The 2010 GlobeMed Global Health Summit began Thursday, marking the start of a three-day conference to strengthen a national movement for global health equity.
The theme of Northwestern’s fourth annual summit is “Ubuntu and Social Justice.” The recent earthquake in Haiti has rallied GlobeMed students across the country to help the victims and opened debate about critical global health issues, Jennifer Lien said.
“The earthquake in Haiti has allowed for a lot of different discussions and has mobilized our network,” the SESP junior said. “Haiti is a strong motivator, and we have been able to use this energy to really discuss these key issues and critical global health issues that we talk about.”
The goal of the summit is to motivate students and educate them, and strengthen chapters nationwide, Summit Coordinator Peter Luckow said.
“We want to educate and train the students in global health issues and skills necessary for global health leadership,” the Weinberg senior said.
The summit, which will feature two dozen speakers, hosts more than 150 students from 19 colleges and universities, including Middlebury College, University of Colorado at Boulder and Columbia University. Luckow said the summit aims to strengthen the network of students and foster “a tightly knit community.”
“These students are all working to achieve very similar objectives on their campuses all across the country throughout the year,” he said. “(The summit) builds a very powerful community which allows students to return to their campus with a broader sense of what we’re trying to accomplish with GlobeMed.”
The summit offers “tracks,” groupings of workshops on specific global health issues and workshops to aid in global health equity leadership. Mental health issues are a new topic this year, Lien said.
“Mental health is very stigmatized, and it’s not considered a top priority like treating TB or treating HIV/AIDS,” she said. “The fact that mental health and HIV/AIDS and food and nutrition are all being offered on the same playing field and that we’re not prioritizing issues is really exciting … Someone suffering from postwar trauma, like a former child soldier in Uganda, his mental health is equally as important as someone who is on a hospital bed with HIV/AIDS.”
Dr. Paul Farmer will deliver the summit’s keynote address Friday evening in Cahn Auditorium.
Farmer is widely known as the leader in global health, said Tracy Fuad, the public relations director for the summit. Students will have the opportunity to personally meet Farmer at a dinner and reception following his address, she said.
“It’s an unparalleled opportunity,” the Weinberg junior said.
Lien, who is taking Winter Quarter off to work full-time as director of campaigns for GlobeMed, said she hopes students will be inspired and motivated by Farmer’s speech, entitled “Reflections from Haiti.”
GlobeMed members began planning for the summit this past summer, Luckow said. He said GlobeMed members have tried to invite Farmer for the past three years and are excited for the keynote address.
“Farmer is like the rock star of the global health world,” Lien said. “If you had to know one name in the global health world, it’s Paul Farmer.”[email protected]
