Tag Archives: Leadership in Public Health

Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health, Featured, Post

8th Annual Public Lecture and 3rd Award Ceremony for the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health 2024

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.

Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman receiving the award from Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal. Photo credit: David ST Loh
Medal of Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health. Photo credit: David ST Loh.
Certificate of the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health. Photo credit: David ST Loh

Kudos to Prof- for her relentless fight and altruism for the benefit beyond self!

Committee members of the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society with guest speaker. From left to right: Mr Ronald Quay (Committee Member),Mr Quah Seng Sun (Committee Member), Ms Ong Siou Woon (Assistant Secretary-General), Dr Hor Chee Peng (Secretary-General), Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal (President),  Ms Ooi Geok Ling (Vice President),  and Mr Clement Liang Chow Ming (Treasurer). Photo Credit: David ST Loh
Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal delivering his welcoming speech. Photo credit: Quah Seng Sun

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.

Third postcard was launched featuring a painting by local artist Ying Zhi.

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.

Mr. Chan Looi Tat, Assistant to Dato’ Seri Cheah Cheng Hye presented a mock cheque to Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal. Photo credit: David ST Loh

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.

Professor Dato’ Dr . Adeeba delivering her named lecture. Photo Credit: David ST Loh.

“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

Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba and moderator Dr Peng at the Q&A session. Photo credit: David ST Loh.
Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba addressing questions from the audience during the Q&A session. Photo credit: David ST Loh.

“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
Professor Dato’ Dr. Adeeba addressing questions from the audience during the Q&A session. Photo credit: Quah Seng Sun.

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.

Group photo of Guest Speaker and Public Audience at the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Garden, Penang Institute. Photo Credit: Ong Siou Woon.

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!

Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health

8th Annual Public Lecture and 3rd Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health

🎇We are very proud to announce that Professor Dato’ Dr Adeeba Kamarulzaman as the recipient of the 3rd Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health 2024 !🎆🥳

We cordially invite you to attend this year named Annual Public Lecture and the award ceremony to celebrate her success, in conjunction with Dr Wu Lien-Teh’s 146th birthday anniversary.

Date: 9th March 2024, Saturday

Time: 2:00 – 5:00pm

Venue: Penang Institute, 10 Brown Road, 10350 George Town

Organisers: The Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society and Penang Institute

Registration Link:

(For Physical Attendance) https://bit.ly/pandemics-and-health

(For Virtual Attendance) LIVE on Facebook (@PenangInstitute) and (@wulientehpg) 

and on our YouTube channel (@penanginstitute) 

Note: Entrance to this event is FREE. Light refreshment will  be provided.

Do come and join us for this inspirational lecture and celebrate Dr Wu’s birthday at Dr Wu Lien-Teh Garden at Penang Institute! 

🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

Synopsis of 8th Annual Public Lecture

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.

The Spanish flu and 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.

🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman is the President & Pro Vice-Chancellor of Monash University Malaysia. Prior to this appointment, she was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya and continues as an Honorary Professor at UM and as Adjunct Associate Professor at Yale University, USA.

An infectious diseases physician by training, Professor Kamarulzaman is a passionate advocate for social justice especially as it pertains to HIV prevention, treatment and care and drug policies. She presently serves as the Chairman of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation and is the immediate Past President of the International AIDS Society. She is also the founding Chair of ROSE Foundation, an organisation that is committed to eliminating cervical cancer in Malaysia and regionally.

At the international level, Professor Kamarulzaman has been an advisor to numerous WHO, UNAIDS and UNODC committees on HIV/AIDS and substance use. She is presently Vice Chair of WHO’s Science Council and is a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and the Global Council on Inequalities, HIV and Pandemics. Her achievements have been recognised through several national and international awards including as a two-time recipient of the prestigious Merdeka Award and recently as Tokoh Akademik Negara. In April 2015 she was honoured with a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from her alma mater, Monash University for her role as a health advocate and contributions to medicine.

Looking forwards to seeing you!

Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health, Featured, Post

7th Annual Public Lecture and 2nd Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health

On March 5 2023, the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society organized the 7th Annual Public Lecture together with the award ceremony for the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health 2023, in conjunction to the 144th birthday anniversary of Dr Wu Lien-Teh and 10th year anniversary of the Society, in collaboration with our strategic partner, Penang Institute.

We were extremely proud to have Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Executive Director and Professor of Global Health, Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Sunway University as the second awardee of the Dr Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health.

