Global Health 50/50 welcomes Dr Seye Abimbola to its Advisory Council
6 January 2020—Dr Seye Abimbola, Senior Lecturer in Global Health at the University of Sydney, and the Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Global Health, has become the newest member of the Global Health 50/50 Advisory Council.
Global Health 50/50 are delighted to welcome Dr Abimbola to the Council, and look forward to working with him to push for equity in global health policies and programmes. Dr Abimbola brings with him a wealth of expertise and vast experience in research and advocacy for a more equitable and justice-focused global health landscape.
Dr Seye Abimbola, a health systems researcher, has worked as a health care practitioner and/or researcher: in Nigeria where he completed his medical training at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife; in Australia where completed a PhD in health systems research at the University of Sydney; and in the United Kingdom where he was a Sidney Sax Overseas Early Career Fellow at the University of Oxford, funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. From 2009-10, Dr Abimbola was a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar at the George Institute for Global Health in Australia, and from 2010-13 he was a Research Fellow at the National Primary Health Care Development Agency in Nigeria.
“I’m excited to join the Advisory Council of Global Health 50/50. I’ve greatly admired the leadership and evidence on gender that GH5050 has brought to global health in the past couple of years,” said Dr Abimbola.
Dr Abimbola studies community engagement in governance, decentralised governance and the role of governance in the adoption and scale up of health system innovations.
“For me, gender is a good place to begin to tackle inequality, because everyone has experienced it or been touched by its effects, and because it often shows up prominently in the way other forms of inequality manifest,” said Dr Abimbola.
“In fact, the way I see it, gender is only the first chapter in the book of inequalities in global health, and I’m very happy GH5050 is helping to open and turn its pages. My goal is to help that process along as best as I can, and through gender, to help open, and close, other chapters of the book of inequalities in global health.”
Sarah Hawkes and Kent Buse, co-founders and co-directors of Global Health 50/50, add “We are honoured and privileged to welcome Seye to the Advisory Council. Seye will bring a critical eye to our efforts – much in the same way he has asked existential questions about the meaning and practice of global health and has been at the forefront of efforts to decolonize the field, we are convinced that he will help guide the efforts of GH5050 to better understand and address gender in global health from an intersectional perspective.”
The Global Health 50/50 Advisory Council is an informal group whose members serve as advocates and ambassadors for Global Health 50/50 in their personal capacities. Council members provide invaluable thought leadership and advice on good practice on global health and gender, as well as in supporting the development of the Global Health 50/50 initiative.
Global Health 50/50
Global Health 50/50 is an independent initiative to advance action and accountability for gender equality in global health and contribute to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is hosted by the University College London Centre for Gender and Global Health.
