Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore, to open the Global Hygiene Summit 2023
- Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore, is the Guest of Honour at the Global Hygiene Summit and will also be making the opening address.
- The Global Hygiene Summit2023 is being organised in collaboration with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (Singapore), the World Bank, the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, and WaterAid.
Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore, is the Guest of Honour and will be making the opening address at the Global Hygiene Summit 2023, which is taking place in Singapore in December 2023. The Summit being organised in collaboration with the National Centre for Infectious Diseases (Singapore), the World Bank, the Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health, and WaterAid.
The Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute (RGHI), a not-for-profit foundation that was established in 2020 with a multi-year $25 million grant from Reckitt, is focussed on plugging significant gaps in the health research space and improving access to information that will bridge epidemiology, public health, and behaviour change. The Global Hygiene Summit will align with this aim by informing the global health agenda stimulating discussion that could lead to the adoption of better and more sustainable hygienic practises globally. The mission for the Global Hygiene Summit is to convene the global hygiene experts to discuss and debate the gap in the architecture of hygiene and what must be achieved to fix this. The conversations will be had from three perspectives– science, policy and practice, to ensure these are rounded and point towards realistic actionable outcomes.
Mdm Halimah Yacob, President of the Republic of Singapore, said, “The recent battle the world has faced against the COVID-19 pandemic has given us important lessons about hygiene and how we must respect the role it plays in our health and well-being. Advancing global hygiene requires cooperation from all stakeholders. I am delighted to be part of the world’s first Global Hygiene Summit and to launch two days of discussions on a topic that will affect us all, regardless of where in the world we reside.”
By articulating the shape, scope and importance of the hygiene field, motivating multi-level and multi-disciplinary working by bridging epidemiology, behaviour and policy, the Global Hygiene Summit intends to gain consensus on how to effectively measure and create behavioural change and economic impact (ROI), and how to present this to engage policymakers.
Content Committee Chair, Dr Albert Ko, Professor and Chair of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health and Chair of the Global Hygiene Summit Content Committee said: “We haven’t tapped the full potential of hygiene, whether water, sanitation, respiratory or dental, to improve health and well-being. The Global Hygiene Summit is a key step in convening stakeholders and maximizing these benefits on the global scale.”
“Good hygiene is an integral ingredient in preventing the spread of infectious diseases. Hygiene requires personal social responsibility of all and the commitment of multiple stakeholders to ensure sustainable standards. NCID is pleased to partner RGHI for the inaugural Global Hygiene Summit in Singapore which will bring together many experts and stakeholders in the discussion of taking global hygiene to the next level,” said Professor Yee-Sin Leo, Executive Director, National Centre for Infectious Diseases.
