FP Health Forum @ UNGA78

In a career spanning over three decades, Dr. Natalia Kanem has dedicated her life to improving the health and lives of women and children by championing their rights and choices. She leverages her combined expertise in science, public health and philanthropy to advance the reproductive health and rights of women and girls, and to uphold the human dignity of all. As United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, Dr. Kanem oversees its life-saving policy, development and humanitarian work in over 120 countries, with the aim of assuring that ‘every pregnancy is intended, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.’

Dr. Angeli Achrekar is the Deputy Executive Director of Programmes at the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and an Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations. Prior to joining UNAIDS in January 2023, Dr Achrekar served as the Principal Deputy U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and led the program through the COVID time period. Over the past 20 years with the U.S. government and PEPFAR – at the State Department and CDC, she has held prominent positions helping to lead the largest global health effort of the U.S. government to ensure life-saving HIV prevention and treatment services to millions of people around the globe and strengthen health and community systems across 50 countries. She is a passionate public servant, dedicated to advancing global health and development, across sectors, especially for women and girls. Over the years, she has helped evolve the program for more person-centered care, protecting and increasing HIV/AIDS gains while also capacitating countries for broader healthcare delivery. Her deep program, policy and partnership development experience at the global and country levels has cultivated strong multi-sectoral partnerships for large-scale and transformational impact, fundamental to ending the AIDS pandemic. She holds a Doctorate of Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Master of Public Health from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Allison Carlson is the Executive Vice President of FP Analytics & Events at Foreign Policy. She oversees FPA’s cross-cutting research at the intersection of policy, technology, and global markets as well as Foreign Policy’s global dialogues and convenings. Prior to these roles, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for more than a decade, evaluating evolving climate and emissions policies and identifying opportunities for advanced technology deployment internationally. Before joining FP, she led the Latin America program for a boutique consulting firm assisting European companies on investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. Carlson has presented her work at a variety of international conferences and before the U.S. Senate. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, where she received a master’s degree in international relations and international economics.

Nathaniel Z Counts, JD serves as the Senior Policy Advisor for Mental Health to the Commissioner of Health for the City of New York, where he advises on innovative financing, policy, and research strategies for achieving the City’s mental health goals. He currently also serves as the Senior Fellow in Behavioral Health Policy at the Commonwealth Fund and as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Previously, he was the Senior Vice President of Behavioral Health Innovation for Mental Health America (MHA), the nation’s leading community-based mental health advocacy organization. Nathaniel's thought leadership and research has been published in journals such as JAMA Pediatrics, Lancet Psychiatry, and Pediatrics. Nathaniel received his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was a Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy Student Fellow, and his B.A. in biology from Johns Hopkins.

Katie Dain is Chief Executive Officer of the NCD Alliance, a global network of civil society organisations dedicated to transforming the fight against non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Katie has worked with the NCD Alliance since its founding in 2009. Katie is widely recognised as a leading advocate and expert on NCDs. Katie co-chairs the WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs, and has served as a commissioner on the WHO Independent HighLevel Commission on NCDs, The Lancet Commission on NCDIs of the Poorest Billion, The Lancet Commission on Global Oral Health, and The Rockefeller-Boston University Commission on Health Determinants, Data and Decision-making (3-D Commission). Katie is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Coalition for Access to NCD Medicines and Products. Her experience covers a range of sustainable development issues, including global health, gender equality and women’s empowerment, violence against women, and women’s health. Before joining the NCD Alliance, she held a series of policy and advocacy posts in international NGOs and government, including the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) in Brussels, leading their global policy and advocacy programme; the UK Government as a gender policy adviser; Womankind Worldwide, a women’s rights organisation; and the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), a HIV and sexual health charity. She has a BA in History from Sheffield University, and a Master’s degree in Violence, Conflict and International Development from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.

Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership is a Romanian physician, accomplished professional and leader in the global fight against tuberculosis (TB) and other communicable diseases. Dr. Ditiu is driven by the firm belief that we should "leave no one behind" and is one of the strongest advocates within the international community in the fight against tuberculosis. A firm believer in innovation, flexibility, change, breaking the rules and thinking out of the box, Dr. Ditiu is dedicated to driving political commitment and engagement to accelerate the efforts to End TB.

