Africa

Credit: Antonio Jaén Osuna

By Eric O'Flynn
DUBLIN, Ireland, Dec 16 2024 (IPS)

For decades, preventable deaths, lifelong disabilities, and disfigurements presented devastating consequences for over 90% of the population in Africa, where surgical care remains largely out of reach.

Simple, affordable procedures like skin grafts for burns, bone fracture repair, and hernia procedures routinely go untreated, causing needless suffering and often driving families into abject poverty due to loss of livelihood.

Consider a young man in his 20s in rural Zambia, electrocuted by a low-hanging power cable while riding on the back of a lorry, whose exposed skull and severely damaged scalp were repaired during a 16-hour procedure, allowing him to make a full recovery; a 19-year-old woman with a deep-seated tumor that caused her to lose her sight and whose surgery was made possible by a resourceful clinician using magnifying glasses in the absence of a microscope, removing the tumor in full and allowing her to regain her vision; a 32-year-old mother of two in rural Zambia, run over by a truck and left with devastating injuries who underwent eight months of intensive treatment and rehabilitation putting her on a path to recovery.

Cases like these are the everyday reality faced by surgeons Dr. Peter Mushenya from Zambia and Dr. Nathalie Umugwaneza from Rwanda, both recent graduates of the College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA), which celebrates its 25th anniversary this December.

Since its founding, COSECSA has grown from graduating just six surgeons in 2010 to an impressive 152 in 2023. This growth reflects the organization’s commitment to equipping surgeons with the skills to meet the urgent needs of communities across the region. Over the course of their careers, COSECSA-trained surgeons are projected to perform nearly 9.5 million surgeries, a stunning demonstration of the impact of successful surgical training programmes.

Qualified just a year, Dr Mushenya is a specialist neurosurgeon working at Maxcare hospital in Lusaka, where patients often travel over 1000 kilometres to receive care from the only neurosurgical team in the country.

On average, he and his team perform 70 surgeries a month. He describes challenges such as a shortage of surgical supplies, long waiting lists and needless complications arising from untreated simple infections that worsen due to a delay in care. Common, he explains, are untreated coughs in children that escalate into meningitis and later abnormal swelling of the head due to excess fluid on the brain.

“Many patients are two years down the line without a CT scan and come to us in critical condition in need of urgent surgical attention. In many cases, we often have to use our own money to buy drills, sutures, shunts – not just the expensive equipment like microscopes, but even the little things are not there. Instead, we rely on well-wishers. A lot of the conditions we see are simple to treat, yet we don’t get the support we need,” says Dr Mushenya.

It is an all too familiar scene in Rwanda, according to Dr. Umugwaneza, who counts road traffic accidents and falls among her most common surgeries, “Patients often wait up to six months for surgeries that are not considered acute, resulting in improperly consolidated fractures that cause life-long disability.” She emphasizes the need to strengthen the entire surgical system, from training surgeons to strengthening entire surgical teams across a range of disciplines from nurses to anesthetists.

The situation experienced in Zambia and Rwanda matches the broader challenges faced in the region. In many countries of the Global South, the surgeon-to-patient ratio is alarmingly low, with just one trained surgeon for every 2.5 million people. This neglect persists even though surgically treatable conditions cause more deaths and disabilities than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined.

Despite a 2015 World Health Assembly (WHA) resolution urging the inclusion of global surgery within primary healthcare as a critical component of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), surgical care remains strikingly absent from policymakers’ agendas.

This lack of priority has contributed to minimal progress in strengthening emergency and essential surgical and anesthesia services. As a result, 16 million people worldwide die annually from conditions that could be treated surgically.

In response to the urgent demand for surgical care, COSECSA, supported by Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland has trained 910 surgeons through its intensive five-year programme, achieving this at an astonishingly low cost of just $600 per surgeon per year. Prof. Juan Carlos Puyana, Chair of Global Surgery at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Dublin, has witnessed firsthand the impact of the programme and is a passionate advocate for further investment in global surgery.

An experienced surgeon himself, he worked for decades in low resource settings, and emphasises the scalability and cost-effectiveness of the initiative, underlining the importance of changing perceptions about surgical care: “There’s a misconception that surgical care is prohibitively expensive, but simple procedures don’t require large investments in infrastructure and expensive equipment.

Our approach is grounded in evidence that safe surgery is not an expense but a critical investment in health infrastructure and in promoting economic development.”

