Green Templeton College recently hosted a powerful event, building on the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences 12-part 'Decolonising Global Health' blog series. The event, titled Beyond the Ivory Tower: A Dialogue on Decolonising Global Health, brought together respected voices from the Global South to share their experiences, challenge entrenched power dynamics and explore practical strategies for creating more equitable health systems.
Held on Friday 25 April 2025 in the EP Abraham Lecture Theatre and streamed online, the dialogue built on the momentum of a previous panel discussion held at Green Templeton last September, Beyond the Ivory Tower: Healthcare Leadership in Times of Crisis. This time, the focus sharpened on the structural injustices that continue to shape global health research and practice – and how individuals and institutions alike can begin to dismantle them.
Maju Brunette (The Ohio State University and Oxford University MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership student), Shashika Bandara (McGill University), and Neelika Malavige (University of Sri Jayewardenepura) led an open and engaging discussion. Early in the event, Maju challenged the audience to reflect deeply, asking, ‘What does it really mean to decolonise global health?’
Maju Brunette introducing the event
She emphasised the need for community-engaged approaches and solidarity across borders, drawing on a graphic from the blog series that highlighted addressing power asymmetries as essential to genuine progress.
A theme of the evening was the need for a two-step approach: first, to introspect on personal and institutional biases; and second, to actively challenge systemic structures that perpetuate inequality. Neelika Malavige offered real-world examples from her work in Sri Lanka, where limited resources and infrastructure make managing infectious diseases such as dengue and tuberculosis particularly challenging. ‘Still today, we do not have answers to major diseases because of longstanding inequalities’, she pointed out, illustrating how medical challenges are deeply intertwined with social and political ones.
Shashika Bandara noted that genuine allyship must go beyond intention and become an active commitment to change. ‘Allyship isn’t just about doing the right thing – it’s central to our survival, to the future of our planet and generations to come’, he said, referencing the ongoing need to challenge global systems that perpetuate inequality.
Maju Brunette added that tackling these issues requires a shift from charity-driven narratives to ones grounded in solidarity. ‘We need to start thinking about solidarity in the decolonising global health narrative, and focus on our similarities as people’, she noted, highlighting the importance of including local governments and community-based organisations in health initiatives.
Throughout the evening, the panellists stressed the importance of ‘unplugging’ global health from the status quo – with Shashika Bandara encouraging participants to critically question existing structures and work towards change, rather than passively accept inequalities.
The event concluded with a lively Q&A session where audience members posed thoughtful questions about strengthening regional cooperation, building trust across different cultural contexts and ensuring postgraduate medical education fosters equity rather than reinforcing old hierarchies.
Question and answer discussion at the event
A short reception followed, offering attendees the chance to continue conversations informally. Many left feeling both inspired and challenged to reflect more deeply on their roles in global health work.
Reflecting on the event, Maju Brunette shared her hopes for how decolonising thinking can extend beyond the lecture theatre:
‘Queremos un mundo donde quepan muchos mundos’ captures the essence of our global decolonising movement. Translated into English, it reads ‘We want a world where many worlds fit’. For many of us who have the honor and privilege to teach, adopting a decolonising lens means to actively and purposively integrate firsthand experiences into the classroom (and curricula!), connecting students to real-world settings and collectively acknowledging, examining and dismantling inequities in global health research and practice. How can you contribute to rewriting the single story?'
Her words encapsulated the spirit of the evening – an invitation to not only reflect but to act, collaborate and reimagine global health in ways that are more inclusive and grounded in lived experience.
Maju Brunette at the reception in Green Templeton College
Co-sponsored by the Oxford Global Health Society (OGHS), the event underscored the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration.
For those who could not attend, a recording of the event is available to watch here.