International Partnerships for Global Health Equity
with Dr. Huw Rees, Dr. Peterly Philippe & Dr. Jacob Alhassan

March 22 2024

For this month’s Health Equity Webinar Series we welcome Dr. Huw Rees, Dr. Peterly Philippe, and Dr. Jacob Alhassan who will be sharing their perspectives on “International Partnerships for Global Health Equity.” In this dynamic session, we'll explore collaborative strategies to address disparities in healthcare access and outcomes worldwide.

Gain valuable perspectives on building sustainable partnerships that empower communities and drive meaningful change. Global health placements have been critiqued for entrenching colonial narratives, Dr. Jacob Alhassan will discuss four principles for decolonizing global health principles. Dr. Rees and Dr. Philippe discuss the Global Orthopedic Surgery Fellowship, their work with Team Broken Earth, and building meaningful relationships with partner institutions.

Presenters: 

Dr. Jacob Alhassan is an assistant professor in the department of community health and epidemiology, college of medicine. He is also academic co-lead for University of Saskatchewan’s global health certificate and a clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry. Jacob is from Ghana and is trained in health administration, public policy & global health, African studies and population health from the universities of Ghana (Ghana), Durham (UK), Oxford (UK) and Saskatchewan (Canada). He is an activist-scholar with a particular interest in the political economy of health and educational inequities. He is guided by an anti-racist and anti-colonial praxis in his teaching, research and learning and loves music, poetry and cooking. He is also the Founder and Board Chair of Ad Astra Foundation Ghana (www.adastrafoundationgh.org), a Ghana-based youth-led non-profit focused on promoting fair access to educational materials for children in rural communities.

Dr. Peterly Philippe hails from Cap-Haïtien, Haiti. His medical journey led him through the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy at the State University of Haiti from 2007 to 2014. In 2010, he took on a pivotal role as a founding member of the Haitian Association of Medical Students, assuming the presidency from 2013 to 2015. His specialization in orthopedics unfolded at the State University Hospital of Haiti from 2016 to 2020. Dr. Philippe broadened his expertise further during an associated internship in orthopedic surgery at the Metropole Savoie Hospital Center in Chambéry, France. Alongside his medical pursuits, Dr. Philippe also holds a diploma in football medicine. Driven by the vision to enhance healthcare accessibility in Haiti, particularly in orthopedics, Dr. Philippe is dedicated to leaving a lasting impact on healthcare delivery and outcomes in his home country. He is the inaugural recipient of the one-year training program in global orthopedic surgery, which commenced in September 2023. Dr. Philippe is confident that this program will significantly elevate his skills, empowering him to contribute effectively to the positive transformation he aims to achieve.

Dr. Huw Rees is a retired orthopedic surgeon who grew up in small-town Saskatchewan, went to medical school at the U of S, then did an internship in Saskatoon, practiced briefly as a family physician in various small towns in Saskatchewan, returned to Saskatoon for an orthopedic residency and worked here for 27 years as an orthopedic surgeon. He has always had a passion for improving health care in under-resourced areas of the world. Dr. Rees organized several surgical missions, first to Goma in Congo, and later as the team lead for Team Broken Earth Saskatoon, to Port au Prince, Haiti.  He has been fortunate to develop relationships with physicians and allied medical staff in Haiti and locally.  These liaisons have allowed the U of S to establish a six-week orthopedic observership program as well as a one-year training program in global orthopedic surgery at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.

Black Mental Health Histories & Futures with Dr. Samra Sahlu

February 29 1230-130PM

Dr. Sahlu is an adult psychiatrist who splits her time between Saskatchewan and Tkaronto. She was born and raised in Treaty 4 Territory, and is a proud graduate of St. Augustine Community School in Regina. She completed her medical school and residency training in psychiatry at the U of S, and was honoured with an award for her advocacy efforts during training. She completed the Diversity Leadership Fellowship through the American Psychiatric Association based in Washington, DC, where she served on the Council on Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities. She is currently working with a small group from the Council on a short documentary about the legacy of Black psychiatrists from the sixties. She has practiced psychiatry in hospital, outpatient, ER, and corrections settings, and her professional interests include advocacy, mentorship, cultural psychiatry, transgender/ gender diverse care, community engagement, and collaboration with the arts. She is proud to be part of the SAPACCY (Substance Use Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth) team at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)  and the Mobile Crisis Team supported by TAIBU CHC in Scarborough. She commutes back to Saskatchewan to provide gender-affirming psychiatric care. 

