As the world goes into uncharted waters in the battle against COVID-19, The HEAD Foundation has convened a panel of medical and public health experts across the globe to weigh in on the different facets of challenges the pandemic presents to the world.
On 29 April 2020, Professor Tikki Pangestu, an esteemed Visiting Fellow from NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and moderator for this session, joined Dr Brent Bauer from Mayo Clinic, USA, Professor Zhinan Yin from Jinan University, China, and Associate Professor Li Yang Hsu from NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Medicine, Singapore, in our first webinar in a series titled “COVID-19 What Next…?” for an insightful and timely sharing of COVID-19 related knowledge.
The session began with a presentation from each panellist, followed by an intellectually-stimulating exchange among them. The discussion was a timely one on various medical and policy issues, ranging from country-specific strategies to contain the pandemic and the lessons they offer to the world, to the vast unknown about human antibodies and immunity to the virus, which renders the search for a vaccine a huge challenge to date. Whilst often overlooked in most medical discourse, the role of integrative medicine was also featured in the discussion as an important means to build holistic resilience in individuals during such trying time.
The webinar participants also had the opportunity to engage the panellists in a Q&A session, where key concerns of the members of the audience were addressed. Despite the unanimous agreement that COVID-19 is an unprecedented public health disaster in human history, the webinar ended on a hopeful note—that with political commitment at the highest level, improved understanding on human’s immune response, as well as an integrative approach to preserve individuals’ holistic resilience, this is not going to be a lost battle.
The HEAD Foundation sincerely thanks the panellists and the participants from 13 countries, including Indonesia, China, Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, France, USA, UK and Singapore for your support and participation in the webinar.
