London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

This joint inaugural lecture will see talks from two LSHTM Professors of the Department of Global Health and Development in the Faculty of Public Health and Policy. 

Power in Global Health – who holds it and why?

Why do global health initiatives succeed or fail? The field of policy analysis for health by Professor Johanna Hanefeld

This lecture will explore the central role of power in global health. Johanna's talk will focus on health policy analysis, specifically on why policies developed on the basis of good evidence and with the best intentions sometimes succeed and often fail during the implementation phase. This at least in part as they insufficiently consider the wider distribution of power and interests within a given country or setting. The talk will draw on research focused on HIV, on migration and on AMR. It will also reflect on the extent to which networks offer a method to understand these broader questions of political economy. Johanna will reflect on health policy as a discipline, and on positionality as a researcher in this field.

Who do Global Health Initiatives really serve? by Professor Mishal S Khan

In her inaugural lecture, Mishal S Khan, Professor of Global Public Health, will focus on interests, prejudices and power dynamics that shape how global health operates. She will raise questions about the role of health systems and global health institutions in the health inequities that we see today, illustrating her insights with examples from her work on governance of the private healthcare sector and forces that shape health policymaking. Mishal will also briefly share her career journey, starting with her unexpectedly publishing a randomised trial on gender difference in tuberculosis diagnosis in The Lancet aged only 24, and later questioning which types of knowers and knowledge are elevated by powerful platforms in global health.

Speakers

Professor Johanna Hanefeld, LSHTM

Jo is a health policy and systems analyst working on public health systems in low and middle income countries. While Jo's work has explored a wide range of topics, from migration and trade, to HIV and AMR, central themes within this work have been around power and the role of networks. She has combined her career in academia with more applied work in global public health including at the WHO. She is currently leading the international work at the Robert Koch-Institute, Germany's National Public health institute and its acting vice president.

Professor Mishal S Khan, LSHTM

Mishal is a social epidemiologist known for her expertise on strengthening health systems and policies for infectious disease control and her leadership on addressing issues of governance and equitable practices in Global Health.  In addition to her longstanding work on health policies in her native Pakistan, over the past two decades she has led also research in China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Kenya and Cambodia. Globally recognised for her ground-breaking research and bravery in confronting injustices, Mishal also holds positions at the Aga Khan University in Karachi (Pakistan) and the Centre on Universal Health at Chatham House (UK). In addition to a PhD and MSc from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Mishal holds an MA in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. She has authored more than 100 papers in leading journals and the internationally acclaimed textbook: Making Health Policy (2023). 

Event notices

• The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in G90 from 18.30 - 19.30
• Please note that you can join this event in person or you can join the session remotely
• Please note that the recording link will be listed on this page when available