A pioneer in developing community-based treatment for AIDS and tuberculosis, Paul Farmer, M.D., founder of Partners in Health and a Harvard Medical School professor, will speak on global health equity and the role of research universities at Drexel today. More than 500 people comprising students from Drexel and surrounding universities, faculty, staff and community leaders are expected to attend his lecture. Farmer proved to the world that it is possible to deliver quality in healthcare in poor, rural settings. Partners in Health is an international non-profit organization that provides direct health care, research and advocacy for those who are sick and living in poverty in Haiti, Russia and Peru. In 2003, Farmer’s work was profiled in Tracy Kidder's book Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World.The lecture is the first in a series established by Drexel University’s School of Public Health honoring the School’s founding dean Dr. Jonathan Mann. A former head of the World Health Organization’s AIDS program, Mann died in a 1998 plane crash along with his wife while serving as dean. Mann was a central advocate of combining the forces of public health, ethics and human rights. He theorized and actively promoted the connection between human health and human rights. His daughter Lydia Mann will be present at the inaugural “Jonathan Mann Health and Human Rights Memorial Lecture.” Each annual speaker will reflect Mann’s principles and spirit at the School of Public Health now headed by Dean Marla Gold, M.D.The lecture will take place today, Nov. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Main Building Auditorium, Main Building, 32nd and Chestnut Streets.News Media Contact: Niki Gianakaris, Assistant Director, Drexel News Bureau 215-895-6741, 215-778-7752 (cell) or ngianakaris@drexel.edu
