Hebrew U.-Hadassah "Health in Africa 2010" Symposium

Hebrew U.-Hadassah "Health in Africa 2010" Symposium

Jerusalem - "Food Security," "The Challenges of Setting National Public Health Policy," and "Health & Healthcare in an Era of Economic Crisis" will be some of the issues discussed at a symposium on "Health in Africa 2010" hosted next week by the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine together with the Pears Foundation (UK).

The symposium, to be held at Ein Kerem campus on Tuesday, February 16, will bring together health and policy experts from Israel and Africa to discuss critical issues impacting health in Africa today. ‘Pears’ alumni of the International Masters in Public Health program (IMPH), who are now working as public health practitioners across Africa will also present their work at the symposium.

Speakers include: H.E. Mr. H. Divon, Deputy Director-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel, and Head of MASHAV, who will address what the future holds for Africa-Israel ties; Prof. S. Tollman of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, who will speak on health in Africa today and the impact of the global economic crisis; and representatives from the World Health Organization.

Prof. Berry of the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, who devised a standardized global nutritional index (GNI) to help guide national policies to combat nutritional problems, will talk about the importance of food security in Africa. "Food security is a fundamental human right." he asserts. "The reason why is that it increases the product of human capital – it's literally the fuel of the economy. And we want to make sure that they're getting the highest octane fuel possible."

Seventeen ‘Pears Scholars’, who are now alumni of the program, will present their work at the symposium. They include a water and sanitation capacity building manager with the Kenya Red Cross Society, the head of monitoring and evaluation of the National Malaria Control Program for the Ministry of Health in Nigeria, the regional head of the Expanded Program on Immunization in Cameroon, a training advisor for EngenderHealth reproductive health organization in Ethiopia, a advisor to the WHO Africa Regional office in the Congo, and others working to combat HIV and AIDS, Malaria and TB in Cameroon, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Uganda.

The IMPH Program was established in 1971, with now over 700 graduates from 90 countries in developing and transition regions, as well as developed countries of North America and Western Europe.

Prof. Elliot Berry bills this is an "amazing program", saying that the contacts the students make on a social level enable them to share experiences and common problems. "We also try to work with the students to solve their problems," he adds.

 According to IMPH program director Dr. Yehuda Neumark, "Our graduates take up key positions as public health leaders and teachers and make important contributions to the health of the people in their countries and beyond."

The Pears Foundation (UK) provides annual scholarships for six African students in the IMPH Program at the Braun School, in order to "build a network of scholars in the developing world who benefit from academic expertise in Israel and transfer that expertise towards development efforts in their home countries," according to Mr. Trevor Pears, executive chair of the Pears Foundation. "A subsidiary objective is to help strengthen relationships between Israel and Africa through building strong academic cooperation.”