About the Author

Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go

Academic background
Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go graduated from the University of the Philippines (UP), with Bachelor of Science degree from the College of Arts and Sciences and Doctor of Medicine from the College of Medicine. He is the recipient of the Honor Sword, two Honor Star medals and the Leadership medal in the UP Reserve Officers Training Corp program. He trained as an internist and medical toxicologist at the Philippine General Hospital and has received various trainings and clinical research fellowships abroad. He obtained his postgraduate doctorate degree from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom in 1998.

International work and partnership
Since 1989, he has worked in the capacity of short-term consultant and temporary adviser for the World Health Organization (WHO) on various occasions with issues relating to drug regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, and medical toxicology. In 1994, he established the Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Program for the Philippine Government in partnership with Australian Assistance for International Development. In 2003, he was invited by the WHO to sit for a 2-year term in the Global Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicinal Products, an independent select panel of scientific and clinical experts that advises the Director General and in 2006, he was appointed member of the WHO Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety. He is a resource expert on pharmaceutical regulatory science network in APEC meetings. In February 2005, The European Commission (EC) engaged him as one of the consultant for the Formulation Mission Health Sector Policy Support Programme. In July 2005, US Agency for International Development through Chemonics International’s Private Sector Mobilization for Family Planning (PRISM) engaged his services as a consultant. In October 2005, as an Executive Committee member of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance, he spearheaded and hosted the 5th Annual Meeting in the Philippines in partnership with the Philippine Society for Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology (PSECP) with the theme: Pharmacovigilance: East meets West.

Government Service
In 1999, he was appointed as the Deputy Director of BFAD, and the head of the National Drug Policy Programme of the Department of Health. From 1999 to mid-2001, he was involved with the Department of Health Health Sector Reform Agenda: strategic planning and reforms. He served with the Dangerous Drugs Board as a member of technical committee for some years and briefly served as Vice Chair of the Board in 2001. He currently serves as a member of the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Committee of the government’s National Health Insurance Program within the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), evaluating health technology and products, and advocating evidenced-based sound policy in the areas of financing, drug and medical procedure reimbursement.

Academic work
In June 1, 2001 to December 2005, he served UP Manila College of Medicine as a professor at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Since 1990, he has served as a consultant physician of the National Poisons Control and Information Service. He has authored a number of peer-reviewed published papers in scientific journals including contribution to chapters in pharmacology textbooks. Likewise, in June 2004 to January 2006, he was the Chair of the UP Manila Committee on Institutional Development, a committee that works on strategic reforms to develop and sustain the University’s image and resource generation. Currently, he is engaged with Ateneo University School of Medicine and Public Health in developing their joint medical and masters of management curriculum.

Social/civic responsibilities
He is the Executive Director of the Zuellig Foundation, a non-profit, non-governmental organization, and a health think tank group finding solutions to health and governance problems and a sounding board for rational health policies. As Executive Director of the Zuellig Foundation, he initiated the Health Leadership and Management Program (HLMP). The main concept of HLMP is to invest on institutional management skills of the middle level managers of the public health sector. This Program is on its fourth year of implementation and is undertaken in collaboration with the Department of Health and the Local Government Units. He is the Chairman of the Corporate Network for Disaster Response, an association of private institutions where coordination on managing disasters and disaster preparedness is undertaken. Among the past positions held in various organizations include serving as Vice-President for Operations from August 2002-2004 of the League of Corporate Foundations, an umbrella organization advocating corporate social responsibility; Board Member of the Philippine Coalition against TB from August 2002-2004 and Member of the health core group for the private sector initiatives on the Millennium Development Goals Project of the Philippine Business for Social Progress and the United Nations Development Programme.

Professional affiliations
He is a fellow and member of many scientific professional organizations both internationally and locally. He is the recipient of the prestigious Drug Information Association Outstanding Service Award from the United States in 2001.

He practices medicine at the Manila Doctors Hospital, Cardinal Santos Medical Center and The New Medical City.