Sara Karrar's Blog

Country: United Arab Emirates

Organisation: Health Authority - Abu Dhabi

Blog link: http://www.3four50.com/blog/sarakarrar

12th World Congress on Public Health, Istanbul 200

27th Apr 2009

The World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) and the Turkish Public Health Association are hosting the 12th World Congress on Public Health, held in Istanbul (Turkey). The theme is "Making a difference in global public health; education, research and practice". In a packed room full of delegated from 130 countries the opening ceremony was the right combination of speeches (short and sweet) by prominent individuals including Dr Buss (President of the WFPHA), Dr Margaret Chan (Director-General WHO, via phone because of the recent swine flu epidemic emergency)and Dr Akdag (Minister of Health, Turkey), and music acts by children and a dance theatrical group. Not to mention the great audio-visuals, dry ice and all!

Key notes that particularly interested me were Dr Chan’s speech (delivered by Dr Marc Danson, Director of the European WHO) which highlighted that health has never seen such attention and wealth as it has right now, but there are still inequalities and gaps. These are not a random act, but rather a result of massive faults in the system, in other words the result of bad policy. In addition, she pointed out that there was an assumption that market forces alone are the solution to the present crises in the economy and the ripple effects in other sectors, but this has been disproven. The present financial crisis is a watershed event, so we need strong policy and planning for the future. Globalisation has had different effects on different groups, ‘like a huge wave, it lifts the big boats but sinks the smaller boats’. There needs to be budget support for health ministries and infrastructure to support the health system, without which there will not be sustainable progress.

A tribute to Dr Ihsan Dogramaci on his life time achievement to health was lovely, on the giant screen photos from Dr Dogramaci’s 94 years flashed by, and ending with a ceremony to present him with the first award for lifetime achievement by the WFPHA.

Workshops also took place today, and the ‘skills building workshop on advocacy for smoke-free environment’ which I attended was overflowing with participants, more than the organisers had estimates which in itself is evidence of the importance of the subject to all and especially to the Turkish delegates. Turkey enforced smoke-free in public areas in May 2008 and will extend it to include restaurants/cafes by July 2009….very evident as you sit sipping a coffee surrounded by smoke in a hotel lobby!

Tomorrow I look forward to bumping into 2000 delegates as the meeting get underway!

World Social Marketing Conference, Brighton 2008

1st Oct 2008

The first World Social Marketing Conference took place over two days (29-30 September 2008) in the seaside city of Brighton & Hove in England. This was a landmark event not only in its global prospective, but also as it brought together more than 800 people from near and far to share and learn about the art and science of social marketing.

The first session began with a blast of music from the famous ‘I’m So Excite’ tune...how appropriate as yes we were excited to start and eager to see what the next two days will unfold. The sessions were packed with inspirational talks by eminent speakers including Philip Kotler, Nancy Lee and Alan Andreasen to name a few, from North America, Africa, Asia and Europe. The afternoons provided the delegates with a choice of attending different breakout sessions on fields such as academic social marketing, practical social marketing e.g. obesity, tobacco control projects.

OxHA was fortunate enough to be invited to present on its Community Interventions for Health (CIH) project in one of the breakout sessions. This was a fantastic opportunity to share our work and interact with interested parties. I would like to thank the National Social Marketing Centre for sponsoring Dr Lv (China CIH project coordinator) to attend and participate in this conference.

While all this was going on, there were exhibitions by specialist service providers as well as poster presentations of case studies using social marketing skills.

I came out feeling far more confident and comfortable with the application of social marketing. I truly believe that in a modern world, social marketing provides the solution to a sustainable and scalable public health service.

For more information: http://tcp-events.co.uk/wsmc/index.html

Building community coalitions (CIH Mexico City)

18th Jun 2008

Arriving in Mexico City I was bombarded by the Mexican culture. Everything is so colourful in this huge and bustling city. Tlalpan, in the south of the city, seems to have retained a village-like atmosphere with its main square resembling a village green....busy with people eating, drinking coffee and chit-chatting on white benches. Tlalpan is the intervention site for the Community Interventions for Health (CIH) project in Mexico City. Dotted with ten renowned national health institutes for research, this abundance of knowledge and expertise does not seem to have affected the increasing trends in chronic disease mortality, which is average for the country. What is needed is practical implementation of evidence, from research to practice. So how to do this? Well CIH looks to approach the community as a whole, targeting workplaces, schools, healthcare centres and neighbourhoods simultaneously. But understanding the population is critical in changing individual and community behaviour as it relates to chronic disease prevention through tackling the main risk factors of tobacco use, poor diet and lack of physical activity. The CIH team in Mexico City is utilising available expertise in the form of the National School of Anthropology, housed in Tlalpan, to build inclusive community coalitions. Ensuring good collaboration with communities will drive and help sustain intervention activities in promoting health. In addition, using anthropological knowledge can assist in tailor-making intervention activities to suite the local population.CIH is about thinking outside the 'box'....why not using anthropologists to enhance success and sustainability of interventions.