A Crisis Compounded: How the Global Pandemic is Creating Greater Humanitarian Challenges

LIVE VIRTUAL EVENT 11 – 12 pm ET

The global pandemic has wreaked havoc in every corner of the globe. The economic shut down has caused millions of people to become unemployed exacerbating the inequalities of individuals, families, and communities. Conflicts, and natural and man-made disasters are compounding the impact of the pandemic causing ever-greater humanitarian crises. Join us for a discussion with leading experts on how the pandemic is creating greater humanitarian challenges widening the gap of health disparities and health outcomes among vulnerable and at-risk populations.

Watch the event

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Featured Panelists

Rt Hon David Miliband
President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee

Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH
Director, François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights and FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights

Subramaniam Sathasivam
Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow (Fall 2021)
Member of Parliament in the Malaysian House of Representatives from 2004 to 2018.
Malaysian Minister of Health from 2013 to 2018.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government from 2004 to 2008.
Minister of Human Resources of Malaysia from 2008 to 2013.

Moderator Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH
Harvey V. Fineberg of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health | Harvard Kennedy School

Alumni moderator Natalie Meyers SM ’13
Global Advocacy and Africa Programs Director, ReSurge International

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Harvard Chan Frontiers: Conquering Epidemics, Cultivating Well Being and Nutrition
Learn more about the Frontiers here. 

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About the speakers

Rt Hon David Miliband
President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee

David Miliband is the President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. He oversees the agency’s relief and development operations in over 30 countries, its refugee resettlement and assistance programs throughout the United States and the IRC’s advocacy efforts in Washington and other capitals on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable people.

David has had a distinguished political career in the United Kingdom. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the youngest Foreign Secretary in three decades, driving advancements in human rights and representing the United Kingdom throughout the world. His accomplishments have earned him a reputation, in former President Bill Clinton’s words, as “one of the ablest, most creative public servants of our time.” In 2016 David was named one of the World’s Greatest Leaders by Fortune Magazine and in 2018 he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

David is also the author of the book, Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time. As the son of refugees, David brings a personal commitment to the IRC’s work and to the premise of the book: that we can rescue the dignity and hopes of refugees and displaced people. And if we help them, in the process we will rescue our own values.

Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH
Director, François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights and FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights

With more than 30 years of experience in public health, Dr. Mary T. Bassett has dedicated her career to advancing health equity. Dr. Bassett is currently the Director of the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University and the FXB Professor of the Practice of Health and Human Rights at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Prior to joining the FXB Center, she served as New York City’s Commissioner of Health from 2014 to 2018.

Dr. Bassett’s many awards and honors include the prestigious Frank A. Calderone Prize in Public Health, a Kenneth A. Forde Lifetime Achievement Award from Columbia University, and election to the National Academy of Medicine.

She received her B.A. in History and Science from Harvard University and her M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. She served her medical residency at Harlem Hospital Center and has a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Washington, where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar.

Subramaniam Sathasivam
Richard L. and Ronay A. Menschel Senior Leadership Fellow (Fall 2021), Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Dr. S. Subramaniam was the former Member of Parliament in the Malaysian House of Representatives from 2004 to 2018. From 2004 to 2008, he was appointed as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. Subsequently, he was appointed as the Minister of Human Resources of Malaysia from 2008 to 2013 and eventually as the Malaysian Minister of Health from 2013 to 2018.Under the Human Resources Ministry, Dr. Subramaniam was Instrumental in the introduction of minimum wage in Malaysia and brought forward many reforms to protect workers in Malaysia. Subsequently as the Health Minister, he led a major move to bring out transformations to the health system particularly aimed at addressing the issues of non-communicable diseases and sustainability of health financing. He was also the Vice President of the World Health Organization and the Chairman of the Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization. He has spoken in many international forums in particular the World Economic Forum, World Health Assembly, Regional Health Assembly, Harvard Ministerial Discussion Seminars and at the EATS foundation forums. Dr. Subramaniam is a medical doctor by training who graduated from the National University Singapore and is a consultant dermatologist who was trained in the United Kingdom and Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, Fellow of The Academy of Medicine Malaysia and honorary Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He is married to Dr. Umarani, a clinical biochemist in Malaysia, and has three children.

Moderator Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH
Harvey V. Fineberg of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health | Harvard Kennedy School

Dr. Howard K. Koh is the Harvey V. Fineberg Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Harvard Kennedy School. He previously served as the 14th Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2009-2014) after being nominated by President Barack Obama, and as Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (1997-2003) after being appointed by Governor William Weld. A graduate of Yale College and the Yale University School of Medicine, he trained at Boston City Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, earned board certifications in four medical fields, has been Principal Investigator of research grants totaling $25M, published more than 300 articles in the medical and public health literature and has received over 70 awards, including six honorary doctorate degrees.

Alumni moderator Natalie Meyers SM ’13
Global Advocacy and Africa Programs Director, ReSurge International

Natalie Meyers is the Director of Global Advocacy & Africa Programs at ReSurge International, a global surgery nonprofit based out of California. ReSurge works to train, fund, and scale reconstructive surgical teams in low- and middle-income countries to provide safe, affordable, and timely surgeries to those in need. Prior to ReSurge International, Natalie has held roles leading public-private-partnership programs for the City of San Francisco, coordinating innovative cross-sectoral funding at the Gates Foundation, delivering complex emergency response programming during the Ebola crisis and longer-term development programs at USAID, providing strategic thinking to help organizations scale social impact and creating partnerships both domestically and abroad.

Natalie did her undergraduate degree at Brown University and graduated from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in 2013 with a Masters in Global Health and Population. She is now serving as the Secretary of the Alumni Council, in her second term as a member. She currently resides between London and San Francisco.