Dr Puyana’s views are echoed in the findings of the 2015 Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, which underscored that billions of people lack access to safe surgery. The report highlighted that investing in surgical services is not only affordable but essential to saving lives and securing safe health systems.

Closing the gap to ensure that surgical services are more readily accessible in lower- and middle-income countries, will not only save lives but also restore patients’ ability to work and lead productive lives, generating economic benefits that far outweigh their costs. The programme stands as a powerful testament to how targeted, cost-effective interventions can make a lasting impact.

In recent years, it has broadened its scope beyond surgical training. Recognizing that effective surgical care relies on multidisciplinary teams, it now supports the development of colleges in anesthesiology, obstetrics and gynecology, and nursing across the region.

This expansion builds on a proven model for rapidly scaling up training in the sub-Saharan context that involves a blend of virtual classrooms, mentorship, and a support network for isolated health workers. In some countries like Zambia, Tanzania and Malawi, particularly in rural hospitals, non-specialist and non-physician surgeons also play a key role in delivering essential procedures.

Further, at a time when trained health workers from the Global South are increasingly migrating to the Global North in search of better opportunities, the programme has proven to be a game-changer in stemming the exodus of health workers in the region.

A 2024 study reveals a significant shift, with an impressive 98.5% retention rate of specialist surgeons within Africa, addressing the chronic shortage of skilled health professionals. This shift represents not only a major achievement for the programme, but also an important step toward the sustainability of local healthcare systems.

Addressing the crisis in global surgery demands a fundamental shift in global health priorities: surgery is not a luxury intervention, but an essential component of any functioning health system. This requires policymakers to prioritize investments in training, infrastructure, and system-wide support, ensuring that surgical care is within reach for the millions who still don’t have access.

As the network of skilled practitioners expands, communities are themselves laying the groundwork for resilient health systems. In doing so, surgeons like Dr Mushenya and Dr Umugwaneza are safeguarding future generations from the preventable suffering that has long plagued the world’s poorest regions.

Eric O’Flynn is Programme Director — Education, Training and Advocacy, Institute of Global Surgery, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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The people walk to Saydnaya prison to search for the detainees. Credit: Abdul Karem al-Mohammad/IPS

By Sonia Al Ali
IDLIB, Syria, Dec 16 2024 (IPS)

Detained without trial for over three years for trial for allegedly treating “terrorists” (as opponents of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad were deemed), Alaa al-Khalil, a 33-year-old nurse from the Syrian city of Hama, recounts the agony of her time in a prison cell she shared with at least 35 women.

She was released from Aydnaya prison on December 8 after the fall of the Assad regime.

Following the fall of Assad’s regime and his escape to Moscow on December 8, armed opposition factions managed to open the doors of prisons, freeing hundreds of detainees who had endured the most horrific forms of torture for opposing Assad’s rule and demanding his removal from power. Many lost their lives within the prisons and were buried in mass graves, while the families of the detainees continue to search for their missing loved ones in the prisons of tyranny.

Years of Torture

“I was arrested at a security checkpoint belonging to the former Syrian regime and transferred to the Political Security Branch in Damascus—my hands were cuffed, and my eyes were blindfolded. In prison, we were 35 women in a small, cramped room with the toilet in the same room, without any privacy,” Khalil told IPS. “The marks of severe torture were clearly visible on some of the women. As for sleep, we would lie on the floor and take turns sleeping due to the very small size of the room. The most painful thing was that there were many pregnant women who gave birth to children who grew up inside the prison.”

The search for survivors in Sednaya prison. Credit: Abdul Karem al-Mohammad/IPS

During that time, she said the prisoners suffered from “hunger, cold, and all forms of torture, including beatings, burning with cigarettes, and nail pulling.”

Many of the female detainees were raped and exposed to sexual violence as a form of punishment. After midnight, the guards would come to the detainees’ room to select the most beautiful girls to take them to the officers’ rooms.

“We preferred torture and even death to rape. When a girl refused to have sex or confess to the charges against her during interrogation, she would be killed by the guards or interrogators, and her body would be thrown into the salt room, which was prepared in advance to preserve the bodies of the dead for as long as possible,” she said, tearfully remembering the daily trauma.

Khalil confirms that prisoners were not allowed to look at the guards, talk, or make any noise, even during torture. They were punished by being deprived of water or forced to sleep naked without covers in the freezing cold. The meals consisted of a few bites of spoilt food, and many people contracted serious infections, diseases, and mental disorders.

