FINN Partners

Senior Partner, EMEA Public Health, Global Health Practice

Baird's CMC

Project Director

Hyderus

Project Manager

Unity

New Media Consultant

Interscience

Consultant

As a Senior Partner at FINN Partners, I lead the EMEA Public Health team within the Global Health Practice, where I work with clients who are innovating and transforming the healthcare landscape. With over 20 years of experience in project management and communications, I have delivered large-scale, multi-country, multi-language, and multi-cultural projects for various health sectors, including infectious diseases, maternal and child health, nutrition, and, most importantly, the effect of climate change on public health.

My passion is to create and implement effective and sustainable communications strategies that inform, engage, and influence decision-makers and stakeholders. I have an MBA from the Open University and recently completed certifications in Sustainability Communications Strategies and Infectious Disease Transmission Models for Decision-Makers. These credentials have enhanced my knowledge and skills in addressing the complex and interrelated challenges that affect public health and well-being. I am proud to be part of FINN Partners, a leading independent, integrated marketing agency recognised as the 'Best Agency to Work For, 2023' by PRovoke. I enjoy collaborating with hundreds of talented and inspiring colleagues who share my vision and values.

There are some people whose energy changes the temperature of a room.

Irene Russell is one of them.

As the new Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland Public Image Lead, Irene brings a rare combination of clarity, enthusiasm and sheer momentum. Her belief in what #Rotary stands for isn’t performative – it’s lived. You can feel it. And that kind of conviction is contagious.

Public Image isn’t about logos or straplines. It’s about telling stories that move people. Irene understands that instinctively.

I’m genuinely excited to be stepping into my role as District 1160 Public Image Chair under Director General George Roche. It feels like the right time, with the right leadership, and the right ambition.

And, as ever, Philip Dyer  remains a steady force of experience and wisdom. His depth of knowledge and enduring passion for Rotary are an anchor for all of us working to amplify our impact.

Rotary has always done extraordinary work. The opportunity now is to make sure the world sees it, feels it, and joins in.

Onwards.

Christopher Nial

Talks about #cop28, #globalhealth, #sustainability, #vaccinessavelives, and #climatechangeshealth

Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland

Interview Coach

With you at every stage _ Outward Facing Director, engaging with customers, consultants on their future construction and capital works projects and how we can make the difference

Driving Global Health Communications | Bridging Climate Change & Public Health | Senior Partner @ FINN Partners | Rotarian | Dog Dad | Whack-a-Mole Expert | Keen Listener

Excited to be in the UK at Warwick University for this year's Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland Leadership Development Forum. I’ve been asked to take on the role of Public Image co-ordinator for District 1160. You’d think I couldn’t learn much being an ‘old-timer’ in the PR industry, but there’s always so much to learn. I am looking forward to starting my journey with fellow public image leads. 

I’m just starting my day with a delicious oat milk latte with a few extra shots of espresso, so I’ll be firing on all cylinders.

#Rotary #Fellowship #TeachingAnOldDogNewTricks #CoffeeStartsTheDay

Tomorrow marks the launch of the #Africa Health Media Trends Report 2026 — and I'm looking forward to being part of what promises to be a genuinely important conversation.

Join us Thursday at 3 pm Nairobi (EAT) | noon London (GMT) | 7 am New York (ET), with a live audience in #Nairobi and journalists connecting from across more than ten African countries. We'll be unpacking how the shifting global health landscape is reshaping media reporting on the continent and what that means for the stories that get told—and those that don't.

If you haven't registered yet, the link is in the comments. This is one worth making time for.

#GlobalHealth #HealthJournalism #AfricaHealth #HealthMedia #AfricanMedia

Basel is calling! I'm thrilled to be joining health.tech global summit 2026 — ready to reconnect with familiar faces and meet brilliant new ones. Drop me a message on LinkedIn or via the health.tech app. Let's make it happen!

#htgs26 #healthtechglobalsummit2026 #meetings #magic #globalhealthimpact

Southern Africa is in the middle of a #cholera emergency. Chile just eliminated #leprosy. And a peer-reviewed study shows #malaria drug R&D returns $13 for every dollar invested — at the exact moment that funding is being cut.

