Lynda L. Wilson, RN, PhD, FAAN, professor at the UAB School of Nursing and Deputy Director of the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center on International Nursing, has been selected to serve a two-year term on the Global Advisory Panel on the Future of Nursing (GAPFON) panel.
The panel was established by Sigma Tau International (STTI) and is chaired by Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Dean Emerita and Professor Martha N. Hill, PhD, RN, FAAN.
“I am honored to have been selected to serve on this panel and feel privileged to be able to bring information back to our students and faculty at UAB as our work moves forward,” Wilson said.
The first GAPFON meeting — an intense three-day high-level gathering that facilitated discussion to identify and discuss strategies to positively influence global health — took place in Basel, Switzerland, March 27-29, 2014. Key issues identified include the need for reform, advocacy, and innovations in leadership, policy, practice, education, and work environments.
GAPFON will hold a series of regional meetings of leaders from key stakeholder groups, including representatives from multiple sectors around the globe, to obtain knowledge and social, economic, cultural, and political insight related to issues determined at this inaugural meeting. Data from these meetings will provide the basis for an action plan including policy implications.
The creation of GAPFON represents a major advance in establishing strategic directions for improving global health. Having taken the initiative to host the inaugural meeting and future regional meetings, STTI is laying the foundation for GAPFON to continue in the future as a sustainable advisory entity.
