BY: BRUCE COMPTON
In his recent encyclical letter, Laudato Si', Pope Francis teaches us about integral ecology, and, in so doing, touches on our concept of "neighbor" — who it is we are connected to, and why it is important.
"We're a global church with experience with what's going on in communities around the world," the pope writes. "We're committed to responding to the concerns of those on the margins: the poor, the young and others at the peripheries"
That commitment describes Neeraj Mistry, MD, the friend and international colleague, I asked to be a guest columnist for the partnership and collaboration issue of Health Progress.
Mistry joined the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases in July 2010 as managing director. With a focus on advocacy and resource mobilization, he is creating partnerships to grow and strengthen the international fight to control and eliminate parasites and bacterial illnesses that sicken and disable nearly 1 in 6 of the world's poorest people — including millions of children.
A public health physician, Mistry was a founding member and former vice president of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He has extensive experience in global health policy and programming, having worked in developing and developed countries in the public and private sectors and across clinical practice, health policy and social development.
BRUCE COMPTON is senior director, international outreach, Catholic Health Association, St. Louis.