She was awarded in recognition of her prominent leadership as a trusted humanitarian and founder of MERCY Malaysia with remarkable contributions to the development of humanitarian and international emergency aid at home and globally. She pioneered the use of Islamic social finance to address humanitarian crises. Her active engagement in inter-agency partnership, resource development and mobilization, strategic planning, policy implementation and global communications have inspired many and made a great impact with positive changes. She actively advises on Environment, Social and Governance in the advisory and board roles she holds. Her strong advocacy for planetary health and sustainable development is remarkable.

The award was presented by Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal, President, Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society in the presence of Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng, Director, Penang Institute. Our guest speaker delivered her lecture on “Planetary Health or Accelerate Our Extinction -We have a Choice”. 

Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood receiving the award from Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal accompanied by Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
Committee members of the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society with guest speaker. From left to right: Mr. Cheah Cheng Chua, Ms. Alison Chong, Dato’ Dr. Ooi Kee Beng (Director, Penang Institute), Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar Fazal, Ms. Ooi Geok Ling, Mr. Quah Seng Sun and Dr. Hor Che Peng
Group photo with Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood with public audience at the lecture hall, Penang Institute.

In his welcoming remarks, Dato’ Dr. Ooi admired the passion of the awardee and her deep immersion at the nexus between health, the environment and governance. We all expect more pandemics, disasters and conflicts ahead and require leaders like the awardee to be there to mitigate the effects of these adversities. Dato’ Seri (Dr.) Anwar shared with the audience on stories of Dr. Wu and his health activism on anti-opium campaign. The interconnectedness between humanity and mother earth, and how planetary health provides a comprehensive approach to bend on accelerating our very own extinction.

Dato’ Ser (Dr.) Anwar Fazal delivering his officiating speech

Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah captivated her audience over her 50 mins lecture. She shared stories of a mother from Mozambique giving birth to a girl while hanging onto a tree during a severe flood and a young girl who died of toxic air pollution in London a decade ago. She showed a wide range of real-world data and reminded us that by now, we have breached six out of the nine planetary boundaries, and will continue to breach more if we do not act now! We were brought through the journey on a variety of issues from food insecurity and food wastage, greenhouse effects, mental health and climate change. She called for collective actions from top-down and bottom-up approach, with focus on three key aspects- governance, communication and education as way forwards. The choice is ours!

“There’s widespread intensifying polarization not only globally, but also locally, nationally and regionally, and all these uncertainties create the new uncertainty complex.

This complexity is made worse by colliding threat and challenges that we face in the world today! “

Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood giving her lecture

“Let’s go back to our Anthropocene, humans are only about 0.01% of all life on earth but we have destroyed 83% of wild mammals.

Humans are surprisingly tiny part in the whole story of things on the planet and how we have such disproportionate impact.

It’s about human values- what do we value, how do we make decisions that not only impact us but the planet.”

Professor Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood giving her lecture

“In order for humanity to thrive, we need to reset our relationship with the planet.

We all need to rapidly learn to do nearly everything differently:
How do we produce and consume food?
How do we manufacture products?
How do we produce energy?
How do we construct and live in our cities?
How do we manage our natural landscapes and our resources?
How do we co-exist harmoniously and responsibly with social, artificial and digital technology?

We need to recalibrate the stories we tell ourselves about our place in the world, our relationship to nature and
what it means to live a good life and
this requires us to think to rethink!”

Q&A session between speaker and audiences

“This is really, really important, and last but not least I believe in activism! We need activism!

We need the power and voice of young people, and those who hold public trust.”

The lecture in Penang Institute was attended by 62 physically with 151 views on the live streaming via YouTube channel and Facebook page of Penang Institute.

The Society established the award in March 2022 to recognize the exemplary leaders and their outstanding contributions to the field of public health. Their passion and determination in making 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 first awardee was Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Dr. Noor Hisham bin Abdullah, Director-General of Health, Malaysia who delivered the 6th named Annual Public Lecture on “Steeling Up Against the Omicron Storm- Is Malaysia Prepared?” in 2022.

The event was adjourned followed by a small tea party for participants and guest speaker at the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Garden.

Group photo of Guest Speaker and Public Audience at the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Garden, Penang Institute.

The full video is accessible at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfkdsimYNiI.

Photos credit: Mr Quah Seng Sun and Ms Ong Siou Woon.

Event coverage: 7th Annual Public Lecture & Presentation of the Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Award for Leadership in Public Health 2023 – Penang Institute