Fourth-year BS Public Health student Celine Colada of the Division of Biological Sciences, University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV), represented the Philippines as the only Filipino student participant attending the World Health Summit 2026 in person. The Summit was held in Berlin, Germany, from October 11 to 13, bringing together health leaders, policymakers, researchers, and youth from around the world.
Colada received a scholarship from the Summit that covered her registration in the conference. She joined discussions under the theme “From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health.” The program featured World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and prospective candidates for the next WHO Director-General, who shared their perspectives on the future of global health governance.
Colada took part in workshops and Global Health Labs focused on issues connected to her interests in health financing, digital and geospatial health, and data-informed public health. She contributed perspectives from her public health training in the Philippines, raising questions about how global health innovations can respond to realities in resource-constrained settings. These included the workload of barangay health workers, fragmented health information systems, and the need to test assumptions behind proposed solutions.
“The Summit helped me realize that I was not there only to listen. I could contribute perspectives shaped by what we are learning and doing in UP Visayas Public Health,” Colada said. She recalled a conversation with German senior policy researcher Franziska Laporte Uribe, who noted that some approaches Colada encountered in her undergraduate training were ones she had spent years advancing in her own work.
“I am grateful to UP Visayas, my professors, and my mentors for an education that has taught me to question, connect disciplines, and ask what can be done better. Berlin gave me the room, but our small classrooms in Miagao had already taught me not to enter it silently,” she added.
The Summit also enabled Colada to meet World Bank health systems specialist Dr. Sarbani Chakraborty and Filipino global health scholar Dr. Renzo Guinto. She also met University of the Philippines academics Dr. Sheila Bonito, dean of the UP Manila College of Nursing, and Dr. Sharon Yvette Angelina Villanueva, associate dean for research at the UP Manila College of Public Health.
Conversations at the Summit helped Colada identify potential areas for future research and institutional collaboration involving UPV’s Division of Biological Sciences, including geospatial health, artificial intelligence for public good, and public health innovation. These connections may support future research and capacity-building initiatives.
Colada’s participation builds on her international academic experience as an exchange student at Kyung Hee University during the midsemester period of Academic Year 2024–2025. There, she studied Planetary Citizenship and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity, with instruction from former UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova. The exchange introduced her to global perspectives on sustainability, inclusion, citizenship, and international cooperation.
Her participation at the World Health Summit brought an undergraduate and Philippine perspective to discussions on global health while creating opportunities to connect UPV’s academic work with international conversations and networks.
UPV congratulates Colada on representing the institution at the World Health Summit 2026. Padayon, Celine!
Written by Adrienne Janagap
