“Things Fall Apart”: The Unravelling of Global Health Governance and the Imperative for Action Preserving Infectious Disease Prevention and Control
In his 1958 novel Things Fall Apart, the Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe observes: “Age was respected among his people, but achievement was revered” [1]. Global health has likewise come to revere achievement—success stories, elimination targets, and aspirational end dates. But Achebe’s novel traces how a seemingly stable society disintegrates when its organising principles erode. The tragedy is not sudden; it is cumulative, and triggered by colonial forces outside of the local culture.
Authors
- David N Dürrheim (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9236-4861)
- L Simonsen
- Alessandra Scagliarini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1146-0101)
- Moses J. Bockarie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4022-8603)
- Francine Ntoumi
- Seif Al Abri
- Lucille Blumberg
- Delia Goletti
- Peter Mwaba
- Marion Koopmans
- Peter S. Nyasulu
- Alimuddin Zumla
- Eskild Petersen
- Martin P. Grobusch
- Ben Marais
- David S Hui
- Danny Asogun
Institutions
- Roskilde University (DK)
- National Health Laboratory Service (ZA)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Western Cape Department of Health (ZA)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Njala University (SL)
- Lusaka Apex Medical University (ZM)
- Istituto Nazionale per le Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani (IT)
- Fondation Congolaise Pour La Recherche Médicale (CG)
- Prince of Wales Hospital (CN)
- Royal Hospital (OM)
- UCL Biomedical Research Centre (GB)
- Amsterdam University Medical Centers (NL)
- Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (NG)
- University College London (GB)
- University of Newcastle Australia (AU)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (NL)
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- International Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2026-02-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2026.108472
- Primary Topic
- Global Health and Surgery
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00