The World Health Summit (WHS) brings together global health leaders, policymakers, civil society, academia and other stakeholders to advance dialogue and collaboration on pressing global health challenges.
On October 11th, the Healthy Caribbean Coalition/Healthy Caribbean Youth co-hosted a session in collaboration with the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) and International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF) titled “Co-Designing a Fit-for-Purpose Global Health Architecture.” The session explored opportunities to reshape global health governance to be more inclusive, equitable and responsive to the needs of communities.
The panel featured:
- Dr. Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Júnior – Director, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and WHO Regional Director for the Americas
- Dr. Satoshi Ezoe – Senior Assistant Minister for Global Health, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
- Björn Kümmel – Head of the Global Health Policy Unit, German Federal Ministry of Health, and Co-Chair of the Joint Task Force on Global Health Architecture Reform
- Federica Castellana – Programme Coordinator for Africa, Italian Red Cross
- Anne Eleanor Nkieh-Nyak Fonji – Chairperson of Public Health, International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF)
- Danielle Walwyn – Grants Manager, Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), and Lead, Healthy Caribbean Youth (HCY) who highlighted the importance of institutionalising meaningful youth engagement to ensure young people have sustained opportunities to influence health decision-making. She also drew on HCC’s recent work to strengthen meaningful youth engagement across the Caribbean, including its Guidance Note on Meaningful Youth Engagement.
View the session recording here.
On Tuesday October 13th, Danielle also participated as a panellist in the side event “Future-proofing Health Systems: Promoting Prevention to Build Resilient Future Generations,” hosted by the Norwegian Cancer Society and co-hosted by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC).
The event highlighted the importance of prioritising prevention within the global health architecture to build more resilient and sustainable health systems. Drawing on HCC’s experience, Danielle shared strategies used to mobilise young people and civil society organisations across the Caribbean to build public support for health-promoting policies.
She also emphasised the importance of institutionalised social participation and robust safeguards within global health governance to ensure transparency, accountability and the protection of public health interests throughout the Reform process and beyond.
Finally, Danielle was able to speak with key stakeholders, sharing HCC/HCYs newest Resource on Meaningful Engagement of youth and young people living with NCDs in Health decision making.
Find out more at the World health Summit website.