March 9, 2024
We organized the 8th Annual Public Lecture together with the 3rd award ceremony for the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health 2024, in conjunction with the 145th birthday anniversary of Dr Wu Lien-Teh, in collaboration with our strategic partner, Penang Institute.
We were proud to have Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman, President and Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University Malaysia as the third awardee of the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health. She was awarded in recognition of her prominent leadership and outstanding contribution towards HIV/ AIDS mitigation in Malaysia and globally. Her strong advocacy for evidence-based, human rights-orientated drug policy reforms is instrumental in influencing the Malaysian government’s shift in drug policies and health in the criminal justice setting. The award was presented by Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal, President, Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society.
Kudos to Prof- for her relentless fight and altruism for the benefit beyond self!
In his welcoming remarks, Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar shared with the audience on stories of Dr. Wu and his health activism on the anti-opium campaign. The Society also launched the third postcard- a painting entitled “Saviour of Mankind” which was presented to The Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society by Penang artist Lim Guat Eng (Ying Zhi) in 2022. It highlighted Dr. Wu’s lasting global impact on public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the event officiation, there was an acknowledgement ceremony of funding contribution from Dato’ Seri Cheah Cheng Hye to the Society. Dato Seri Cheah Cheng Hye, a penangite, co-founder and co-CEO of Value Partner, an ardent supporter and great friend of the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Society has pledged to contribute RM 15000 to support the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Annual Public Lecture and Award for Leadership in Public Health, for next 5 years. Mr. Chan Looi Tat, assistant to Dato’ Seri Cheah presented a mock cheque on behalf of Dato Seri Cheah to President of the Society.
Professor Dato’ Adeeba captivated her audience over her 50-minute lecture on “Pandemics and Health Inequities – Looking Back and Moving Forward”, with an enriching interactive Q&A session with the audience, moderated by Dr Hor Chee Peng.
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the impact of societal issues such as income, type of employment and even political affiliation on the outcome of the disease. While the public health-driven COVID-19-related restrictions affected everyone, it quickly became clear that the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic were not equally shared, with numerous studies showing different case rates between lower-income and higher-income populations. At the global level, the inequities associated with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution may have cost more than one million lives.
“Equip yourself alive not solely for your own benefit, but for the benefit of the whole community”
Prof Dato’ Dr Adeeba quoting Sir John Monash
The HIV pandemic earlier also highlighted the impact of the social determinants of health on disease risk and outcomes and increasingly, the threat of climate change which disproportionately affects poorer nations and populations will create further challenges on the health of individuals and societies. The lessons learnt from these pandemics should therefore give us pause to examine the systemic and structural factors that lead to health outcomes which provides us with an opportunity to review policies to address them that can lead to genuine transformation of the health of our population.
The full video is accessible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj7d3IhiICc
“All awards are special but this Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Award is extra special because of who Dr. Wu was and how it so closely relates to my career as an infectious disease physician and public health practitioner. Dr. Wu was also a trailblazer – so to be recognised in his name is a tremendous honour indeed.”
Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman
The Society established the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health in March 2022 to recognize exemplary leaders and their outstanding contributions to the field of public health. Their passion and determination to make a difference for mankind. Their fighting spirit is infectious and their achievements continue to inspire others. The awardee will be invited to deliver the named Annual Public Lecture of the year. The inaugural awardee was Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah, Director-General of Health, Malaysia in 2022; followed by Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Executive Director and Professor of Global Health Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Sunway University in 2023.
The event ended with a tea party at the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Garden in Penang Institute.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our honourable speaker, lovely audience, very hardworking and dynamic working committee from the Society and Penang Institute, for making this event a success!