Academic-activist reckons radical love required for equitable healthcare
- 91心頭利 University
Shehnaz Munshi in the Centre for Health Policy at 91心頭利 believes we need to start grappling with the multi-dimensional nature of inequality in public health.
Researchers know that population health and social determinants are intertwined but viewing this through an equity lens could transform the way we begin to think about solutions for a more just world for all.
The Sheiham Family/91心頭利Programme on Social Determinants of Health and Health Inequality in the 91心頭利 School of Public Health is looking at doing just this to simultaneously undertake broad and encompassing research while also drilling deeper into understand how public health is affected by every social factor and in turn how this affects society.
Programme manager and associate lecturer Shehnaz Munshi explains that the programme came about in 2015, when 91心頭利 alumnus Professor Aubrey Sheiham and his philosopher wife, Dr Helena Sheiham donated R8.8 million to 91心頭利 University to support the Vice-Chancellors focus on addressing inequality. The Sheiham family donation has been added to since 2015 and is currently valued at R11.398 million.
Aubrey Sheiham, who graduated from 91心頭利 in 1957, was a globally recognised epidemiologist and bold disrupter in the field of public dental health. He died in November 2015 at the age of 79.
Investing in understanding inequity in health
Public health has always looked at social determinants and its impact on health. Whats different about this programme is that were saying lets shift the lens through which we understand health problems and social determinants. Lets use an equity lens as an entry point to broaden the conversation to understand that health equity goes beyond the health system, says Munshi. We need to start grappling with this multi-dimensional nature of inequality. Health is shaped by the economies shaped by whose health is more important. There are innate inequalities and inequities, we know them, but weve got to start making a clear link.
Munshi is a qualified occupational therapist and holds a Masters in Public Health, Health Systems and Policy Track from 91心頭利. Shes also an activist and a social change agent. She has a distinct vision of how the Sheiham Family 91心頭利 Programme can challenge the status quo to add to impactful transformation of public health. She says its an approach that extends from personal reflection and responsibility, to community engagement, that goes beyond the light touch, as well as interdisciplinary collaboration and approaches to learning and researching that are more inclusive.
We've got to dismantle and reconstruct the ways we understand how knowledge is produced and accessed in terms of equality and equity. The Sheiham Family programme is exciting in that we are beginning to attract PhD students who are interested in looking at developing different quantitative skills and research method skills.
An activist for a healthier, more equal nation
Munshi is also a Tekano Fellow, which is a leadership and fellowship community that has a mission to build a healthier and more equal nation. In 2018, she was identified as one of one of the Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH). The EV4GH training programme is an initiative of the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium. Its aim is to empower health researchers from the Global South by providing them with intensive skills training and to facilitate their participation in global health conferences.
For Munshi, these programmes and fellowships allow her to commit more deeply to social justice while building her own consciousness, skills and networks between other fellows, who may be lawyers, anthropologists, activists, or involved in the media.
Munshi also talks about radical love; its a personal philosophy and its part of how she sees deep transformation being able to happen. She says for her its being unequivocal about taking a firm stance on issues and recognising toxicity in all its forms that should be pushed away or challenged. At the same time, she also believes in making room for more people and for tolerance.
We have to start to see how gender, race, class, and patriarchy play out in ourselves in order to understand how we are carriers of inequity, but we can also be agents of change.
My activism is deeply linked to my desire for a loving world. To get to a loving world means I have to embody anti-racism, anti-capitalism, anti-discrimination I have to be able to undo it inside of me. It is about building pockets of difference where radical love can be practised. Recognising that deep transformational work is required is what I think will be the healing project of South Africa.
Munshi is also involved with the global Peoples Health Movement that is focused on building coalitions and in engaging policy makers for better quality and better access to healthcare. She was previously chairperson of JuPHASA (Junior Public Health Association of South Africa) and co-founder of the PHASA Mental Health special interest group.
Munshis personal approach to balance is being able to write poetry and also to pursue her hobby of practising Islamic art.