The 2023 Scowcroft Border Health Summit will take place Nov. 5-7 at the Annenberg Presidential Conference Center, featuring several speakers, discussions and panels.
The conference is hosted by the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at the Bush School of Government & Public Service and the USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness at Texas A&M’s School of Public Health.
Jason Moats, Ph.D., is the director of the USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness and part of the executive council of the Texas A&M Emergency Management Assistance Group.
Moats shared the reasoning when planning the conference theme.
“We have done six global pandemic policy summits,” Moats said. “We decided this year that we were going to do a border health summit because when you say ‘the pandemic’ to a bunch of folks, they immediately think of COVID[-19], but there’s also other health issues that are going [on].”
A variety of panel discussions will take place, such as “High Impact Societal Engagement” and “Cross Border Health Opportunities and Challenges in the United States, Mexico, and Central America.” These panel discussions are generalized and can be related to borders all around the world, not just in the U.S., Moats said.
Moats expressed his excitement about different perspectives being included.
“You’re going to hear voices that we’ve heard before, but also new voices, and I think that’s also one of the most exciting things about this,” Moats said. “It’s not the same old crowd of talking heads that gets up there and talks.
“It’s some new voices, some partners and folks that are not working in the ethereal, but they’re working on the ground,” Moats said. “They’re down there working in these areas, helping these people. Many times we lose sight of the people, but that’s really what it’s about. It’s about the people.”
W. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management and vice chancellor for Disaster and Emergency Services of the Texas A&M University System will deliver a keynote speech to finish the conference.
“We talk about education, we talk about research, we talk about engagement, which follow along with the Core Values of Texas A&M,” Moats said. “They were infused in everything that went on. Then get into looking forward and then what Chief Kid will say, talking about ‘Here are the challenges and here’s how we can step off and go forward.’ So the conference is structured very, very strongly to be able to support that.”
Moats said that as well as being able to come to this conference, there are other opportunities to which students can contribute, such as joining A&M’s American Red Cross Club.
“Red Cross is a very important partner in dealing with all kinds of disasters,” Moats said. “They need volunteers as well to be part of their disaster action teams.”
