PEOPLE. Meet Laith Hussain-Alkhateeb, a doctoral candidate in global public health, who will soon represent the University of Gothenburg at this year’s awards ceremony for Global Swede in Stockholm.
Laith Hussain-Alkhateeb will soon be finished with his postgraduate studies. On the same day that I met him in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, he had just been notified of when he will defend his dissertation: in mid-March of next year. Now he has “eight months to write clearly,” he said with a terrified delight.
His dissertation topic is refining methods used to determine causes of death in countries where it is not possible to carry out autopsies on a large scale. The method is called Verbal Autopsy, and it is based on a questionnaire given to the relatives of the deceased person. The method has been used for over fifty years, and thanks to a new web-based system, the method has become even more reliable, systematic and accessible.
“For over 60 percent of all deaths in the world, we do not know the cause, and this happens most often in low-income countries. This is a major public health problem, because governments lack the proper basis for legislation and health-related policies,” said Laith, who also teaches several courses in the masters program for global health and public health, and also in other programs within the university.
Laith Hussain-Alkhateeb uses South African relationships as a model in the dissertation. His main supervisor is Linus Schiöler. Max Petzold is a co-supervisor, together with professor Peter Byass at Umeå University.
“This project has the potential to strengthen global health scientific collaboration between GU and other national and international entities,” noted Laith.
Ceremony on May 10
The ceremony for Global Swede was already held on May 10 in Stockholm. Global Swede is part of the government’s and the Swedish Institute’s long-term relationship building with international students in Sweden. The hosts for the ceremony were Miniser of EU Affairs and Trade Ann Linde and Annika Rembe, Director General of the Swedish Institute. The purpose is to build long-term bridges of multicultural and global networks that can lead to new solutions in the future for Swedish trade and employment.
University campuses around Sweden send representatives to the ceremony, and Laith says that he is truly honored to be the appointed representative for the University of Gothenburg.
“I was nominated by my colleagues in the department, who I thought would be a good representative. I am looking forward to attending the actual ceremony in Stockholm and meeting the representatives from other Swedish universities. I think this will be a memory I will carry with me for the rest of my life,” he says.
Describing Laith as a global person is not an exaggeration. His father is from Iraq, and he himself was raised in Dubai and educated in the UK. He is very fond of Sweden. His first encounter with our country was five yeas ago as a tourist, and some time later he chose take his master’s degree in public health science in Umeå. He was drawn to Max Petzold in Gothenburg, who is one of the founders of The Health Metrics Unit, and now the head of the Swedish National Data Service (SND). Laith’s wife, who is originally from Lebanon, is currently studying pharmacy at the Sahlgrenska Academy.
“We are getting on very well in Gothenburg. Our son is two and a half years old, and he was born here. He will probably be a true Gothenburg boy,” said Laith with a big smile.
TEXT AND PHOTO: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
