By Education News Reporter
Nairobi City is set to host an international conference in commemoration of Covid-19.
The conference, that is to be held at Kenyatta University between April 12 and 14, is being organized by the institution’s School of Public Health in partnership with the Ministry of Health.
The highlights of the conference are to commemorate the experiences of Covid-19 and to take stock of best practices and lessons learned for prevention of future pandemics and promote sharing and implementation of best practices.
The conference whose theme is: ‘Promoting Health During and Beyond Covid-19,’ will be conducted both physically and virtually.
Studies have shown that Covid-19 has an enormous economic burden to the society and to the country. This includes cost of medical-related expenses per household, productivity loss from related morbidities and premature mortality.
The conference will be officially opened by Kenya’s First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, besides foreign delegates and medical scholars, the two-day conference will also be graced by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health Hon. Mutahi Kagwe, Vice Chancellor – Kenyatta University Prof. Paul Waweru and Ag.Director General Ministry of Health Dr. Patrick Amoth, among others.
It is expected that the conference will examine challenges and opportunities that can be used to reduce exposure to Covid-19 and other related infections. It is also expected to generate knowledge that will be used to develop and implement policies that will contribute towards reduction of future occurrence of Covid-19 and other related pandemics.
The conference therefore provides a premier interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to present, discuss and commemorate Covid-19 experiences, as well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the use of health promotion for prevention and management of the pandemic.
As Covid-19 pandemic plunged the world into a crisis that touched many sectors of society in which most are yet to recover, the conference will take stock of how the individuals, communities and the government managed the situation and the role of health promotion in dealing with the pandemic and other related infections. Health promotion is critical at the time of crisis than ever.
The conference will also seek to create synergies for improved partnership planning and implementing programmes for increasing prevention of a resurgence of Covid-19 and related infections and at the same time facilitate future action plans for improving access to preventive and management of Covid-19 related care.
