Published: February 04, 2008

Gates Foundation Forms Global Health Program Advisory Panel

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By Alan Gray, NewsBlaze

Panelists to Provide Strategic Input to Program President

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced the formation of a Global Health Program advisory panel. The new panel is in addition to the Global Development and United States Program advisory panels announced in September. These panels provide expert counsel and feedback to the foundation's program areas.

Naming of the Global Health Program panelists is part of the foundation's ongoing effort to seek the counsel of outside voices that can help increase the impact of the foundation's work. The panel brings together experts with a wide range of experience relevant to the foundation's global health grantmaking priorities.

The advisory panel members will work directly with Global Health Program President Tachi Yamada to inform strategies and evaluate results, but will not be involved in the foundation's funding decisions.

"These panels are an important part of our ongoing effort to seek input and guidance from experts to deepen our impact," said Patty Stonesifer, CEO of the Gates Foundation. "The members of the Global Health advisory panel will serve as critical partners in our effort to address some of the world's most serious health inequities. We are honored that these distinguished experts have agreed to serve as advisors."

The advisory panels will function for an initial period of three years, at which time the foundation and panel members will evaluate next steps. Each panel will meet twice a year, and members will be available to provide advice to the program presidents on strategic issues. The chair will moderate panel meetings and work with the president to develop meeting agendas and post-meeting reports for the foundation's CEO and trustees.

"Each panelist brings deep experience and diverse perspectives to our work in global health issues," said Dr. Yamada. "These men and women have spent their careers working to solve critical health challenges that have direct relevance to developing countries. I look forward to getting their frank advice and feedback on the issues we are working to address."

Global Health Program advisory panel members include:

Harold Varmus (chair), president and CEO of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; former director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health

John Bell, Regius professor of medicine at the University of Oxford; chair of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research for the U.K. National Health Service and the Medical Research Council

Jay Naidoo, chair of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition; chair of the Development Bank of Southern Africa; former South African minister of reconstruction and development

Joy Phumaphi, vice president of the Human Development Network at the World Bank; former minister of health of Botswana

Sujatha Rao, Additional Secretary and Director General, National AIDS Control Organization, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India

Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO of Novartis AG

Source: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation