Dr Julio Frenk

Dean of Harvard's School of Public Health

Dr Julio Frenk, 2009

Dr Julio Frenk became Dean of the Faculty and T & G Angelopoulos Professor of Public Health and International Development at the Harvard School of Public Health on 1 January 2009

Dr Frenk is an eminent authority on global health who served as the Minister of Health of Mexico from 2000 to 2006. He pursued an ambitious agenda to reform the nation’s health system, with an emphasis on redressing social inequality. He is perhaps best known for his work in introducing a program of comprehensive national health insurance, known as Seguro Popular, which expanded access to health care for tens of millions of previously uninsured Mexicans.

On 10 December 2009, Dr Frenk has been elected Chair of the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health.

"I am very pleased to accept the role of Chair of The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health," said Dr. Frenk. "Health is a fundamental human right. In countries where children die early and mothers die in the act of giving life, injustice breeds. When we see more than 10 million women and children die of unnecessary causes every year in poor countries, it presents an ethical dilemma for all of us. They are not dying from rare diseases; we have the tools to prevent this. The Partnership can play an important role in forging consensus on ways to act, and in bringing the world's attention to this very important issue."

Read more about Dr Frenk's involvement in MNCH
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