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Utano Public Health Chats

Utano Public Health Chats

Written by: Fiona Gambanga
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A podcast where people get to learn more about public health work in Africa and how to navigate their public health careers. Each episode features an in depth interview with a public health practitioner and/or researcher from an African country and/or working in African countries in public health. Conversation is about how they ended up working in public health, what they do at a high level in their current work, what they love about their field and career path and what words of wisdom they would like to share with the audience.Fiona Gambanga Careers Economics Personal Success
Episodes
  • Episode 24 -Interview Dr. Bisi Bright
    Apr 8 2026

    In this episode we talked to Dr Bisi Bright from Nigeria.

    Dr Bisi Bright is a Global Public Health Enthusiast, Social Entrepreneur, Health Systems Researcher, Adjunct Lecturer, Consultant Clinical Pharmacist, and Public Health Practitioner. She is 1st Vice Chairman and CEO of LiveWell Initiative LWI, a self-sustaining nonprofit healthcare social enterprise, which has impacted over 2 million Nigerians and thousands of Ghanaians with health literacy, improved overall health, and wellness.

    She serves as an Internship Preceptor for MPH and DrPH students at Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health and is a visiting Doctoral Research ‘Opponent’ Faculty at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

    She is a Board Member of the National Hepatitis Coalition in Nigeria, and a Governing Council Member of the Nigeria-Britain Association. She initiated and designed study protocols for COVID-19 Response in Africa, which, along with members of her organization the LiveWell Initiative LWI and its clinical research team, have successfully published 6 recent Peer Reviewed Open Access Scientific Journal Manuscripts, on COVID-19. She is the Country representative of GIANT Nigeria, a Healthcare Organisation related to Vaccines Hesitancy. In 2017 she was recognised by the Economist Intelligence Unit EIU, as Global Changemaker Hepatitis C, and won the Presidential Commendation for work on Hepatitis, awarded by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In partnership with the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination CGHE the LiveWell subsidiary Women in Hepatitis Africa founded by her, has been promoting the uptake of hepatitis B birth dose vaccination by newborns within 24 hours of birth, as a key strategy for preventing mother to child transmission of hepatitis PMTCT, in line with the global hepatitis elimination goals for 2030. In line with the global PPPR (postpandemic preparedness and response), she aunched the PostPandemic Women’s of Afica PPWA, helping African women to build up resilience and mental health. Bisi is also the African Representative of the EWAH Awards originally a Commonwealth Institute Program.

    Her newest initiative is the Global Public Health University and Institute, two learning institutions that are promoting healthcare in the future, in line with digital technologies and transformative healthcare.

    Her greatest passion is, working in communities and reaching everyone with healthcare.

    More information about LiveWell Initiative and its activities and programs can be found here:

    https://newstellers.ng/nigeria-britain-association-livewell-initiative-promote-preventive-healthcare-at-2026-fair/

    https://breezynewsnigeria.com/nigeria-britain-association-livewell-initiative-champion-preventive-healthcare/

    https://dailystandard.com.ng/nigeria-britain-association-livewell-initiative-champion-preventive-healthcare-at-2026-health-fair/


    To donate to LiveWell Initiative you may use Citibank as corresponding bank. Our

    US DUNS number is 954534447 and our TIN is 04838705-0001

    BANK DETAILS:

    Bank name : Guaranty Trust Bank Plc

    Bank address: 178 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria

    Account name: LiveWell Initiative

    Account number: 0005610544

    Sort code: 058152081 Swift code: GTBINGLA


    Donation Links

    1. LiveWell Initiative LWI

    https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=JFLS2GKNT4S2Y

    2. PMTCT for Hepatitis

    https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=JS52QPMDF9CX6

    3. Support EWAH Awards - Extraordinary Women Advancing Healthcare Awards, originally a Commonwealth Institute Programme, in Africa-https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3TVGUJLW3KNW4

    4. Global Public Health University GPHU ,a tertiary health training institution undergoing registration and transforming health.

    https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=3LXEJLKSBNAYJ





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    49 mins
  • Episode 23-Interview with Rachael Goba
    Feb 25 2026

    In this episode we talked to Rachael Goba, a Global health leader with 15+ years of experience driving gender-transformative health systems across Africa and globally in both development and humanitarian contexts.

    Rachael is a Senior Technical Advisor for Adolescent Health, she provides strategic leadership in adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) Comprehensive sexuality education, Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health, Adolescent HIV progrmming, gender equity & Social Inclusion,climate-resilient health systems, and inclusive health governance. She works at the intersection of technical excellence, systems strengthening, and power-shifting approaches that elevate women- and youth-led organisations.

    Rachael is a graduate of the WomenLift Health Southern Africa Leadership Journey 2025, where she is a global fellow, and her approach blends feminist leadership, localisation, and systems thinking to design scalable, evidence-driven solutions that strengthen health governance and improve health equity.

    In this episode we learnt about Rachael's career journey and what ignited her interest in public health. We discussed what her work looks like at this stage in her career and the things she enjoys most about the working in adolescent, sexual and reproductive health and rights. We ended with words of wisdom and motivating words for all those who might be interested in joining the field of public health!

    Rachael offers expert-led sexuality education for adolescents (10-19 years old) through her project Bridges Beyond which aims to and equip parents & caregivers with the tools to foster open, healthy conversations with their children.

    Conversations are age-appropriate, accurate, engaging and culturally appropriate covering topics such as puberty, responsibility, consent, relationships, and personal safety amongst many others.

    Bridges Beyond is also available to conduct workshops to schools, organisations, churches in relation to sexuality education. For more information they can get in touch on bridgesbeyond1@gmail.com


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    53 mins
  • Episode 22 -Interview with Dr. Nicole Curti
    Sep 24 2025

    In this episode we hear from Dr. Nicole Curti, a Medical Doctor and Public Health Specialist with over 25 years of experience in global health and international cooperation.

    Dr Nicole is currently based in Rwanda, where she leads a major health program aligned with the country’s Health Sector Strategic Plan V (2024–2029), focusing on maternal, newborn, and child health, sexual and reproductive rights, gender-based violence, and health system strengthening.

    Her career spans Africa, Europe, South Asia, and North America, with expertise in humanitarian work, epidemic response, health security, and primary healthcare. Born in Ebolowa, Cameroon, Dr. Curti’s journey has been defined by resilience; after losing her father at 16, she financed her studies independently, earning degrees in medicine, tropical medicine and public health. She recently completed a three-year degree in Chinese Medicine and Moxibustion at the Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Geneva, Switzerland. Her work integrates coordination, research, policy, and capacity-building, collaborating with governments, local authorities, development partners, and healthcare providers to ensure equitable access to quality care. Passionate about mentoring the next generation of public health leaders, she emphasizes community engagement, continuous learning, innovation, adaptability, and evidence-based interventions to drive systemic change globally.

    In this episode we discussed:Her background and pathway to clinical medicineand then public health Key elements that make up a public health system The different countries she has worked and the various roles and responsibilities she had Pivotal points in her career and experiences that informed her decision Her favourite projects and what she likes about working in public health Her advice to people starting out in public health or those earlier in her career Key skills and traits she finds useful in the field

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    59 mins
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