Leading Welsh physician to speak on health promotion at Wrexham Glyndwr University

A leading Welsh physician is to speak at Wrexham Glyndwr University tomorrow about how health promotion messages have been used throughout the history of the NHS.

As the Chief of Staff for the Primary, Community and Specialist Medicine Clinical Programme Group at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, Dr Olwen Williams FLSW has played a key role in working to promote population health across North Wales and beyond.

A specialist in genitourinary medicine, Dr Williams is President of the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV.

She is an elected member of Council at the Royal College of Physicians, was named Welsh Woman of the Year in 2000, and received an OBE for services to medicine in 2005.

During her career, Dr Williams has spent more than three decades working in the field of sexual health and HIV, and her talk on Wednesday will use the controversial ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ campaign – which was launched in 1986 and focussed on HIV – to explore the impact of health promotion campaigns.

Martin Pollard, Chief Executive of the Learned Society of Wales, said: “Dr Williams is a distinguished Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales and this talk is a chance to hear one of Wales’ foremost experts talk about how health promotion campaigns can change and affect us all.

“The talk will use a wide range of ways to explore the impact of these campaigns – including video clips and posters, but also with some personal reflections as well.

“We’re promised a talk which will be in turns challenging, amusing and sad – and which will, of course, draw upon the decades of experience Dr Williams has built up.”

The Public Lecture is a partnership between the Learned Society of Wales and Wrexham Glyndwr University.

It will take place on Wednesday, February 20 between 5:30pm and 6:30pm at the university’s Plas Coch campus. There is no charge to attend, but attendees are asked to register here.