Global health anthropology

Vision: Constitute an excellent qualitative research environment within global public health grounded in social anthropology and the medical humanities.

Aims

• Strengthen the quality and applicability of critical qualitative research for global health policy and practice with particular emphasis on reproductive health
• Strengthen the use of social sciences theory and methods in the analysis of global health problems
• Strengthen the visibility and sustainability of critical qualitative global health research within the UiB research environment and beyond

Conduct research on the socio-cultural and political context of health and healthcare

Investigate normative messages and policies and their dynamics in healthcare programmes

Study inequalities in health related to gender and power with relevance to women's sexual and reproductive rights

• Centre for Gender Studies and Department of Sociology, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
• School of Public Health, University of Zambia, Zambia
• Department of Sociology, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Institute of Social Work, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania 
• Global Health Politics and Culture-research group, Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo
• Centre on Law and Social Transformation, Christian Michelsen Institute/University of Bergen
• Centre for Cultures of Reproduction, Technologies and Health (CORTH), University of Sussex, UK 
• IPAS International
• International Campaign for Women's Right to Safe Abortion
• Ethiopian Public Health Institute 
• Ethiopian Society of obstetricians and gynaecologists (ESOG)
• The Association of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (AGOTA), Tanzania

MATRISET: Through inter-disciplinary approaches, the project explores institutional reporting routines, legal frameworks and accountability processes in maternal health in Ethiopia and Tanzania. (Norwegian Research Council 2021-2026)

WAB: Women’s experiences with abortion boards in Norway. A study commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Jan-June 2023

SAFEZT: An interdisciplinary research project on fertility control and safe abortion in Ethiopia, Zambia and Tanzania (Norwegian Research Council/NORGLOBAL, 2016-2019)

RISE: Formative qualitative research linked to a cluster randomised controlled trial aimed to increase age at first delivery in Zambia (Norwegian Research Council/GLOBVAC, 2015-2020)

Here are some publications by the research group members from 2022 going forward:

Mulumebet Zenebe, Haldis Haukanes and Astrid Blystad Between 'block course relationships ' and abstinence: cultures of sexuality among students at Addis Ababa University Cult Health Sex. 2024 Feb 5:1-1

McLean, E., Blystad, A., Mirkuzie, A.H. et al. Health workers’ experience of providing second-trimester abortion care in Ethiopia: a qualitative study. Reprod Health 20, 154 (2023).

Ishola, F., Rosario, C., Griffin, S. et al. Abortion Legal Reform and Neonatal Mortality in Mozambique. Matern Child Health J 28, 587–595 (2024).

Melberg, Andrea, Miljeteig Ingrid Den gylne regel for prioritering av rusbehandling og psykisk helsevern – en kvalitativ studie Tidsskr Nor Legeforen. DOI: 10.4045/tidsskr.23.0295

Mulu B. Kidanemariam (March 23, 2023) Maternal Mortality Data: More Than Meets The Eye, CORTH (UoS) blog

Eyob A. Gebremariam & Mulu B. Kidanemariam, Introduction to Ethiopian Legal Culture IN Handbook on Legal Cultures: A Selection of the World's Legal Cultures (Eds. Sören Koch &Marius Mikkel Kjølstad, Springer, 2023 ). pp. 419-462

Ali Said, Mats Malqvist, Siriel Massawe, Claudia Hanson, Andrea B. Pembe Community perceptions and experiences on the events leading to facilitymaternal death; a verbal autopsy qualitative study Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare 36 (2023) 100851

Rosario, C., Gianella, C. Progressive legislation in the context of generalised conservative public opinion: The case of LGBT rights in Mozambique.  Pretoria University Law Press (PULP)

Siri Lange and Dorcas Mfaume The folk illness kimeo and “traditional”uvulectomy: an ethnomedical study of careseeking for children with cough and weaknessin Dar es Salaam Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine (2022) 18:35

Haaland, Marte Emilie Sandvik; Kjelsvik, Marianne; Cetin, Kaya Sinem; Gjengedal, Eva; Moland, Karen Marie Ingeborg; Daltveit, Anne Kjersti Nesje; Bruvik, Frøydis Kristine. (2023). Kvinners erfaringer med abortnemnder.

Debate article (Norwegian):

Haaland, Marte Emilie Sandvik; Moland, Karen Marie Ingeborg; Bruvik, Frøydis Kristine; Cetin, Kaya Sinem; Kjelsvik, Marianne. (2023). Abortlov til vurdering. Tidsskrift for Den norske legeforening. https://tidsskriftet.no/2023/12/debatt/abortlov-til-vurdering

Media (in Norwegian):

Haaland, Marte Emilie Sandvik. (2023). Å møte i abortnemnd virker meningsløst for mange.

Haaland, Marte Emilie Sandvik. (2023). Ny forskning på abortnemndene: - Lite forståelsesfullt system for kvinnene. Lukket/Only available with subscription.

Haaland, Marte Emilie Sandvik. (2023). Forslag om å endre abortnemndene støttes av forskning 
 

Master level elective courses

INTH323 E: Qualitative research methods for global public health (on campus)
INTH323O: Qualitative research methods for global public health (online)
INTH345: Introduction to Anthropology in Global Health (on campus)

PhD-level elective courses

INTH923: Qualitative Research Methods for Global Public Health with essay
INTH945: Introduction to Anthropology in Global Health (on campus)

Find the group members from UiB listed at the bottom of the webpage.

