Crisis and care: context-driven health solutions for displaced populations

Image courtesy of GHESKIO

At a time of critical and urgent humanitarian crises for migrants and displaced persons, exacerbated by recent global events, this symposium, co-organized by Mérieux Foundation USA and the Milken Institute School of Public Health, explored the health challenges and programs for displaced people in the context of global migration and its trends. The event provided a ground-level perspective and discussed successful models to address their needs in situations of conflict and crisis.

Program

Welcome

• Dr. Lynn Goldman, Dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health

Introduction

• Dr. Jon Andrus, Mérieux Foundation USA Board member, Adjunct Professor, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and former Deputy Director of PAHO

Keynote

Migration and the health of migrants and displaced people: A global overview

• Prof. Karl Blanchet, Director of the Geneva Centre of Humanitarian Studies, and Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Co-Chair of the Lancet Migration European Region Hub, and Co-Chair of the CHH-Lancet Commission on Health, Conflict and Forced Displacement

A ground-level perspective on the crisis in Lebanon

• Dr. Josette Najjar-Pellet, Middle East Regional Manager & Lebanon Representative, Mérieux Foundation

Round Table 1

Displaced people and related health challenges

Moderated by  Dr. Kevin De Cock, former Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Center for Global Health and CDC program in Kenya, Mérieux Foundation USA Board member

Featured panelists:

• Dr. Yoran Grant-Greene, Director, Caribbean and Central America Regional Office (CCAMRO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
• Dr. Lior Miller, Director, Health Policy, International Rescue Committee
• Dr. Jean William Pape, co-founder and director of GHESKIO in Haiti; Howard and Carol Holtzmann Professor of Clinical Medicine, Center for Global Health, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York

Round Table 2

How health systems are adapting

Moderated by  Dr. David Heymann, Chairman of Mérieux Foundation USA and professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Featured panelists:

• Dr. Jon Andrus, Mérieux Foundation USA Board member, Adjunct Professor, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and former Deputy Director of PAHO
• Dr. Ramin Asgary, Professor of Global Health and Director of Humanitarian Health MPH, Milken Institute School of Public Health
• Dr. Stephen Morrison, Senior Vice President and Director, Global Health Policy Center, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
• Dr. Josette Najjar-Pellet, Middle East Regional Manager & Lebanon Representative, Mérieux Foundation

Special remarks

• Nidhi Bouri, MPH, Deputy Assistant Administrator for Global Health, USAID

Conclusion

• Dr. Jon Andrus, Mérieux Foundation USA Board member, Adjunct Professor, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and former Deputy Director of PAHO