Health trends: UTech hosts public health conference

The University of Technology (UTech) School of Public Health and Health Technology (SPHHT) has set June 7-10 as the date for the Second International Public Health Conference. The conference will be held at the Wyndham hotel in St Andrew, Jamaica, under the theme 'Public Health Challenges - Its impact on Jamaica, the Caribbean and the World - Are we prepared?'

This conference mounted by the SPHHT will examine current challenges being faced within Jamaica's public health system that is charged with protecting and promoting the health and well-being of the public. Participants will be drawn from the public-health sector in Jamaica, the medical and academic fraternities, the public sector, private corporations and the general public. Invitations have also been issued to key persons in the public-health system in the Caribbean to attend and contribute to the discourse. It is anticipated that there will be some 200 participants from Jamaica and the Caribbean at the event.

The conference will open on Thursday, June 7, at 6 p.m. with a public lecture presented by Professor Sir George Alleyne, Chancellor of the University of the West Indies who will speak on the topic: 'Public Health Challenges and Primary Health Care'. The conference will be officially opened by Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson on Friday, June 8, at 9 a.m.

According to Professor Winston Davidson, head, UTech's SPHHT, "This year, we are seeking to forge partnerships for collaboration, knowledge transfer and information exchange between the public sector, international organisations and private sector corporations in the Caribbean".