As Chief Medical Officer, Cigna Healthcare group - International Health, Stella leverages her more than 24 years of experience in the global health insurance industry to oversee the design, development and implementation of clinical and well-being programs to improve the health and vitality of customers. Previously as the Head of Health Services, Aetna One Advocate at CVS Health, Stella held operational responsibilities for Precertification, Utilization Management, Quality and Extended Clinical Services team for the premier clinical program. Prior to holding this role, Stella served as the Head of Care Management Americas for Aetna International, providing oversight for end-to-end care management activities. Stella has practiced medicine in India and is a trained Leprologist. As Project Medical Officer for Alert–India, she was involved in the National Leprosy Eradication program in Greater Mumbai, India. Stella is passionate about health and wellness. She believes in preventative care and is fascinated by the impact of body mind connection on whole health and well-being. Stella volunteers with the Art of Living Foundation and the International Association of Human values. She is a volunteer teacher facilitating meditation and yoga-based techniques for stress management in the community and in correctional facilities in Connecticut. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) and a Diploma in Public Health (DPH) from the University of Mumbai, India. She has her Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Strathclyde, UK.

Anurag Hans is the Head of Mission at EssilorLuxottica, the global leader in the vision care and eyewear  space. He is in-charge of embedding EssilorLuxottica’s powerful Mission, to help everyone, everywhere  in the word ‘See more and Be more’, in the company’s day-to-day operations. In addition to driving  actions that unite all EssilorLuxottica employees and external stakeholders around the company’s Mission, Anurag also leads the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, the largest foundation in the  vision care space that is working to realize the company’s ambition to Eliminate Poor Vision in a  generation and bring vision care to the 2.7 Bn people who currently suffer from uncorrected poor  vision due to a lack of awareness and access. Under his leadership, the group has created sustainable  access to vision care for over 600 Million people in underserved regions and provided glasses to more  than 58 Million people.  Before his current role, Anurag has led the market development, advocacy, strategy, innovation,  product management, marketing and supply chain functions for all of EssilorLuxottica’s actions aimed  at Eliminating Poor Vision. Anurag has also managed EssilorLuxottica’s €49 Million social impact fund,  Vision for Life, which has funded interventions and programs that bring vision care to the underserved.  Anurag has close to two decades of diversified experience across healthcare devices, consumer  products, strategy consulting and policy advisory. Before joining EssilorLuxottica, Anurag was a senior  member of a high-level policy think tank in Malaysia, exclusively advising the Prime Minister and the  cabinet of Malaysia on national strategy, focusing on sustainable community development and  building the national social innovation & entrepreneurship ecosystem.  Before his Malaysia stint, Anurag has worked with companies such as PepsiCo, Ernst & Young and ITC  Limited across a range of business management and strategy roles.  Anurag holds an MBA from INSEAD France, a Masters degree in Marketing from the Indian Institute of  Management (IIM), Bangalore and an Engineering degree in Instrumentation & Control Systems from  Delhi Institute of Technology. He has worked and lived in 5 countries.   Outside of work, Anurag is passionate about music and sports. He is a PTR-certified tennis instructor and an NRTP 5.0 tennis player. He currently lives in Singapore with his wife and two sons, who dream  all day about becoming professional soccer players and/or professional musicians.

Dévora Kestel is a senior mental health policy specialist with more than twenty five years of international experience in Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, implementing and advising governments on national policies related to mental health systems. She is a strong advocate for the rights of people with mental health issues. Ms Kestel obtained her MSc in Psychology from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, in Argentina and her MSc in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. After completing her university studies in Argentina she worked for 10 years in the development and supervision of community-based mental health services in Trieste, Italy. In 2000 she joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as a mental health officer first in Kosovo and then in Albania where she became the WHO Representative to Albania. In both countries, she worked closely with the Ministries of Health to help establish comprehensive community-based mental health systems. In 2007 Ms Kestel joined the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) as the Sub-regional Mental Health Advisor for the English Speaking Caribbean Countries, based in Barbados. In 2011 Ms. Kestel was appointed to the position of the Regional Mental Health Advisor, at the headquarters in Washington DC, providing technical cooperation in the mental health field to the entire region. In 2015 she became the Unit Chief for Mental Health and Substance Use at PAHO/WHO. Over the years, Ms. Kestel has contributed to and co-authored publications in the area of mental health. Since 2019 Ms Kestel is the WHO Director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Use.  

Maggie Lake is a veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering business, technology, politics, and international affairs. She started her career at Reuters, where she worked in both the New York and London bureaus covering economics and global finance. In 2001, she joined CNN International, where she served as a correspondent and anchor for the network’s flagship business shows. Over the course of her career, she has interviewed the world’s top CEOs, celebrities, and politicians and has been a consistent champion of economic inclusion and sustainable development. She has served as a weekly contributor for NPR and moderated events for the United Nations, World Bank, Council on Foreign Relations, and Global Citizen. She now runs the communications consultancy Maggie Lake Media and is a founding board member of the newly created Rutgers University Center for Women in Business.

