Health for all

Dr Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Health from Guyana, is this year's President of the World Health Assembly.

The Guyanan Minister of Health will deliver a public lecture at Dalhousie’s Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building, Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m., in the Scotiabank Room. Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, recognized as the global leader in health, is president of the World Health Organization’s 61st World Health Assembly and of the Pan American Health Organization’s 47th Directing Council.

Dr. Ramsammy believes children born in under-developed nations such as Tanzania should have the same chance of a healthy life as a child born in a developed country. He feels infant and maternal mortality are the most important indicators of public health and that global health must be driven by Member States. “If we build our health systems to minimize infant and maternal mortality, then we will have systems that can address other human health challenges,” he said recently.

Growing up in an impoverished community in Guyana, Dr. Ramsammy and his family never starved. Everyone in the community pitched in to help each other out. Not surprisingly, Dr. Ramsammy’s life and career have been committed to helping and educating others.

After studying microbiology in the U.S., he became an assistant professor of medicine at the State University of New York in the 1980s, as well as research physiologist at Veterans Hospital, North Port, N.Y. During a crucial period of transition in his native Guyana in the late 1990s, he returned home, attracted by the development taking place.

A Member of Parliament since 1997, Dr. Ramsammy is the longest standing health minister in the world, a position he’s held since 2001. He has played crucial leadership roles in numerous National committees including the National TB and Malaria programs In addition to leadership in many other international organizations, he is the current chair of the Steering Committee for the establishment of the Caribbean Public Health Agency.

Join Dr. Ramsammy as he discusses “Health for All in Resource Poor Settings,” on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend.