Hey, I am Dr Sumbal Shahbaz from Pakistan. I am an Assistant professor of Public health and work at a reputable university in my home town. Along with that I work for reproductive rights of women and propagation of E-health in my country. My journey with Unified for Health was like a dream come true, learning practical implications of advance global health in developed health sector, to make meaningful impact on health of my own people. It was an immersive exploration of global health standards in Germany. Whether its discussion at Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf exploring initiative for sexual and reproductive health, getting an overview at Federal ministry of Health, or witnessing the tireless work for T.B eradication at Zentralkomitee zur Bekämpfung von Tuberkulose. Each experience was enlightening and fascinating in its own way.

My time in Berlin transcended boundaries, both geographically and culturally. Not only I visited various regions of this country but I also got to know various health and green environment promoting government strategies. I have been studying about health systems of developed countries from quite some time but with UFH, I had the unique opportunity to see the inner workings of public health at the international level and understand the intricacies of healthcare governance globally.

Also the diversity and sometimes even extremely opposite health situation from my home country was very new to experience in person. Like Pakistan has fifth largest burden of T.B while Germany has very low prevalence hence very different frameworks were in place, same with the reproductive health strategies. Moreover with UFH I met people with diverse background, nationalities and health systems. We shared our experiences and learned each other’s values/ practices. We also attended summer party and annual colloquium at AKKON University together to make this time more memorable through UFH’s Platform.