The Friends of the Global Fund, Japan (FGFJ), in collaboration with the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), will held a public seminar, “Game Changers—Japanese Innovation in Combatting Infectious Diseases,” on Wednesday, March 1, 2023. The seminar convened on the occasion of a visit to Japan by Mr. Peter Sands, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (The Global Fund).
In this seminar, the executive director of the Global Fund, Peter Sands, and the senior technical manager of Unitaid’s Strategy Team, Carmen Pérez Casas, introduced the challenges that need to be solved in the fight against infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries and the process by which the needed products reach the people on the ground. This was followed by a panel discussion in which Mr. Sands was joined by the CEO of the GHIT Fund, Dr. Osamu Kunii, as well as Japanese business leaders and researchers to talk about the current status and potential of product development and discuss ways to accelerate innovation from Japan.
Date and Time: Wednesday, March 1, 2023, 16:00–18:00 JST (UTC+9)
Co-organizers:
Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE)
Friends of the Global Fund, Japan (FGFJ)
Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund)
Format: Hybrid in-person and online participation
In Person: Hotel New Otani Tokyo (Sirius, Garden Court Banquet Floor (5F), 4-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8578)
Online: Live-streamed on YouTube
Languages: Japanese and English (simultaneous interpretation available)
SPEAKERS
OPENING SESSION
Opening Remarks
Akio Okawara, President & CEO, JCIE; Director, FGFJ
Ichiro Aisawa, Member, House of Representatives; Co-Chair, FGFJ Advisory Board & Diet Task Force
Discussion Session: Challenges and Innovation to End Epidemics
Peter Sands, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
Mihoko Kashiwakura, Head of East Asia Relations, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [Interviewer]
Special Remarks: Partnership for Equitable Access
Keiichi Hara, Director-General, International Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA); Board Member of the Global Fund; Board Member of Unitaid
Carmen Pérez Casas, Senior Technical Manager, Strategy Team, Unitaid
PANEL DISCUSSION: Deploying Game-Changing Innovation on the Ground
Osamu Kunii, CEO, GHIT Fund (moderator)
Seiya Kato, Director, Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Japan Anti-Tuberculosis Association (JATA)
Yoshihiro Okada, General Manager, In Vitro Diagnostics Division, FujiFilm Corporation
Masanori Kawasaki, Global Project Leader, Anti-Tuberculosis Project, Pharmaceutical Division, Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
Shigeyuki Kano, Director, Department of Tropical Medicine and Malaria, Research Institute, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM)
Yosuke Kaneko, Founder & CEO, SORA Technology
Peter Sands, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
CLOSING REMARKS
Tetsuya Itani, Director of the International Health and Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW)
*MC: Hiromi Kawano, Program Associate, JCIE
as of February 13, 2023; content is subject to change without notice
