As global health systems confront increasingly complex challenges—including pandemics, climate change, resource scarcity, and deepening inequities—the ethical dimensions of global health have become ever more critical. This symposium explores how justice and equity are negotiated across diverse health systems and how structural imbalances continue to shape access, care, and collaboration. Grounded in the conference theme “Towards Planetary Health Equity: A Global Call for Shared Solutions,” the session brings together three expert voices to examine the ethical tensions and practical challenges in global health.
Speakers
Professor Dr Angus Dawson (National University of Singapore) will open the session with a critical reflection on the ethical imperatives of decolonising global health. He will explore how deeply embedded power structures, historical legacies, and institutional biases continue to shape global health research, governance, and collaborations, particularly between high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). His talk will address the need for ethical reorientation in how priorities are set, knowledge is valued, and partnerships are formed.
Associate Professor Dr Sharon Kaur (Universiti Malaya, Malaysia) will offer a grounded perspective from the Global South, exploring how LMICs experience and navigate global health initiatives. Drawing on ethical and policy insights from the region, she will reflect on the implications of externally driven programs and what justice means for communities on the receiving end of global health interventions.
Datuk Dr Kalaiarasu M Peariasamy (SEGi University and Colleges, Malaysia) is a former Director of the Institute for Clinical Research, NIH Malaysia, a Senior Lecturer at SEGi University and Colleges, and an Adjunct Professor at Taylor’s School of Medicine, Malaysia. He is a Consultant Paediatric Dentistry with a demonstrated history of working in hospitals & clinical research. Skilled in Paediatric Oral Surgery, Dental Traumatology, Cleft Dentistry and Clinical Research. Strong education professional graduated from the University of London, the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, England and Glasgow.
Professor Dr Frederick (Rick) L. Altice is Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Public Health at Yale University. A physician-scientist, he specialises in the intersection of infectious diseases and addiction, focusing on HIV, tuberculosis, and substance use disorders in key populations. His work integrates biomedical, behavioural, and digital health interventions to enhance treatment outcomes and patient-centred care.
Dr Altice’s global collaborations span Malaysia, Ukraine, Peru, and beyond. He currently directs two International Implementation Science Research and Training Centres with the University of Malaya and Sichuan University, advancing global capacity for evidence-based interventions.
Moderator
Dr Nishakanthi Gopalan is a Senior Lecturer at the Medical Humanities and Ethics Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya. Trained in biotechnology with a PhD in research ethics and policy, she coordinates the Master of Health Research Ethics (MOHRE) programme and serves on the UMMC Medical Research Ethics Committee. Her research spans bioethics, medical and clinical ethics, and neuroethics, focusing on emerging technologies, health research, and aesthetic medicine. She is committed to advancing ethical standards in science and medicine locally and globally.
Together, the speakers will offer a rich, multidisciplinary discussion on how bioethics can serve as both a critical and constructive tool for confronting injustice and reshaping global health in more equitable terms