where you can present a range of research including course essays, thesis projects, volunteer research, or internship project in any discipline. Every year WSRC attracts undergraduate presenters from all universities across Ontario and they are looking for passionate undergraduate students from any faculty that are interested in presenting their research at their 6th annual Conference on Friday March 27th, 2020 at Western University. Applications for Waterloo and McMaster students close on February 19th!

Apply here:
https://forms.gle/PpTWC51Z1ZHjMokw7

Check out the WSRC page and website for more information:
https://m.facebook.com/WesternSRC/
westernsrc.com

Please do not hesitate to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions!

When: Friday, March 27th, 2020 Where: Physics & Astronomy Building Main Atrium, Western University Eligibility: Undergraduate students in Canada enrolled in any Undergraduate faculty. Note: Applications are not open to graduate students. Types of projects that can be submitted include but are not li...

03/19/2019

The Hawks Thinking Global Conference is a one-day conference that is open to all students studying at either Wilfrid Laurier University or University of Waterloo and this conference is sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs, Laurier International, Faculty of Science, and the Department of Health...

11/23/2018

It's Friday, which means it's time our second last release of Global Health in the News for the term!

This week, I'd like to take us to the Scandinavian countries. Anyone ever wonder what makes the Scands so special? They seem to be doing the best in healthcare, in education, social services, happiness, etc. - the list could go on and on. But what's keeping the Scands at the top in regards to all of these dimensions important for national-level health and well-being? Part of it relates to their welfare system, just going to show how the social determinants of health really do play a bigger role than we would think. Read more by clicking the link...

The project ”The Nordic Experience: Welfare States and Public Health (NEWS)” was initiated in a dialogue between the Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS) from Sweden and the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH). NEWS was intended to shed light on the role of the Nordic welfare ...

11/17/2018

Hello Everyone! We're nearing the end of the term and I hope everyone is hanging in there! To make your week just a little bit better, I wanted to bring to your this week's segment of Global Health in the News.

I thought I'd take a slightly different approach and pull out an older article from the International Health Journal, "What is Canada Doing About 'Global Health Research'?" It's a wonderfully short read about what Canada has been doing to help resolve some of our global health problems, as well as what university students can do to get more involved in the sector.

https://mdprogram.mcmaster.ca/docs/default-source/MUMJ-Library/v3_32-35-global-health-research-international-health.pdf?sfvrsn=0&fbclid=IwAR1iJCbPstjyoGvFbPamdTA-x8YKfePFJyYZuGoBBcXymlYjE2-wyFE0TZw

Don't forget to take some time for self-care this weekend, and hope you enjoy this read

11/09/2018

Happy Friday everyone!

You might have guessed it already, but it's time for Global Health in the News!

Today's article relates to being critical about research. This not only applies to global health research, but to research overall. Sometimes, study findings may serve to magnify the effects/impacts/happenings that occur in reality. Poor methodological techniques, lack of control for confounding variables, and simplified conclusions based on statistical findings without consideration to the context can all contribute to misinterpretation of research. Take a peak at this news article from the Guardian that applies a more critical lens to research claiming dramatic reductions in female ge***al mutilation practices in African countries. Remember, things aren't always what they seem!

Analysis in BMJ Global Health suggests dramatic fall in number of girls undergoing the practice, yet experts advise caution over the data

11/02/2018

Happy Friday - unbelievable that it is the first Friday of November already!

With all the rain that we've been having lately, I'd like to take this chance to brighten up your spirits - it's time for Global Health in the News!

It is almost intuitive to assume that funding for health should be dynamic and responsive to present demands and public health/health care priorities. However, it does not always work out this way. Global health funding schemes still seem to reflect the past emphasis on infectious diseases without consideration to the increasing global disease burden attributed to chronic conditions. Unfortunately, this isn't the only area where current funding structures are lacking. Read more in this article published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMp1809808

Relating this back into research, how can researchers play a role in in knowledge translation? Is the research highlighting public health priorities and assessments of healthcare systems being adequately used? How can the research held in scholarly journals be used to inform the efforts of international policy- and decision-makers?

