WHA Resolution on diagnostics: one year on

30 May 2024 16:00–17:30 CEST International Museum of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, Switzerland In Person

FIND and The Lancet Commission on diagnostics organized on 30 May 2024 a special session to mark the first anniversary of the landmark World Health Assembly Resolution on diagnostic testing.

This in-person session took place as part of the FIND Diagnostics Day on the sidelines of the 77th World Health Assembly. For those unable to join in person, the event was recorded and is made available online below.

WHA Resolution on diagnostics: one year on
Welcome and Introduction Dr Ayoade Alakija Chair, FIND Bio Dr Kenneth Fleming Chair, The Lancet Commission on diagnostics Bio
PANEL: Progress and challenges to implementation of the WHA Resolution on diagnostic testing Remarks by Mr Deusdedit Mubangizi, Director, Health Products Policy and Standards Department (HPS), World Health Organization Bio Introduced and moderated by Ms Adriana Velazquez Berumen, Team Lead Medical Devices and In-Vitro Diagnostics, World Health Organization Bio With special guests: Dr Lucia Rizka Andalucia Director General for Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices, Ministry of Health, Government of Indonesia Bio
PANEL: The importance of multisector investment and partnership to support implementation of the WHA Resolution on diagnostics Introduced and moderated by Dr Sanjay Sarin, VP Access, FIND Bio With special guests: Dr Fatim Cham-Jallow Senior Medical Laboratory Specialist, Technical Advice and Partnerships Department, The Global Fund Bio Ms Renuka Gadde Senior Advisor, Clinton Health Access Initiative Bio Mr Jan-Willem Scheijgrond Global Diagnostic Imaging, Healthcare IT & Radiation Therapy Trade Association (DITTA) Bio Dr Daniel Townsend Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) Bio
Close Dr Sergio Carmona Acting CEO and Chief Medical Officer, FIND Bio

