The Aspen Institute

On May 5-7, 2022, Aspen Institute Romania will organize an international seminar under the framework of the Aspen Healthcare & Quality of Life Program, debating the resilience of healthcare systems and key challenges in public health.

The seminar will be conducted in English and will take place at Casa Vlăsia, a picturesque location in Snagov, close to Bucharest. The program will begin on Thursday afternoon and conclude on Saturday afternoon, following a closing lunch. If you are interested in participating, please contact socrates@aspeninstitute.org.

The Future of Public Health: Building a More Resilient Post Pandemic System

Public health systems of countries around the world have been put to the test by SARS-COV-2 pandemic. This unique and often allusive disease seems perfectly designed to expose systemic weaknesses and tests the decades-old question in public health of how to balance innovation and universal healthcare.

Countries around the world have managed this balance differently and are discovering live the costs and benefits of these choices. This seminar will debate key challenges of different public healthcare systems and ways in which different policies and investments are shaping outcomes, looking to develop best practices for the Romanian health system. Topics will include:

• Increasing confidence in the healthcare system: how to build trust in science and healthcare professionals in the age of technology and disinformation.
• Equity and resilience in healthcare: looking back at the SARS-COV-2 crisis and preparing the system to cope with external shocks such as pandemics and refugee flows.
• Public-private partnerships in the healthcare sector: benefits for Romania and best practices from other health systems.

Additionally, discussions will address, more broadly, the cost of not investing in healthcare and not financing research & development. Furthermore, as a means of strengthening the resilience of public health systems, discussions will also explore how national pandemic preparedness plans should look like.
Bringing together key stakeholders from the Aspen Healthcare & Quality of Life Program Community, we will use the Aspen Method to create a group as diverse as possible in terms of professional sectors (private, public, non-profit) and gender.

Around 20 participants will debate, based on texts sent beforehand, topics relating to public policies, reforms and sustainability in the healthcare sector, focusing on the interaction between the main public, private, academic and non-governmental actors in the healthcare system.

The two moderators, Drs. Katherine E. Bliss and Vlad Mixich, will ask the hard questions of how nations balance healthcare for all and innovation, economic health and human lives, individual privacy and the public good.