Health in the SDG Era: A New Paradigm for Global Resilience
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan
Chief Scientist, World Health Organization
The ABLF Talks | The ABLF City | November 5, 2020
Speaker Introduction
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is the World Health Organization’s first Chief Scientist and a global authority in health diplomacy and clinical research. A pediatrician by training with decades of work in tuberculosis and HIV, she has led national and multilateral scientific initiatives and served as Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research. At the WHO, she has played a central role in shaping evidence-based responses to the COVID-19 pandemic while championing equitable access, scientific integrity, and systems-level reform. Her leadership underscores the WHO’s mission to integrate health science with inclusive global governance.
Moderator: Eithne Treanor, Founder and CEO, E Treanor Media
Date: November 5, 2020
Prepared by: The ABLF Research Council
Event: The ABLF Talks, hosted virtually at the ABLF City
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Executive Summary
In her powerful address at the ABLF Talks Live, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan positioned the COVID-19 pandemic as both a wake-up call and a generational opportunity. The crisis magnified deep structural inequities and vulnerabilities across health systems, but it also accelerated scientific breakthroughs, renewed the importance of prevention, and revived global solidarity. Dr. Swaminathan emphasized that progress on SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) cannot be siloed, it is inseparable from the other Sustainable Development Goals, from education and environment to equity and economics. Drawing from WHO’s global leadership in the COVAX initiative and infodemic management, she called for integrated systems thinking, stronger investment in public health infrastructure, and the repositioning of healthcare as central to economic and societal resilience.
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The ABLF Insightfolio features researched, knowledge-led whitepapers that capture the strategic perspectives and insights of Asia’s foremost thinkers, policymakers, business leaders and social scientists.
Derived from the impact-led dialogues at the ABLF Talks, these policy-shaping documents are designed to inform, inspire, and ignite action across all sectors, from inclusive growth and sustainability to innovation and digital transformation.
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