Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and declare that JC is a member of the 2023 joint Royal Society of Canada and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences expert panel reviewing Canada’s global health role. ARH is an employee of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Canada but is writing in his personal capacity. SES and ARH are authors of some of the articles in the BMJ series.