Amelia Lester is the executive editor at Foreign Policy. She has worked as a journalist on three continents, most recently reporting in Japan for publications including the Economist, the New York Times, and the New York Review of Books. Previously, she was editor in chief of the weekend magazine of the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age newspapers and, before that, managing editor and an executive editor of the New Yorker. Amelia lives in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of Harvard University.

Dr Ciku (Wanjiku) Mathenge is a highly trained senior consultant ophthalmologist with subspecialty training in medical retina and community ophthalmology. She is a Kenyan by Nationality but now lives in Rwanda permanently. She has a legacy of successfully transforming a public eye clinic in Nakuru Kenya into one of the best run facilities in the country making it a center of innovation in both clinical care and research. She is a Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Rwanda.   She was the first certified trainer for Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness (RAAB) survey methodology in Africa. She also designed and set up the East African Eye Care program for the Fred Hollows Foundation which she supported for 15 years as Medical Advisor for Africa before joining Orbis International in the same role. She worked as a lead consultant with WHO AFRO Regional office to develop a package of eye care interventions for primary level health workers. She also led in the development of a primary eye care curriculum for Rwanda. As a trainer she has trained several ophthalmologists in the region in microsurgery including small incision cataract surgery. She was the Head of Department of Ophthalmology at the Kigali Health Institute before joining Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, a Centre of excellence in Eye Care for East and Central Africa. She is a Director and Co-Founder of the Rwanda International Institute of Ophthalmology (RIIO) an eye care not for profit organization that provides training, research and community services in the region. RIIO recently conducted a National survey of blindness in Rwanda and runs the first ophthalmology residency training in Rwanda accredited by COECSA.   Ciku is an Honorary Senior Lecturer of the University of Cape Town. She has published extensively with one of the most cited publications being the only population based study on age related macular degeneration in Africans. She regularly reviews articles in several peer reviewed ophthalmic journals. Ciku served on the Advisory panel of the International Council of Ophthalmology(ICO) for 4 years and is currently the only African serving as a member of the ICO Board of Trustees.  

Dr Magda Robalo is the President and co-founder of The Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD). She is a public health physician with a career of over 30 years in the global health ecosystem. A former Minister of Health of Guinea-Bissau, she led the COVID-19 response in Guinea-Bissau as the High Commissioner of the Presidential Task Force. She embodies a unique blend of a talented and experienced public health expert with seasoned leadership, diplomacy, and fine political skills. She is the Vice Chair of the Ethics and Governance Committee and Alternate Board Member of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria for West and Central Africa. She was Director of Communicable Diseases, WHO Representative to Namibia and Ghana, Malaria Regional Advisor among other senior positions throughout her two decades long career with the World Health Organization Africa Region. She has solid experience in leading large and diverse teams, organizational development, financial management, diplomacy, and advocacy. A leading voice for gender equality and equity, she stands for equitable access to quality health care for all and social justice.

