@Nithin Coca I really enjoyed your piece on Jakarta’s public transport. However, around the time your piece came to press, there was a fatal train crash in Bekasi. The piece itself mentions several other challenges, including the last-mile problem and competition from ride-hailing. While one crash is not a reason for people to avoid public transit, I would wager that people will be more scared to use it given the crash and its high profile. Beyond what you have written in the piece, how should the government attempt create a public transit culture, whereby use is entirely normal and common?
Vinay Kalva
Karma: 19
A Reflection on the 2026 AMWHO Conference
A Cause Area Exploration Series
I want to write a post about a framework to improve intervention research broadly. I imagine there is a lot of content about this subject already, but I am curious. I hope to learn more about this area by writing about it, and I would appreciate getting some input from anyone who is involved in doing intervention research. (Also, although my interests lie mainly in global health, I want to know about intervention research in other fields as well.)
As I am new to the Forum, I would appreciate being sent to any posts on the subject of intervention research that already exist, so that I don’t write something repetitive.
Hello everyone. I am Vinay Kalva, and I live in Rockville, Maryland (northwest of Washington, D.C.). I am an undergraduate sophomore at Johns Hopkins University studying public health and political science, and I want to become a physician (although I’m thinking about alternatives as well).
I want to participate in the forum because I see that I can engage well on many of the key cause areas, especially with regards to global health. I haven’t engaged much with EA previously, although I have read the 80000 Hours Career Guide and will be taking the “Introduction to Effective Altruism” course offered next month. I also want to find out alternative career options where I can make a high impact directly.
If you would like to reach out, please see my Linkedin here.
Hello, Svetha.
At a recent global health simulation conference, I pushed the concept of New Incentives to facilitate vaccinations. However, misconceptions around the effects of cash transfers continue to exist, despite strong evidence to the contrary. GiveWell also mentions in their evaluation that “There is some opposition to New Incentives’ program within the Nigerian federal government, which poses a potential threat to the sustainability of the program long-term.” How do you address misconceptions, and how are you working to persuade the government to provide more support to the program?