Why Global Health Diplomacy Matters: Ambassador Jimmy Kolker on Lessons Learned from Recent Outbreaks
Posted in News Release | Tagged global health
WASHINGTON (Oct. 12, 2017) — Georgetown University’s Center for Global Health Science and Security and the Georgetown University Global Health Initiative welcome Ambassador Jimmy Kolker, former assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Through this seminar, titled “Global Health Diplomacy and Security: Lessons Learned from the Ebola and Zika Outbreaks ,” Kolker will lend a unique perspective about the political actions behind the response to and control of disease outbreaks. He will discuss the importance of global health diplomacy in the response to the 2014 Ebola and 2015 Zika outbreaks, and share what lessons may be applied in the response to future epidemics.
Who:
Ambassador Jimmy Kolker
Former Assistant Secretary for Global Affairs
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
What:
“Global Health Diplomacy and Security: Lessons Learned from the Ebola and Zika Outbreaks”
Why:
Next year marks the centenary of the 1918 Spanish influenza, one of the deadliest outbreaks in human history. Although infectious disease experts believe that, on average, large-scale pandemics occur about once per decade, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of emerging infectious disease outbreaks in the past few decades. Global trends such as increasing globalization, urbanization, population displacement, and intrusion into new environments can promote the likelihood of infectious disease outbreaks, as we have seen with SARS in 2003, H5N1 in 2007, H1N1 in 2009, MERS in 2012, Ebola in 2014, Zika in 2015, and the re-emergence of yellow fever in 2016.
When:
Friday, October 13, 2017
7:30 a.m. — registration and coffee
8:00 – 9:00 a.m. — seminar
Where:
Georgetown University
37th and O Streets, NW
Washington DC
Intercultural Center Executive Conference Room
Media:
Please RSVP with Karen Teber / km463@georgetown.edu
Social Media:
Twitter: @GUMedCenter , @Georgetown_GHSS , @GlobalGtown
Hashtag: #GHSSseminar
About the Center for Global Health Science and Security
The Center for Global Health Science and Security (GHSS) is based at Georgetown University Medical Center. GHSS scientists conduct research to help build sustainable capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies worldwide. Connect with GHSS on Twitter: @georgetown_ghss .
About Georgetown University Medical Center
Georgetown University Medical Center (GUMC) is an internationally recognized academic medical center with a three-part mission of research, teaching and patient care (through MedStar Health). GUMC’s mission is carried out with a strong emphasis on public service and a dedication to the Catholic, Jesuit principle of cura personalis — or “care of the whole person.” The Medical Center includes the School of Medicine and the School of Nursing & Health Studies, both nationally ranked; Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, designated as a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute; and the Biomedical Graduate Research Organization, which accounts for the majority of externally funded research at GUMC including a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health.