Ten million children under the age of five die each year – 27,000 a day – from poverty and war, from malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, and other diseases. All of these deaths are preventable. What were once thought to be intractable questions regarding the control of disease are now being answered through the work of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are stepping up to meet a need where governments cannot or have not.
Symposium presentations and seminars on campus Feb. 22 will feature representatives of NGOs and area leaders in science and business who will discuss how they have been involved in finding and delivering solutions – from active on-site intervention, to bench-mark research, to the formulation of public policy. The keynote address on Feb. 21 at the Tacoma Convention and Trade Center will be presented by Stephen Lewis, former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Participants will be introduced to ways in which they themselves might become more actively involved in finding global health solutions.
Global health is one of the dominant issues of our times. It has a direct effect on other major issues from globalization and poverty to natural resource use and climate change. Floods and hurricanes, droughts and heat waves, wars and national security issues all contribute to global health concerns.
The Pacific Northwest is a world center of activity for addressing global health issues. What were once thought to be intractable questions regarding the control of malaria, HIV/AIDS, TB, and other diseases are now being answered through the work – much of it around the world – of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from our region. They have been involved in finding and delivering solutions, from bench-mark research to the formulation of public policy.
The symposium “Advances in Global Health by Non-Governmental Organizations” will bring together on campus on Friday, February 22, representatives of NGOs and leaders in science and business who will address infectious diseases (emerging, incurable viruses and vaccine preventable), HIV/AIDS, malaria, the health and dignity of women, medical biotechnology, and pharmaceutical investment for global health needs. It will bring students from PLU, other area universities and the broader Tacoma community to a deeper understanding of the role of Pacific Northwest NGOs in addressing issues of global health and of the excitement of research being conducted and solutions being found. At the same time, participants will be introduced to ways in which they themselves might become more actively involved in the finding of global health solutions.
Participants will discover that global health issues can be staggering in their range and extent. Ten million children die each year; 27,000 a day. We are generally among the 1 billion people in the world who are the healthiest, and not among the 5 billion least healthy. Participants will discover that global health is also about local public health. The Pacific Northwest is home to immigrants, refugees, and migrants; thus issues of global health are not just about other places in the world, they are also about our own communities. Former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, put it this way: “We are all in the same boat. There are no safe islands. There is no dividing line between domestic and international infections. There is no them [in global health], only us.”
This is the third in a series of symposia sponsored by the Wang Center and PLU. It follows “China: Bridges for a New Century,” in 2003, and “Pathways to Peace: Norway’s Approach to Democracy and Development,” in 2005.
For more information contact wangcntr@plu.edu or call 253-535-7577.
Photo: Magnified view of platelets which are clotting blood. Red and white blood cells are also clearly visible.
© 2007-08 Wang Center for International Programs, Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma WA 98447.