A webinar hosted by the United Nations Association of New York
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan
World Health Organization
Chief Scientist
Dr. Bruce Aylward
World Health Organization
Senior Advisor to the Director-General & Head, ACT-Accelerator Hub
Stewart Simonson (Moderator)
World Health Organization
Assistant Director-General, UN New York Office
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NOTE: due to unforeseen circumstances, this event will be rescheduled at a future date.
Join us for a virtual interactive event on 16 March 2022 from 1:00–2:00 pm EST, with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), when they will survey the latest information as well as elaborate on the following issues.
Our guest speakers will offer their outlook on the current COVID-19 situation and highlight some upcoming trends. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the WHO, will provide an update on the global pandemic and highlight how science can contribute to a better future. Also, Dr. Bruce Aylward, Senior Advisor to the Director-General and Lead of the ACT Accelerator Executive Hub at the WHO, will discuss “The ACT-Accelerator: a pathway to equity and ending the pandemic” — how a transformed WHO, and partners, drove the fastest, most coordinated and successful global effort in history to develop tools to fight a disease. The discussion will be moderated by Stewart Simonson, Assistant Director-General at WHO’s New York UN office.
Among other issues covered will be: how is WHO helping to fight COVID-19 and why do we need WHO, and why should we be concerned about global vaccine inequity. The discussion will also look at unequal distribution of vaccines, treatments and tests around the globe, contributing to the emergence of new COVID variants, which could also undermine the global economic recovery.
Be sure to attend and find out how you can engage as well as support the COVID-19 response.
Guest Speakers
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan was appointed WHO’s first Chief Scientist in March 2019. A paediatrician from India and a globally recognized researcher on tuberculosis and HIV, she brings with her 30 years of experience in clinical care and research and has worked throughout her career to translate research into impactful programmes. Dr. Swaminathan was Secretary to the Government of India for Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research from 2015 to 2017. In that position, she focused on bringing science and evidence into health policy making, building research capacity in Indian medical schools and forging south-south partnerships in health sciences. From 2009 to 2011, she also served as Coordinator of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases in Geneva.
She received her academic training in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and has published more than 350 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. She is an elected Foreign Fellow of the US National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of all three science academies in India. The Science division’s role is to ensure that WHO stays ahead of the curve and leverages advances in science and technology for public health and clinical care, as well as ensuring that the norms, standards and guidelines produced by WHO are scientifically excellent, relevant and timely. Her vision is to ensure that WHO is at the cutting edge of science and is able to translate new knowledge into meaningful impact on population health worldwide.
Dr. Bruce Aylward
In February 2020, Dr. Aylward was requested by the Director-General to lead the WHO-China Joint Mission on Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
From August 2016 through August 2017, Dr. Aylward worked with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), initially leading the inter-agency process that resulted in the first-ever system-wide activation procedures for major infectious disease emergencies, then establishing and leading OCHA’s Change Management Unit. In that role he took forward a wide-ranging functional review of OCHA to optimize its role, functions, structure and processes for the challenges of the 21st century.
From December 2015 through July 2016, Dr. Aylward led the design and implementation of far-reaching reforms of WHO's work in emergencies, culminating in the launch of a new WHO Health Emergencies Programme. During this period he also led WHO’s response to a wide range of humanitarian and infectious disease emergencies, including the global response to Zika virus.
From September 2014 through July 2016 Dr. Aylward served as Special Representative of the Director-General for the Ebola Response, directing WHO's 2000+ person response to the West Africa outbreak and providing strategic and technical leadership to the United Nations Emergency Ebola Response (UNMEER). Between the early 1990s and 2014, Dr Aylward served WHO in a variety of leadership positions in the areas of emergencies, disease eradication and vaccines and immunization.
Stewart Simonson
Stewart Simonson, from the United States of America, was most recently Assistant Director-General for General Management at the New York UN Office of the WHO. He brings more than 20 years of experience in corporate governance, risk management and administration that spans across the government, nongovernmental and private sectors. His past roles include serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel to the Futures Group Global LLC, and most recently, as Legal Advisor for the Crudem Foundation, where he functioned as legal counsel to the foundation and technical advisor to its partner hospital in Haiti.
From 2001 to 2006, he served in the United States Department of Health and Human Services in different capacities, including as Assistant Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness. In this role, he served as the Secretary’s principal advisor on matters related to bioterrorism and other public health emergencies and coordinated the development of the United States government’s position on the revision of the International Health Regulations. He has degrees in law and political science.