Professor Padmashree Gehl Sampath is the i.Chief Executive Officer of the African Pharmaceutical  Technology Foundation, a new pan African institution dealing with technology issues, in Kigali,  Rwanda. She is also the Senior Advisor on Pharmaceuticals and Health to the President, of the African  Development Bank. Until recently, she was with the Berkman Klein Center, Harvard University, where  she served as Director of the Global Access in Action Program since November 2021, and previously  Senior Advisor from February 2017.  Professor Gehl Sampath is a well-respected thought leader in the field of development studies and global  health, working on current challenges predominantly from a trade, technology and industrialization  perspective. She is one of the original thinkers on new paradigms for international technology  transactions that can better secure global public goods; with a focus on pharmaceuticals and  health given the sector’s high global relevance. Her work in this area spans over two decades,  focusing on understanding questions of access to technology and know-how, and how its  absence impacts local production and by extension, the availability of drugs, vaccines and  therapeutics at the firm, ecosystem, country, and the regional level, and stymies health care  responses. She has served as the Senior Scientific Advisor to the Africa Centres for Disease  Control (Africa CDC), leading the work on a market shaping and pooled procurement system  for Africa at the AU level. Since 2021, she has also advised the German International Agency  (GIZ) and the German Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) on  accelerating vaccine production in Africa; worked with the African Development Bank Group  on the Bank’s Pharma Sector Strategy for Africa, and served as the Chairperson of the  Technical Advisory Group of the COVID-19 Technology Access Pool (CTAP) of the World  Health Organisation contributing with her expertise on technology transfer and technology  licensing. She is an Honorary Professor at the University of Rwanda, and a Visiting Professor  at the University of Johannesburg, where she leads a large regional programme focused on  building regional centres’ of excellence for vaccine production in Africa. She is also a member  of the Trade and Industrial Development Advisory Council of the African Continental Free  Trade Area.   Previously, she worked for several years at the United Nations leading the work on various topics in  technology, innovation, industrialization, and development between 2009 and 2016, and has also served  as Head of the Policy at the International Renewable Energy Agency. She was also an Adjunct Professor  on Innovation at the University of Denmark from 2016-2021. Padmashree is also a Professorial Fellow  at the United Nations University, MERIT, Maastricht, where she served as a Research Fellow between  2001 and 2007.  Born and educated in India, Germany and the USA, she has been a visiting fellow at the  University of Oxford (UK), and University of Berkeley (California) during her education. Her  academic background is in engineering, economics, and the law. Padmashree serves on the  Editorial Board of the Journal of Competition and Change, is the author of six books, and her  research has appeared in prestigious journals including the Michigan Journal of International  Law, Harvard International Review, and Harvard Public Health Review. She currently has  two more books in the pipeline, one that directly looks at global governance for health in a  post-pandemic world.

Erika Satterwhite is Head of Global Policy at Viatris, a global healthcare company with a mission to empower people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life. Erika serves on the Boards of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and the AMR Industry Alliance, and Chairs the International External Engagement Committee of the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association (IGBA). Prior to joining Viatris in November 2020, Erika led Global Policy for Mylan, a leading global generic and specialty medicines manufacturer, and spent the previous decade with Mylan in policy roles in Washington D.C. and Brussels, Belgium.

Trained as a physician and development economist, Dr. Neil Buddy Shah is an award-winning social entrepreneur, CEO, and global health funder who is passionate about making global health efforts as impactful as possible.  Dr. Shah is the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), a global health organization committed to saving lives and reducing the burden of disease in low-and middle-income countries by strengthening the capabilities of governments and the private sector to create and sustain high-quality health systems.   Prior to CHAI, Dr. Shah was the managing director of GiveWell, a research and funding organization that directs hundreds of millions of dollars per year to programs in global health and development. Dr. Shah was previously co-founder, CEO and now Board Chair of IDinsight, a global development data analytics and advisory firm with offices across Africa, Asia, and the US. Dr. Shah worked previously at the World Bank and MIT’s Jameel Poverty Action Lab.  He holds an AB in economics from Harvard, an MD with special distinction in global health policy from Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and an MPA in International Development from Harvard Kennedy School.  Dr. Shah serves on the Boards of the Institute to End Mass Incarceration at Harvard Law School; Educate Girls; Giving Green; and IDinsight. He is a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, has served as guest faculty at Harvard Kennedy School and Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. He has lived and worked in India, Cambodia, Uganda, and the United States.

Andrew Sollinger is the publisher and CEO of Foreign Policy, which he joined in 2018. Previously, he was executive vice president at Business Insider, executive director of Capital New York (now Politico NY) and managing director of the Financial Times Americas. Sollinger was part of the executive team that built Money-Media, a digital news startup focused on the fund management industry, and sold it to the FT. A former reporter and editor for Institutional Investor magazine's newsletter division, Andrew has lived in London, Hong Kong and New York. He is a graduate of Clark University, where he was executive editor of The Scarlet.

Arjan Toor is the CEO of Cigna Europe. He has held this position since January 2020. Arjan joined Cigna in 2011 as Director of Customer Strategy and Products in Hong Kong and held various other positions including Chief Marketing Officer for International Health before assuming the Managing Director position for Global Individual
Health out of the UK in 2015. Arjan is responsible for the overall management, growth and profitability of Cigna’s operations in the UK and all markets across Continental Europe. He leads this combined structure, which spans International Organisations (IGO’s and NGO’s) and governments, European employers and globally mobile individuals.

Professor Miranda Wolpert is Director of Mental Health at Wellcome. Her mission is to bring about a step change in early intervention for anxiety, depression and psychosis. Her role is to find and fund science and collaborate with policy makers, to advance this mission. Her target is that by 2032 there should be at least one new pharmacological intervention, one new non-pharmacological intervention and one new digital intervention available and in use. Her background is as a clinician, academic, service developer and policy advisor.