Letters from Loyce
Letter from Loyce: Great Expectations: Thoughts on Our Upcoming Summit
As Global Health Council’s virtual summit, Pandemics, Politics and Privilege, draws near, we have been thinking a lot about what our audience is hoping to get out of the discussions and what you are most looking forward to during our time together. With the pandemic and the U.S. election as the backdrop, the types of…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: The 2020 Global Health Marathon: A Long, but Winnable Race
Back in the day, I was a competitive runner. Throughout 2020, I’ve drawn on that experience quite a bit, especially the mindset and skills that helped me get through distance races. Despite our overwhelming wish for the COVID-19 crisis to end quickly, the truth is this is not a sprint; we are pacing ourselves for…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: Solutions from the Source
I’ll let you in on a secret. Sometimes, my family and friends will place bets on how quickly people forget the last injustice caught on camera. It’s always so tragic and graphic that everyone feels guilty looking away. But we eventually do, moving on to the next breaking news story. It’s the same cycle time…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: A 2020 Definition of Progress
If you are anything like me, you alternately feel like time stopped in March (“How is it summertime? Didn’t we just celebrate New Year’s?”) or that you have aged a decade in the span of six months (“Is it really still 2020?”). It seems like we’ve lived a lifetime in a matter of weeks and…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: Real Talk on Racism in the Global Health Sector
Like many of you, I’ve been thinking a lot about power and privilege lately. Only that hasn’t taken the shape you might expect. You see, I don’t have as much interest in or energy for rehashing all the ways I’ve been passed up and pushed aside by others better positioned or perceived than me. I’ve…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: It’s Time to be Audacious
I generally come across two kinds of advocates. The first is pragmatic, committed to a cause but careful about how it is championed and mindful of navigating the politics involved. This advocate is more likely to aim for the most winnable goal, all but assured of a positive outcome even before their work begins. And…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: Politics in a Pandemic
On April 14, President Trump announced that the U.S. would freeze funding to the World Health Organization (WHO). This decision is politics at its most dangerous. As we face the worst public health disaster in the last 100 years, suspending funding to WHO is like cutting the water supply to a firefighter in a burning…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: COVID-19: Is the Global Health Megaphone on Mute?
No one can say that we didn’t see this coming. The global health community has been banging the drum about pandemic preparedness for many years. I would venture to say this is the very nightmare we have long feared. So why was the world caught flat footed in terms of COVID-19? Why has our message…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: Putting Civil Society Front and Center
Within the global health community, there are persistent themes that we hear again and again. One that resonates deeply with Global Health Council (GHC) is ensuring that civil society has a seat at the table as policy, program and funding decisions are made. Actually, make that tables (plural) – these seats must be available…
Read MoreLetter from Loyce: The Evolution of Global Health Council
Allow me to introduce you to Global Health Council circa 2020. Global health is evolving quickly, responding to shifts in funding, leadership and overall disease burden. Global Health Council (GHC) is evolving, too. Heading into a new decade, innovation is required for progress and, as cliché as it sounds, business as usual just won’t…
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