WFPHA Secretariat Report

As the interim Secretary General I am pleased to provide this report to the WFPHA members concerning the activities of the Secretariat during the last year. A summary of these activities includes:

Administrative/Managerial

  1. The Interim Secretary General (SG) assumed responsibility for the Secretariat in early September 2005 with a 2-week notice. There was only limited time for the transfer of responsibilities and an orientation to the work of the organization. Most of the last year has been spent in recapturing some of the lost knowledge resulting from Dr. Allen Jones’ departure. In addition to losing Dr. Allen Jones, who had led this office for more than six years, the Secretariat also lost Ms. Catherine Hayes, who had provided able support after the departure of Stacy Succop, in December 2005.
  2. The APHA hired Chris Rosene, staff member of the Canadian Public Health Association, to assist the interim SG with the planning and logistics for the 11 th World Congress in Public Health. Because of the experience of the proposed contractor, APHA decided that he would be hired at the level of an interim Deputy Secretary General.
  3. The Interim Secretary General finalized the contract with the Journal of Public Health Policy. This relationship had been initiated during the tenure of the former SG, Allen Jones. Just days after his departure, the agreement was ready for signature. Over the past months, the Secretariat has worked to strengthen this working relationship and in the upcoming year increased emphasis will be placed on making the Federation’s journal among the best!
  4. The Interim Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General made a site visit to Rio de Janeiro Brazil to work directly with ABRASCO and its planning committee and to conduct a convention site walk-through. The Interim Deputy Secretary General filed a trip report on behalf of the Secretariat. (See Attachment A). The trip solidified the collaborative working relationships between the Secretariat, ABRASCO and the Brazilian Ministry of Health. The Interim SG and DSG have participated in monthly conference calls with ABRASCO since January 2006. Both staff and Secretariat administrative staff have been involved almost daily in the planning for the Congress and the WFPHA Annual Meeting. The activities include securing speakers and helping to design panel and Great Debate presentations. The Secretariat worked with ABRASCO to have a seamless conference program with high impact potential. The Deputy SG has actively pushed for VIP programming and is intimately involved in bringing this to fruition.
  5. The Secretariat has notified members of a variety of events, resources and information. Among these notifications was the John C. Cutler Global Health lecture at the University of Pittsburgh. We continue to work to strengthen information sharing and the use of the website.
  6. On behalf of the President and the Executive Board, the Secretariat notified the Turkish Public Health Association of the acceptance of its proposal, with suggested modifications, to host the 2009 Congress in Istanbul, Turkey.

Program Development

  1. The Secretariat was able to sponsor most of its planned activities after the APHA Annual Meeting was relocated to the Philadelphia from New Orleans because of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Among the participants in WFPHA sponsored activities and the APHA Annual meeting were Alvaro Matida (ABRASCO), Fernanda Poyares (Metodo Eventos) and Elinor Wilson and Chris Rosene (Canadian Public Health Association).
  2. In addition to the annual breakfast, the WFPHA will sponsor the following scientific sessions at the APHA Annual Meeting, November 2006 (See Attachment B):
    • International Public Health Education
    • Closing the 'Publishing Gap' between rich and poor
    • Integrating Biodiversity and Human Health: The U.S. EPA’s Multidisciplinary Approach (webcast)

This will be the first time the WFPHA will sponsor a webcast. The webcast will provide a tremendous opportunity to “get the word out” about the federation.

  1. The Interim Secretary General participated in an informal consultation at the World Health Organization December 1-8, 2005 in Geneva Switzerland. The topic of the meeting was Global Network & Database of Public Health Partners. Also attending were The President and President –elect and several WFPHA members.

