Geneva Health Files

Geneva Health Files' mission is to advance accountability in international health policymaking through independent and critical journalism. The Substack newsletter tracks international health policy as it unfolds in the capital of global health: Geneva, Switzerland. It provides rigorous critical analysis and insights by illuminating the actors and processes behind global health policies.

The initiative offers interdisciplinary, investigative, and actionable information: interdisciplinary from the lens of politics, governance and law; investigative through shining a light on closed-door discussions; and actionable by informing experts such as negotiators, diplomats, policy-makers, scholars, activists and the private sector. More than half of Geneva Health Files’ content is behind a paywall.

With 6000 subscribers in around 140 countries, the newsletter reaches a niche readership of policymakers, diplomats, academics, activists, and the private sector.

Founder Priti Patnaik has been a journalist for 20 years, reporting from New Delhi, New York and Geneva on finance, trade and health. While reporting on global health in Geneva for 10 years, she found that crucial policy debates in the city had little space in mainstream media. She wanted to examine and investigate these seemingly technical matters in global health and write for a specialized readership, knowing there would be demand. “I was seized by the moment because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which drew global attention to Geneva," says Priti. "The city is home to more than 200 different organizations related to global health, and yet we do not read enough about it.”

Geneva Health Files began self-publishing in April 2020, just as the pandemic was spreading across the world. Later that year, Priti joined the City University of New York’s Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program. The initiative received various reporting grants from the Swiss Association of Science Journalists and the European Cross-Border Journalism Grants to report on COVID-19. In 2022, GHF won a grant from the Open Society Foundations to report on global health negotiations in Geneva. The main revenue model comes from newsletter subscriptions, grants, and research consulting based on the journalism produced. Geneva Health Files Fellowship Program which began in 2021, is a way of working with global health professionals and those interested in media entrepreneurship, and currently has four fellows from different parts of the world. Geneva Health Files launched its first podcast in 2021 and its first book based on a compilation of reported stories in 2020-2022. Readers can also donate to the initiative.

Last updated: February 2024