Global Health Conference 2006

The 2006 Global Health Conference was at GKT, London on the 25th and 26th March.

Theme: “Poverty and Health in the new Millennium”

Background

The conference was based on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a set of eight time-bound targets that were agreed upon by 189 Heads of State and Government at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. The MDGS aim to:

  1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
  2. Achieve Universal Primary Education
  3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
  4. Reduce Child Mortality
  5. Improve Maternal Health
  6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
  7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability
  8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

The GHC 2006 used this pledge as a platform to examine the relationship between poverty and heath and its implications for healthcare professionals in the 21st Century.

Plenaries

Plenary 1: Infectious Disease

This plenary session focused on communicable diseases in developing countries, with particular emphasis on the relationship between poverty and infectious diseases, the role of the pharmaceutical companies in researching and developing crucial drugs to combat infectious diseases, and the magnitude of the global effort that would be required to halt and begin to reverse the spread of major infectious diseases by 2015.

Plenary 2: Maternal and Child Health

This plenary session focused on the experiences of women and children in developing countries. The four lectures spanned a wide range of issues including gender discrimination and its implications for women’s health, the barriers that women face in accessing emergency obstetric care, the relationship between maternal nutrition and neonatal health, and the continuing challenges of childhood malnutrition and under nutrition.

Plenary 3: Neglected Issues in International Health

This interactive plenary session included three lectures on different neglected health issues (cancer, diabetes and mental health) followed by a facilitated panel discussion.

Plenary 4: Forging a Global Partnership for Development

The final session focused on broader issues in the global campaign to improve health and wellbeing of people living in poverty. The session drew from the insights and experiences of individuals involved in providing healthcare in developing countries as well as those involved in making policy and shaping the global agenda for development to highlight challenges and successes in the effort to improve global health.

For further information about past conferences, click here

Last updated on Sunday 06 April 2008 at 17:49.