PMAC 2026

Side Meetings

SMB106

Global Convening of Deans of Global Public Health

27
Jan

  • 09:00 - 12:30 HRS. (BKK)

  • Contact Person : Indira Dewi Kantiana, kantiana@nus.edu.sg

Organizers
  • Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore
  • Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University
  • Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva
  • London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

The global health landscape is undergoing significant transformation, with the defunding of critical public health mechanisms and rise in governmental short-termism eroding global health governance. Weakening of collective action, politicisation of science, and proliferation of misinformation, are undermining decades of hard-won progress in global health and destabilising its aspirations for equity, governance, health systems resilience, and leadership, which are also longstanding concerns of PMAC.

Amidst this evolving landscape, Deans of Schools of Public Health recognise the moral, academic, and social responsibility to respond. Schools of Public Health should extend beyond narrowly focusing on traditional in-classroom teaching and knowledge generation and take on a greater role in shaping local and global health agendas through leveraging knowledge for policy and programmatic impact, improving LMIC access to quality curriculum, and safeguarding scientific truth. This will help promote greater equity in global health as different regions undergo varied demographic transitions and changes in epidemiology and disease patterns.     

A first Global Convening of Deans of Global Public Health at a dedicated Side Meeting during PMAC 2026 is proposed to kickstart this call to action for a new kind of leadership and agenda setting by Schools of Public Health

This Side Meeting seeks to convene the Deans and senior academic leaders of Schools of Public Health for the first time at PMAC to discuss and set the mandate for the strategic role that Schools of Public Health should play in the healthcare landscape. The focus will be on:

1. Building consensus around the strategic priorities and responsibilities of:

  • Championing evidence-based, intergenerational health priorities, amidst political cycles focused on short-term outcomes.
  • Strengthening health diplomacy through forging closer ties with governments and multilateral organisations to fill the widening gap between leadership and scientific stewardship.
  • Promote academic-government collaboration by working hand-in-hand with governments to design, implement, and evaluate health policies and programmes that are sustainable, equitable, and efficient.
  • Improving LMIC access to public health training through curriculum quality enhancement.
  • Defending scientific integrity by standing united in the face of misinformation and disinformation, communicating evidence-based truth and refuting falsehoods.

2. Identifying opportunities for joint action, and
3. Forming working groups to follow through with specific work streams, such as effecting curriculum transfers, promoting academic-government partnerships, and managing science communication.

The longer-term plan is for this Global Convening of Deans of Global Public Health to be institutionalised as annual convenings at the sidelines of the World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva every May, leveraging the presence of global health players and providing a regular platform for Deans to assess progress, update strategies, and strengthen partnerships.