October 20, 2020

Critiques of short-term global health activities, a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon involving multiple stakeholders and intended to contribute to health in LMICs, have led many organizations to offer guidelines and resources for improvement. These efforts have been important, but they have occurred in narrow silos and with no enforcement mechanisms.
Currently, with a suspension of global travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have the opportunity – and the responsibility – to reimagine global health engagement, with emphasis on mutual benefits and bidirectional partnership. The goal of Advocacy for Global Health Partnerships (AGHP) has been to bridge multiple sectors (host countries, academia, faith-based organizations, professional associations, corporations, and NGOs) in promoting this conversation. A statement of principles, the Brocher Declaration, has gained important endorsements and is intended as a tool for guiding organizations as they rethink their programs with the aim of achieving greater impact.

This webinar addresses efforts to rethink short-term global health programs in light of the ethical, legal, and policy challenges identified.

SPEAKERS

Peter Donkor, BDS, MS, MDSc was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology in January 2011. He is a Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Honorary Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeon at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi. He is qualified in both Maxillofacial Surgery and Public Health.  His area of clinical expertise is head and neck and craniomaxillofacial surgery.

Shailey Prasad, MD, MPH is the Executive Director & Carlson Chair of Global Health at the Center for Global Health and Social Responsibility, and a Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Prasad has extensive experience working in underserved areas around the world, from forest tribes in southern India to rural Mississippi and other parts of the world, advocating that health is critical to overall development of an area. He has been part of research teams in health services research and rural health and is actively involved in developing primary care in various parts of the world.

Virginia Rowthorn, JD, LLM is Assistant VP for Global Engagement at University of Maryland Baltimore. She is also Program Director of the Global Health Innovation Program in Costa Rica through the UMB Graduate School.  Rowthorn is on the Board of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) and presents frequently on legal and ethical issues in global health.  She holds a JD from Maryland Carey Law and an LLM in Global Health Law from Georgetown Law.

Judith Lasker, MA, PhD is Professor Emerita of Sociology and Health Medicine and Society at Lehigh University in Bethlehem PA, USA and author of Hoping to Help; The Promises and Pitfalls of Global Health Volunteering (Cornell U. Press). Her book and related articles examine the impact on host communities and on volunteers of short-term international programs and offer research-based recommendations for making programs more effective. Lasker earned her MA and Ph.D. in sociology at Harvard and is co-founder of Advocacy for Global Health Partnerships. 

MODERATOR

Dr. Keith Martin
Executive Director, Consortium of Universities for Global Health