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As part of the U.S. State Department’s Advancing Global Health Equity international visitor exchange program, community health representatives from around the world recently visited The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth during an educational welcome program bringing them to the local Metroplex.

Representatives from HSC’s School of Public Health and Institute for Health Disparities shared presentations with visitors from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Botswana, Indonesia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka. Within their countries, these diplomats serve in health care, community health, ministry of health and family welfare, infectious diseases, higher education and other positions.

Also attending were SPH community partners Mary Ann Contreras, violence and injury prevention manager, JPS Health Network; Christina Judge, executive director, Mental Health Connection of Tarrant County, Patricia Rodriguez, chief medical officer, North Texas Area Community Health Centers; and Tiffany Mayfield, North Texas Area Community Health Centers’ director of operations.

The multi-regional Advancing Global Health Equity project is part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program, arranged by the U.S. Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the nonprofit Meridian International Diplomacy Center and the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth.

One of the program’s goals was to increase friendship and understanding between citizen diplomats, said Mahalet Kefyalew, international services manager at the DFW World Affairs Council. State Department objectives were to explore programs and interventions that embed health equity into their design, implementation and evaluation; discuss local, national and international efforts and collaborations, including public-private partnerships, to promote health equity; and identify best practices and innovations to meet emerging health care priorities while addressing health disparities and concerns such as privacy, access and equity.

In addition to learning about HSC’s mission and vision, the visiting diplomats were presented with the School of Public Health’s strategic plan, IMPACT 2030: Commitment to Community, representing a commitment to achieve health equity in every local community, in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the U.S. Healthy People 2030 plan and HSC’s Whole Health initiative. The initiatives of HSC’s Institute for Health Disparities were also discussed.

Presenting on behalf of the SPH were Dr. Shafik Dharamsi, dean; Dr. Stacey Griner, public health researcher and assistant professor; and Dr. Malinee Neelamegam, assistant professor of population and community health.

Lavanya Vishwanatha, research enterprise solutions director, spoke on behalf of the HSC Institute for Health Disparities.

The mission of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth is to inspire deeper understanding by exploring national and international affairs, systems and cultures that shape the human experience.

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