Global Health Matters

Episódios

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  Mid-season video trailer 17.09.2026 1min

  In this video trailer, Host Garry Aslanyan shares a mid‑season update on Season 5 of Global Health Matters, highlighting the four types of episodes the show now offers — Signature deep‑dives, Dialogue interviews, Trailblazers recorded during his travels, and the newest format, The Inside Track. He also announces that video versions of two episode types will soon be available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube, encouraging listeners to keep watching and stay tuned for more content through...
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  GHM & HSG Gender, Inclusion and the Future of Health Systems 15.09.2026 37min

  Building stronger health systems requires more than technical solutions. It requires understanding the people, relationships and power dynamics that shape health outcomes. As countries work towards more equitable and resilient health systems, how can gender and inclusion become central to research, policymaking and practice? And how can partnerships help ensure that evidence reflects the realities of the communities health systems are designed to serve? In this episode of Guiding Research, Dr...
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  Behind the scenes of the pandemic agreement 08.09.2026 44min

  In May 2025, the world adopted a landmark agreement to prepare for future pandemics. It was the product of 3 years of negotiation across deep political divisions, including the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organization. How did the countries with the smallest delegations build real influence at the table? How do health leaders keep people's health at the center of a deeply political process? And what does this achievement signal about cooperation in a divided world? I...
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  Encore - Dialogues: A conversation with Daisy Hernández 01.09.2026 31min

  Dialogues is a series from the Global Health Matters podcast that includes interviews with some of the world’s sharpest global health minds and brightest thinkers. The goal of each Dialogue is to go beyond the echo chambers that exist in global health and to have in-depth conversations with guests who have explored global health issues from their multi-disciplinary perspectives. In this episode of Dialogues, host Garry Aslanyan speaks with Daisy Hernández about her personal experience with Ch...
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  Leading to zero 25.08.2026 46min

  In global health, control means keeping a disease in check and accepting that some cases will remain. Zero is a different proposition altogether: it demands that every village, every community and every child is equally worth reaching. Only smallpox has ever been eradicated, and the diseases closest to that line are held back by conflict, funding pressure and fading public memory. So what does it take to lead an effort all the way to zero? How is commitment sustained across decades and changi...
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  GHM & HSG Guiding Research Special Series | Responsible AI for Stronger Health Systems 18.08.2026 29min

  Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming health systems, creating new opportunities to improve disease surveillance, diagnostics and decision-making. Yet as AI becomes more integrated into healthcare, important questions remain. How do we ensure these technologies are designed responsibly? How can they strengthen health systems without reinforcing existing inequalities? And what role should communities play in shaping the AI solutions intended to serve them? In this episode of Guiding ...
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  Encore - Risking lives to save lives 11.08.2026 39min

  The Safeguarding Health in Conflict coalition recently published a report that documented 232 health workers killed, more than 700 incidents where health facilities were damaged and almost 300 health personnel kidnapped in 2022. This episode dives into the circumstances and risks health workers face in conflict settings. Host Garry Aslanyan speaks to a health worker who has been on the frontline of recent conflict in Sudan. Their testimony is discussed with Susannah Sirkin, former Direc...
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  Beyond the red ribbon: the new realities of AIDS 21.07.2026 49min

  Across more than four decades, HIV has driven some of the most remarkable scientific progress — and most powerful activism — that global health has ever seen. Today, ending AIDS is within reach. Yet funding is being cut and political priorities are shifting. As the response shifts from emergency footing toward long-term, chronic care, what risks are being left behind? In this episode, host Garry Aslanyan explores this question and more with two guests who bring deeply complementary perspectiv...
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  Encore - Decolonization, localization, and WHO: History Matters Part 1 07.07.2026 39min

  In this episode we explore the multifaceted history of global health and how the narratives borne out of colonization, geopolitical events, and national ownership of public health inform policy and practices today. Among the narratives is that of the World Health Organization, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. Host Garry Aslanyan navigates global health history with two guests. Sanjoy Bhattacharya considers the decolonization of global health and the democratic foundi...
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  Trailblazers with Garry: uma conversa com Marcus Lacerda 24.06.2026 25min

  Neste episódio, Garry se sentou para uma segunda conversa em português com Marcus Lacerda na sede da OMS, em Genebra. Marcus assumiu a direção do TDR em março de 2026, vindo da Fiocruz Amazônia e da Fundação de Medicina Tropical Doutor Heitor Vieira Dourado, no Brasil. Médico infectologista e pesquisador em medicina tropical, ele tem uma trajetória que influenciou profundamente as estratégias de eliminação da malária e, de forma mais ampla, o campo da saúde global. Nascido em Taguatinga, no e...
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  The Inside Track: Lemons, 3G and Dreams 16.06.2026 53min