Please note this presentation was not recorded

For more info: https://www.schizophrenia.sk.ca/

Challenging Mental Health Stigma: The Schizophrenia Society's Partnership Program

Presenters: Madhu Acharya, Lexi Rowsell, and Dr. Tamara Hinz from the Schizophrenia Society of Saskatchewan Partnership Program.

The Health Equity Webinar Series returned with a focus on mental health. We hosted three speakers from The Schizophrenia Society of Saskatchewan's Partnership Program.

The Partnership Program is a stigma busting initiative meant to challenge stigma and increase public awareness. Their speakers with lived experience shared stories of recovery from schizophrenia, bipolar, anxiety, and depression while providing information on how to seek treatment and services. The speakers with lived experience were joined by a healthcare professional providing resources and clinical information.

The Partnership Program speakers are “stigma busters” working hard to put forth a positive face for recovery in the community. 

A Healthy Future: Lessons from the Frontlines of a Crisis
Dr. Ryan Meili in conversation with Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine

Dr. Ryan Meili is a family physician in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan who is passionate about health equity and healthy public policy. He has practiced medicine in rural and Northern Saskatchewan, inner-city Saskatoon, and rural Mozambique. Dr. Meili put his belief in politics as "medicine on a larger scale" into action by running for Member of the Legislative Assembly and serving as Leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party and Leader of the Official Opposition in Saskatchewan from 2018-2022. He is the author of the best-selling book, A Healthy Society: How a Focus on Health Can Revive Canadian Democracy. 

Filled with moving stories of how COVID changed people’s lives, his new book, A Healthy Future: Lessons from the Frontlines of a Crisis, is a deeply humane account of the pandemic that draws on his unique experience as a doctor in politics. A Healthy Future reveals how COVID exposed and made worse problems in health care, elder care, education, and social supports – and details how we can do better.   

Ryan lives in Saskatoon with his wife, Dr. Mahli Brindamour, and their two sons, Abe and Gus. 

Racism: Stories, Codes, and the Myth of Neutrality with Dr. Raven Sinclair

A powerful speaker and skilled facilitator, Raven Sinclair is one of Canada’s most sought after experts on the ‘60s Scoop’ era, and federally appointed Expert Adviser to the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation. As Director and Executive Producer of the Film ‘Truth to be Told’, Dr. Raven Sinclair uncovers the atrocious facts of this period in Canadian history. As an author, Raven is creating effective and respectful methods of working with diverse populations specifically Indigenous peoples. As Professor of Social Work and Researcher, this Nehiyaw-Cree Champion of George Gordon First Nation is transforming misconceptions regarding diversity and identity. A survivor of the Canadian child welfare system, in an era referred to as the ‘60s Scoop’, Raven was adopted and raised in a white Anglo-Saxon protestant family. As a young adult, she reconnected with her Cree/Nehiyaw community and reunited with her birth family at the age of 27. Raven acknowledges being Two-Spirit as a core spiritual aspect of her identity and the primary reason that she has had such diverse life experiences. Her work and interests are directed by Nehiyaw spiritual laws and she is working on strategies for the reintegration and recognition of the traditional role of two-spirit people into the sacred hoop of Indigenous communities. Her areas of expertise and interest include Indigenous social work, Indigenous health research and ethics, Indigenous child welfare and youth issues, Indigenous transracial adoption and cultural identity, interpersonal communications, lateral violence intervention, trauma and recovery, and group process and facilitation. She is passionate about Indigenous issues as well as intergenerational healing modalities.

Sexual and reproductive health has a long history of oppression and discrimination towards people of color. High quality health interventions must be aware of, and responsive to this history in order to be effective. In this presentation you’ll learn about the history of medical racism, sexual and reproductive health, discuss contemporary concerns, and help imagine a future that is free from medical marginalization.

Guest speaker: Delilah Kamuhanda

Delilah is a Ugandan-American, born and raised in Piscataway Territory which is now known as Maryland and Washington DC. They have a BA&Sc in Health Studies and a minor in Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan. Their experiences in and outside of academia led them to pursue a career in health education. She's worked on projects for environmental health and its impact on maternal and infant health, as well as the impacts of racism on health. She is the Education & Outreach Coordinator at Saskatoon Sexual Health. Her approach to sexual health is sex-positive, queer-inclusive, and anti-oppressive. When they are not talking about sex ed, they're an anti-rocist educator, the founder of Black Lives Matter YXE and a radio co-host. Delilah lives and works in Treaty 6 Territory.