Perspective from The New England Journal of Medicine — Reimagining Development Assistance for Health

10/26/2018

Happy Friday to you all,
I'm really excited to bring you this week's Global Health in the News post because it's a good one!

Strap on your research and evaluation hats everyone. Uganda has recently enforced a 2% tax on alcohol and soda beverages to raise funds towards their HIV and AIDS trust fund for treatment. Previously heavily dependent on international donors, this introduced tax on drinks is an example of a sustainable and innovative approach to increase Uganda's financial independence and healthcare delivery capacity.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/oct/26/tax-on-drinks-to-raise-funds-for-hiv-treatment-in-uganda

This is an amazing start on behalf of the country, but here's the real question. Despite the anticipated benefits, how would you go about evaluating an intervention of this sort? What would be the value of starting to think about assessing the outcomes of this intervention early on? How will this impact international donors that they have previously relied on?

Those are my questions to you UW CCGHR - put those thinking caps on and let's start a discussion. Feel free to post any comments, thoughts, or just general reactions. Have a great Friday everyone!

Government hails 2% levy on alcohol and water as step towards greater independence from donors

10/19/2018

Good Morning and Happy Friday :D

Today on Global Health In The News, we're going to put a spin on it and make some connections between recent happenings and existing literature. Many of you may be aware of the recreational cannabis legalization that became official just two days ago. I myself am not too informed about the topic, so I thought it would be interesting to see what research exists about potential consequences, both good and bad, from legalization of cannabis in Canada. If you have time, take a look at this editorial, "Legalizing and Regulating Ma*****na in Canada: Review of Potential Economic, Social, and Health Impacts."

http://www.ijhpm.com/article_3208_35275c05312a123630205db0e…

It may be a bit dated, but still quite relevant to the Canadian context. Some questions I was personally thinking about include:
- How significant is the effect of legalizing recreational cannabis use on de-stigmatizing it?
- Has Canada done all that it could to prepare the public for legalization? Have they put towards enough efforts to inform us about the health impacts? Impacts on the economy? Their rationale for doing this?

Just some things to think about as you end off your week :)

Also, to everyone who came out to Global Health Gamification this past Tuesday, thank you! It was great to meet some new friends and have some fun with simulation! Hope to see more of you throughout the term :)

10/12/2018

Hello Everyone! Thank goodness it's Friday, and what better way to celebrate than to unwind with our weekly Global Health In the News segment!

This week, we're going to take a slightly different approach. Instead of highlighting a recent news article or research finding related to global health, we're taking a more critical approach by looking at the role of research methods and findings in informing public policy. Plus, this week we're bringing you an audio clip instead of an article, so grab your headphones, sit back, and take a listen.

Is all evidence-informed policy considered good policy? How can the way that evidence if produced affect the quality of resultant policies and programs? Hope you all enjoy this as much as I did, it'll really get the brain juices flowing.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus argue that when we test things at a small scale, they might not be predictive of how they perform at a larger scale

10/05/2018

Good Morning UW CCGHR! I hope you're all having a great end to your weeks before the Thanksgiving break! To make your Friday even better, let's take a look at this week's Global Health In The News segment...

What do political circumstances and conflict have to do with the spread of infectious disease? Quite a bit when you think about - put your thinking caps and take a moment to consider how when you adopt a systems-thinking approach, you start to see the underlying connections between national infrastructure, healthcare systems, political conflict, and historical contexts as well as how they all tie together to influence the spread of infectious disease. Take a read of this article, which focuses on the potential for the Ebola virus to spread from Congo to Uganda.

Local fighting and fleeing patients led the organization to increase its alert level. The disease has appeared in a Congolese fishing village near Uganda.

09/28/2018

Happy Friday everyone! It's that time of the week again - time for our Global Health in the News segment!

This week, we're taking a deeper look at hunger. Here's some food for thought- food security and nutrition isn't just about the food we see on our plates. When you think about nutrition, you have to think about the various connections food production has with our environment and our climate. A threat to our land due to a climate-related disaster is a threat to the food on our plates. Read more here about the growing concern of world hunger and what the environment has to do with it all.

One in nine people in the world is undernourished, according to a UN report.