As part of the United Nations 75th anniversary – and in the midst of a global health crisis – the UN Secretary General António Guterres has called upon the international community to unite and discuss ways to build a better future.

As a contribution to this global conversation, McMaster students and faculty recently hosted a virtual dialogue based on the UN’s third sustainable development goal: good health and well-being. Called Investing in Health for an Equitable Future, the dialogue discussed ways of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages.

The event was led by the McMaster Model United Nations club co-presidents Anastasia Drakos and Rhea Jangra, with a panel discussion moderated by Global Health student Shania Bhopa and organized in collaboration with the Global Health Office and Office of International Affairs

The panel speakers included McMaster researchers Andrea Baumann and Bonny Ibhawoh, as well as Peter Singer, special advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization.

The panelists discussed the ongoing pandemic:

Baumann: Once the pandemic is over, certain issues will remain such as universal health care. We’re learning a lot about weak structures. Reports that will emerge after the pandemic will highlight the real outcome of the pandemic and how well can people cooperate. Let’s keep our eye on the universal goal of health care.

Ibhawoh: What worries me about the way we are … addressing this pandemic is that we do not seem to be paying enough attention to historical inequities and injustices and how they shape health outcomes. I worry that the uptake will be less than optimal in minority and racialized communities and how that will shape the distrust of medicine and health and health establishments in these communities. Finding a vaccine is the tip of the iceberg. If it’s going to be effective you have to think about how to distribute it.

They also talked about the role of the United Nations – and how citizens of countries around the world must work together to solve global problems:

Singer: Equity is in the hands of a diverse range of young people. We need to encourage a diversity of leaders because they are the ones who are going to address the true issues.

Ibhawoh: The very idea of the United Nations was born out of the realization by the international community that countries going their own way will not solve the global challenges. One of the challenges of an organization like the United Nations and many other international organizations is this siloing of global problems — in the SDG we see a holistic vision of what development can look like.

Insights from the collaborative discussion will be compiled into a formal report to be sent to the UN and shared during the next General Assembly. Events like these are part of McMaster’s ongoing support for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.