Huda Basaleem is the Assistant Vice-President of the University of Aden for Academic Affairs; Director, Aden Cancer Registry and Research Center and Professor of Community Medicine and Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Aden, Yemen. She is the Vice-President: Organization for Women in Science for the Developing Countries (OWSD-UNESCO), and the Secretary General of the Yemeni Women Association for Science and Technology, and the Representative of Yemen in the Permanent Advisory Committee for Scientific Research and Innovation, Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO).
Dr. Huda has more than 20 years as a practicing physician and public health consultant, and years of working with UN, international and national NGOs including WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, IOM, World Bank, Foundation for Future, European Commission as a consultant and principal investigator in community medicine and public health with particular expertise in women and child health, nutrition, women empowerment, reproductive health, and gender-based violence. With the protracted conflict in Yemen and associated humanitarian consequences, she is extensively involved in collaborative consultancies with governmental (like Ministry of Health) and non-governmental stakeholders addressing this issue. She is an expert at the World Health Organization for the Eastern Mediterranean Countries on NCDs surveillance, a member of the Country Focal Point Bioethics Network on Women's Issues in the Arab Region, a Member of the Centre for Ethics in Science and Technology, along with her membership at the Women’s Research and Training Centre in Aden, and a member of important scientific and professional organization at the regional and international level.
Dr. Huda has published more than 80 research papers in local, regional, and international peer reviewed scientific journals, as well as books from international publishing houses. In addition to her national expertise Dr. Huda also has expertise on the international level. She is a facilitator and community member of International Educational Activities at the National Academies of Science (NAS), USA. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Yemeni Journal for Medical Health Sciences, and Editorial Board Member in a number of regional and international journals.
Throughout her professional and academic careers, Dr. Huda received a number of awards. In 2013, she received the Elsevier Foundation Awards in Life Sciences for early career a Women Scientists in the Developing World for the Arab Region; in 2014 received recognition of Best Doctor for the Fight for Better World in the Arab World; in 2019 she received a Recognition from UNESCO on the International Day of Women and Girls in Science; in 2020, she was nominated as the Scientist of the Year (International Achievement Research Center, USA) and in 2021 she received the TWAS-Fayzah Al-Kharafi Award for the distinguished work in cancer control strategies and enhancing women and child health locally and regionally. Recently, she is ranking the first researcher in the University of Aden for three consecutive years 2021, 2022 and 2023 in the international AD Scientific Index.
Title: Science Diplomacy as a Mean to Mitigate Health Crisis: Why and How?
Abstract
Health is the most valued aspiration across time and cultures. However, the communication gap between health scientists and policymakers has been acknowledged for a long time. Whereas scientists have the tendency to rigorous scientific research, policymakers lack sufficient knowledge to apply scientific evidence to solve health concerns in the community. Science diplomacy has the ability to bridge such a gap at national, regional and international levels, as it is a transboundary field sitting across national borders, policy frameworks and stakeholders of all natures and professional backgrounds. On the other hand, the scientific community is also well-positioned to create and foster an open dialogue in the society through science diplomacy and considering the social aspects of health crisis.
This paper highlights the perspective that we live in an interconnected world where health impacts all sectors and health and politics are intertwined. The paper addresses how health crisis added urgency to the work of policymakers and scientific community as clearly appeared in COVID-19 (and African Ebola) crisis which evoked health security not only as an important concept and moved it up the political agenda, but also stressed the importance of solidarity and shared responsibility in outbreak response with which “health diplomacy” played a pivotal role globally. Furthermore, the paper discusses the indispensable role that science plays in decision-making processes in health crisis. Science is needed, for example, to develop new drug and/or vaccine, respond appropriately to the crisis and take adequate measures.
The paper concluded that science should shape and influence decision-making processes during health crisis. The pre-requisite is that decision-makers listen to scientists and scientists themselves understand the decision-makers’ information needs. Science is needed to develop evidence to inform decision-making processes which then translate into affordable, fair and equitable political actions.