This week's under-reported global health stories:

🗞️ Cholera cases across five Southern African countries rose sevenfold in the first six weeks of 2026, driven by Cyclone Gezani and seasonal flooding — with up to 22,000 more cases projected between now and August

🗞️ Chile became only the second country in the world to achieve WHO verification for the elimination of leprosy, following three decades of surveillance maintained even when the disease was nearly invisible

🗞️ A Lancet Global Health study found that $2.3 billion invested in antimalarial R&D through the Medicines for Malaria Venture between 2000 and 2023 returned $13 per dollar — published as global malaria funding faces historic cuts

If you want the global health news that isn't trending, subscribe to What Matters in Global Health.

Gil Bashe | Mark CHATAWAY | Richard Hatzfeld | Darren Jones | Mina Volovitch

#GlobalHealthImpact #PublicHealth #Malaria #Cholera #NTDs

Three stories you probably missed. One newsletter that doesn't talk down to you. 27 February – 5 March 2026 Southern Africa's Cholera Emergency Is Alr

What Matters in Global Health #204

Connecting the dots to uncover and cultivate cognitive connections that ignite life-saving transformations. Championing #lifescience #climatetech #digitalhealth, #patientexperience and #healthinnovation.

Expert on health and environment policy research, communications and specialised market research

Senior Partner, Global Health Impact at FINN Partners

Health Advocate and Strategic Communicator: Shaping Public Perception for Positive Change, Partner at FINN Partners, Associate shareholder and board member, Baird's CMC,

Senior Partner at Finn Partners, Baird's CMC Associate

Every night there is a routine.

The dogs know it better than we do. 

A last trip into the garden. 
Back inside. 
Then bedtime treats. 

A few chews, a bit of dried food, and straight into their crates. Normally, they are sitting there waiting, like small, furry hotel guests checking in.

Now, Iolo’s crate is left open every night. The radiator sits behind it, and I worry he will get too warm, so he has the option to wander out, get water, rearrange himself, then wander back in.

Dylan recently decided this was unacceptable...

If Iolo gets an open-door policy, Dylan wants one too. He stood outside his crate in protest, staring at me as if I had fundamentally misunderstood the principles of fairness.

So now, bedtime involves negotiation.

It is extraordinary how quickly they notice tiny differences in treatment, and how firmly they will hold their position once they do.

Does anyone else’s dog keep a mental record of perceived injustices?

Over the last few years, I have made deliberate changes to my health.

That has included medical support, alongside sustained adjustments to how I structure my days.

What that has given me is not just better numbers on a chart. It has extended my functional capacity.

More energy. More resilience. More appetite for work and ideas.

That experience sharpened something for me.

Capability is not fixed. 
It responds to access, treatment, prevention, and environment.

Yet in policy debates, we often treat later-life decline as inevitable and rising costs as a demographic destiny.

If relatively modest, well-supported interventions can materially shift capability at an individual level, what does that imply for system-level design?

LinkedIn asked me: "Who is a woman who's made an impact on your career?" — and for International Women's Day 2026, with its theme of Give To Gain, I can't name just one.

I'm in what I think of as my third — and probably final — career. One where I get to do something I genuinely love: work with words. Whether that's writing, content creation, or helping others find their own voice in public. That I can now do this for a living feels less like luck and more like the cumulative effect of some remarkable people showing up at the right moments.

So I want to name them.

Chantal Bowman, Celia Jones, Helen C. Shelton, MS, Judith Diment MBE, Natasha Hughes- EQ Master Coach/Trainer, Samantha Kelly, Jem Bevan, and Calodagh McCumiskey, MB, FAIBF — each of you, in very different ways, helped me find my voice.

You gave generously — of your time, your wisdom, your belief — without keeping score. That's the real meaning of 'give to gain', and you all lived it.

I'm genuinely grateful to have you in my life.

#IWD26 #GivetoGain #WomenLeaders #Gratitude

Managing Partner, EMEA, at Finn Partners. Successful agency leader, passionate about sustainable growth, delivering award-winning work that matters.

