Professor Wagida Anwar, Egypt
I have worked for many years and across many fields in the scientific and political spheres, with a focus on NCDs. When I moved to environmental pollution and its effect on health, in particular cancer, I realized that I was never going to be able to stick to just one field. I am very interested in the relationship between infection and cancer especially as it relates to the liver, bladder and hepatitis. A Health System needs a lot of research to function. You need to develop both research and implementation synergies. A holistic approach to Health Literacy involves top-down and bottom-up. You must talk to researchers, decision makers, and community to get a fuller picture. Women’s health requires a holistic approach also. We used to think it was just about family planning, then it became about reproductive health and now I hope we are viewing it as a common goal to improve her life in general. To do this we must talk to the whole family unit. This holism and engagement of many players is essential for NCD prevention and control. Even working individually you must look outward. This also helps people to switch from critiquing to collaborating on implementation – a key to moving forward. Most of our problems are due to misunderstanding, even between brothers. If someone is criticizing me I say, “Okay, let’s start together.” If we practice this direct contact and remove barriers between each other, our movement to beat NCDs and improve health will be much more powerful.