  Can global health serve an increasingly fragmented world? That’s the question Garry Aslanyan asks co-hosts Catherine Kyobutungi and Ricardo Baptista Leite in the latest installment of “The Inside Track.” And this time, the trio is joined by special guest Tenu Avafia, Deputy Executive Director of Unitaid. Their conversation spans AI governance, geopolitics, and access to health. From the mismatch between how AI is built and who it's built for, to the normalization of hate eroding global ...
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  Trailblazers with Garry: a conversation with Marcus Lacerda 09.06.2026 29min

  "Trailblazers with Garry" is a series from Global Health Matters, where host Garry Aslanyan sits down with trailblazers — thinkers, leaders, and influencers shaping the future of global health — for short face-to-face conversations, available in both audio and video formats. It’s a chance to get to know the people behind the work and hear their perspectives on the current global health landscape. For this episode, Garry sat down with Marcus Lacerda at WHO headquarters in Geneva. Marcus ...
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  Dialogues: a conversation with Amani Ballour on conflict, courage and accountability 26.05.2026 37min

  In this episode of Dialogues, we learn how courage can turn a hospital basement into a symbol of defiance. Host Garry Aslanyan is joined by Dr Amani Ballour, a Syrian paediatrician and the first female doctor of a hospital in a Syrian war zone. For six years, she worked in an underground hospital, treating the wounded, the starving and the survivors of chemical attacks. She tells her story in her memoir, The Cave. Her story has also been told in an Academy Award-nominated documentary. She cur...
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  Encore - Science and diplomacy for global health 19.05.2026 34min

  How can scientists and diplomats work together to advance the global health agenda? Ilona Kickbusch, who founded the Global Health Centre at the Geneva Graduate Institute, reflects on her experiences working within science diplomacy and the importance of having strong evidence to be able to reach a diplomatic consensus. She also urges scientists to initiate dialogue with policy-makers and diplomats. Aída Mencía Ripley, Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Universidad I...
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  The Inside Track: Oxygen, a mixed bag and the woods 12.05.2026 55min

  Host Garry Aslanyan poses the question at the heart of the latest Inside Track conversation: in 2026, after everything COVID-19 taught us, are we genuinely better prepared for the next pandemic-like event? It's the question that sets the tone for a frank conversation with Catherine Kyobutungi and Ricardo Baptista Leite — covering vaccine manufacturing in Africa, the politics of preparedness, and why the gap between intent and action remains stubbornly wide. The guests also discuss a rec...
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  Is it the end of the NGO as we know it? 21.04.2026 52min

  For decades, international NGOs have been central pillars of global health and humanitarian response efforts. But with aid budgets shrinking, trust eroding and local civil society organizations demonstrating the power of proximity every day, the model is under scrutiny. Who gets to lead? Who gets to decide? And what would more equitable, locally grounded international cooperation actually look like? In this episode, host Garry Aslanyan explores these questions with two guests who bring ...
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  The Inside Track: the pope, the Force and the hope 07.04.2026 49min

  The Inside Track is a new series from Global Health Matters offering context, clarity and foresight that you won’t find in traditional news shows. Each episode brings host Garry Aslanyan together with two recurring voices: Catherine Kyobutungi, who brings insight from the frontlines of health research and policy in Africa, and Ricardo Baptista Leite, a physician and global thinker on health, politics and AI. Together, they unpack the headlines with candid conversations grounded in lived exper...
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  Encore - The health journey of refugees and migrants is global health 02.04.2026 38min

  Global Health Matters is the monthly podcast from TDR, if you like our content then please subscribe. We embrace the fact that public health and global health are intertwined and through our podcast we hope to engage with broader topics bringing together experts from across the globe providing a platform for wider engagement. For this episode we bring you a topic that rarely reaches the top of the global health agenda, that is the subject of the health of refugees and mi...
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  Dialogues: a conversation with Laura Spinney on disease, linguistics and humanity 24.03.2026 40min

  Dialogues is a series from the Global Health Matters podcast where we bring you interviews featuring fresh perspectives on global health issues. The goal of each Dialogues episode is to break through the echo chambers that exist in global health through in-depth, thoughtful conversations. For this episode, we turn to language, memory and the threads that connect pandemics and people across time. Host Garry Aslanyan is joined by Laura Spinney, a science journalist, novelist and author of two ...
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  The Inside Track: Broken chairs, horses and audiences 10.03.2026 51min

  In our first episode of The Inside Track, we examine the fragile state of information integrity in global health. Host Garry Aslanyan and recurring expert-pundits Catherine Kyobutungi and Ricardo Baptista Leite unpack how misinformation spreads, why trust erodes and what responsibility health leaders carry in this environment. We explore how perception, belief and narrative shape public understanding — especially in the wake of COVID-19. We also react to a recent Guardian article linking...