The Pacific Health Summit:
A Catalyst for Action

The goal of the Pacific Health Summit is to connect science, industry, and policy for a healthier world. Traditionally, the main work of the Summit has been an annual meeting, where we convene top decisionmakers to discuss how to realize the dream of a healthier future through the effective utilization of scientific advances, combined with industrial innovation and appropriate policies. In 2012, we are shifting our focus from an annual meeting to more targeted work that builds on the Summit’s past themes and concrete outcomes. As it has since 2005, the Summit will continue to provide a year-round forum for world leaders to grapple with problems and solutions, share best practices, and forge effective collaborations.

When The National Bureau of Asian Research launched the Summit in 2005, in collaboration with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Gates Foundation, there was a clear need for a place where science, industry, and policy leaders could come together to discuss key issues in health in a frank, personal format. When the Wellcome Trust joined us as a Co-Presenting Organization our role as a truly unique forum that provides a special moment in time where leaders could think and act as friends, grew. Eight years after our inaugural meeting, which was never designed to take place in perpetuity, global health is in an exciting new place.

Our interactive format has proliferated, and decision-makers across all sectors and geographies are collaborating on all the critical global health issues we sought to address: health technology, pandemic flu, MDR-TB, vaccines, malnutrition, maternal and newborn health, and many more. While we are proud of eight years of transformational conversations, countless new friendships, and exciting partnerships, there is still much work to do – and so much momentum on which to build. This process means a great deal to us, and NBR is excited to build on the Summit’s legacy.

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