Now released, Khalil hopes to enjoy safety, stability, and peace in this country after years of oppression and injustice.

Adnan al-Ibrahim, 46, from the southern Syrian city of Daraa, was also released a few days ago from Adra prison on the outskirts of Damascus after spending over 10 years there on charges of defecting from Bashar al-Assad’s army and seeking asylum in Lebanon.

“I feel like I’m dreaming after being released from prison. They accused me of terrorism, subjected me to torture, and I was never brought before a court during my imprisonment. I’m still traumatized by what I endured,” Ibrahim says.

“We were subjected to the worst treatment imaginable in prisons. All we want now is the right to live a decent life, far from injustice, arbitrary arrests, and the ongoing killing in Syria.”

He is now emaciated and weak—his weight drastically reduced due to malnutrition and poor diet. Most of his fellow inmates suffered from life-threatening illnesses as a result of the torture they endured. Many inmates lost their memory due to being beaten on the head during interrogations, and the bodies of the dead remained for long periods before being removed. Many of these bodies were disposed of by burning.

Burdened by Psychological Prauma

Samah Barakat, a 33-year-old mental health specialist, says the survivors of Syrian detention centres will need help to overcome their traumas.

‘The experience of imprisonment and torture in prisons is painful and traumatic for survivors. Imprisonment is not limited to physical torture; the mental state is also affected. Prisoners were subjected to various forms of torture and oppression, leading to a significant deterioration in their mental health. These effects include a range of psychological disorders such as psychosis, memory loss, and speech impediments, in addition to the spread of diseases due to their deprivation of basic medical care.”

Barakat confirms that some detainees are likely to suffer from physical, psychological, and behavioural effects, accompanied by constant anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal.

She explains that survivors of detention need psychological support, which varies depending on the impact of the detention experience. Some need psychological counseling or therapy sessions with specialists, while others require medication prescribed by a psychiatrist due to depression or other mental illnesses.

An Unknown Fate

For some, the uncertainty of the fates of their loved ones means the trauma of the Asad regime lives on.

Alaa al-Omar, 52, from the northern Syrian city of Idlib, went to Saydnaya prison and the Palestine Branch in Damascus after the fall of the Assad regime, hoping to find his son, who had disappeared in the prison’s depths.

“I went to the prison with great longing, but I found no trace of my son. I think he died as a result of torture.”

Omar affirms that his son was arrested by the Assad regime forces in 2015 while studying at a university in Aleppo, accused of participating in demonstrations, carrying weapons, and joining the opposition factions.

Omar indicates he heard nothing from his son or about his son since his arrest, and his fate remains unknown even now.

Human Rights Violations

Human rights activist Salim Al-Najjar (41), from Aleppo, speaks about the suffering of survivors of detention and told IPS that the history of building prisons and expanding detention centers in Syria dated back to the rule of Hafez al-Assad, whose regime in the 1980s exercised excessive force against its opponents, turning the country into a “large slaughterhouse.”

“In the regime’s prisons, lives are as equal as stones in the hands of a sculptor, killed and discarded without regard or importance. In them, a person becomes a mere number, with their history, feelings, and even dreams that haunted them until the last moment of their lives ignored,” Najjar says.

Al-Najjar confirms the existence of many prisons in Syria, but the Saydnaya prison, located north of the Syrian capital Damascus, is known as the most prominent political detention center in Syria and was notorious for its horrific reputation as a site of torture and mass executions, especially after the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011. Saydnaya prison was where Assad’s detained opponents or defectors from his army or those who rejected his “killing policy.”

He points out that few detainees were released through family connections or bribes, while the detainees were left to die from their untreated wounds and diseases in “dirty, overcrowded” cells.

He notes that many detainees emerged from behind bars suffering from a loss of their mental faculties, unable to remember their names or identify themselves, and due to the severe changes caused by malnutrition and brutal torture, their features had changed to the point that their families did not recognize them at first.

Najjar hopes to achieve justice for the victims by presenting evidence and documents to international courts and holding Assad and all perpetrators of violations in Syria accountable.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights said in a statement on December 11 that Assad is accused of killing at least 202,000 Syrian civilians, including 15,000 killed under torture, the disappearance of 96,000 others, and the forced displacement of nearly 13 million Syrian citizens, as well as other heinous violations, including the use of chemical weapons.

