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Home of the Bright. Land of the Brave

Di Sini Bermulanya Pintar, Tanah Tumpahnya Berani

Global Health Conference 2025

Welcoming Address by
Theme: “Towards Planetary Health Equity: A Global Call the Vice-Chancellor of
for Shared Solutions” Universiti Malaya (UM)
Association of Pacific
Kuala Lumpur, Universiti Malaya | October 28–31, 2025 RIM Universities
(APRU)

Distinguished guests, esteemed colleagues, and friends,
1. Selamat datang and a very warm welcome to Universiti Malaya and to Kuala Lumpur.
It is both an honour and a privilege to welcome all of you to the APRU Global Health
Conference 2025, held here at the heart of our campus — a gathering that brings
together some of the most brilliant minds, compassionate hearts, and visionary
leaders from across the Pacific Rim.
2. This year’s theme, “Towards Planetary Health Equity: A Global Call for Shared Solutions,”
captures not just a call to action, but a shared moral responsibility — to safeguard
the health of our people, our planet, and our future. It speaks to the urgent need
to look beyond borders and disciplines, to see health as not merely the absence
of disease, but as the foundation of sustainable human progress and planetary
survival.
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3. This year’s APRU Global Health 2025 forms an integral part of Universiti Malaya’s
International Week, a celebration of global partnership, diversity, and cross-border
collaboration.
4. We are deeply honoured that this event is also recognised as one of the officially
sanctioned programmes held in conjunction with the ASEAN Summit 2025 here
in Kuala Lumpur. This recognition reflects not only the confidence of the region in
Universiti Malaya’s global standing, but also Malaysia’s commitment to advancing
education, research, and innovation as central pillars of ASEAN’s collective
progress.
5. It is, indeed, a profound honour for UM to contribute to this historic moment — as
the region and the world come together in pursuit of shared peace, prosperity, and
health for all.
6. Universiti Malaya is hosting this global platform under the banner of the Association
of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) — a network that represents the intellectual and
moral conscience of our region. As Malaysia’s leading and oldest university, UM
stands proud to lead this important conversation on the future of health — one that
transcends nations and demands shared leadership across science, policy, and
humanity.
7. At a time when the world is navigating the complexities of post- pandemic recovery,
climate crisis, ageing populations, and rising health inequities, universities must
rise beyond traditional boundaries.
8. We must become architects of solutions — harnessing our research, innovation,
and moral compass to build systems that heal, sustain, and empower.
9. The Pacific Rim is home to more than half of the world’s population. It is where innovation
meets vulnerability, where economic dynamism coexists with environmental fragility.
The health of our oceans, our forests, our cities, and our people are interconnected
— forming an ecosystem that either thrives together or declines together.