World's Elite to Debate Global Health Challenges at US Summit

A global health summit hosted by TIME magazine and featuring Bill Gates and Rick Warren as speakers will convene world leaders in medicine, government, business, public policy and the arts to inform and engage the public from all sectors on the international challenges to public health and what they can do to help.

|TOP|Beginning tomorrow, the TIME Global Health Summit in New York City will highlight solutions to such challenges as AIDS, avian flu, and malaria – which kills more than one million people each year, or four-fifths in sub-Saharan Africa.

"The developed nations of the world can no longer ignore the health crisis faced by millions of people every day," said Jim Kelly, managing editor of TIME magazine.

"This is not an insurmountable task," Kelly added. "We have the drugs, the vaccines and the medical knowledge. All we have lacked is the will."

The Nov. 1-3 summit brings together non-profit, government, faith and corporate leaders like Former President Bill Clinton, Microsoft Founder Bill Gates, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, CNN Co-Founder Ted Turner, Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and others.

Among the two dozen faith-based leaders to be present at the health summit are Ted Haggard, president of the National Evangelical Association; John McCullough, executive director of Church World Service; John Galbraith, president and CEO of the Catholic Medical Mission Board; Bishop Joao Somane Machado, leader of the United Methodist Church in Mozambique; and Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of The Purpose-Driven Life.

"It's quite a wide diversity of people," said Christine Gorman, senior health writer for TIME.

"If we work together instead of working against each other, and people bring their best gift to the table, we'll find there is enough to go around; we can make a difference," she added.

On the first day of the summit, experts will conduct high-level backgrounders that will provide the latest knowledge on critical global health issues. One of the sessions – titled “What Does Faith Have To Do With It?” – will address the prospects of faith-based initiatives and how they are changing the global health agenda in Washington.

"The secular world is becoming increasingly aware of how much health care is provided by Christians and church-affiliated hospitals and clinics, especially in the developing countries," said Vickie Johnson of Interchurch Medical Assistance. "The World Bank is now looking at these church-health facilities and looking at how they can partner."

Discussion leaders for the faith-based session include Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder and CEO of the ASMA Society (American Sufi Muslim Association); the Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches; Julia Greenberg, director of international programs at the American Jewish World Service; and Pastor Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church and author of "The Purpose Driven Life."

On the second day of the highly-anticipated event, TIME will showcase two faith-based heroes along with eight others who have contributed to the global health solution including:

- Dr. "Leon" Ngoma Miezi Kintaudi, director of the Department of Medical Services of the Protestant Church of Congo, who leads a network of 65 member communities, including 80 hospitals and more than 400 health centres throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo.

- Dr. Peter Okaalet, Africa Director of MAP International, who has produced Biblically based, culturally sensitive HIV/AIDS educational materials, trained local pastors and health workers and hosted significant HIV/AIDS conferences for Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, Anglican, and a wide range of independent churches.

"In the developing world, faith-based organisations have played a major role," said Gorman, who confesses to being a member of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). "It doesn't mean that the faith-based groups have all of the answers, but if you don't include them, you're not going to get where you want to go."

Most recently, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) chose the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) to coordinate, monitor and report on the work of 3,000 professional and volunteer case managers in the delivery of services to people who were living in Alabama, Louisiana, or Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina displaced them.

Under the new agreement, at least 300,000 of one million displaced in the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina will come closer to receiving the financial and emotional help they need to recover their lives and become self-sustaining.

A recent report by the Associated Press published Friday also noted a closer relationship between churches and state and local governments developing as congregations in the Gulf Coast and surrounding states began to focus on long-term recovery from Hurricane Katrina.







Joseph Alvarez
Christian Today Correspondent