Global Chief Marketing Officer at FINN Partners | Brand, Marketing, PR | Change Agent | Trusted C-Suite Advisor | Strategist | Writer | Fast Company Most Innovative Marketer | Gold House Member

Global Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at FINN Partners| PRSA Foundation Trustee| Board of Directors, New York Urban League

PR and Marketing Consultant, Rotarian and Humanitarian

⭐ Award-Winning Executive Coach | Helping Leaders Build Empathy, Psychological Safety & High-Performing Teams | Keynote Speaker

Executive Personal Branding Specialist For Leaders | Raising Your Visibility & Influence on LinkedIn & Beyond | Global Connector | Speaker

💎 Just a dork, OBSESSED with social media trying to help others find their way💎

Multi-Award-Winning Leadership & Wellbeing Specialist | Keynote Speaker | Coaching leaders and teams to thrive under pressure and achieve sustainable performance

Health spending is almost always framed as a cost to be controlled.

That framing misses a basic distinction.

Spending that preserves functional ability determines whether people remain independent contributors or drift into avoidable dependency. Those are not adjacent outcomes. They are entirely different economic and social trajectories.

Prevention, early intervention, and system design don’t just improve health metrics. They shape labour participation, informal care demand, public spending pressure, and long-term resilience.

When we underinvest upstream, we reliably pay more downstream—and then describe the outcome as demographic destiny rather than policy choice.

The real question is not how to contain health spending, but whether we are willing to treat it as infrastructure for sustained societal contribution, rather than a line item to be managed.

Three stories from this week's Global Health Pulse that deserve more attention:

→ WHO confirmed a recombinant mpox strain combining clades Ib and IIb — and warned that standard PCR clade-typing may miss it entirely. Genomic surveillance needs to scale, now.

→ The European Commission quietly cut its annual contribution to the Global Fund by roughly 26.5%, extending a smaller pledge over four years and parking the rest in a budget framework that doesn't exist yet.

→ Uganda received its first 19,200 doses of lenacapavir — a twice-yearly HIV prevention injection that's 99% effective in trials, but with 50,000 new infections a year, the country needs orders of magnitude more supply and a sustainable pricing model.

Gil Bashe Mark CHATAWAY Chuck Viñe Richard Hatzfeld Darren Jones

#globalhealthimpact #mpox #hivprevention #globalfund #healthpolicy

Three stories you probably missed. One newsletter that doesn't talk down to you. 1. Two Countries, One Hybrid Virus: Mpox Just Got More Complicated NA

What Matters in Global Health #203

Clear Thinking About AI for People Who Have to Decide

Three things that matter this week:

🗞️  The World Health Organization released its first consolidated implementation handbook on #hepatitis B and C on 10 March. Viral hepatitis kills 1.3 million people a year — the same as TB — but treatment coverage is almost non-existent: 86% of the 254 million people living with hepatitis B have never been diagnosed, and 97% have never been treated. Hepatitis C has been curable since 2014. The 2030 elimination target is four years away. The handbook is not new science; it is an admission that a decade of recommendations has not moved the numbers.

🗞️  The US State Department's new $4.5B "Advancing Global Health" platform sets out, for the first time, how NGOs and faith-based organisations can access funding under the America First global health strategy. But the underlying bilateral MOUs lock in an average 49% reduction in US health support to partner countries versus 2024, with implementation due to begin in April.

🗞️  New Lancet Global Health modelling finds TB incidence is 91% higher in the postpartum period than at baseline — and in Africa, 32% of that burden falls on women also living with HIV. Pregnant women are still routinely excluded from TB clinical trials. TB accounts for up to 15% of all maternal mortality.

If this is the kind of global health coverage you can't find elsewhere, subscribe to What Matters in Global Health.