About our speakers
Back to the agenda	Dr Ayoade Alakija Dr Ayoade Alakija currently serves as World Health Organization (WHO) Special Envoy for the Access to COVID19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, Chair of the African Vaccine Delivery Alliance (AVDA) and Chair of FIND. Dr Alakija is a visionary leader, strategic thinker and vocal advocate for equity and justice with a global presence and ability to inspire and catalyse action at scale. As a medical doctor with over two decades experience working across Asia, the Americas, the Pacific region, Europe and Africa, she is expert in global health, development and humanitarian relief. She brings unique insights from working at every level of the health and development architecture- local, national, regional and global. Driven by a deep commitment to achieve social justice and equity through humane approaches for transformational change at individual, community and systems level, she has been a leading voice calling for the urgent reimagining of how the globe should respond more consciously to the inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In her previous Minister-Counsellor role as Chief Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, she led the integrated humanitarian response and spearheaded the Oslo Humanitarian Conference for Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, working with governments and multilateral institutions to mobilize resources for some of the most under-recognized humanitarian crises in the world. Dr Alakija is also the founder of the Emergency Coordination Centre in Nigeria which promotes the rights of women and girls in education and health.
Back to the agenda	Dr Sergio Carmona Acting CEO and Chief Medical Officer, FIND Dr Sergio Carmona is a seasoned leader in global health, currently serving as the acting CEO and Chief Medical Officer at FIND. Sergio has been instrumental in shaping FIND’s strategic direction and spearheading critical initiatives since joining the organization in 2019. As Chief Medical Officer, Sergio has oversight of FIND’s programmatic and access activities, and he played a pivotal role in FIND’s contributions to the global emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from over a decade of experience at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) in South Africa, Sergio brings extensive expertise in molecular diagnostics and treatment monitoring, particularly in areas such as early infant diagnosis, HIV drug resistance, and associated co-infections. His contributions have significantly advanced the field, shaping guidelines and policies at national and international levels. A haematologist by training, Sergio’s academic background includes a medical degree (MBBCh) from the University of Witwatersrand, a Pathology Specialization (FCPath), and a PhD in Molecular Medicine and Haematology. His research outputs have informed critical guidance in HIV diagnostics and management, earning him recognition as a key contributor to the technical committees of the World Health Organization and other global health organizations. Sergio’s multicultural background, with roots in both South Africa and Chile, enriches his perspectives and enhances his effectiveness in diverse global settings. Sergio earned his medical degree (MBBCh) from the University of Witwatersrand before doing a Pathology Specialization (FCPath) in 2009, earning a PhD in Molecular Medicine and Haematology in 2018. He is proficient in both English and Spanish.
Back to the agenda	Dr Fatim Cham-Jallow Senior Medical Laboratory Specialist, Technical Advice and Partnerships Department, The Global Fund Dr Fatim Cham-Jallow leads the Integrated Laboratory Systems Strengthening Team at the Global Fund. In her role as Senior Medical Laboratory Specialist, Fatim supports and provides technical advice on effective use of global Funds investments in diagnostics product management and integrated lab systems strengthening. Prior to joining the Global Fund, she was with the WHO Regional Office for Africa during which she served as the Laboratory Technical adviser. Prior to that, joining WHO AFRO, she held several posts with The Medical Research Council (MRC), The Gambia and The Henry F Jackson Foundation (HJF) for the advancement of Military Medicine. At HJF, she was assigned to the Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) where she provided leadership and guidance in the development, implementation, and evaluation of laboratory services in support of HIV/Ebola vaccine trials. Fatim has published extensively in peer review journals including a book publication and a submission to the United States (US) patent office.
Back to the agenda	Dr Kenneth Fleming Chair, The Lancet Commission on diagnostics Dr Fleming has been an academic pathologist for over 40 years. His research interests include the pathogenesis of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis, and the molecular analysis of tissue. He has over 200 publications and a H-index of 55. Dr Fleming has had several major leadership positions in academic medicine, including appointment as the inaugural Head of the Oxford Medical Sciences Division (Dean of Medicine) from 2000 till 2008. He was also Deputy Head of the UK Council of Medical Schools from 2002-5. Since 2008, the problems of lack of pathology in many countries have been his focus. He has set up a MMed for Pathology in Zambia, set up and directed the International Department at the Royal College of Pathologists and been Senior Adviser for Pathology to the Centre for Global Heath at the NCI. He chaired the Lancet Commission on diagnostics and has served as a WHO adviser for several areas of pathology.
Back to the agenda	Ms Renuka Gadde Senior Advisor, Clinton Health Access Initiative Renuka Gadde is a global health advocate and has extensive experience in providing leadership for advancing partnerships that strengthen health systems, drive innovations, access, and advocacy across global health programs such as HIV, TB, Immunization and Women’s Health. She has proven experience in working across industry and the nonprofit sector. Prior to joining CHAI (Clinton Health Access Initiative), Renuka worked with Becton Dickinson, a global medical technology company in various roles across medical devices and diagnostics. In her last role at BD as Vice president, Global Health, Renuka established partnerships with health agencies such as PEPFAR, USAID, CDC, LSHTM, BMGF, FIND for capacity building, and to strengthen health systems in low-and-middle income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. She is skilled in driving advocacy programs. She has participated in various global forums as a speaker, moderator in shaping issues in health. Renuka joined CHAI in 2020 as Senior Advisor with a focus on advancing access to diagnostics for populations in LMICs. Renuka served on the board of Global Fund, African Society of Lab Medicine (ASLM), project hope and is currently on the advisory of Rice University’s Nest 360 program.
