Leaders from academia, law, multilateral institutions, and African-led governance will present strategies to navigate today’s geopolitical crises and deliver on the promise of locally led global health, equity and human rights.

AFREhealth will bring together African health leaders, researchers, policymakers and partners to translate lessons from recent Ebola outbreaks into practical action. This session looks beyond emergency response to address the building blocks of preparedness, including domestic financing, workforce capacity and protection, resilient primary health care, governance, surveillance, community engagement, and regional and global partnerships.

Global health practitioners are navigating ethical dilemmas, funding uncertainty, team strain, and persistent questions about how expertise is recognized. Increasingly, leadership is less about technical solutions than about how leaders respond under pressure. This interactive workshop will guide participants through different exercises aimed at converting challenges into strengths, avoiding blind spots at work, and remaining aware of positionality and power when partnering in global health. 

Global health assistance is shifting from grants to bilateral, co-financed agreements that tie health cooperation to domestic financing commitments, health-security priorities, and strategic and commercial interests. When those negotiations stall, existing programs are disrupted and millions of lives are affected. Panelists from across disciplines and regions bring field and personal experience to two questions: what solutions are emerging as bilateral partnerships become the norm, and what would accountable, equitable, sustainable partnerships actually look like?

Cost-effective NCD interventions could save 12 million lives and unlock more than US$1 trillion by 2030. This session will explore why progress on NCDs lags behind, despite this overwhelming evidence, and experts will share country-led solutions that can finally accelerate progress.

To mark 15 years of CUGH's Global Oral Health Interest Group, this session honors founders Drs. Bruce Donoff and John Greenspan while exploring the future of the field. Speakers will share interventions that integrate oral health into primary care, universal health coverage, and NCD strategies. The session will include an extended audience dialogue to help shape GOHIG's priorities heading into CUGH 2027 in Lima.

Seven CUGH member students will present research covering a range of geographies and contemporary global health challenges. There will be a Q&A session between the audience and the students during the last 30 minutes. Join us and support these future global health leaders!

This panel will explore the opportunities for investment and development of leadership in nursing in the current century. Panelists will provide their "hot topic" for investment and development in nursing with an emphasis on leadership development and strategic opportunities for investment. We will also hear from emerging leaders in the field about their perspectives about priorities for leadership development for the next generation of nurses and what to do differently. 

Global health leaders examine the role of academia in shaping the future of the field: how do we reform global health education and research for impact? Insights from this session will inform CUGH's report, "Fit for Purpose - Reforming Global Health in the 21st Century for Academia and Partners", to be launched in 2027.

‘The Lancet Commission on 21st Century Global Threats to Health’ lays out a foresight-driven, health-focused approach to identifying and prioritizing major threats to human survival over the remainder of the century. Commission co-chair Professor Christopher Murray will present its framework, findings, and recommendations, followed by a moderated panel of commissioners. 

Seven CUGH member students will present research covering a range of geographies and contemporary global health challenges. There will be a Q&A session between the audience and the students during the last 30 minutes. Join us and support these future global health leaders!

When should AI regulation in global health move fast, and when must it move slowly? Leaders in technology, government, academia, and workforce development weigh this question and propose mechanisms that can help regulators adopt a coherent and sensible approach to AI in health, science and global health. 

Most scientists are never trained in communication skills, so even significant research often fails to reach the right people and change minds. Making the case matters just as much as getting the science right and this hands-on workshop allows you to develop skills and practice. Bring the science you care about, learn from journalists how to make your message stick, and compete with your peers for the most compelling pitch! 

Corruption is a leading yet neglected threat to sustainable development and global security. This panel of experts will show: the scope of global corruption; the system through which funds are laundered; where they are housed; and what countries, individuals, and communities can do to address it. There will also be an update on the Lancet Global Health Commission on anti-corruption in health. 

There's a persistent gap between the competencies global health graduates develop and what they need to be "job ready" in a rapidly changing workplace. Educators, employers, and recent graduates come together to explore practical, evidence-informed ways to close that gap, with a focus on flexible applied learning and stronger academic-employer partnerships in LMICs.