Leadership in Global Health: What Next?

Global health leadership is in a flux. With U.S. and European countries scaling back or entirely pausing their financing, the World Health Organization (WHO) faces unprecedented operational and political strain, and other large victories are at risk of coming undone. The WHO reportedly plans to cut nearly 40% of its mid-level positions, a move that could severely limit its ability to function at capacity as the only global agency tasked with monitoring outbreaks, providing appropriate technical advice to its member States and coordinating emergency responses in case of future pandemics. At the same time, scaling back financing is putting at risk large scale victories that have been achieved with much effort including universal immunization (Gavi), and the control of HIV/AIDS and malaria (through PEPFAR and other global initiatives). 

This event will explore what the future of global health leadership. If the WHO’s influence continues to erode, what new models of influence and can and should take its place? Should regional institutions like the Africa CDC, national surveillance systems, or focused bilateralism such as the America First Global Health Strategy play a larger role? By covering broader themes like pandemic preparedness and access to medicines for low-income countries, the event will focus on leadership needed to navigate the next era of global health.

Speakers:

1. Prof. Padmashree Gehl Sampath is an accomplished public policy expert in global development, focused on technology, trade, and industrialization. A current M-RCGB Senior Fellow, she is a leading advocate for international mechanisms that better balance public and private returns from new technologies, with a specific focus on pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and the data economy. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation, a new regional agency created by the African Development Bank at the request of the African Union Member States to promote pharmaceutical innovation and production. 
2. Miklós Szócska is a former Minister of State for Health of Hungary and a current M-RCGB Senior Fellow, focused on enabling systems capabilities for AI in health. He was a member of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's COVID-19 advisory panel. Miklós also served as the Hungarian delegate to the European Commission's COVID-19 advisory platform and led his country's COVID-19 data utilization team.