Tag: APHA Annual Meeting

IH Section Activities at the APHA Annual Meeting – Please join us!

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Section Announcements

Attention, APHA Annual Meeting Attendees! The IH Section leaders and members are looking forward to next week’s meeting and invite registered Section members (as well as those interested in becoming Section members) to attend the our meetings and networking events. Below please find a short summary of our activities, including several specifically geared toward students and early career professionals who want to get involved and learn more about careers in global health. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago next week!

IH Section Business Meeting 1 will give new and renewed members a chance to meet colleagues and learn about how to get involved in the many committees and activities.  Session 235.0
When: Sunday, November 1, 2-3:30 pm
Where: W190a McCormick Place CC

Visit the IH Section Booth in the Exhibit Hall, Booth #1429-7B

All are welcome to attend the following IH Section Committee meetings:

Global Health Students Committee. Session 281.0
A great opportunity for students to meet and get the most out of APHA membership.
When: Sunday November 1, 4–5:30 pm
Where: W184bc McCormick Place CC
Contact: Neil Patel/ Hannah Elsevier <apha.ihsc@gmail.com>

International Maternal Child Health Working Group.  Session 282.0
When: Sunday November 1, 4–5:30 pm
Where:  W196a McCormick Place CC
Contact: Laura Altobelli <laura@future.edu>

Community-Based Primary Health Care Working Group.  Session 355.0
When: Monday November 2, 6:30–8 pm
Where: W185a McCormick Place CC
Contact: Laura Parajon <lauraparajon@amoshealth.org>

International Health Advocacy and Policy Committee. Session 356.0
When: Monday November 2, 6:30–8 pm
Where: W470a McCormick Place CC
Contact: Kevin Sykes <kjsykes13@gmail.com>

Global Health Connections Working Group
Join our group of young international health professionals.
When: Wednesday November 4, 6:30–8 am
Where: W470a McCormick Place CC
Contact: Theresa Majeski <theresa.majeski@gmail.com>

Don’t miss the IH Section Reception and Awards Ceremony.  Session: 425.0
There will be a student networking activity, opportunities to talk with fellow section members, and much more.
When: Tuesday November 3, 6–9 pm
Where: W185d McCormick Place CC

For the complete listing of IH Section Sessions please see:  https://apha.confex.com/apha/143am/webprogram/IH.html

Sign up on APHA Connect to receive regular information about IH Section activities during the year.  Go to http://connect.apha.org to create an account and set up your profile.

Students: The Importance of Making Meaningful Connections

by internationalhealthstudents, posted in APHA IH Section

As Dale Carnegie once said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” The importance of making meaningful connections, or networking, cannot be emphasized enough. However, many people mistakenly think that networking is simply to attend various meetings and hand out business cards. Networking is more than that; it is an art form. In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Carnegie highlights several important networking skills we often tend to ignore, such as smiling, listening, asking questions, and saying a person’s name. These are the “soft” or interpersonal skills that need to be practiced and often reinforced. Knowing how to and being able to network can be the single most powerful way to develop one’s professional network, make connections with people who share similar interests, and build long-last friendship.

Continue reading “Students: The Importance of Making Meaningful Connections” →

2012 CBPHC Workshop: Effective Tools for Effective CBPHC (updated location)

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section, Community-Based Primary Health Care

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel, Make a Better Wheel and Move Faster!

Please join us for an exciting conference!

International Health Section’s Community-Based Primary Health Care (CBPHC) Working Group
14th Annual Pre-Conference CBPHC Workshop 2012

104.0 Workshop: Community Based Primary Health Care
Marriott Marquis (Golden Gate C2)
Saturday, October 27, 2012 – 8:30am – 5:00pm
“Effective Tools for Effective CBPHC: Don’t Reinvent the Wheel, Make a Better Wheel and Move Faster!”
Workshop Leader: Dr. Elvira Beracochea

For more information including the detailed workshop agenda: http://www.apha.org/programs/globalhealth/
For updates: https://apha.confex.com/apha/140am/webprogram/Session35927.html
To register, contact: Sandy Hoar (hoar@gwu.edu).

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN LOCATION. It is no longer at Moscone Center. It is at Marriott Marquis (Golden Gate C2)

CBPHC programs and services must deliver quality health services in the community efficiently and consistently to all, particularly the vulnerable and hard to reach. Effective tools and approaches helps CBPHC managers and health providers deliver effective and efficient services.

This year’s workshop continues a process that started with the review of CBPHC programs conducted by Dr. Henry Perry and Dr. Paul Freeman and Working Group members. It will lead to a toolkit of effective CBPHC tools for use and modification by all public health professionals in the field. The goal is to improve the effectiveness of various CBPHC programs, prevent CBPHC practitioners from reinventing the wheel and use our annual workshop to “make the wheel better!”

Dr. Elvira Beracochea, President and CEO of MIDEGO, Inc., will lead the working group and workshop. She is a public health doctor and epidemiologist with over 25 years of international experience implementing PHC programs and consulting in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. She is the author of “Health for All NOW” (MIDEGO 2007) a story about effective integrated health services, a human rights advocate and co-editor and co-author of the “Rights Based Approaches to Public Health” (Springer 2010). Dr. Elvira will discuss tools such as her “Health for All NOW” approach, Six Sigma for Global Health and Rights Based Approaches for improved effectiveness, quality and equal access.

