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Photo: Patrick Cernoch

I survived the disease the world forgot. Then we made the world remember. 

My name is Fidel Strub.

I survived Noma as a small child and needed 28 operations to rebuild my face. Many years later, I helped lead the campaign that convinced the WHO to finally recognise Noma as a neglected tropical disease.

Today I speak on stages around the world, I teach at universities and schools, and I help organisations treat the people they serve with real dignity. Not as pictures in a fundraising campaign. As people.

In 2024, TIME named me one of the 100 most influential people in health.

I work in English, French and German.

How can I help you?

Book me as a speaker 

Keynotes, panels and talks about resilience, dignity and the truth about global aid. In English, French or German.

See my talks

Are you a journalist? 

Everything you need is here: my story, photos, the topics I speak about, and a fast way to reach me.

Go to the press kit

For organisations and institutions

Through ALETHEIA TUTELA, I advise NGOs, foundations and health institutions on ethical communication and dignity.

Work with me

  • Grafik mit medizinischen Symbols und Text "Health Check" für BBC News World Service.
  • Logo von The Guardian in weißer Schrift auf dunkelbluem Hintergrund
  • WHO logo featuring a globe, a staff with a snake, and olive branches

My work: bridging the gap between organisations and the communities they serve 

The Fidel Strub Forum is my independent platform for transparent governance, strategic advocacy and public leadership. It exists for one reason: to make sure that global health organisations and NGOs work as true technical partners, and that community members and survivors stay the protagonists of their own development. Not the footnotes of someone else's fundraising campaign.

My work has two pillars:

1. Speaking and public leadership (Fidel Strub) 

True leadership is forged in lived experience. I deliver signature keynotes for global summits, executive message architecture for leaders, lectures for universities and schools, and selective mentoring for people navigating pivotal transitions. Alongside independent advocacy, I hold an active framework mandate with Swiss TPH (Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute), where I work on stakeholder integration, strategic risk factor workshops and expert advocacy within the Noma Platform.

For: global health leaders, foundations, international agencies, public sector entities, universities and schools.

2. Institutional advisory (ALETHEIA TUTELA)

In an era of growing donor scrutiny, the integrity of an organisation's story is its most valuable asset. ALETHEIA TUTELA is the advisory firm I founded to protect it. Using the Survivor Alignment Index (SAI), a diagnostic method I developed, ALETHEIA TUTELA helps organisations check whether their public-facing materials match ground-level reality, and close the gap. The diagnostic evaluates three areas: narrative integrity (does the storytelling match reality?), visual dignity (are communities portrayed with respect, or used as instruments?), and governance and inclusion (does the organisation live up to its commitments?).

For: NGOs, philanthropic investors, corporate foundations and global donors.

Learn more at aletheiatutela.com

Fidel Strub in a double-chested suit, blue tie standing and speaking in front of a microphone. In his Hands he is holding the TIME100 cards for his speech
Fidel Strub in front of a green-ish background sitting at a table with a cloth on the table. He is wearing a grey suit and is looking at the camera
Fidel Strub in front of a green-ish background sitting at a table with a cloth on the table. He is wearing a grey suit and is looking at the camera

A few things I believe

Dignity is not optional.

Genuine representation is not decoration. It is a fundamental part of operational integrity. Helping someone does not give you the right to use their suffering.

Pity helps no one.

Real change starts when communities lead their own recovery. International aid must be a balanced technical partnership, never a rescue story.

Lived experience is expertise.

I spent more than ten years inside the global health system. I know where it fails, and I know how to help fix it.

How I work

I am a founder-led platform, and I keep it deliberately small and independent. To protect the credibility of my work, I do not partner with organisations primarily involved in tobacco, alcohol, gambling, or weapons and defense. I also work at a deliberate pace: accuracy, depth and integrity before quick optics. If we work together, you always deal with me personally.

A note on structure: the Fidel Strub Forum oversees the governance and integrity of the SAI standard, while ALETHEIA TUTELA provides independent advisory support. This separation keeps advisory work and formal verification strictly independent.

Let's talk. I answer every message personally.

For speaking, lectures and mentoring: fidel@fidelstrub.ch

For institutional advisory (SAI): inquiries@aletheiatutela.com