100 years of experience in one book
The new book on SolidarMed’s history No Future Without a Past. 100 Years for Global Health takes a look back at international cooperation for health. Two of the authors, Andrea Kifyasi from Tanzania and Marcel Dreier from Switzerland, tell us more.
What is the core message of the book?
AK: The book traces 100 years of SolidarMed and highlights the key priorities, challenges and opportunities the organisation has faced, as well as the perspectives of various staff members and the voices of participants and partners. It shines a light on the early days of SolidarMed, how its activities have evolved, and provides insights into where it might be headed in future.
SolidarMed is run by people who have put their hearts and souls into improving health.
Marcel Dreier, historian
MD: SolidarMed is run by people who have put their hearts and souls into improving health. They do so out of conviction as good healthcare is a right
that is worth fighting for.
What is your favourite moment or profile in the book?
AK: The meeting with Silvia Ngwenuke, a courageous woman who fought against stigmatisation from her husband, her family and her community in Malinyi, Tanzania. She overcame all adversity and went on to become a respected figure and ‘expert client’ who supports others with HIV.
Anniversary Book: "No Future Without a Past."
To mark its centenary, SolidarMed is publishing a book tracing the organisation’s 100-year history. Drawing on personal stories from Switzerland and partner countries, it shows how approaches in international cooperation for health have changed and what we can learn from them.
The book is approximately 250 pages long and is available in German and English for CHF 59.
Can you tell us about an interesting development in SolidarMed’s history?
AK: SolidarMed’s 100-year history reflects the significant advances in healthcare in the Global South. I tend to overlook the way in which SolidarMed’s work pivoted from malaria to HIV/AIDS and subsequently to COVID-19, without any previous health threats.
SolidarMed’s 100-year history reflects the significant advances in healthcare in the Global South.
Andrea Kifayasi, lecturer and researcher in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
MD: What impressed me most wasn’t a step but the result of a process: SolidarMed now has a large, international team and over half a dozen locations.