“Syrian detention centers and torture chambers symbolize the agony, oppression, and suffering that Syrians have endured for decades. Survivors of detention continue to heal their wounds and strive to return to their normal lives and reintegrate into society. Sadly, a significant number of them have perished under torture.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Though silenced in public, Afghan women continue their resistance in secret. Credit: Learning Together

By External Source
Dec 13 2024 (IPS)

Three years after the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, women continue to face oppressive laws and systemic marginalization.

The Taliban have imposed draconian rules: women must cover their entire body from head to toe, they must not raise their voices in public, they must not pray or read the Koran aloud to each other. They have long been banned from taking up jobs outside the home or have education

Despite this, Afghan women are determined to resist. “We will continue our protests and struggles until we achieve freedom,”  defiantly declares Farzana, a member of the Afghan Women Movement.

Over the past 20 years, women in Afghanistan had achieved higher education and professional skills, but are now under greater threat from the Taliban. They have suddenly been marginalized by Taliban rule.

“During the first two years,” says Farzana, “we took to the streets to protest for our rights. Unfortunately, during these demonstrations, the Taliban arrested the protesting women, imprisoned and punished them, and there was no one to defend these women.”

Women could no longer tolerate this situation and took to the streets to demand their rights, but lately, despite the introduction of new and strict laws by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice of the Taliban, which even banned women’s voices, no street protests have been seen. It seems that silence has also plagued Afghan women.

Based on my interviews with female prisoners after their release, they were even whipped naked, raped, and their family members mysteriously murdered.

“We are secretly active in protest groups,” Farzana explains. “We are not allowed to roam the streets. We have been sharing our protests with the media individually from home for some time now. The Taliban cannot silence our voices. We will continue our protests and struggles until we reach freedom”.

Malalai, another female protester, says: “The Taliban even send spies to our homes under various pretexts, with masked faces, claiming they are people on routine government duties. They have our photos and videos with them, and they identify and arrest us.”

 

Though silenced in public, Afghan women continue their resistance in secret. Credit: Learning Together

 

Malalai also says that the Taliban have installed cameras on top of every high building, supposedly for security cameras, but their real purpose is to monitor women. Recently, several women have been unexpectedly arrested and imprisoned.

“The Taliban are afraid of us because we expose the oppression on the people, women, and ethnic minorities”, says Malalai adding: “The Taliban have imposed pressure and strict rules on women. Women cannot even go on the streets without a Mahram – a male family member. We are interrogated if a few of us are seen standing together on the streets. They check our cell phones and punish us”.

“The Taliban have a strangle-choke on us. They are shamelessly violating our human rights, the rights of ethnic minorities and that of our families in full view of the United Nations and other countries.

“We women will continue our struggle despite the pressures and oppression of a world-known terrorist group. We will act on our slogans of bread-work-freedom”.

Sabera, another female protester, highlights the Taliban’s tactics of intimidation and control. “Taliban’s intelligence agents are arresting women who are against them. Through phone calls and photos that they gather from the demonstrations, they identify the women protesters during house-to-house searches. Also, they forcibly collect copies of people’s identity cards and passports to identify the women protesters – their declared opponents.”

Although we protested for our rights, many women protesters, both single and married, are currently imprisoned by the Taliban and are facing severe punishment, with no one following up on their situation.

Currently, due to many challenges, we are holding protests in secret locations with our faces covered, and then we must flee to another country.

The Taliban commit a lot more atrocities and oppression in the distant provinces further away from the cities. They forcibly tax the people twice their annual income.

If people do not obey the dictate of the Taliban, they forcibly enter their homes and snatch away their daughters. They also rape their wives and daughters and force them to move out of their residential areas.

“We can no longer tolerate this oppression. We will continue our fight,” says Sabera.

Those interviewed say the women in Afghanistan are fighting bravely against the tyranny and harsh laws of the Taliban, but they do not have any support.

“In spite of poverty and unemployment, we continue our journey at our own expense,” says Sabera.

The women are appealing to the United Nations and human rights organizations to stop supporting and to not recognize the Taliban regime.

“We are very disappointed that our voices do not reach the world from this dark pit,” says Sabera.

The European Union is shocked at the laws passed by the Taliban that limits women’s freedom of speech and, essentially restricts women’s life to within the house.

“Possible recognition would require that the Taliban comply in all respects with both its obligations towards the citizens of Afghanistan and Afghanistan’s international obligations,” an European Council press release states.

