The morning session included keynote speeches by Alice Dautry, President of the Institute Pasteur, Paul Epstein of the Harvard Center for Health and Global Environment, Robert Terry of the Wellcome Trust and Jacques Fröchen of the French Academy of Science.

Speakers spoke on a variety of issues from infectious disease, to projects focused on meningitis and the effects of global climate change on asthma levels. Nevertheless, a two clear common themes, a need to focus on the real needs of the affected people and a sense of urgency to address governance and capacity building issues, emerged from the remarks. Emphasizing the commitment of her organization to the first major theme, Prof Dautry commented, “Once [the Pasteur Institute] is in a country we stay. We make certain we train locals so they have real ownership. This is something that continues and will continue”. Her remarks are available here.

Paul Epstein gave the group a wide-ranging perspective on the current understanding of global climate change coupled with the human development patterns. As he broke down the causes for a rapid increase in damage from weather related activities, he explained, “As we look at global change, it is not as much about confounding problems as about compounding problems.” There is an understanding that weather extremes are going to increase, but the overall affect is a result of a variety of factors, including ocean warming, ice melting, erosion, and depletion of natural “sponges” as well as increased human development. The same is true of a number of other current and projected consequences associated with climate change. The ultimate results are increased costs combined with dramatic and potentially catastrophic ramifications for the global economy. Download Presentation

The Wellcome Trusts’ Robert Terry provided the members and guests with a better understanding of the Trusts strategy and how it understands the role it can play to improve health with a focus on promoting research (download presentation). A focus on practical implementation of science with a concentrating on treating some major diseases was the centerpiece of Jacques Fröchen’s remarks (download presentation)

The afternoon session, which was limited to a smaller group of guests, asked the participants to more specifically identify those areas where they would like to explore undertaking collaborative efforts. After an intense discussion, the group chose to focus on 3 main topics: Bridging the gap and facilitating networking between Anglophone/Francophone/Lusophone developing nations, South-South capacity building and the question of global governance and institutions in their relationship between health and the environment. In each circumstance, the need to fully and completely integrate representatives from developing countries was emphasized.

Bellagio Forum Executive Director, Samuel Shiroff commented on the outcome of the meeting, “I think everyone should be are very pleased with the progress being made. This Working Group is moving in exactly the right direction. We have the right group of people and an excellent start to the type of dialogue that leads to collaboration. This process is never easy, nor is it simple. I think the participants should be quite proud of their efforts.” The Working Group will meet again during the 10th anniversary of the Bellagio Forum on April 27-29th in Bellagio, Italy.

If you are interested in learning more about the Health Working Group or the BFSD 10th anniversary, please contact info@bfsd.org.