“I want to see more focus on building systems and creating policies that focus on health and well-being of all – whether that’s building structures and systems that promote health or providing adequate all-encompassing healthcare.”

Zoha Anjum
Dental Student & Researcher 

Meet Zoha Anjum, Community Star of the week! Zoha is a Dental Student & Researcher who has mainly worked in water, menstrual hygiene and women’s health research.

This summer she will be pursuing an internship with the World Federation of Public Health Associations Oral Health Working Group.

In this post, Zoha shares her passion for public health by providing responses to the following questions:

Access to Dental Care: How is COVID-19 Increasing Existing Disparities?
– Harvard School of Dental Medicine

What does public health mean to you?

To me, public/global health is about keeping the health and well-being of every single person at the core of every decision, policy and intervention.

What work do you do in public health?

Since I embarked on my public/global health journey, I have mainly worked in water, menstrual hygiene and women’s health research.

However, after starting my Doctor of Dental Surgery program, I have become more interested in global oral health and special care dentistry research, which I am excited to pursue as an intern with World Federation of Public Health Associations Oral Health Working Group this summer.

What is your public health message?

With the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the importance of compassion and human-centered policies has become very clear to me.

As the world recovers from the pandemic, I want to see more focus on building systems and creating policies that focus on health and well-being of all – whether that’s building structures and systems that promote health (e.g., access to green space) or providing adequate all-encompassing healthcare (including affordable dental care).

Public Health Insight

The Public Health Insight (PHI) is a public health communication and knowledge translation organization that disseminates information on a variety of public health issues focusing on the social determinants of health and the Sustainable Development Goals.