News Releases

UWI Chancellor explores Health and Science diplomacy in upcoming distinguished lecture

For Release Upon Receipt - March 14, 2014

St. Augustine


ST. AUGUSTINE, Trinidad and Tobago – On Tuesday March 18, the Institute of International Relations (IIR) at The University of the West Indies (UWI) St. Augustine will host a Distinguished Lecture by University Chancellor, Sir George Alleyne, titled “Health diplomacy; Science diplomacy. Can the twain meet?”

According to the World Health Organization, global health diplomacy brings together the disciplines of public health, international affairs, management, law and economics and focuses on negotiations that shape and manage the global policy environment for health. The relationship between health, foreign policy and trade is at the cutting edge of global health diplomacy. In the lecture, Sir George will interrogate the incompatibility between the essential canons of sciences, in the area of health, and state diplomacy and seek to generate discussion on the possibility of synergy between these two seemingly disparate areas. 

Sir George’s contribution to the medical field in the region is punctuated with numerous “firsts”. He was the first Caribbean person to be appointed director of Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). He was the first graduate of The UWI to hold the title of Chancellor; the first and only West Indian to be appointed the Sir Arthur Sims Commonwealth Travelling Professor. In recognition for his extensive services in medicine, he was made Knight Bachelor by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1990. In 2001 he was awarded the Order of the Caribbean Community which is the highest honour that can be conferred on a Caribbean national for his contribution. Sir George Alleyne continues to serve the region in his area of specialisation, Public Health, as a member of the Caribbean Health Task Force. He also heads a special team to combat HIV in the Caribbean.

The lecture takes place at the IIR Lecture Room 1. All are invited.

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About The UWI

Since its inception in 1948, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged, regional University with well over 50,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest, most longstanding Higher Education Institute (HEI) in the Commonwealth Caribbean, with four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Open Campus. The UWI has faculty and students from more than 40 countries and collaborative links with 160 universities globally; it offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Sciences. UWI’s seven priority focal areas are linked closely to the priorities identified by CARICOM and take into account such over-arching areas of concern to the region as environmental issues, health and wellness, gender equity and the critical importance of innovation.

 

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)

 

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Contact

  • Institute of International Relations

  • Faculty/Department

  • Tel.: 662-2002 ext. 83235/ 82084/ 82011
  • Email: iirt@sta.uwi.edu