More than 530 delegates attend 17th Union Africa Region Conference
The 17th Union Africa Region Conference on 24-26 June in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso attracted the participation of more than 530 delegates from 33 countries. Under the very high patronage of His Excellency Blaise Compaoré, President of Faso, and the Chairmanship of Seydou Bouda, Minister of Health, the conference offered three days of well-attended sessions and, according to participants, a rich scientific content.
Both President Compaoré and Minister Bouda attended the opening ceremony on Wednesday morning. Delegates then attended the 3-day programme of 11 symposia, 2 poster sessions and a plenary session. Topics ranged from child lung disease, MDR-TB and TB-HIV to the nurse’s role in managing respiratory disease, asthma and smoking in Africa.
The intense interest generated by the conference reflects the alarming toll of TB and lung disease in Africa outlined by special guest speaker Prof Pierre Chaulet of Algeria. He led the plenary session on Thursday, speaking on “Lung health and primary care: a challenge for Africa.”
Minister Bouda also attended the closing ceremony on Friday, where he presented the Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Burkina Faso to Dr Nils E Billo, Executive Director of The Union.
The 17th Africa Region Conference International Organising Committee was chaired by Sary Mathurin Dembélé (Burkina Faso) and the National Organising Committee Chair was Adama Traore.
Preliminary plans call for the 18th Africa Region Conference to be held in Nigeria.
MDR-TB course held in Namibia
The Union offered a national course in MDR-TB management in Namibia on 29 June to 1 July. The course was sponsored by the Namibia National Tuberculosis Control Programme and TB-CAP. |