In Canadian society our approach to health and wellness has historically centred Western or Eurocentric worldviews, which have traditionally been focused on illness and disease. In an effort to understand health as a more holistic experience, the World Health Organization has defined health as “a state of complete, physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”.

This shift in focus from illness to wellness is central to many non-Western worldviews, and is prominent in Indigenous approaches to health across Canada. While these approaches may differ from one nation to the next, they all share a common earth-centred worldview, deep understanding of interconnection, and a relationship with the land.

As our understanding of health and wellness expands, these approaches provide the wisdom and connectedness that contemporary medicine is beginning to embrace. Join us on April 20th to learn more about Indigenous Health from Dr. Janet Tootoosis, Vice-Dean of Indigenous Health.

On March 8^th of every year we recognize International Women’s Day. This global celebration is an opportunity to celebrate women, but also an opportunity to reflect on the impact of gender for those who are marginalized by it. In the pursuit of health equity, gender is a critical influence that impacts not only individual but also community health. Did you know that across more than 770 different diseases women are diagnosed on average 2.5 later than men? These disparities have adverse impacts on the lives of millions and will require novel approaches and innovative solutions to be addressed. The Royal University Hospital Foundation’s Women Leading Philanthropy Program is one program leading the way in pursuit of health equity. Join us on March 24^th to hear from Dr. Mary Kinloch, co-founder of Women Leading Philanthropy.

Panelist: Dr. Mary Kinloch from Women Leading Philanthropy

Dr. Kinloch is a practicing pathologist in gynecologic and molecular pathology for the Saskatchewan Health Authority on Treaty 6 territory. She is the division head of Anatomic Pathology in Saskatoon and a clinical associate professor at the University of Saskatchewan in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Dr. Kinloch’s main goal is to provide cancer biomarker equity to the province of Saskatchewan and uses her experience in quality improvement to ensure everyone has access to the most up-to-date information when it comes to their health.

Her work with Women Leading Philanthropy with the Royal University Hospital Foundation as a volunteer chair has raised over $600,000 for female-led projects that have transformed the patient experience at RUH.

Panelist: Dr. Hadal El-Hadi from Black Physicians of Canada

Dr. Hadal El-Hadi is a resident of University of British Columbia’s Public Health and Preventative Medicine Residency Program. She is a graduate from the College of Medicine, receiving her MD from the University of Saskatchewan in 2015. Hadal strongly believes in the importance of educating and motivating people into taking notice of injustices and working as a team to improve the lives of those around us. One of the biggest reasons she pursued medicine as a career was because she wanted to be part of a collective that helps children and adults in Canada and globally have a fighting chance to be happy. She recognizes, that given the history and nature of anti-Black racism in Canada and around the world, eradication would be very difficult to achieve. She is also a founder of Black Physicians of Canada. Her hopes for this organization is to have the best interest of Black Canadians at heart and as a fundamental priority create changes to the current system where she can and provide safety nets where she can’t.

In the summer of 2020, the world watched as the Black Lives Matter movement gained momentum following the murder of George Floyd. The impacts of systemic racism began to permeate conversations from the classroom, to the clinic, to the kitchen table. Collective calls for action began to swell, spurring on a historic conversation about anti-Black racism. Dr. Hadal El-Hadi is an alumna of the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine and the co-founder of Black Physician’s of Canada. Join us on February 17^th as we learn more about Black Physician’s of Canada and how they are building community for Black physician’s and answering calls for a more just and equitable future.

