News & Events

As part of its newly-launched “The Future of Health” conversation series, the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine-William H. Quasha Memorial, through its new Planetary and Global Health Program, will be holding the seventh episode entitled “The Future of Health in ASEAN” on August 11, 2021, Wednesday, 4:00-5:30 pm Manila time.

This episode is mainly co-presented with the University of Asia and the Pacific School of Law and Governance in commemoration of ASEAN Day this August.

Once described as a “microcosm of global health,” Southeast Asia is a unique region that covers a wide diversity of countries in terms of level of economic development, political dynamics, and cultural and religious backgrounds. Its countries – which belong to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) – also vary greatly in terms of disease burden, health drivers, and health system design. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the region is already affected by myriad challenges such as poverty, inequalities in healthcare access, perennial threat of infectious disease as well as the rise in chronic noncommunicable diseases. The pandemic has exacerbated many of these longstanding problems but also exposed gaps and lessons in relation to domestic response and regional coordination. Will ASEAN take advantage of the “COVID moment” to strengthen health systems and improve population health for more than 650 million people?

This new series, which adopts an innovative conversation format, convenes health leaders from the Philippines and abroad to not only examine the current health situation but also envision the future of health in the post-coronavirus era, with the hope of advancing health policy discourse in the Philippines and globally through a futures-oriented discussion.

For this webinar, leaders from health and other sectors will share their diagnosis as well as their prognosis of health issues in the ASEAN region. Panelists include:

• Mr. Jose Antonio Mapa, Assistant Vice President for Healthcare Business Development, Unilab, Inc.
• Ms. Amina Mahmood Islam, Deputy Director, SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute
• Prof. Robin Michael Garcia, Assistant Professor, School of Law and Governance, University of Asia and the Pacific
• Dr. Arin Dutta, Senior Health Specialist, Asian Development Bank
• Dr. Joel Buenaventura, Bureau of International Health Cooperation, Department of Health, Philippines
• Prof. Judith Mackay, Director, Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control and Special Advisor, Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control

The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Renzo Guinto, Associate Professor of the Practice of Global Public Health and Inaugural Director of the Planetary and Global Health Program of the St. Luke’s Medical Center College of Medicine-William H. Quasha Memorial.

The event is open to the public. Register at http://bit.ly/stlukeshealthinasean.

The webinar series is also co-presented by the following organizations: Department of Health; Rappler; Harvard Club of the Philippines; Zuellig Family Foundation; Development Academy of the Philippines Graduate School of Public and Development Management; Management Association of the Philippines; Philippine Futures Thinking Society; Philippine Society for Public Health Physicians; Philippine Alliance of Patient Organizations; Center for Engaged Foresight; Health Justice; PH Lab; Likhaan Center for Women’s Health Inc.; Asian Center for Drug Policy; Health Care Without Harm; Civika Asian Development Academy; Southeast Asia Climate and Health Alliance; Healthy Philippines Alliance; and Asian Medical Students Association-Philippines.