The EU continues to support Afghan women and girls and all those threatened by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The Taliban, on the other hand, also refuse to cooperate with the UN-supported UNAMA aid operation

Excerpt:

The author is an Afghanistan-based female journalist, trained with Finnish support before the Taliban take-over. Her identity is withheld for security reasons

Protest for climate justice. Two hundred 200 women gathered at Mt. Yasur, an active volcano on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu. Credit: Greenpeace & Ben Bohane

By Umar Manzoor Shah
THE HAGUE, Dec 13 2024 (IPS)

The “crazy, weird and at some point (what seemed like) insurmountable” plan to ask the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on the obligations of UN member states regarding climate change was a success, Vishal Prasad, a representative for the. Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC) said at a post-hearing press conference today (December 13).

“We have taken the world’s biggest problem to the world’s highest court,” Prasad said, and this should be a source of inspiration to young people who may find what’s happening about them depressing.

He said he was moved by the experience of telling the ICJ their story from a youth’s perspective.

Yet, Cristelle Pratt, Assistant Secretary-General, Organization of African Caribbean and Pacific States, said some of the testimony that was presented in court was dubious.

“Despite the overwhelming consensus that the relevant conduct is unlawful, a small minority of participants have had the audacity to double down on the limb of their innocence. They have done this in two ways. First, they have argued that the legal question being asked to the court is strictly forward-looking in nature and does not concern itself with historical emissions,” Pratt said.

“Second, they have argued that the only legal obligations binding on them do not, in fact, require them to account for their historical emissions, including by reparations, let alone oblige them to stop emitting beyond their pitiful privileges. In essence, these states have invited the court to absolve them of a moral responsibility.”

During a fortnight of hearings, countries and organizations have given their arguments in a case that was initiated at the request of Vanuatu in which the UN General Assembly asked the ICJ to issue an advisory opinion on the obligations of UN member states in preventing climate change and ensuring the protection of the environment for present and future generations.

During the final day of hearing, the court continued to hear testimony of the impact of climate change, particularly on small island states.

Tuvalu’s Attorney-General, Eselealofa Apinelum, speaking on behalf of the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (COSIS), reminded the court that there was still time.

“There is still time to avert the worst impacts if only states can make the necessary cuts to their greenhouse gas emissions. The court can, and indeed must, provide specific and pivotal guidance on states’ obligations in this regard.”

Speaking on behalf of COSIS, an intergovernmental organization with a mandate to clarify the rules and principles of international law concerning climate change, Professor Payam Akhavan reminded the court that “significant harm has already occurred, and without decisive action, it will only get worse. These impacts touch on every aspect of island life. The major polluters are destroying the future of our people.”

He continued, “The court can provide the critical guidance needed to align international law with the best available science and ensure accountability for the harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions.”

Dr. Stuart Minchin, Director-General of the Pacific Community (SPC), said the court could provide a solid foundation for the future.

“Pacific leaders aptly describe our region as the Blue Pacific Continent. It’s 98 percent ocean—it contains 30 percent of the world’s exclusive economic zones and over 60 percent of the world’s tuna stocks.”

Climate change posed a particular risk to these islands, as half of the population lived 5 km from the coastline, which highlights the consequence of extreme sea-level events in the region.

“The science is clear: Climate change is already causing existential impacts to the peoples and communities of our vast Pacific region, and meaningful action is required to reduce its impacts as a matter of urgency,” Minchin said.

“Under no scientific scenarios can we continue to pursue a future underpinned by fossil fuels and still expect to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. We need to act now to ensure the livelihoods and self-determination of Pacific people and cultures are protected for future generations.”

Coral Pasisi, Director of Climate Change at SPC, said the loss and damage were economic, cultural and social.

“The loss and damage already experienced, together with the associated impacts on culture, traditional practice, and knowledge, have both extreme economic and non-economic implications,” Pasisi said. “Cyclone Heta in 2004 caused economic damages in Niue alone, equating to five times the GDP of our country, an unimaginable and irreparable loss, including the destruction of our only museum and over 90 percent of our cultural artifacts.”

Prasad had earlier told the court that, “In the Pacific, we have always looked to the stars. Our ancestors navigated the vastness of the ocean and traveled immense distances. Today, the world needs wayfinders, those who can guide us towards a path that protects our homes, upholds our rights, and preserves our dignity.”

Now was the time for the reinvention of this time-honored tradition.

