Symposium on Commercial Determinants of Health — Mitigating the influence of Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH)
Part of the 137th Anniversary International Medical Congress of the Sri Lanka Medical Association. This special symposium on the commercial determinants of health (CDoH) paved the way forward for addressing CDoH in Sri Lanka, with the aim of both enhancing healthcare delivery and improving health outcomes for all. Juliette’s presentation was titled “Addressing Commercial Determinants of Health: WHO’s Approach”.
Chairperson / Moderator. Dr Palitha Abeykoon — senior physician and public health professional, with postgraduate education and training from the universities of Sri Lanka, Geneva, Southern California, and the Harvard School of Public Health, where he was a Taro Takemi Fellow. Until recently he was one of the WHO Director-General’s Special Envoys for COVID-19. He was the Regional Advisor on Human Resources and later the Director of Health Systems Development and Non-Communicable Diseases at the WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, and also served as the WHO Representative to India.
Speakers.
- Juliette McHardy (WHO) — Addressing Commercial Determinants of Health: WHO’s Approach.
- Dr Nisha Arunatilake (Research Fellow and Director of Research, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka) — Navigating Health Challenges: Turning Evidence into Policy.
- Prof Diyanath Samarasinghe (Honorary Professor, Rajarata University) — Significance of Social Determinants and Social Participation in Tackling CDoH.
Discussants.
- Dr S Sridharan, Deputy Director General (Planning), Ministry of Health.
- Dr Susie Perera De Silva, Public Health Specialist, consultant, WHO Country Office Sri Lanka.
- Prof Saroj Jayasinghe, Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Colombo, and consultant physician.