President Yoweri Museveni is scheduled to officiate the opening of the first World Health Summit Regional Meeting in Africa happening Sunday afternoon at Speak Resort Hotel in Munyonyo, Kampala.
The event hosted by Makerere University draws experts from around the world and especially African countries to discuss diverse topics of significance to global health and health in Africa, in particular.
According to the organizers, the summit which will run up to Wednesday June 30 will be held virtually due to COVID-19 and that all keynote sessions, panel discussions and workshops will be availed digitally.
“President Yoweri Museveni is due to preside over a virtual World Health Summit today at Munyonyo,” State House announced on Sunday.
The summit is themed: “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage amidst the COVID19 pandemic in Africa.”
Charles Ibingira, the International President of the World Health Summit 2021, says this meeting is an opportunity to aid discussions on effective ways of achieving the global Sustainable Development Goals.
“We are extremely delighted to be leading the preparations for the World Health Summit Regional Meeting, the first ever to be hosted on African soil. With health professionals and other stakeholders in government and the private sector coming together. I’m optimistic that the meeting will stir us all to think better and work harder to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, all of which pertain to health, whether directly or indirectly,” Ibingira who is also the former Principal of the College of Health Sciences at Makerere University said.
Some of the sessions for the this Summit include building Sustainable partnerships for addressing the Burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), digital health – promises and challenges towards SDG III, intersection of COVID-19 and mental health, Africa’s journey towards achieving the SDGs and Universal Health Coverage.
The World Health Summit Regional Meeting takes place every year in different parts of the world in addition to the annual World Health Summit in Berlin and brings regional topics to the forefront. Each Regional Meeting is hosted by the M8 Alliance member holding the World Health Summit International Presidency, which rotates every year.
The M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies is the academic foundation of the World Health Summit. It is a growing network and currently consists of 30 members in 20 countries, including the InterAcademy Partnership
(IAP), which represents the national academies of medicine and science in 130 countries.
Makerere University has been M8 Alliance member since 2013 and is one of the oldest and most prestigious centers of learning in Africa.
The World Health Summit is one of the world’s leading strategic forums for global health with 6,000 participants onsite and online, 300 speakers from 100 nations and 50 sessions.
This year’s World Health Summit will take place from October 24-26 in Berlin and Digital.