Networking/Public Speaking

  1. The Interim Secretary General participated in the 3 rd Annual Public Health Meeting held in Tokyo, Japan November 24-25, 2006. The presentation was entitled Health Crisis Management and Global Public Health.
  2. The Interim Secretary General visited Cuba as part of a MEDICC program in June 2006. A meeting was held with several key officials including the current President Dr. Jorge Hadad and Dr. Francisco Rojas Ochoa , former President of the Cuban Society of Public Health. My area of research in Cuba relates to the role of civil society in improving public health.
  3. The Interim SG held a meeting with Dr. David Heyman of the Center for Strategic and International studies. Specifically, we discussed the WFPHA having an observer role in the Biological Threat Reduction Project. The Interim SG asked the Japan Public Health Association to represent the WFPHA at the Project’s April 2006 meeting held at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Toshitaka. Nakahura and Ms.Tomomi Wakai attended the meeting on the federation’s behalf. The purpose of the BTR is to build an international agenda for action, because the threat of biological terrorism is a global problem, demanding global solutions involving broad-based partnerships and actions initiated by a new collaboration among the scientific community, public health officials, law enforcement, and defense officials. (See Attachment C) Dr. Heyman is a speaker at the World Congress.
  4. The Interim Secretary General spoke at the 5 th European Congress on Travel Medicine in Venice, Italy on the topic, Disease Globalization & Public Health: Challenges & Opportunities. .
  5. As part of World Health Week activities, the WFPHA and APHA sponsored a session entitled Public Health Workforce: Prospects For Its Development. (SeeAttachment D). In addition to serving as moderator, the Interim SG made a presentation entitled, Global Aging: It’s Impact on Human Resources for Health.
  6. The Secretariat exhibited at the Global Health Council Annual meeting. Materials about the 11th World Congress were available to conference participants. An exhibit was designed that provides flexibility for changing it to advertise upcoming Congresses as well as highlighting ongoing Federation Programs. The exhibit will be showcased at the 11 th World Congress on Public Health. (See Attachment E)
  7. The Secretariat has worked with APHA to provide Continuing Education (CE) credits for the Congress. We were made aware of the fact that some conference participants were asking about the availability of CE credits. Since Global CME is a growing area, this will help the Congress to be among the international organizations in the forefront. (See AttachmentF)
  8. The Secretariat has established a very strong working relationship with the U.S. government’s National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This relationship relates to the emerging international Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) Project and to biodiversity and health. These programs will be featured at the Congress. The Congress is an optimal forum for sharing information that, in coming years, will increasingly become a powerful asset to the global public health community. (See Attachment G & Attachment H)
  9. As a result of the previously described relationship with NOAA, the Secretariat was able to secure the services of three (3) Public Affairs officers to support the Congress and the WFPHA. These staff are essentially “on loan” from NOAA and will help provide international public affairs support for both GEOSS and the Federation. This type of support seems timely in light of the many competing forums including one that has recently come to my attention. (See item 19)
  10. Reviewed the request for a marketing partnership between WFPHA and the World Congress (www.worldcongress.com). The World Congress will  produce, in conjunction with The Wall Street Journal, the Executive Forum on Infectious Disease Control to be held January 17-19, 2007 in Washington, DCand the 1st Annual World Public Health Care Congress to be held June 4-6, 2007 in Washington, DC. While this partnership holds some important opportunities for the Federation, the Executive Board may be concerned about the similarity in the names of our respective Congresses. I did point this out in my response to the organization. In a recent e-mail, Amy Wilder, Senior Marketing Manager said the organization would change the name of their Congress. The Executive Board and membership may want to explore options in the coming year, (See Attachment I).
  11. Through APHA’s ongoing relationship with WebMD, the interim SG was able to secure an agreement for conference coverage of the Congress. These reports will be featured on APHA’s public health page. (http://www.medscape.com/publichealth).
  12. Established a relationship with the Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia. (www.deakin.edu.au/hsd). The student project will look at Managing Bird Flu. The report may be used in the future to highlight the role of the Federation (See Attachment J).
  13. The Secretariat has made initial contacts with Global Health Workforce Alliance sponsored by the WHO, Peace Corps Encore, and finally HealthCare Volunteers. (See Attachment K)
  14. The Secretariat established a relationship with MEDICC (Medical Education Cooperation With Cuba). MEDICC will show its documentary, SALUD, to WFPHA VIPs and to the general Congress audience. MEDICC’s U.S. Director, Diane Appelbaum, RN, FNP, MS, will host a VIP reception on August 20, 2006. (See Attachment L)
  15. The APHA was an Outreach Partner for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) broadcast "Rx for Survival - A Global Health Challenge." Secretariat staff worked closely with the Global Health Council and others to plan a Special Capitol Hill Reception and Viewing. The Secretariat subsequently made contact with the Senior Content Editor to coordinate an international broadcast and discuss possible educational uses for the documentary. The documentary will be featured during the Congress’ film fest. (See Attachment M)