“This practice, wayfinding, is more than just a method of navigation. It is a relationship. It connects those who came before with those who will follow. Every decision mattered, not only for the journey in that moment but for the future that it shaped.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Excerpt:

Hearings on states' legal obligations to combat climate wrapped up today at the International Court of Justice. An opinion is expected next year. While wealthy countries argued that the existing climate frameworks are enough, the small island states in the Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean have pleaded with the court to consider the human rights of those affected and those who will be affected in the future.

Most scientists lack training in effective science communication, and their use of jargon often hinders public understanding and trust in scientific papers and findings. Credit: Shutterstock

By Esther Ngumbi
URBANA, Illinois, US, Dec 13 2024 (IPS)

New research shows that AI-generated summaries of scientific writing made the information more approachable and easier to understand, and thus created more public engagement with the information. This is notable because most scientists aren’t trained in science communication tactics and so their jargon affects many people’s ability to understand and trust scientific papers and findings.

Science communication has always been an important part of the scientific process because discoveries, solutions and findings that can help solve our world’s greatest challenges cannot be adopted or understood by the public without clear communication.  Communicating science well also can shape and inform public policy.

Scientists, therefore, have a responsibility to make sure that they communicate their knowledge and findings in a way that the public and policymakers can understand, but too often that is not happening.

Scientists have a responsibility to make sure that they communicate their knowledge and findings in a way that the public and policymakers can understand, but too often that is not happening

Due to the importance of science communication, it is necessary for scientists to be trained in science communication. That is why I started a science communications course at my university.

I have taught it for over 4 years and cover topics like the art of writing opinion pieces and creating science stories, communicating science to different audiences through careful use of metaphors and minimal use of jargon.

Additionally, the class covers topics such as communicating science using social media and communicating with politicians and creating visual science stories.  Students who have taken the class have continued to use the skills learned in class in their careers while others went on to become science communicators

The people who need to learn these skills include recent PhD graduates, post-doctoral fellows, assistant professors, newly tenured and full professors.

There are several resources including textbooks, science communication workshops, and many trusted organizations and institutions to which scientists can turn. Science communication newbies can also turn to social media including Bluesky social and Instagram to meet other science communication enthusiasts.

Notably, there are institutions and organizations to which scientists can turn. The American Association for the Advancement of Science, for example has developed a communication toolkit to help science communication newbies.

The OpED project has programs to help people learn how to write OpEds and a few times a year, they offer science communication workshops.  Moreover, most universities also have webpages listing science communication resources.

For example, Duke University has a webpage listing the resources available including science communication workshops, events and classes.

Communicating science effectively via OpEds, blogs, and social media outlets is not only important for reaching the public and policy makers, but it can help scientists themselves, too.

First, through public publishing and engagement, scientists can establish their own reputation. Journalists and policymakers will often reach out to whatever expert they can easily find, and being active on social media and op-ed pages will make a person easier to find.

Being a consistent public voice – backed up by good work – can help establish someone as an expert in their field. Moreover, scientists that regularly and consistently participate in science communication can track its impact and include that on tenure promotion packages.

This happened to me. Being consistent with writing over 150 OpEds, since 2015, for example has helped to advance my career.

Second, communicating science publicly help a person build a professional network, which can lead to peers reaching out for collaborations and co-writing of grant proposals.

It can lead to people recommending each other for awards or invitations to speak on panels, workshops or to give plenary talks.

This has been my experience, and I’ve received a few invitations thanks to my public writing. For instance, I was invited to give a plenary talk at the annual 2019 British Ecological Society, and I’ve been invited to speak at various universities.

In 2021, I was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mani L. Bhaumik Award for Public Engagement with Science.

Third, communicating science can help a scientist grow their skills and become better at speaking and writing in publicly accessible language. And it can help scientists learn to become better at capitalizing on newsworthy moments. In addition, this can also facilitate the building of trust among different communities and the public.

Fourth, it can allow scientists to offer a public service and provide accurate information about their discoveries and recent scientific and technological advancements to reporters and policymakers.

Of course, for new beginners, it can be overwhelming to join the science communication bandwagon. Not only may it be unfamiliar and a new skill to develop, but there are concerns like being unable to control what happens to your writing or how it is used once it’s published, or the fact that science is ever evolving, and new information may agree or disagree with previously held truths. But the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Science communication is critical for conveying important scientific information. Scientists must stand up for science. When scientists become better science communicators, the public, society, and scientists benefit.

Esther Ngumbi, PhD is Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology, African American Studies Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign