I am an Infectious Disease (ID) physician trained in Brazil, currently in the UK forging a career that combines clinical management of ID and policy research, particularly in the field of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis diagnostics, management and control. My previous work with underserved populations in Brazil, Haiti and Kyrgyzstan, and now in England, in a time of unprecedented pressures over the NHS, have driven home to me the central importance of understanding diseases in their wider context and truly involving patients in the decision-making process as a path towards mitigating inequity and inequality in health, and improving outcomes