Dr Julio Frenk, former Mexcian health minister, is one of the keynote speakers at the 2016 summit of the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH).
WISH, a global intitiatve of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development will hold the summit on November 29 and 30 in Doha.
Dr Frenk’s keynote address will focus on educational innovation in universal health coverage. He will examine the transformative reforms needed to face a vastly changed landscape for professional education in health across the world. He will also review how instructional and institutional innovations can help health professionals meet the needs of populations by fulfilling the requirements of health systems to achieve universal health coverage.
Dr Frenk is a global leader in healthcare and a renowned scholar, holding honorary degrees from six universities. He was appointed president of the University of Miami in 2015 where he is also professor of both Public Health Sciences and Health Sector Management and Policy.
Prior to joining the University of Miami, he was the dean of the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health and the T and G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development, a joint appointment with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
As Mexico’s minister of health from 2000 to 2006, Dr Frenk introduced a programme of comprehensive universal coverage, known as Seguro Popular, which expanded access to healthcare for more than 55mn previously uninsured Mexicans.
“Since its inception, the World Innovation Summit for Health has convened transformational leaders to help promote a healthier world. I am honoured to contribute to this effort by analysing the crucial role of educational innovation in achieving universal health coverage as a sustainable development goal,” said Dr Frenk.
Egbert Schillings, CEO, WISH, said: “Dr Julio Frenk has shaped the global debate on health as both a policymaker and an academic leader, uniquely spanning both worlds with a distinctive voice borne of deep expertise and hard won experience. I have always especially appreciated his commitment to inclusion and bridge-building. This was highlighted in his inaugural address as UM President, when he suggested renaming ‘study abroad’ as ‘study within,’ the opportunity to live inside another culture in ways that both enrich and
transform.”
Dr Frenk holds a medical degree from the National University of Mexico, as well as a Master of Public Health and a joint PhD in Medical Care Organisation and Sociology from the University of Michigan. He has written three best-selling children’s books explaining the functions of the
human body.
In September of 2008, Dr Frenk received the Clinton Global Citizen Award for changing “the way practitioners and policy makers across the world think about health.”