PH@UM Global Health Series

Dr Cynthia Maung is a Burmese medical doctor and founder of the Mae Tao Clinic that has been providing free healthcare services for internally displaces persons and migrants on the Thai-Burmese border for three decades. She will be discussing the situation on the Thailand-Burma border and how the lives of the people have been affected by the ongoing conflict and poverty. The talk will include the challenges faced by refugees and the displaced population in Thailand and the Thailand-Burma border are. These continuous challenges include barriers to live a dignified life with respect to human rights with a future perspective for youth and adolescents.

Dr Cynthia Maung has received multiple international awards including the 2018 Roux Prize and UNDPs N-Peace Award

Professor Kai Hong PHUA lectures in Health Economics at the Singapore Management University and holds adjunct appointments at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore. He is also a Visiting Professor in Health Policy, Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University. He was previously Associate Professor and Head, Health Services Research at the Department of Community, Occupational & Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore. He teaches health policy and management, health economics and global health in the various graduate programs in public policy and public administration. He graduated with honours cum laude at Harvard University and received graduate degrees from Harvard School of Public Health (Master in Health Services Administration & Population Sciences) and London School of Economics and Political Science (PhD in Social Administration, specializing in Health Economics). He was the recipient of a Harvard College Scholarship, the Sigma Scholarship from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, and the National University of Singapore Overseas Graduate Scholarship. He had served as President of the London School of Economics Alumni Association in Singapore, and Executive Committee of the Harvard Club of Singapore as Treasurer and Editor.

Dr Phua has produced over 200 publications and papers in the field of health policy & management and related areas, including history of health services, population ageing, health economics & financing. He is the author of Singapore Chronicles: Healthcare (2018) and co-editor of Ageing Asia: Contemporary Trends and Policy Issues (2019). He led the Rockefeller Foundation-funded project on Trends Monitoring in Asia, from 1999-2014 as Principal Investigator of the health systems component, and is co-lead editor of the Social Science & Medicine special issue on Health Systems in Asia (2017), and co-lead author of the overview for the Lancet series on Health in Southeast Asia (2011). He is a founding member of the Asian Health Systems Reform Network (DRAGONET); and was past Chair, Executive Board of Asia-Pacific Health Economics Network; and past Associate Editor of Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health and Singapore Economic Review. He delivered the 2012 ST Lee Lecture at the Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney and the Australian National University.

Dr Phua received The Outstanding Young Person of Singapore award in 1992 for his contributions to health policy and community service. He is a past Vice-Chairman of the Singapore Red Cross and Chair, International Services Committee, having served as its Director of Welfare and chairman of various humanitarian projects and medical missions throughout the region. He served on the Board of Management of the Home Nursing Foundation and was a founder Council Member and Chairman, Resource Committee of the Gerontological Society. He was Chairman of the Task Force on Social Services 2015, to develop a strategic plan for the National Council of Social Service. He was appointed on many national advisory committees, including the Singapore Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) Resource Panel on Health (1989-2013), National Advisory Council on the Family and Aged (1989-1994), Review Committee on National Health Policies (1991-1992), and Health Advisory Council, (1989-1992).

He has undertaken numerous consulting assignments for regional governments and non-governmental organizations in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan Korea, Japan, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, India, Bangladesh and the Middle East. Internationally, he served as Chairman, Technical Advisory Group on Health Sector Development of the World Health Organization Western Pacific Regional Office (2000-2005) and moderated the Ministerial Roundtable on Health and Poverty at the WHO Regional Meeting in 2000 and the WHO Bi-Regional Meeting on Health Care Financing in 2005. He has consulted in health policy and management to many public, voluntary and international agencies within the Asia-Pacific region, including the Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health, Red Cross, Asian Development Bank, United Nations Economic & Social Commission for the Asia-Pacific, World Bank and World Health Organization.

Dr. Santosham is internationally known for his work on oral rehydration therapy, childhood vaccines and dissemination of pediatric prophylactics to vulnerable populations worldwide. Working in partnership with Native American communities, he conducted landmark vaccine efficacy trials, including rotavirus vaccine, H. influenzae type b (Hib) conjugate vaccine, and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Native American children used to die from these diseases at rates 10 to 50 times the US average. Through his advocacy, these vaccines now save 3 to 5 million lives a year in the US and across the globe. In addition, Dr. Santosham worked with the White Mountain Apache Tribe to pioneer the use of oral rehydration solution (ORS), now known as “Pedialyte” in the US. Based on this evidence, ORS has become the standard of care for treating diarrheal dehydration, and is credited with saving 60 million lives since 1980. Dr. Santosham has become a global leader in the national and international dissemination of these public health strategies worldwide.

Dr. Santosham serves on numerous national and international committees to promote childhood health throughout the world. He consults for numerous international agencies including WHO, USAID, UNICEF and the Gates Foundation on aspects of child survival in over 30 countries. He is the author of over 280 peer-reviewed journals and serves as a reviewer for several international medical journals. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Thrasher Research Fund Award for Excellence in Research (1988), Maurice Hilleman Lecturer at CDC (2008), and the Bob Austrian Orator, for International Symposium on Pneumococcas and Pneumococcal Disease (2006). He was also awarded the Indian Health Service Directors Award for Career Service in 2011, recognizing his personal dedication, commitment and contribution to the overall Indian Health Service Research Program and the global impact of his work. He received the Albert Sabin Gold Medal Award on April 29th, 2014. The Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal has been awarded annually since 1994 to a distinguished member of the research community who has made extraordinary contributions in the field of Vaccine sciences or a complementary field. On Oct 7th, 2014, he received the 2014 Fries Prize for Improving Health, “For his seminal research, vaccine development, policy, and advocacy toward the global prevention of Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) disease saving each year more than 370,000 children’s lives. He is currently the chair of the ROTA Council which is an organization that is dedicated to advocating for the use of rotavirus vaccines around the world particularly in Asia and Africa. In January 2018, he was awarded the Prince Mahidol Award for Public Health for his work on Hib vaccines especially his role in ensuring that the vaccine is made available to all children around the world which is estimated to save 1.5 to 2 million lives by 2020.