2025 Global Health Case Competition winning team: (From left) Jadesola Akinbi, Foladayo Akinbi, Naomi Tekola, and Bethany Amanuel.
Beneath Ghana’s rich soils lies a treasure the world desires—gold. The rush to unearth this precious metal has led to a host of health problems from illegal mining, or galamsey. This unregulated, small-scale mining has poisoned rivers, destroyed land, and broken communities. More than 150 students from across UVA Grounds came forward to solve this real-world health problem in Ghana by participating in the annual Global Health Case Competition organized by the Center for Global Health Equity (CGHE). The students addressed the case—water pollution in Ghana, which is a major environmental health problem, impacting communities across the world.
Scott Heysell, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Global Health Equity, is excited about the opportunity the Case Competition presents to bring global partners to Grounds to collaborate with UVA faculty and students.
“UVA’s global health case competition is an inspiring example of the role university scholars can play in bettering our interconnected world. So feasible were the solutions created, such as a land use trust model to limit harmful mining activities, that our Ghanaian colleagues are now taking the next steps to convene stakeholders meetings to test the potential for implementation,” shared Dr. Heysell.
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