2025 UHC Day Champion
Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite
Founder and President of UNITE Parliamentarian Network for Global Health
Browse other champions
- Countries driving UHC progress
- Dr. Ricardo Baptista Leite, Founder and President of UNITE - Parliamentarian’s Network for Global Health
- Dr. Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Vice Chair and Senior Advisor, International Health Policy Program Foundation, Thailand
- Solange Mbaye, Regional Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Senegal
- Levy Mkandawire, Programme Manager for Amref Health Africa, Zambia
- Concepta Kwaleyela, President of the Midwives Association of Zambia
- Professor Anne Beatrice Kihara, Former President of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kenya
- Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu, Country Manager for Amref, Malawi
- Habibou Ouedraogo, Health Economist, Ministry of Health, Burkina Faso
- Hon. Hyun-Young Shin, Congresswoman, 21st National Assembly of Republic of Korea
Health is more than a human right. Health is a prerequisite for social and economic development.
Ricardo Baptista Leite is a Portuguese medical doctor, manager, author, university professor, analyst and politician. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Health AI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health. In 2024, he was appointed as Obama Foundation Europe Leader. Ricardo is the Founder and President of the UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, a network of +500 current and former policymakers from +110 countries. With more than 15 years of academic experience, he is Chair of the Board of the ‘Global Health Policy Lab’, a collaborative between Harvard University and Charité University, based in Berlin, focused on using Generative AI for policy development. Ricardo is also Chair of the ‘Center for Global Health’ at NOVA University Information Management and Data Science School in Lisbon. He has been appointed by the UK Government as a member of the new UK National Commission on Regulation of AI in Healthcare and he also coordinates the Centre of Competences in Health, Biotechnology and Health Sciences of the Portuguese Diaspora Council. In the past, Dr. Ricardo served as member of the Portuguese National Parliament for four terms (2011-2023), Deputy Mayor of Cascais and City Councilor of Sintra.
UNITE organized in April 2025 the “Political Leadership for Financial Protection: Access for All in the Face of the Health Financing Emergency” side event at the Spring Meetings of the World Bank & IMF in Wahington D.C., featuring experts from the Global Financing Facility (GFF), WHO and members of parliament who shared impactful examples of successful UHC strategy implementation. All underscored the vital role of organizations such as WHO and the Global Fund in providing the financial and technical support needed to advance essential health programs.
UNITE also co-organized with UHC2030, CSEM for UHC2030 and IFMSA, a side event at the margins of the 78th World Health Assembly, on “Funding Health, Shaping Futures: A Dialogue for UHC between Youth & Parliamentarians”. The discussion aimed to promote equitable, sustainable health financing for UHC by addressing key challenges, mobilizing parliamentarians to advocate against financial barriers especially for marginalized groups, and aligning collaborative efforts with youth and civil society at strategic policy moments and global events.