Gil Bashe | Mark CHATAWAY | Darren Jones | Paul Schaper | Richard Hatzfeld | Chuck Viñe | Ken Rabin | Sophie Taylor-Roberts | Mina Volovitch | Jem Bevan | Sarah Bostock

#GlobalHealthImpact #PublicHealth #Hepatitis #Tuberculosis #HealthFinancing

Three stories you probably missed. One newsletter that doesn't talk down to you. Hepatitis Kills 3,500 People a Day. We Finally Have a Playbook. Hepat

Global Health Intelligence #205

World Health Organization

Lancet

AVP - Global Pharmaceutical Public Policy at Merck

Distinguished Scholar, City University of New York, Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy

UK Health Group Lead at FINN Partners. Senior strategic healthcare communications consultant and business leader, shaping insight-led, integrated campaigns that engage audiences, change behaviour and enhance reputations.

Making your marketing bite while making sharks less scary! 🦈 Morgenmuffel ☕️

One of the quiet assumptions baked into most policy debates is that age equals dependency.

It is rarely stated outright, but it sits underneath conversations about pensions, health spending, labour shortages, and fiscal sustainability.

The problem is that chronological age is a poor proxy for capability.

Health status, access to prevention, workplace design, and policy choices determine whether someone in their 60s or 70s is contributing or dependent far more than the number on a birth certificate.

When we collapse all of that complexity into ageing population equals rising cost, we design systems that make dependency more likely and then treat the outcome as inevitable.

That framing shapes budgets, workforce policy, and health investment decisions for decades.

If we separated age from capability more deliberately, how many of our long-term projections would look different?

A lot of global health policy still treats capability as something that can be imported.

Funding arrives. Programmes arrive. Expertise arrives. Then the funding cycle ends — and the same gaps reappear.

That pattern creates dependence, even when the intent is genuinely generous.

If we're serious about resilience, the conversation has to shift from delivery to durability. 

Manufacturing capacity. Regulatory systems. Workforce depth. Supply chains that hold. Institutions that can stand on their own without external scaffolding.

This isn't an argument against international partnership. It's an argument for partnership designed with an exit plan from the outset.

One question I keep returning to: what would change if we judged global health programmes not by what they deliver, but by what remains after the funding stops?

#GlobalHealth #HealthSystems #HealthEquity #LocalCapacity #GlobalHealthPolicy #Africa #PublicHealth #HealthFinancing

This will be controversial, but here's why I think Ireland's paid GP model has advantages over free-at-point-of-service systems. 

I know the immediate objection: what about those who can't afford it? It's a valid concern, and I'm not dismissing it. But there's a trade-off worth examining.

In the UK's NHS, GPs are overwhelmed with demand for free appointments. They often have just minutes per patient to diagnose and prescribe. The focus becomes reactive: treat the immediate complaint and move to the next patient.

In Ireland's paid system, lower patient volumes give GPs more time. They can look beyond the presenting complaint to the whole patient—checking blood pressure, discussing weight, and ordering age-appropriate screenings. This shifts the focus from reactive treatment to prevention.

The economics are compelling: every €1 spent on prevention can save up to €14.30 in future healthcare costs.

I'm not arguing against universal access—that's the goal. But as we debate the Social Democrats' proposal for free GP visits, we need to honestly assess the trade-offs. Will we adequately fund the system to maintain quality of care, or will we replicate the NHS's capacity crisis?

https://lnkd.in/e8aeqc53

We talk a lot about labour shortages and productivity decline.

Less often do we connect those issues to health policy, prevention, and how long people remain functionally capable of contributing.

Extending healthy life expectancy is not just a health outcome. It is a workforce strategy.

If people are physically and cognitively able to work, mentor, or contribute flexibly for longer, the pressure on labour markets looks very different.

But that only happens if systems are designed to support capability rather than exit.

When older workers are treated as already out of the picture, the opportunity cost is rarely acknowledged.

Why is healthy ageing policy so often missing from workforce and productivity discussions?

Latrese Campbell is #hiring. Know anyone who might be interested?

Iknoor Kaur is #hiring. Know anyone who might be interested?

VP - Solutions at Fundamento | Chevening Scholar | ex-BBC | e4m #30Under30 (2021)

Health Policy Watch reports on the world’s most pressing global health policy challenges and trends, connecting journalists from the global North and South on an independent, non-profit platform.

Please consider making a donation today to help sustain independent, global health journalism and strengthen the voices shaping better health policy worldwide.

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