Dr. Joshi, Founder FHTS co-chaired a panel discussion on  “Public Health Diplomacy: An Emerging Public Health Competency Towards Consensus Building, Negotiations, and Multilateral Partners” at the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2025 in Delhi.

The session focused on the complex and interconnected challenges facing public health today, many of which require policy-driven solutions that tackle the broader social and environmental determinants of health. Diplomacy—the art and practice of negotiation—enables nations to implement foreign policy, safeguard their interests, and foster cooperative relationships. Schools and programs of public health are responsible for educating and training the future public health workforce. In the context of global health, there is an urgent call to confront pressing threats by fostering enhanced collaboration, coordination, and communication across diverse sectors and stakeholders.

By strengthening health diplomacy at both informal and multistakeholder levels, we can create pathways to improved health outcomes and promote well-being for all. Public Health graduates must develop competencies in Health Diplomacy to confront present and future challenges. This session explored the critical role of public health diplomacy and highlighted the importance of equipping public health students with the competencies -skills, and expertise- needed to navigate the evolving field effectively.

Key policy implications from the session included the need to develop public health diplomacy as a field within public health as well as the need to develop public health diplomacy skills and expertise within public health students.