Hite Chair Scholar Lecture Series

   

On September 22, SRF scholar of public health, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdullah Eisa, presented a guest lecture on “Health and Human Rights” in the first Global Health course at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center’s School of Public Health in Brooklyn, New York. The graduate students listened intently as Dr. Mohammed provided an introduction to human rights and the role of public health providers in addressing the needs of the world’s populations when access to education and health services is limited and ultimately, human rights are denied or violated. The lecture guided the students through a broad overview of health and human rights down to a focused look at Dr. Mohammed’s home in Jabel Marra, the region of Darfur, Sudan, where he began his career assisting victims of torture.

Dr. Mohammed spoke about his current work at the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Physicians for Human Rights, as he seeks to use his research and reporting to inform change on the ground in Darfur. As he explained, public health is changing with a greater understanding of the need to address global health, which includes a focus on human rights, disease control and international cooperation. Above all, Dr. Mohammed deemed access to education to be the best treatment for areas of conflict. He charged the students with a call to use their roles as future leaders in public health to provide better opportunities for education and healthy living to those most in need. The lecture ended with an open discussion in which students had the opportunity to ask Dr. Mohammed about how to enact change on a community level, how to operate within repressive regimes, and how to hold countries that sign treaties in defense of human rights accountable for their actions. As Dr. Christina Bloem, the course’s co-director noted, the lecture encouraged students to think about how they can be involved in defending human rights worldwide. She expressed her gratitude saying, “Thanks to the example of people like you, we are inspired to continue our commitment to improving global health.” The lecture was made possible as part of the SRF Hite Chair Scholar Lecture Series.

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