GFDD to Co-Sponsor Public Health Panel Discussion and Workshop on Infectious Disease and Antibiotic Resistance in the Post-2015 Development Agenda

On Thursday August 28th 2014, the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) and Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE) will co-sponsor a panel discussion and workshop organized by the United Nations Association of the U.S.A. (UNA-USA)- Council of Organizations, during the 65th Annual UN Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference (the Conference).

The event will be located in the Trusteeship Chamber
(4.45pm – 6.00pm) and is entitled: “Antibiotic Resistance and Obsolescence: Meeting the Major Infectious Disease Challenge for Post-2015”.

About the Event
Infectious diseases are resurging because of increasingly drug-resistant pathogens. New initiatives are essential for post-2015 sustainable development, based on public and private and North-South partnering and innovating, including new antibiotics
sourced and developed worldwide. The workshop will pose the global challenge and present opportunities to develop solutions, including in soils as well as in labs of research institutions and industry worldwide. A related Exhibit in the NGO Information-Sharing and Exhibition Centre will demonstrate globally-accessible soil sampling and analysis techniques for identifying potential antibiotics and for sharing this information as part of an international educational program.

Aim of the Event
The event will seek to raise awareness among attendees about the global antibiotic crisis which is a severe challenge to the success of the Millennium Development Goals and an impediment to attaining global health goals which need to be part of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda.

As part of this objective
the event will also aim to advocate for the inclusion in the post-2015 Sustainable Development Action Agenda of Civil Society support of new modalities for fully participatory antibiotic discovery and therapy/prevention activities.

Event Participants
Performance Artist: Josephine Decker open the discussion with a piece about the dual nature of antibiotics– as healer and as destroyer.  The performance itself would use
techniques of Butoh dancing and performance art to alternate between the two extremes of healing and destruction.

Ambassador John E. Lange –  Senior  Fellow of Global health and Diplomacy at the United Nations Foundation will then assume the role of Moderator for the event.

The following individuals have been confirmed as
panel speakers:
Dr. Pilar Ramon-Pardo- Regional Advisor on Clinical Management of Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance at the  Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the World Health Organization’s Regional Office  for the Americas.

Dr. May C. Chu- Assistant Director of Public Health in the Office for Science and Technology Policy(OSTP)/Executive Office of the President of the United States.
Dr. Elijah
Paintsil- Associate Professor of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases and Pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine and a Founder of the Yale-Ghana Partnership for Global Health.

Dr. Eric A. Utt- Director in the Pfizer Global Policy Center of Excellence and representative on the PhRMA Emerging  Pathogens Limited Duration Key Issues Team..
Dr. Allan  R. Goldberg, President and CEO, Avacyn Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Jonathan Lourie, Esq. Partner
in the law firm of Duane Morris  LLP and intellectual property expert.

Dr. Jules T. Mitchel, President of Target Health Inc. , a full service eCRO dedicated to all aspects of Drug and Device Development.

Discussant/Rapporteur: Dr. Reza Naghavi- Medical Director and Board Member of Global Associates for Health Development.

Co-Sponsor of the Event
Other Co-Sponsors include: The Institute for Life
Sciences Collaboration (ILSC); Small World Initiative; Global Foundation for Democracy and Development; Academia Mexicana de Derecho Internacional; Global Associates for Health Development, Inc. ;UNA/USA Southern NY State Division; UNA/USA NY Chapter; Child Wellness Research Foundation; World Council of Conservative Judaism; International Council of Jewish Women; Yad Sarah.

About the 65th Annual NGO DPI Conference
The title of the Conference
is “2015 and Beyond: Our Action Agenda” and will provide an opportunity for civil society, international networks and activists to develop an action agenda to mobilize messaging, advocacy strategies, partnerships and accountability frameworks in the lead up to the assemble for the adoption fo the post-2015 development agenda, due to culminate at a summit in September 2015. The Conference will also be an important milestone ahead of the Secretary General’s
September 2014 Climate Summit and UN General Assembly, finalization of the Secretary General’s Synthesis Report on the post-2015 development agenda, and the Lima (2014) and Paris (2015) UNFCCC COPs.

The Conference will take place at a critical time in the post-2015 process. As the international community strives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals while formulating the
post-2015 development agenda including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 2015 is recognized to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity for transformational change. The UNFCCC COP 21 in Paris and the launch of the post-2015 agenda will
culminate within months of each other in the second half of 2015, with the potential to shape the future of our peoples and our planet for the better.

Purpose of the NGO DPI Conference
The purpose of this Conference is therefore to harness the strategies, expertise and resources across the broadest spectrum of civil
society to move poverty eradication, sustainability, human rights and climate justice into the mainstream discourse, and spark sustained public demand for lasting political action in support of an ambitious outcome from the post-2015 sustainable development process. A Conference Declaration, designed to frame an ambitious “Action Agenda” for civil society, shall be produced.

About UNA USA
The United
Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) is a membership organization dedicated to inform, inspire, and mobilize the American people to support the ideals and vital work of the United Nations. For 70 years UNA-USA has worked to accomplish its mission through its national network of Chapters, youth engagement, advocacy efforts, education programs, and public events. UNA-USA is a program of the United Nations Foundation. UNA-USA and its sister organization the Better
World Campaign represent the single largest network of advocates and supporters of the United Nations in the world.

Related Links
http://unausa.org/
http://outreach.un.org/ngorelations/2014/04/15/65th-dpingo-conference/
http://josephinedecker.squarespace.com/