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Hub Cymru Africa and Wales and Africa Health Links Network will host the Tony Jewell Annual Lecture online on Thursday 15th December 2022 at 5pm-6pm GMT. The speakers will be Dr Pierre Somse, Minister of Health and Population in the Central African Republic; and Prof Samer Jabbour, Founding Chair of the Global Alliance on War, Conflict, and Health.
Wales and Africa Health Links Network and Hub Cymru Africa are delighted to welcome two such esteemed guests to deliver this year’s lecture on “War, Health and Peace: Africa’s Challenges, Global Action”. The event will take place online as a Zoom Webinar and is free to attend but registration is essential.
Tony Jewell, Former Chief Medical Officer for Wales, said: “Security, which gives freedom from war and the threat of crime and violence, is essential for public health and wellbeing. This is an important global health priority and the distinguished speakers will help us understand better and identify how we can provide solidarity.”
Dr Pierre Somse holds a Doctorate in Medicine from the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Bangui and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Washington, Seattle. He specialises in public health and community medicine.
Before joining the Government of the Central African Republic, he spent most of his career working in the field of HIV and AIDS, for 17 years as a professional with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Dr Somse’s work with UNAIDS includes an assignment as Deputy Regional Director for Southern and Eastern Africa. Previously, he was UNAIDS Country Coordinator (UCC) for Jamaica, responsible for the Bahamas and Belize; UCC in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; UNAIDS Inter-Country Program Advisor for Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles; and Program Development Officer at UNAIDS Headquarters in Geneva.
He has extensive experience in public health, specialising in endemic response, community health and the development of policies and strategies, including in the humanitarian and security contexts. Dr Somse has also worked as an international consultant for WHO, UNICEF, GTZ and OCEAC.
Beth Kidd, Senior Development Support Manager for Hub Cymru Africa, said: “Following the COVID pandemic it is easy to think that the main threats to global health come from disease, but it is important to remember the role that conflict plays and how Global Solidarity is crucial in supporting those affected by it.”
Prof Samer Jabbour pursues a dual path in medicine, as a cardiologist, and in public health, as a professor in the faculty of health sciences at the American University of Beirut (AUB) in Lebanon. At AUB, he has led the Public Health in the Arab World initiative (titular book, Cambridge University Press, 2012) and co-led the Lancet Series “Health in the Arab world: a view from within,” published in 2014.
He previously worked at the World Health Organization’s Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office in Cairo as director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.
Dr Jabbour earned his medical degree from Aleppo University Faculty of Medicine in Syria, and a master’s degree in public health from Harvard School of Public Health. He trained in internal medicine at Evanston Hospital/McGaw Medical Center, Northwestern University, and in cardiology at Lown Cardiovascular Center/Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
He is Co-chair of the Lancet-AUB Commission on Syria.