Dr. Elvira will be aided by a team of experienced international health experts and professionals from related fields. Activities will allow the maximum networking and discussion between participants to discuss ways to use the tools presented and particularly, to maximize the development of the most important tool, that is, themselves. CBPHC is now an area with increasing prospects for young professionals. This workshop will provide skills and context for this subset of participants.

Those interested in international CBPHC are also invited to attend our business meeting on Tuesday at 6:30 pm (https://apha.confex.com/apha/140am/webprogram/Session35927.html) at the Marriott Marquis (Golden Gate C2). Experienced and young professionals are especially encouraged to attend.

To register contact: Sandy Hoar (e-mail: hoar@gwu.edu)
The only fee to pay is registration including morning coffee $35 (students $25). To facilitate planning, please register ASAP but certainly by October 20th and indicate if you will be joining us for dinner afterwards. For further information contact: Sandy Hoar, Laura Chanchien Parajon (email: lauraparajon@amoshealth.org) or Elvira Beracochea (email: elvira@midego.com).

Volunteers Needed for the International Welcome Booth

by ihsection, posted in APHA IH Section

The following message is from Dr. Gopal Sankaran, Governing Councilor and Chair of the Global Health Connections Committee.

Dear Friends,

I am happy to share with you the good news that Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of APHA and Mr. T. J. McCabe, Director of Convention Services, have kindly agreed to our request and arranged for a Welcome Booth for overseas attendees at the upcoming Annual Meeting (October 27-31, 2012) in San Francisco.

The Welcome Booth is a great opportunity for us to greet, meet and network with attendees from overseas and make them feel at home at the conference and the city. For some this may be their first annual meeting (and you know how overwhelming that could be) or their first visit to San Francisco, or both. I am hopeful that we all would be able to contribute an hour or two or more to staff the Welcome Booth to ease their transition.

Christine Tronson Benner, our Section Councilor, has set up a sign-up sheet on Doodle. Please visit http://www.doodle.com/ddz274p5qdrytv54 and sign up for days and times when you are available to help. If, for some reason, you are unable to sign up online, please forward your day and time preferences to Christine at Christine[dash]benner[at]ouhsc[dot]edu. Kindly sign up at your earliest convenience.

All shifts meet at the Welcome Booth on the first floor lobby of the Moscone West Convention Center on the corner of 4th and Howard streets (near the Annual Meeting registration counters).

The hour or two or more that you spend at the Welcome Booth will be spent on greeting our overseas colleagues, learning about them, providing them with a special ribbon, directing them to appropriate conference rooms, and answering their questions. Serving at the Welcome Booth has always helped me to learn more about the conference venues and the host city.

Thank you! I look forward to seeing you in San Francisco!

Occupational Health – The Need to Go Global

by ihsection, posted in Environmental and Occupational Health, Guest Blog

Guest blogger: Dr. Isobel Hoskins

I never come away from the APHA meeting without being inspired.

This year, the inspiring speech for me came right at the end. I attended the closing session almost by chance when I realised I had a little time. The theme was occupational health so as someone keen on global health I didn’t think it would be all that relevant. When the second speaker took the stand I realised how wrong I was.

Leo Gerard from the United Steelworkers Union showed how health and safety is a global issue and exactly why we need to address occupational health worldwide to match the globalisation of trade. Have you ever thought about who made the clothing you wear, the conditions they work under and the impact that has on their health?

He showed a short video about the Triangle fire – a fire that happened in 1911 in New York at a garment factory. Fire broke out in the factory and panicked workers rushed to the two exits only to find them blocked by fire or locked. The workers couldn’t get out and in desperation some even threw themselves from the upper floors to escape the fire. 146 of them died. This event was one of the drivers of health and safety regulation in theUSA. Those workers were low paid and not allowed to unionise and so negotiate their conditions.

Fast forward to 2010. Gerard described a fire at a garment factory in Bangladesh and guess what? The exits were locked. 29 people died trying to get out, some threw themselves from the upper floors. No regulations prevented this accident in Bangladesh and there was no union to help protect the low paid workers.

Nothing has changed except the geography.

In the rush of globalization, developed country companies are getting round regulation at home by exploiting places where there is none. What does this mean for regulation at home? It means it is under pressure. We could lose all that has been gained since the Triangle fire. In the race to the bottom and the lowest prices, people’s health is being put on the line.

Trade regulations preventing import into the US of goods made in sweatshops or by children, for example, could be a way of forcing global companies to adopt safe working conditions, said Gerard. Having stronger more global unions is another way. Leo’s union the United Steelworkers Union has just gone global – forging partnerships and mergers with other unions worldwide.

Individually I think we can make a difference as well- reading the label and knowing the reputation of companies you buy from could help prevent exploitation. Consumers have power….

Triangle fire: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire
Bangladesh fire: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/14/bangladesh-clothes-factory-workers-jump-to-death

Dr Isobel Hoskins manages the Global Health database at CABI.