Dr Solomon Benatar
Global Health & Human Rights: Working with the 20th Century Legacy
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Convocation Hall
(Old Arts Building)
7:30 PM
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In the 20th century the world was greatly transformed by spectacular advances in science and medicine along with a major growth in the economy, yet it is was also characterised by widening disparities in health, well-being and achievements of human rights. Such a world, shaped by powerful social and economic forces, has benefited a small proportion of the world`s population maximally and the rest minimally, if at all.
While it is utopian to consider that equity can be achieved in such a world, the future looks bleak if measures to reverse trends towards widening disparities in wealth and health are not achieved. New ideas and action are required to achieve meaningful progress in health and human rights in the 21st century.
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About Dr Solomon Benatar
Dr. Solomon R. Benatar is a leading global health expert who has published over 250 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters on topics ranging from respiratory medicine, academic freedom, medical ethics and the humanities in medicine, to human rights, health care systems, health economics and global health.
Benatar graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1965 and spending time in family practice he trained first in Anesthetics and then in Internal Medicine in Cape Town and London.
He has held several academic positions, including:
- Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Founding Director of the University of Cape Town’s Bioethics Centre
- Professor of Medicine from 1980- 2007 and Chairman of the University of Cape Town's Department of Internal Medicine and Chief Physician at Groote Schuur Hospital from 1980-1999
- Chairman of the Interim National Health Research Ethics Committee in South Africa, and Past President of the International Association of Bioethics (2001-2003)
- Fellow in the Program in Ethics and the Professions at Harvard University
- Visiting Professorships at University College London Medical School, University of Toronto, Harvard Medical School
- He is currently Director of a NIH (Fogarty International Center) funded program for capacity building in International Research Ethics in southern Africa (20003-2010)
- Recently appointed Professor in Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto
Dr. Solomon Benatar is a corresponding member of the US National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Human Rights, and a member of several multidisciplinary, international research groups. He has been an invited lecturer at medical schools around the world and has recently been an advisor to UNAIDS (Geneva) the HIV Trials Prevention Network (USA) and Medecins Sans Frontieres (Holland).
He is also an elected Foreign Associate Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine, (1989), Honorary Foreign Member American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1996) and Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa (1997).
The University of Alberta Visiting Lectureship in Human Rights was inaugurated in 1998 by South Africa's Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It provides a means for Albertans to further learn about and discuss human rights issues while solidifying the University's commitment to providing an understanding of these issues in global and local contexts.
