The Global Health Dialogue Initiative was conceived in 2000 and several programme actions were completed in collaboration with a humanitarian aid and development agency, WomenAid International. These include assisting the Government of Georgia to draft and adopt its first National Environmental Health Action Plan (NEHAP) in 2003/4 and organising and hosting, in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the official WHO Country Presentations of the World Health Organisation’s first ‘Global Report on Violence and Health’, national mother and child programmes in Kyrgyzstan as well as developing several multimedia campaigns and large inter-regional health networks.
Global Health Dialogue (GHD) is conceived as a global resource to facilitate and encourage the exchange and sharing of knowledge and experience on health issues affecting us all. GHD seeks to act as a catalyst and influencer of novel thinking and leadership. Several health websites, created and sponsored by Pida Ripley, are linked under the Global Health Dialogue Initiative.
CombatAMR.org
Launched in 2018, in response to the increasing threat to global health posed by drug resistant infections, Pida Ripley launched CombatAMR.org, a global resource website on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
AgeofthePhage.com is a promotion of the potential of the bacteriophage (Phage) to provide one solution to the growing crisis of antibiotic resistance.
Already increasing numbers of people are dying of drug-resistant infections the antibiotics fail to combat. The phage is a natural enemy of bacteria and may provide a life-saving solution.
Good health and health equity are central to flourishing societies and individuals and communities must be empowered to access, appraise and use reliable information to guide their health expectations and decision-making. Global health is a major resource for social, economic and personal development and improved health is a key factor for human development. As social and biological influences on health status have become increasingly complex, there is an even greater need to understand the complexities. As the global community has become a more fully interconnected ‘one’ world there is increased understanding of the multiple factors that impact upon global health experience and outcomes.
Consequently, global health policy makers are responding to shared health concerns and are seeking robust evidence to guide and redefine health policy.
Collaborating, sharing, transmitting and creating access to current research, ideas and knowledge of health policies contributes to global health and supports the development of healthy communities.
The way we live, how we live, where we live, are all complex factors influencing our lives and wellbeing. Individual experience of health is very variable and unequal due to political, environmental, economic, cultural, behavioural and social issues, policies and constraints.
Health is a fundamental human right and its mission is to participate in the worldwide effort to achieve equity in health by improving the health situation of disadvantaged populations. Four billion people, more than half the global population, lack access to basic health services.
People everywhere have a passionate interest in health issues and evidence increasing expectations of good healthcare delivery. All governments are struggling with unsustainable financial costs of health and social care combined with workforce supply issues, challenging the current understanding of health systems and the social, economic and political contexts in which they operate.
Low and middle income countries (LMICs) face similar health challenges but the lack of health infrastructure and resources place an additional heavy burden on those tasked with the planning and delivery of healthcare policies.
Successful health promotion in health services requires a collaborative alliance of individuals, community groups, health professionals, health service institutions and governments. Health promotion strategies and programs must be adapted to the local needs of individual countries and regions to take into account different social, cultural and economic systems. Communities should be empowered and this can be achieved by ensuring all stakeholders are involved in community action, setting priorities, making decisions, planning strategies and implementing them to achieve better health.
The Global Health Dialogue core aim is to promote healthy lives for all, by establishing discussion platforms and collaborating on a variety of initiatives and acting as a catalyst, urging governments to develop policies that address the social determinants of global health. The work of the United Nations and intergovernmental institutions is promoted and international strategies for health development supported.
Investing in ‘good health’ and preventing ‘ill-health’ is a wise policy, for health is a primary asset for all, as individuals, communities and as a nation.
Every aspect of our global experience and circumstance has an influence upon our individual health and that of our communities and nations.
The technological revolution is taking us over the threshold into a more integrated and holistic health environment. Health policymakers everywhere need to reconfigure systems, harness innovative technology such as wearables, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and develop, plan and scale creatively to deliver a healthy future for everyone.