Presenters: 

Dr. Sarah Strasser – Emeritus Professor of Rural Health University of Waikato, New Zealand

Dr. Roger Strasser – Emeritus Professor of Rural Health University of Waikato, New Zealand Founding Dean Emeritus Northern Ontario School of Medicine

This month the Division of Social Accountability directs its attention to rural and remote health. In April of 2022, the DSA office spent time in consultation with community partners and heard that the lack of services in rural and remote areas continues to have an adverse impact on their services and on the lives of the people they serve. In our province, where half of our population lives outside of large urban centre, the impacts of these health inequities continues to grow. How do we train physicians that can contribute to policy decisions that advance health equity in our province? The DSA believes that it is through genuine engagement with community stakeholders and advocates, and leveraging the concerns of faculty, students, and staff that we can respond to the complex challenges of being a socially accountable organization in a province with rapidly changing needs.  Join us for our Health Equity Webinar Series on January 27th where we hear from Dr. Sarah Strasser, Emeritus Professor of Rural Health University of Waikato, New Zealand and Dr. Roger Strasser, Emeritus Professor of Rural Health University of Waikato, New Zealand and Founding Dean Emeritus Northern Ontario School of Medicine where they will share their extensive experience using community engagement to build a fit-for-purpose rural workforce.

September 30th is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Ahead of this important date, The Division of Social Accountability will centre our monthly health equity conversation around reconciliation, and more specifically individual responsibilities and actions. This month our webinar features a panel of three USASK community members who have made active contributions towards reconciliation. Join us as we discuss lessons learned, and ways we can all contribute to this critical work.

Panelists Lynette Epp, Dr. Gary Groot, Sharissa Hantke

The Time is Now: Harm Reduction Community Driven Initiatives 

Watch our Health Equity Webinar where we  heard from community initiatives for housing from Prairie Harm Reduction, the Blank Book Project by chokecherry youth, and the advocacy of our Students for Harm Reduction and Informed Policy.

Download Chokecherry’s Youth Blank Book Project:
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0576/2410/1064/files/Published_November_2021..pdf?v=1637975078

Reaching for Health Equity: Immigrant and refugee health

Join our panelists from the Refugee Engagement and Community Health (REACH) Clinic and USASK College of Medicine to discuss immigrant and refugee health here in Saskatchewan. Everyone is welcome!

Panelists:
Dr. Karen Leis – REACH Physician
Dr. Jacelyn Hanson – REACH Physician
Adrian Teare – USASK Medical Student
Rosario Hernandez Barba – USASK Medical Student

We Are Not There Yet: Persisting Gender-Based Inequities in Medicine

Want to learn more about the intersections of gender and health equity? Join medical students from GEM (Gender Equity in Medicine student group) and members of SASS (Sexual Assault Services of Saskatchewan) for a discussion about gender-based inequities in healthcare.

Panelists:
Natalya Mason (OUT Saskatoon, Sexual Health Clinic)
Eunice Abudu (Faculty, SaskPoly)
Jacob Alhassan (Faculty, U of S)
Edith Conacher (Student Affairs CoM, U of S)

This panel will discuss experiences of anti-Black racism in healthcare from the perspective of practitioners, students, teachers, patients, connecting how the level of interpersonal racism (individual experiences) is connected to the systemic level (long standing collective anti-Black narratives, sentiment, and policy in SK), and paying attention to how tthe intersectionality of Black identities shapes those experiences of interacting with systems of white supremacy.

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly declared sanitation a universal human right. This means everyone, without discrimination is entitled to “have physical and affordable access to sanitation, in all spheres of life, that is safe, hygienic, secure, and social and culturally acceptable, and that provides privacy and dignity”.  Everyone, everywhere, has the right to a toilet. Our governments should be accountable to ensure this basic need of having a place to relieve oneself is available to the public.

During the beginning of the COVID response, Saskatoon went more than 100 days without access to public washrooms. This impacted everyone who relies on access to publicly accessible washrooms including City of Saskatoon transit drivers, delivery drivers, utility workers, gas and electric service workers, people doing street repair, local pedestrians, citizens young and old; and people who use park systems are all users of public washrooms. It is especially critical for seniors, pregnant women, little children, those with some medical conditions, and those who are homeless.

As a result of this lesson – the Saskatoon Interagency Response to COVID escalated a conversation with the City of Saskatoon and the Saskatoon Public Washroom Advisory Committee was formed. For more info about the committee: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NBGMJqGlW0Yf0goAcrT7HqoEB_Zjc5j1/view?usp=sharing

How do we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and create public policies that address the root causes of poverty and inequity?

How can we learn from this crisis and show Saskatchewan that poverty is an urgent public health crisis?

This Health Equity Webinar features Colleen Christopherson-Cote from the Saskatoon Poverty Reduction Partnership (SPRP) discussing the updated report, “12 Bold Ideas to Eliminate Poverty: Lessons Learned during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”