UK Deputy High Commissioner inaugurates University of Leeds and JGU Conference on public health

Sonipat, Feb 17 (IANS) The University of Leeds (UK) and O. P. Jindal Global University (JGU) hosted a joint conference titled ‘Reimagining Priorities in Global Public Health’ recently.The opening day of the conference was inaugurated by Christina Scott, UK Deputy High Commissioner to Delhi and Dr Himangi Bhardwaj, Senior Health Advisor to Foreign Commonwealth Development Office of the UK government.They provided an overview of collaborations and project between the UK and India focusing on health, with special reference to antimicrobial resistance, digital heal health system strengthening and climate change. Leya Furtado, representing the Lancet Citizen’s Commission on Reimagining India’s Public Health System, outlined the challenges to global health post-pandemic, and reviewed the work streams and research areas of the Lancet Commission and the reforms to be proposed in its final report.The event was being hosted by the Jindal School of Public Health and Human Development (JSPH), JGU’s recently established interdisciplinary school offering a Masters in Public Health, in collaboration with three faculties of the University of Leeds, namely the Faculty of Medicine and Health, the Faculty of Arts Humanities and Culture and the Faculty of Social Sciences.The Founding Vice Chancellor of JGU, Prof. (Dr.) C. Raj Kumar, described this conference as “an extraordinary opportunity both to strengthen collaboration between higher education institutions in the UK and India for enhanced research and innovation but also to address the urgent need to move forward on the commitments of India and other governments to meet the global challenges in public health. We are ready to build on this collaboration with the University of Leeds as an exemplary institutional partnership to develop skills and knowledge, seeking solutions to critical global challenges through high quality research, teaching, and learning.”Following the inauguration, Prof Sanjoy Bhattacharya, Head of School of History, University of Leeds spoke about the historical lessons from infectious disease control for the response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The conference then explored new approaches to equitable access to health, including a presentation on pandemic preparedness and religious practices by Prof. Emma Tomalin, Director of the Centre for Religion and Public Life at Leeds.Professor Indranil Mukhopadhyay from the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy examined what he called “fragmented health financing and a broken health system,” noting high out-of-pocket expenditures and the low level of public health expenditure in India, compared, for example, with China.Prof. Dibyadyuti Roy, Assistant Professor in Cultural Studies, Media Studies, and Digital Humanities at Leeds, discussed pathways, possibilities, and perils of digital (health) humanities from a historical perspective.Prof. Sonia Kumar, Associate Dean of Community Engagement and Professor of Medical Education at Leeds, spoke online about the challenges to the healthcare workforce, including the fact that 90% of healthcare delivery is primary care and that a similar percentage of health outcomes are the result of the social determinants of health.The second day of the Conference took place on the JGU campus in Sonipat, Haryana, and brought together scholars, experts and students from the two institutions for an exchange of research in strategic areas of interdisciplinary research in public health.The session began with a presentation on climate change by Prof. Papiya Mazumdar from the School of