Associated members of the Research group from outside of UiB

• Agnete Strøm 
• Alem Mirkuzie            
• Asabneh Molla
• Bodil Bø Vågå          
• Carmeliza Rosario  
• Getnet Tadele             
• Graziella Van den Bergh       
• James Wintrup
• Janne Lillelid Gjerde     
• Katrine Jansen          
• Jovita Kakia     
• Julia Irani
• Latifa Mohamed    
• Malin Kleppe
• Mbewe Wilson  
• Tezera Berheto
• Richard Sambaiga     
• Ali Saidi       
• Sarah Svege    
• Thera Mjåland       

Associated master students                       

• Zainab Adedamola               
• Veena Joshi 
• Anna Terese Spang        
• Fernando Jerez
• Gemma Agata    
• Grace Doppler             

Research track students

Ongoing:

• Kornelia Herstad

Completed:

• Ingrid Solheim
• Ragnhild Halvåg

Current PhD candidates MATRISET

• Latifa Mohamed
• Kaja Skoftedalen
• Kerstin Almdal
• Asabneh Molla
• Tezera Berheto
• Mulu Beyene Kidanemariam

Post docs MATRISET

• Ali Saidi
• Marte Emilie Sandvik Haaland
• Andrea Melberg

Completed PhD's

The list below shows completed Phd-degrees where the candidates were given either main - or co-supervision by Professor Moland or Professor Blystad. 

2022

Marte Bygstad Landro Vendepunktet er den andre; En kvalitativ studie av pasienters erfaring med depresjon, skam og profesjonell relasjon   psykisk helsevern VID vitenskapelige høgskole. Oslo

Gloria Abena Ampim Transforming gender relations? Men’s involvement in care for their partners and households at the time of pregnancy in rural and urban Ghana – a qualitative study University of Bergen

2021

Marte E. S. Haaland Beyond the Law - An Ethnography of Zambian Abortion Politics University of Bergen

2020

Andrea Melberg Global policies and the provision of birth care in Burkina Faso University of Bergen

2018

Janne Lillelid Gjerde Chronic disease among women in a resource-constrained setting. The case of pelvic organ prolapse in rural Ethiopia University of Bergen

2017

Leila Katirayi Experiences of the Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV program in Southern Africa: A three country qualitative study University of Bergen

2016

Victor Chimhutu Results-Based Financing (RBF) in the health sector of a low-income country; from agenda setting to implementation: The case of Tanzania University of Bergen

2015

Bodil Bø Våga Scrutinizing care in nursing practice. An ethnographic study of nurse-mother interaction in programmes to prevent HIV transmission from mother to child in Tanzania University of Bergen

Selia Nganjo Maternal health care services in Zambia: Access barriers to facility childbirth and unmet obstetric need University of Bergen

Elizabeth H. Shayo Stakeholder engagement in health-related decision making. The Case of Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in Tanzania, University of Bergen

Hallgeir Kismul Determinants of severe child malnutrition. Studies from a rural area in the Democratic Republic of Congo, University of Bergen

2014

Rahwa Mussie Weldemichael Negotiating disrupted lives – living with obstetric fistulae in Ethiopia University of Oslo

Duong Cong Thanh People Living with HIV in Viet Nam: Individual and Contextual factors Affecting Risk Taking, Health and Help Seeking Behaviour University of Bergen

2013

Cathrine Kahabuka Care seeking and management of common childhood illnesses in Tanzania: Questioning the quality of primary care services University of Bergen

Huda Sharfi Obstetric fistula and the challenge of reintegration Sudan

Marit Østebø Translations of Gender Equality in International Aid. Perspectives from Norway and Ethiopia University of Bergen

Karine Jansen Otherness and Disease in Réunion: The Politicisation of the 2005 to 2007 Chikungunya Epidemic University of Bergen

Ingrid Onarheim Spjeldnæs Family values in Limpopo, South Africa. A socio-cultural psychological study on perceptions and experiences of reproduction and Parenthood, University of Bergen

2012

Eli Fjeld The mother, her confidants and the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) services in the Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania, University of Bergen

Nils Gunnar Songstad Health worker motivation in a low-income context. The case of rural health services in Tanzania, University of Bergen

Marte Jurgensen HIV testing and HIV-related stigma in Zambia University of Bergen

Eva Fredriksen Pregnant: Healthy or sick? “Normal pregnancy complaints” and eligibility to protection University of Oslo

Alemnesh Hailemariam Mirkuzie Successes and challenges of the national programme for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia University of Bergen

Lillian Mselle Obstetric fistulae Tanzania, psycho-social challenges Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS)

2011

Tine Eri Labour onset and early labour. An exploration of first-time mothers’ and midwives’ experiences University of Bergen

Mercy Njeru HIV testing services in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia: Determinants, experiences and responsiveness, Kenya, University of Bergen

2008

Tobba Sudmann Therkildsen (En)gendering body politics. Physiotherapy as a window on health and illness University of Bergen

Sebalda Leshabari Infant feeding in the context of HIV infection: Mothers’ experiences and programme implications for maternal and child health services in Tanzania University of Bergen

2005

Christopher Oleke The challenge of orphans in the era of AIDS: Assessing community experience in Uganda University of Bergen

Solstrand Sep 24-25 2023: Global health policy and practice in the context of decolonization debates

Rosendal Sept 7-8 2022: Global health policy and practice in the context of decolonization debates

Rosendal Sept 1-2 2021: Social studies of quantification

Vatnahalsen April 24-25 2019: Reproductive governance in maternal health

Vatnahalsen April 25-26 2017 : Policy and technologies in global health  

Vatnahalsen April 28-29 2016: Working in the interface between the social-, health- and biomedical sciences 

For questions, you can contact Research group leader: Karen Marie Moland