My hero

It is uncool for a grown man to admit to having a hero. My generation—and, worryingly, its successors—arecynics. Nevertheless, here goes. My hero is Mahmoud Fathalla, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology in Assiut, 375 km south of Cairo.

In Egypt, maternal mortality is still high. In Sudan, female genital mutilation is endemic. A doctor can tackle these problems locally, but Fathalla saw the bigger picture. Worldwide, over half a million women die in …