We are living in an era of unprecedented global health challenges, largely anthropogenic in nature from emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance to climate change. 

These threats will destabilise economies, overburden healthcare systems, and exacerbate global inequalities. Compounding these threats is shrinking birth rate, rise in non-communicable and mental health conditions, and yet to be realised transformation of our lives through data science and artificial intelligence. 

Join Professor Ibrahim Abubakar, Dean of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences at University College London, in conversation with Professor Alan Stein, as he examines the key 21st century health risks with a focus on pandemics, migration and climate change and health. He will address the global policy landscape, and highlight the urgency of action. Coordinated policy action in global health governance should consider health centric as well as wider policy interventions. Despite the current setbacks in global cooperation, international collaboration and evidence-based policymaking remain the only path to build resilient health systems capable of addressing the complex challenges of the 21st century.

The event is followed by a drink reception.

Ibrahim Abubakar

Ibrahim Abubakar, MBBS, PhD, FMedSci is Pro-Provost (Health) at University College London where he is also the Dean of the Faculty of Population Health Sciences. He is a member of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, a UK National Institute for Health Research Senior Investigator, Chair, the WHO Clinical Trials Forum, Lancet Migration and former Chair of the World Health Organization’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Tuberculosis. 

Other previous recent roles include Director, UCL Institute for Global Health; Chair Lancet Nigeria Commission, Scientific Adviser to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee – Science of COVID-19 Review and Scientific and Technical Adviser to the Nigerian Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19. Over the last 3 decades his career has spanned leadership roles in clinical, academic and public service work. He led the UCL Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and was a senior investigator at the Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Unit.