HUMAN RESOURCES for HEALTH

  1. The Interim SG participated as an instructor with the American Council’s orientation program for visiting Russian officials.
  2. The Interim SG served as the lead author on a report produced for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation entitled, Wisdom at Work: The Importance of the Older and Experienced Nurse in the Workplace. ( See Attachment N ). It has resulted in a number of interviews, a discussion group and direct communications from nurses from across the globe. My abstract related to this project was accepted for presentation at the Congress as a poster presentation.
  3. Coordinated with the APHA’s International Health section to establish an international behavioral hygiene promotion research grant. Three research projects were funded in 2005. The new grant program is the focus of the hand-washing presentation at the Congress in Rio.

FUNDING

  1. Fourteen junior researchers applied for funding support to attend the 11 th World Congress on Public Health to present their papers accepted for presentation. The WFPHA obtained funding to support all 14 junior researchers who applied. All recipients are from Category 3 countries. As you are aware, Category 3 countries are those that are very poor and have the lowest standards of living on the planet. The funders include the Wellcome Trust ($10, 650), The APHA-Colgate Palmolive Maternal and Child Health Leadership Institute ($13,500) and the APHA- Office of Women’s Health scholarship ($1,600). Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain support for the travel of Federation members.

Respectfully Submitted

Barbara J. Hatcher, PhD, MPH, RN

Interim Secretary General

Attachment A

 

Report to WFPHA Executive Board and Planning Committee

Mission to Brazil in Preparation for the 11 th World Congress

February 6-9, 2006

Submitted by Chris Rosene

 

 

1. Background on the Mission

In consultation with the WFPHA President, Dr. Cuauhtemoc Ruiz Matus, it was decided that WFPHA Secretariat staff should conduct a mission to Brazil to assess the state of readiness for the 11 th World Congress in August, and to make joint plans with the Brazilian Conference Team for the remaining tasks leading up to August. Dr. Ruiz Matus was unable to travel to Brazil due to other commitments, so Dr. Barbara Hatcher, Interim Secretary General, and Mr. Chris Rosene, Interim Deputy SG conducted the mission. The mission included three days in Rio de Janeiro and one day in Brasilia, the National Capital.

2. Conference Organizational Structure in Brazil

In addition to being the 11 th Congress of WFPHA, this event will also be the 8 th Congress of ABRASCO. The Brazilians are therefore already quite experienced with conference preparations and logistics, and are making effective use of their own (expanded) staff and members, as well as specialized service companies. Under the oversight of the ABRASCO President, Dr. Paulo Gadelha, the main organizers are the Executive Director, Mr. Alvaro Matida, and his Deputy Director Ms. Monia Mariani. Professor Kenneth Camargo of the National School of Public Health (ENSP) leads the Scientific Committee. The event-planning company, Método Eventos, has been contracted to organize the logistics, manage the website, and handle abstracts, registrations, and exhibits. Metodo Eventos, in turn, has subcontracted a series of other firms to manage particular aspects. One example is the travel agency, Blumar, which will handle hotel bookings and tours.

3. The Conference Venue

The Conference site selected by ABRASCO is the Rio Centro convention center, a huge complex owned by the city of Rio de Janeiro, situated on the extreme west end of the city, not far from the beach district of Barra do Tijuca. [See: http://www.rio.rj.gov.br/riocentro] The facilities are excellent, with capacity for tens of thousands of people. Our event will be most likely be using only two of the five pavilions available. Pavilion One is the exhibition hall, the first point of entrance for most people arriving at the Center, and the place where the registration booths will be located. In Pavilion Five, where most of the conference sessions will take place, there is a large auditorium seating 2,500 people where the main plenary sessions will take place. Large monitors will be located at several areas so that more people can watch the plenary sessions, with headsets for translation if necessary. There are several other halls and rooms of various sizes in Pavilion 5 that will accommodate the “great debates” and panels, all of which will have simultaneous translation in three languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish). As well, this Pavilion has a banquet hall, a VIP lounge, and office space including a room for WFPHA.

