Recorded on April 14, 2021.
Reforming the Global Public Health Regime: Asian Perspectives
About the event:
The human and economic toll of COVID-19 has focused attention like never before on the inadequacies of the global health regime. Nations, multinational organizations, and global finance may be receptive to proposals to take public health more seriously. Asia has arguably enjoyed more success than any other region of the world in controlling the pandemic. Our panel of experts from Asia will share their ideas about how the world community should harness the emergency to improve the way global public health programs are organized and funded, both to address longstanding problems of health inequality and insecurity and prepare for future pandemics.
In partnership with Centre for International Law - National University of Singapore
Further reading:
COVID-19 shows why united action is needed for more robust international health architecture by the World Health Organization
About the speakers:
Dr. Satoshi Ezoe has worked in Japan’s public health and global health arena for decades. Currently, he serves as director of, Global Health Policy Division, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs since August 2020. Previously he was counselor of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (2017-2020), where he was instrumental in facilitating UN General Assembly High-Level Meetings on tuberculosis and universal health coverage. He was the first appointed senior coordinator for global health (2015-2017), where he was involved in the WHO emergency reform, coordinating health agendas for the G7 Iseshima Summit in 2016. He started his career at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan in 2002 and since has worked on various issues as a medical officer and a global health coordinator. In 2009–2012, he was seconded to UNAIDS headquarters in Geneva. Dr. Ezoe holds a Ph.D. in public health from Juntendo University, an MD from National Saga Medical School, and an MPA/MPH in Global Health from Harvard Kennedy School.
Jeremy Lim is the director of the Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation (LIGHT) at the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. He also is co-founder and CEO of AMiLi, the first dedicated gut microbiome full-service company in Southeast Asia. Jeremy has a special interest in ways that technology can increase health equity and access to care. He advises a number of health technology companies and programs in the region and globally. He also serves on the boards of/advises various charities and social enterprises, including HealthServe, Dover Park Hospice, and SNTC. Jeremy has worked in executive roles in both public and private sectors, including as a senior official in Singapore’s Ministry of Health. Prior to AMiLi, he was a founding partner of global consultancy Oliver Wyman’s Asia health and life sciences practice (2013). Jeremy is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh) and holds a master's of medicine (NUS) and master's of public health (Johns Hopkins).
Wang Chenguang is a member of China’s National Expert Committee of COVID-19, executive vice chairman of the Chinese Society of Health Law, and a professor of law at Tsinghua University, where he was the founding director of the Health Research Center. He has served as dean of the Tsinghua University School of Law. Professor Wang holds a BA in literature from Peking University, an LL.M and JSD from Peking University, and an LL.M from Harvard University.
About the Discussants:
Dr. Ayelet Berman is lead, Global Health & Governance and senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Centre for International Law (CIL). She is also adjunct assistant professor at the NUS Faculty of Law. She is co-chair of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) International Organizations Interest Group. Her work focuses on the fields of global regulation and governance, global health law and international investment law. Prior to entering academia she practiced international trade law at Sidley Austin LLP. She holds a Ph.D. in international law, a D.E.A. in International Law/Political Science (Graduate Institute/University of Geneva) and an L.L.B (Hebrew University of Jerusalem).
Gian Luca Burci is an adjunct professor of international law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, director of the joint LL.M on Global Health Law and Governance between the Graduate Institute and Georgetown Law School, and visiting professor at the O’Neill Center on National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University School of Law. Professor Burci served in the Legal Office of the World Health Organization from 1998 to 2016 and was its legal counsel from 2005 to 2016. He previously worked in the Department of International Cooperation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Office of the Legal Counsel of the United Nations, where he was designated focal point for UN economic sanctions. During his service in WHO, he was involved in the negotiation and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the revision and implementation of the International Health Regulations, WHO’s the response to the 2009-2010 H1N1 influenza pandemic, and the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak as well as the institutional aspects of WHO reform. Professor Burci holds a post-graduate degree in law from the University of Genova, Italy.
About the moderator:
José Alvarez is the Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law at New York University School of Law. Before coming to NYU, he was the Hamilton Fish Professor of International Law and Diplomacy and the executive director of the Center on Global Legal Problems at Columbia Law School, a professor of law at the University of Michigan Law School, an associate professor at the George Washington University’s National Law Center, and an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law Center. At NYU, he teaches courses on international law, foreign investment, and international organizations. He served as president of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) from 2006-2008 and was the immediate prior co-editor-in-chief, along with his NYU colleague, Benedict Kingsbury, of the American Journal of International Law. His lectures on “The Public International Law Regime Governing International Investment” at the Hague Academy of International Law were published as a pocketbook in 2011. His other books are a collection of essays, co-edited with others, entitled The Evolving International Investment Regime (OUP 2011) and International Organizations as Law-Makers (OUP 2005). He has published over 100 articles and book chapters.