GPHW2023: Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony of Global Public Health Week 2023 (GPHW) will see the participation of the presidents of three prestigious societies in the field of public health: Prof. Luis Eugenio de Souza, President of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA); Prof. Roberta Siliquini, President of the Italian Society of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine (SITI); and Prof. Carlo Signorelli, President of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER).

The ceremony will be a platform for the Presidents to discuss the state of global public health and the challenges that still persist in this world in turmoil, as well as to present the upcoming 17th World Congress on Public Health, jointly organized by the three societies.

The event will be held on April 7, 2023, at 13:00 (CEST). It will be chaired by Prof. Walter Ricciardi, Immediate Past President of the WFPHA and Chair of the congress organizing committees.

The Use of Chemical or Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine or Anywhere Is Unacceptable!

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) and International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) acknowledge the profound adverse effects of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons on the health and well-being of all people on the planet. The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes the immense public health threat these weapons pose. This threat exists independent of actual use.

The war in Ukraine, even only as a conventional war, is destroying the lives and livelihoods of the people of Ukraine, their economy and importantly their environment. This produces a massive, multi-generational public health disaster.

The use of nuclear or chemical weapons in this conflict will magnify that public health disaster by orders of magnitude, causing causalities at a scale rendering any medical and humanitarian responses totally inadequate. The suffering resulting would constitute a clear crime against humanity. Even the threat to use such weapons causes needless extra trauma to already severely traumatized people.

Accordingly, the WFPHA and IPPNW demand that all combatants immediately and explicitly rule out the use of weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine.

GPHW2023: Sustainable Dentistry

Theme: Tackling the Climate Crisis

Date and Time: 04 April 2023 | 18:00 (CEST)

Event Description: This event will firstly examine sustainability, the impact of dentistry on planetary health and ask how we as dental professionals can embed sustainability into the modern delivery of dentistry. Secondly, we will examine the sustainability of health care systems, particularly in the most marginalized areas of the world, asking how we can create a sustainable system of care when infrastructure and workforce capacity is suboptimal? How can we overcome significant financial and social barriers to accessing oral health care worldwide?

The event invites all dental and healthcare students and professionals to start a journey producing concrete actions locally to make oral health sustainable. We hope to catalyze our young professionals to take the next steps towards enacting change.

Event Type: Seminar/Webinar

Event Format: Virtual

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): WFPHA Oral Health Working Group & Youth for Sustainable Oral Health

How to Attend In-person: N/A

How to Attend Virtually: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ropPTYctSayjQXoeI57_Gg

Registration: https://forms.gle/8Y97ZsGXCuG5guUb7

GPHW2023: Equity Actions for Health as a Human Right: Using Evidence, Ethics, and Dialogue to Explore Collective Obligations in the Face of Global Health Crises

Theme: Making Health a Human Right

Date and Time: 06 April 2023 | 22:00 – 23:30 (CEST)

Event Description: Drawing on insights from the Canada-based SOLVE (Solidarity for Vaccine Equity) project, this panel will feature a brief presentation sharing results of: (a) a policy mapping exercise examining Canada’s trajectory relative to vaccine equity; (b) a series of deliberative dialogues with international stakeholders (e.g., governance leaders, advocates, scholars) to understand the equity and ethical implications of vaccine nationalism; and (c) evidence and equity-informed responses submitted to the World Health Organization’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, urging coherence between stated intentions and the inclusion of equity actions in proposals for a new global pandemic treaty instrument.

Attendees will then participate in a question-and-answer session to address critically reflective questions grounded in content presentations. The session will explore the threshold participants believe might constitute a pivotal point when collective obligations to global health supersede national obligations; participants’ perspectives on how to operationalize health equity in global health governance; and their response to preliminary recommendations on ethically coherent governance principles for the navigation of global health crises. The panel will conclude with a plenary de-brief, bringing together shared insights and next steps.

Recognizing attendees have far reaching influences over domestic health practices, the nature of evidence, and imagined policy solutions within and beyond their representative borders, this panel will generate equity-oriented knowledge mobilization on global health policy and practice, considerations of deeply-held assumptions about the role of the nation-state in relation to societal wellbeing and economic growth, and raise questions about legitimacy, responsibilities, and accountability in the context of issues affecting collective global health.

Event Type: Panel Discussion & Round Table

Event Format: Virtual

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): SOLVE Study, University of British Columbia-Okanagan

How to Attend In-person: N/A

How to Attend Virtually: Zoom

Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/equity-actions-for-health-as-a-human-right-solve-study-panel-discussion-tickets-567241654057 

GPHW2023: Youth Voices for a Healthy, Clean, and Sustainable Environment

Theme: Making Health a Human Right

Date and Time: 06 April 2023 | 20:30 – 21:30 (CEST)

Event Description: In July 2022, the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) declared that access to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment constitutes a universal human right. As stakeholders across the globe are prompted to take action towards this end, the voice of young professionals and students should also be heard. Lately, youth organizations have increasingly become involved in a host of public health causes. These range from promoting cancer prevention and early diagnosis and disseminating credible information against COVID-19 to advocating for reparative action regarding the ramifications of armed conflicts on health. To shed light on these important issues, we are organizing a panel discussion featuring representatives from public health-oriented youth and civil society organizations, such as the European Student Think Tank, #Students_Against_COVID, the Institute of Cancer and Crisis, and the Cancer Prevention Research Group in Greece. Join us as we discuss the impact and lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic on sustainable healthcare, the importance of a healthy and sustainable environment for cancer prevention and management, and the potential response of the surgical community to climate change within the newly proposed concept of social surgery. 

Event Type: Seminar/Webinar

Event Format: Virtual

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): European Student Think Tank (Public Health and Policy Working Group), #Students_Against_COVID, Institute of Cancer and Crisis, and Cancer Prevention Research Group in Greece (CPRGGreece)

How to Attend In-person: N/A

How to Attend Virtually: Online event via Google Meet. A link for participation will be shared on the social media of the participating organizations in due time before the event. Interested individuals and organizations are welcome to reach out by e-mail for further clarifications: publichealth@esthinktank.com

Facebook, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Registration: N/A

GPHW2023: Making Health a Human Right

Theme: Making Health a Human Right

Date and Time: 06 April 2023 | 16:00 – 17:30 (CEST)

Event Description: This webinar aims to highlight the importance of health and healthcare provision as a basic human right that has to be offered to all human beings. It will give a space for participants to reflect on the existing gaps in the healthcare systems and how to bridge them in accordance with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and the international human rights treaties.

Event Type: Seminar/Webinar

Event Format: Virtual

Language(s): English

Organiser(s): The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA)

How to Attend In-person: N/A

How to Attend Virtually: Zoom

Registration: https://ifmsa.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqd–tqDotHNCECNsgrB_sqvK3Z7APeCRV