4. Hotels and Transportation

The main disadvantage of the Rio Centro site is that it is far from the city of Rio de Janeiro, and isolated from the rest of the city. Transportation from the urban beach districts of Copacabana and Ipanema, where dozens of hotels are located, could take one hour or more each way. The beach of Barra do Tijuca is the closest area with hotels, but even this area is beyond walking distance, and will most likely require a bus or taxi ride of 15 or 20 minutes. The main hotel chosen for the WFPHA and speakers invited to the Congress is the Hotel Inter-Continental, located across from the beach of Sao Conrado, about 35 minutes from the Rio Convention Center. [See: http://www.riodejaneirohotels.intercontinental.com/portal/jp/jt1]

The Inter Continental has its own convention center, and thus is a useful venue for off-site meetings, such as the WFPHA Annual Meeting (see point 10 below).

The Conference website provides a list of hotels of varying prices and locations [http://www.blumar.com.br/wwwEventos/Evt/evt2.cfm?EvtCod=5701J6464A567C841&lang=2 ]. It is possible that some more will be added. Conference participants are encouraged to book their accommodations through the conference site, thereby qualifying for discounted prices and allowing the organizers to calculate how many conference participants are registered in each hotel. A shuttle bus will pick up conference participants at various hotels and take them to the Convention Center in the morning, making a return trip at the end of the day.

5. The Conference Program

Unlike the Brighton Congress, the program at Rio will highly integrate national and international aspects. It is true that the vast majority of the participants will be Brazilians and a large percentage of the abstracts will cover Brazilian topics. However, all the plenary conference sessions as well as the “Great Debates” (4 per day; 2 hours each) will include international speakers, and all of them will offer simultaneous interpretation in three languages (English, Spanish, and Portuguese). In addition, up to eight 1.5-hour “panel” sessions are available each day (four in the morning and four in the afternoon) for international sessions if needed. (See “Draft Program Structure” attached, which highlights joint ABRASCO/WFPHA international sessions in bold type.)

ABRASCO’s scientific committee had already done a lot of preparation work prior to our visit in February, trying to assign notable international speakers to each of the main themes and sub-themes that had been chosen jointly last year by WFPHA and ABRASCO. ABRASCO has budgeted for approximately 30 international guests. Once the selection is agreed upon, invitation letters are sent electronically from Brazil, under joint signature of Paulo Gadelha and Cuauhtemoc Ruiz Matus. A number of guests have already confirmed their participation.

WFPHA staff and leaders had some input into the program design before February and suggested some of the international speakers, but the Brazil visit by the Secretariat staff was the first opportunity to have a comprehensive overview with the Brazilian scientific committee. Ideas were exchanged, and responsibilities were assigned to try and contact those speakers who were already identified but not confirmed, or to identify new possibilities.

One additional Debate suggested by WFPHA was on the Avian Flu, which may feature Dr. Georges Benjamin (USA), Dr. David Butler Jones (Canada), plus two other speakers from Hong Kong and Brazil.

WFPHA staff also suggested several international panels not already on the program designed by ABRASCO, that would be of interest to the Federation, and that have a good chance of obtaining outside funding. The following are some of the ideas discussed:

  • Hand washing, sponsored by Colgate Palmolive
  • Strengthening the Public Health Work Force, organized by PAHO
  • Global Tobacco Control, sponsored by WHO-TFI (?)
  • Trade and Health, organized by WHO Trade and Health Department
  • Chronic Disease, organized by World Heart Federation (?)
  • French-Portuguese Seminar on Globalization, Access to Drugs, and Citizen Protection, (special 5-hour session with French-Portuguese interpretation), organized by health groups in Quebec and Brazil

Some special-interest meetings may need to be organized by WFPHA. For example, a meeting of regional associations of schools of public health, and a meeting of leaders of the IUHPE (International Union for Health Promotion and Education) and WFPHA. These could take place either at the Conference Center or at the Inter-Continental Hotel.

