Former HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson to Address Global Health Diplomacy at APICs Annual Conference

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Former Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson will address the topic of global health diplomacy in Tampa, Fla. this June at the 33rd annual Educational Conference and International Meeting of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

Thompson, a former four-term governor of Wisconsin, will present the keynote address, Global Health Diplomacy: Infection Prevention Imperatives, at the TampaConvention Center during the four-day event, which will be held from June 11-15, 2006.

Since infectionsand the challenges they createdo not recognize national boundaries, our profession is embracing a global perspective on infection prevention and control, said APIC president Kathy Arias, MS, MT, SM, CIC. And who best to help us expand our vision than Tommy Thompson, a widely recognized leader in global healthcare discourse.

We are pleased that Secretary Thompson will outline the concept of global health diplomacy as a means of improving the human condition, said 2006 annual conference chair Rouett Abouzelof, RN, MSN, CIC. He will focus on the role of the infection prevention and control professional, sharing his insights into developments in the global healthcare environment.

From 2001 to 2005, Thompson headed HHS, the largest civilian department in the federal government with 66,000 employees and a budget that accounts for almost one out of every four federal dollars.

At HHS, Thompson launched initiatives to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health and reorganized the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to encourage greater responsiveness and efficiency, providing health insurance to 1.8 million lower-income Americans throughout the nation. He also worked on strengthening the nations preparedness for a bioterrorism attack and raised federal awareness of the pandemic influenza threat.

Thompson is now the independent chairman of DeloitteCenter for Health Solutions and a partner at the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Source: APIC