Through multidisciplinary research and policy engagement we bring new understanding and action on critical issues around health and health systems, and how they overlap with other systems such as food, as well as nutrition, sanitation, epidemics and zoonotic diseases. Enhancing understanding of how to ensure healthy lives for all is a vital part of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Agenda 2030) and has been an integral focus of IDS’ work since its inception.
Our research and analysis on innovations in health services and systems – including work on identifying effective strategies to address the challenges of antimicrobial resistance – is accelerating progress towards achieving universal health coverage in Asia and Africa. Our work on nutrition spans the spectrum from dietary transition and globalisation of food systems, through to responding to the ways that marginalisation and inequity drive high child malnutrition rates. We bring vital social knowledge to aid effective preparedness and response on pandemics. We show how direct impacts on the spread of diseases such as Ebola can be achieved by bringing learning from research on social issues and contexts to the right people in the right organisations at the right time. Together with our global partners, we are generating and sharing new knowledge and evidence to identify the underlying causes of poor health and social inequalities, and the progressive policies and practices that can help bring about transformative change.
This week is Masters Week at Sussex. Discover what postgraduate study at Sussex is like from the comfort of home.
Masters Week: Monday 13 to Friday 17 June 2022
Join our week-long series of live online sessions. We’ll have Zoom webinars where you can get personal statement tips, find out...
In modern warfare, the first widely acknowledged scientific study and documented case of environmental damage during conflict was the (direct and deliberate) use of Agent Orange and other toxic chemicals by US forces, from 1961-1971, during the Vietnam War in a policy known as herbicide.
The...
The Covid-19 pandemic and related restrictions have had profound socioeconomic impacts worldwide. Governments have been faced with responding urgently to mitigate such effects, especially for the most vulnerable.
Covid-19 Responses for Equity (CORE) partner Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP)...
The Covid-19 pandemic has heightened growing global warnings of hunger and food insecurity. The related negative impacts are expected to last a long time, since in addition to issues inherent to health, there was an increase in unemployment rates and loss of income for individuals, added to the...
Eleven million fewer women than men voted in the 2018 Pakistan elections. A gender gap in political participation is common in many democracies around the world. To tackle this, many policy interventions focus on increasing participation through educational programmes providing information and...
Over the last four weeks, a blog series has asked what is the best way to respond to ‘drought’? This is an important question for a country like Zimbabwe, and with climate change the question will become even more important. The answer though is not obvious.
New research shows how a World Health Organization concept fuelled online conspiracy theories before, during and after Covid-19 – and why they must be taken seriously for disease preparedness plans.
Long before Covid-19, the global health community was predicting ‘a serious...
The Alps have always been a destination for herders on the transhumance. Due to the prevailing rocky nature, Alpine anthropology, endowed with particular historical sensitivity, has long since deconstructed the image of a geographical context perceived as isolated over the centuries and...
As scientific, policy and public debate around Covid-19 gradually shifts its focus to recovery and future pandemic preparedness, a seemingly new pandemic threat has emerged on the world stage. A meeting of the WHO R&D Roadmap was held on 2-3 June to discuss the latest global infectious...
This is the 27th monthly Knowledge, Evidence and Learning for Development (K4D) Programme's Humanitarian Evidence Summary (HUMES), signposting to the latest relevant evidence and discourse on humanitarian action to inform and support their response.
It is the result of one day of work per month...
Digital financial services (DFS) have expanded rapidly over the last decade, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. They have been accompanied by claims that they can alleviate poverty, empower women, help businesses grow, and improve macroeconomic outcomes and government effectiveness. As they...
The Covid-19 pandemic has altered the perception, understanding and experience of food insecurity in the UK. While the issue of food insecurity is not new, the pandemic brought about a dramatic increase in both the need and demand for emergency food aid, driven by difficulties in accessibility,...
9 June 2022
Why learn with us.
In an extraordinary time of challenge and change, we use more than 50 years of expertise to transform development approaches that create more equitable and sustainable futures. The work you do with us will help make progressive change towards universal development; to build and connect solidarities for collective action, locally and globally. The University of Sussex has been ranked 1st in the world for Development Studies for the past five years (QS World University Rankings by Subject).