World Health Forum
Ever wondered how the public health system in the post-pandemic future will be?
Looking forward to gaining more insight into the global public health governance?
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from leaders and experts around the world and envision a resilient future public health system!
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause serious disruption to communities around the world. Due to the frequent variation of the virus and the limited supply of vaccines, ever-present outbreaks have impacted people’s health and well-being, and fundamentally altered the global economy. The pandemic has made the realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 an even-greater challenge for humanity. It is more urgent than ever for people around the world to find solutions and take actions to build a resilient public health system, so as to ensure it is stronger, more equitable, and more accessible.
The World Health Forum (WHF2021), with the theme Building a Resilient Public Health System, is scheduled on 20-21 November (UTC+8). The forum consists of four Plenary Sessions and a Youth Forum, and will focus on issues such as Universal Health Coverage, UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Pandemic Preparedness and Response, Safeguarding Human Health in a Rapidly Changing Environment, Health Care in the Era of Big Data.
WHF2021 will convene more than 50 internationally renowned leaders, members of international organizations, think tank experts and scholars, opinion leaders and outstanding entrepreneurs from more than 20 countries and regions, 13 well-known universities as well as 23 organizations and institutions at home and abroad, to discuss measures and inject new momentum into the public health in the post-pandemic era, and to promote understanding and cooperation on important issues of global public health governance.
The World Health Forum is initiated by Tsinghua University and chaired by Margaret CHAN, the former Director-General of WHO, and the Founding Dean of the Vanke School of Public Health in the Tsinghua University of China.
What binds us together in this rapidly changing world is health and humanity. And the World Health Forum is that unique opportunity, guided by moral leadership and underpinned by heart and compassion. We invite you to participate and shape the future together!
Scroll down for a preview of the sessions!
PLENARY Session 1:
Universal Health Coverage and Sustainable Development Goals 2030
Universal health coverage (UHC), central to better health and well-being for all, delivers gains across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and embodies the 2030 Agenda pledge to leave no one behind. Health is a precondition for and an outcome and indicator of sustainable development, and UHC serves as the foundation to achieving the SDGs.
In this session, the panel will discuss key issues around the barriers to UHC and provide their insights on improving the affordability, accessibility and quality of health care and systems around the world.
They will also discuss the importance of strengthening governance and institutions to deliver universal access to basic services, including addressing the social, economic, commercial, and environmental determinants of health. This session will provide strategies, policy recommendations and potential pathways for reducing inequalities and social exclusion, while promoting effective and inclusive governance, hence a resilient and sustainable system for health.
PLENARY Session 2：
Pandemic Preparedness and Response
This section will review the major pandemics and global response from the two perspectives of “policies, regulations and capacity-building” and “science, technology and product accessibility”, especially by identifying the challenges existing in the prevention and control of the current COVID-19 pandemic, so as to put forward specific recommendations for potential pandemic preparedness and effective response in the future.
This section will focus on strengthening public health regulations, system and core capacities, as well as improving innovation, technology, product accessibility and global partnership.
PLENARY session 3：
Youth Forum
Building a Resilient Public Health System Youth Power
Our world is changing rapidly and facing various health challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the vulnerabilities of the current social, political, economic, and health systems. Meanwhile, non-communicable diseases, aging, and other health issues are increasing in severity and complexity.
To respond to the global public health challenges and promote communication among young scholars, a Youth Forum will be organized during the 1st World Health Forum which will be held on 20-21 November, 2021.
The theme of the Youth Forum is Building a Resilient Public Health System: Youth Power. It aims to provide a high-level communication platform for emerging global scholars who are in an early-career stage, and to cultivate young public health leaders. We cordially invite emerging global scholars to submit research abstracts with a view to joining the Youth Forum.
PLENARY Session 4:
Safeguarding Human Health in a Rapidly Changing Environment
Climate change is expected to be one of the biggest global health threats in the 21st century. The increase in heatwaves, droughts, floods and other natural hazards is increasing the risk of climate-related illness and death as well as reversing gains made in reducing food insecurity and strengthening health protection. The science is unequivocal; a global increase of 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial average and the continued loss of biodiversity risk catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse.
Highlighting these human impacts is seen as a way of accelerating climate action, by mobilizing public and political support within countries and by building alliances between countries. Despite the world’s necessary preoccupation with COVID-19, we cannot wait for the pandemic to pass to rapidly reduce emissions.
Reflecting the severity of the moment, this session of conference aims to bring together world recognized scholars to call for emergency action to limit global temperature increases, restore biodiversity, and protect health.
PLENARY Session 5：
Health and Health Care in the Era of Big Data -- New Technologies, New Methods and New Trends
When public health, a highly inter-disciplinary field, evolves into the era of “big data”, many disruptive innovations may occur. This session explores the application of big data to health and health care, in terms of emerging technology, methodology and trend.
The first half of this session highlights “Internet Plus Healthcare” which has been promoted by the central authority in China. International experiences such as electronic health records, precision health and virtual care will be discussed.
The sustainable development of internet healthcare also requires appropriate health data governance. In addition, how big data has fundamentally affected the traditional contact tracing and epidemiology will be elaborated through the cases of the telecommunications big data travel history app, and the nowcasting and forecasting models.
The second half of the session focuses on how big data helps with health policy making and health system performance. International and domestic scholars will jointly examine some heated topics such as the real world data (RWD)-based health technology assessment to finally attain universal health coverage.