COVID-19 vaccines are here, but how do we get them into everybody’s arms, not just people in wealthier countries? How can we leverage technology and innovation to support an equitable, global vaccine rollout? How will our current experiences inform the future of vaccine distribution and health equity? Join global public health leaders for an update on vaccine distribution and learn about strategies to support vaccine and health equity around the world.
This session was curated in partnership with Project ECHO.
Lead Design and Operationalisation, Office of the COVAX Facility, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation, The
Sanne Wendes is Lead Design and Operationalisation at the Office of the Covax Facility at Gavi. Prior to her current role she was Chief of Staff of Unitaid for 6 years. In this role she led the organisations participation in Interagency Initiatives such as the Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimocrobial Resistance and the Global Action Plan for Healthy Lives (SDG 3 Action Plan). She led the Executive Office team which covers functions such as Risk Management, Information Management, Organisational Strategy Development and Grant Applications. She was a member of the Senior Management Team.
Prior to this she spent 6 years in the Private Sector working for Vestergaard in various roles. During this time she was an elected Board member for the Private Sector on the Roll Back Malaria Board and has an in-depth knowledge of the Private Sector and their involvement in Public Health. She has also led the company efforts in Innovative Financing focusing on developing pay for performance models to create new revenue streams for the company’s products and services.
Sanne has spent 20 years working in Public Health within HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and Water & Sanitation and prior to joining Vestergaard, she worked for the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, UNDP and Danish Red Cross and as a consultant working for eg Danida and the World Bank.
She has a M.Sc. in Economics from the University of Copenhagen with a focus on development economics.
Founder and Director, Project ECHO; Distinguished Professor of Medicine, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Project ECHO
Sanjeev Arora, MD, is the founder of Project ECHO and the Executive Director of the ECHO Institute. Dr. Arora is a Distinguished Professor of Medicine with tenure in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
Dr. Arora launched Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico in 2003 as a solution for helping all patients receive quality care faster. The ECHO Model works by strengthening the capacity of rural primary care providers to treat complex conditions locally -- with ongoing remote support from an interdisciplinary team of experts and a community of peers. Project ECHO used widely available videoconferencing technology to implement a “hub-and-spoke” model for training New Mexico's community-based clinicians in rural counties, Indian Health Service clinics, and state prisons to treat patients where they live. The ECHO Model has since been used to train providers in more than 70 other disease areas, including cancer, COVID-19, cardiovascular disease and mental health, making significant progress toward reversing health care inequity.
Today, the ECHO Model is being applied around the globe, with programs in North America, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia and partnerships with the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control. ECHO has more than 870 hubs and nearly 4 million learners in 193 countries. ECHO topics have expanded beyond health care to include K-12 education, climate change, public safety and more. Backed by more than 500 peer-reviewed research articles, ECHO has proven effective across disciplines and geographies as a way to reduce disparities and drive collaborative solutions for local priorities.
In 2007, Project ECHO won the Ashoka Foundation's Changemakers Award, an international competition recognizing programs that are changing the paradigm of how medicine is practiced. An inspiring champion and steward of the ECHO Model, Dr. Arora has served as the Director of the ECHO Institute since its establishment. Previously, he served as Executive Vice-Chair and Acting Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, President of the Medical Staff, and for five years on the Board of the Health Sciences Center at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Arora has also served as President of the University Physicians Association.
Medical Director, Special Pathogens Unit, Boston University, Boston Medical Center
Dr. Nahid Bhadelia is an infectious diseases physician and the medical director of Special Pathogens Unit at Boston Medical Center, a medical unit designed to care for patients with highly communicable diseases. She is an Associate Professor at Boston University (BU) School of Medicine. She oversees the medical response program for BU’s maximum containment research program at National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories.
She has prior and ongoing experience in health system response to pathogens such as H1N1, Zika, Lassa fever, Marburg Virus Disease, and COVID-19 at the state, national, and global levels, including supply chain evaluation, diagnostic positioning, infection control policy development, and healthcare worker training. She serves on state, national, and interagency groups focused on biodefense priority setting, development of clinical care guidelines, and medical countermeasures research.
She has previously provided direct patient care, and participated outbreak response and medical countermeasures research during multiple Ebola Virus Disease outbreaks in West and East Africa. During the West African Ebola epidemic, she served as a clinician in several Ebola treatment units, working with World Health Organization and Partners in Health. She currently as medical lead of US Department of Defense (DoD) funded viral hemorrhagic fever research center in Uganda, entitled Joint Mobile Emerging Disease Intervention Clinical Capability (JMEDICC) program. She co-directs NIH’s Fogarty International Center funded research training program in Liberia entitled “Boston University and University of Liberia Emerging and Epidemic Virus Research” program (BULEEVR).
She has served as a subject matter expert to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense, Global Fund and World Bank.
Dr. Bhadelia is also an Associate Professor at the Institute of Human Security at the Tufts Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
Fred de Sam Lazaro is executive director of the Under-Told Stories Project and correspondent for the PBS NewsHour. He was a regular contributor and substitute anchor for PBS’ Religion and Ethics Newsweekly. Fred also has directed films from India and the Democratic Republic of Congo for the acclaimed documentary series, Wide Angle.
He has reported from 71 countries with a focus on the myriad issues that underlie poverty and human suffering. He founded the Under-Told Stories Project, now located at the University of St. Thomas, using storytelling to enhance students’ understanding of the pressing global issues of our time.
Fred has received three honorary doctorates, numerous journalism awards and fellowships from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the University of Michigan. He serves on the board of Sahan Journal, a non-profit news service and has served on boards of the College of St. Scholastica, in Duluth, MN, his alma mater and the Asian American Journalists Association.