Back to the agenda	Mr Deusdedit Mubangizi Director, Health Products Policy and Standards Department (HPS), World Health Organization Mr. Mubangizi is a senior regulator with experiences in the regulation of pharmaceutical products, Vaccines, Vector Control Products and In-Vitro Diagnostics. He is currently the Director of the Health Products Policy and Standards Department of the World Health Organization, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to joining WHO in 2008, Mr. Mubangizi had served as the Chief Inspector of Drugs (1996 - 2008) where he was one of the founder staff of Uganda’s national medicines regulatory agency, National Drug Authority (NDA), in 1994. In 1995, he worked with consultants appointed by WHO to establish a drug registration system for Uganda and subsequently coordinated a team that established the GMP inspection system for local and foreign manufacturing facilities marketing their products in Uganda. He headed the Inspectorate and Licensing Department of NDA Uganda from 1996 to March 2008. He participated in the initiation of medicine regulation harmonization in East Africa and Africa in General. In 2004 he joined a team of external dossier assessors for WHO Prequalification where he was shortly promoted to the level of senior assessor. He has, on behalf of his country Uganda and for WHO Medicines Prequalification Programme, inspected sites in African, Europe, Asia, North America and South America for the manufacture of Finished Pharmaceutical Products, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, Vaccines and In-vitro diagnostics; national quality control laboratories; and Clinical Research Organizations where bio-equivalence studies are conducted.
Back to the agenda	Dr Lucia Rizka Andalucia Director General for Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Ministry of Health, Government of Indonesia Dr. Dra. Lucia Rizka Andalucia, Apt, M.Pharm, MARS, was appointed as Director General of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices in the Indonesian Ministry of Health on December 15, 2021. Prior to this appointment, she served as Director of Drug Standardization, Narcotics, Psychotropic Substances, Precursors and Addictive Substances, and also served as Director of Drug Registration at the Indonesian Food and Drug Authority. A doctoral degree holder from Gadjah Mada University, DG Rizka has also been a spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination by the Committee for Handling COVID-19 and National Economic Recovery (KPC-PEN).
Back to the agenda	Dr Sanjay Sarin VP, Access, FIND Sanjay Sarin joined FIND in September 2015 as Head of Country Operations for India and Head of Access Programme for Asia Pacific. He has a doctorate from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India and close to 20 years’ experience in health policy, market development, and business management with specialization in the development of strategic initiatives for driving access in emerging markets. In his current role, he is responsible for providing leadership for strategic plan development and implementation of current and planned operations in FIND India, ensuring continued engagement with partners and donors at local and international levels and leading the resource mobilization efforts in the AP region. Sanjay joined FIND from Becton Dickinson (BD), where he was Regional Director of Global Health for the Asia Pacific region and was responsible for design, development, and implementation of BD’s public health strategies. During his stint with BD, he was instrumental in establishing several key partnerships, including one with MoH India, which resulted in expansion of TB diagnostic capacity within the national TB programme; TB lab strengthening partnership with USAID in Indonesia; collaboration with Project Hope to strengthen diabetes management capacity at Class 1 facilities in China, and a lab systems strengthening partnership with CDC and MoH India known as the “Labs for Life Partnership”. Before joining BD, Sanjay served as Regional Lab Advisor (India & South East Asia) with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). In CHAI, he played a key role in scaling up access to CD4 monitoring within India’s AIDS Control Programme and was responsible for setting up more than a dozen functional CD4 laboratories, development of the CD4 enumeration guidelines and an external quality assurance system for CD4 monitoring in India.
Back to the agenda	Mr Jan-Willem Scheijgrond Global Diagnostic Imaging, Healthcare IT & Radiation Therapy Trade Association (DITTA) Mr. Scheijgrond currently serves as Vice President and Global Head of Government and Public Affairs at Philips, where he leads relations between Philips and public sector representatives, such as governments and international institutions. The Government Affairs function works to address global healthcare transformation challenges, in particular health system strengthening, geopolitical developments, climate change, digital technologies, and the resilience to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also responsible for public-private partnerships with institutions such as the United Nations, the World Health Organisation, and other international development partners. Mr. Scheijgrond focuses on partnerships that strengthen health systems and foster sustainable and equitable healthcare. Mr. Scheijgrond is the Chairman of the United Nations Global Compact Network Netherlands, and President of the European trade association COCIR. He is also Steering Committee member of the Partnership for Health Systems Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR). Mr. Scheijgrond joined Philips in 2009 as Senior Director in the Corporate Sustainability Office with responsibility for risk and reputation management. He started his career at the United Nations Environment Program, where he developed best practice guides related to cleaner production for emerging markets. Subsequently, he held several sustainability and government affairs related functions at the BLC Leather Confederation (UK), Epson (NL), and Hewlett-Packard (B). Mr. Scheijgrond holds a Masters degree in Environmental Technology from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Back to the agenda	Dr Daniel Townsend Global Fund Advocates Network (GFAN) Daniel is a project Lead at the Global Fund Advocates Network. With over 20 years of experience in global health strategy, policy, and health system planning, he focuses on helping organizations achieve strategic and visionary outcomes through policy, planning, organizational change management, and leadership development in equity, diversity, and inclusion. As an advocate and policy advisor, Daniel has led initiatives to address barriers faced by marginalized and vulnerable populations and communities. He has also led community-based and culturally adaptive research, evaluation, and quality improvement processes, combining rigorous, evidence-informed social science research methodologies with anti-oppression and intersectionality principles. Daniel is passionate about health system leadership, transformational partnerships, and leveraging healthcare innovation to improve health outcomes. He is a graduate of Imperial College London and the University of Toronto.
Back to the agenda	Ms Adriana Velazquez Berumen Team Lead Medical Devices and In-Vitro Diagnostics, World Health Organization Adriana is a passionate Mexican biomedical engineer with 40 years of experience- striving for access to safe, affordable, quality and appropriate medical devices for all populations in need. She has led the Medical devices unit at the World Health Organization (WHO), since 2008. In WHO she has led the development of policies for medical devices, global data, innovative technologies, health technology assessment and health technology management. She is responsible for the development of the Medical Devices information system (MeDevIS) which integrates the WHO Priority Medical devices lists, including devices for prevention, diagnostics and treatment. She is Mexican Biomedical Engineer with postgraduate degree in Clinical Engineering in USA. Before joining WHO she was the founding and Director General of the National Centre for Health Technology Excellence (CENETEC) in the Ministry of Health in Mexico, where she had more than 15 years’ experience as clinical engineer in Private and public hospitals in Mexico. She has had honorary positions in national and international professional organizations.