We also discussed the opening and closing ceremonies, including the idea of a flag ceremony at the opening.

The following are some other aspects of the program featuring international participation:

  • international exhibits are still open to both national and international exhibitors
  • an “Editor’s row” which will feature journals of public health
  • communications/media function

We also discussed how to best involve Ministers of Health and other international VIPs that might attend the conference, as well as the WFPHA leadership. (Several Ministers or secretaries of health from have expressed interest in attending the Congress, including Brazil, USA, Quebec, Angola, Cuba.) One idea that emerged following our visit was to hold an “International Summit” at the Inter-Continental Hotel on Aug. 21, just before the opening of the Conference.

We agreed to try to define the program and confirm all invited guests, debates, and international panels by March 3, 2006.

6. Abstract Review Process.

The extended date for presentation of abstracts was February 10, at the end of the week of our visit. We were able to view the software maintained by Metodo Eventos, which can track abstracts by topic, by country of origin, etc. The final count after February 10 was 9,801, of which 620 were international (from 71 different countries). The Brazilian Scientific Committee has a large number of reviewers, who will perform their reviews of Brazilian abstracts on-line. Dr. Samir Banoob, from APHA, has prepared a list of some 30 international reviewers who will help review the international abstracts. Ideally, this will also be done on-line using the same software program at Metodo Eventos.

 

7. Role of Government of Brazil and PAHO

During our visit to Brasilia on February 7 th, we met with the Brazilian Minister of Health, Dr. Saraiva Felipe, and the PAHO Representative for Brazil, Dr. Horacio Toro. Both were enthusiastically supportive of the Rio Congress. Dr. Toro was due to be at PAHO headquarters in Washington soon, and promised to re-confirm the participation of the PAHO Director, Mirta Roses, as well as other forms of participation of PAHO. For his part, the Minister of Health explained that he would no longer be in office in August due to the upcoming national elections, but he would do all he could to put things in motion so that the Ministry would be committed to participate actively in the event.

 

8. Participation from Low Income Countries

During the time of our visit there was no clearly identified significant source of funding for delegates from low income countries, and as a result no scholarship procedures have yet been put into place. The strategy at the moment consists of: (a) making use of sponsors of panel sessions such as Colgate-Palmolive and PAHO to pay for some delegates from low-income countries; (b) relying on the Canadian “SOPHA” program and some Brazilian exchange programs (such as the Brazil-Angola program of the ENSP) to sponsor travel of some of their African and Caribbean partners; (c) making direct funding appeals by the WFPHA Secretariat to some of the institutions that have helped us in the past.

9. Budget

ABRASCO shared with us the current budget, which amounts to nearly 3 million Brazilian Reis, or approximately US$1.4 million. On the income side, they have contributions from the Brazilian Ministry of Health and other Brazilian sources, and anticipated revenue from conference registrations and exhibits. WFPHA support for strong participation by international registered participants and paid exhibits is highly valued by ABRASCO.

10. WFPHA Annual Meeting

The Intercontinental Hotel is the suggested venue for the Annual Meeting of the WFPHA, on the day before the conference, Sunday August 20, from 2 to 6 PM. This should be confirmed by the Executive Board.

Attachment B

WFPHA@ the APHA Annual Meeting

  • International Public Health Education

Bridging the gap in public health capacity in Africa: Experiences from Public Health Schools without Walls in Uganda

George W. Pariyo, PhD, Nelson Sewankambo, Dr

Establishing a school of public health in southern India: Lessons learnt

K. Mohandas, Prof

A New Public Health Education Program in Bangladesh

A. Mushtaque Chowdhury, PhD

International public health education: The experience from MPH programs in developing settings worldwide

A. Mushtaque Chowdhury, PhD, Omar A. Khan, MD, MHS, Allan G. Rosenfield, MD

  • Closing the 'publishing gap' between rich and poor

Phyllis Freeman and Anthony Robbins

  • Integrating Biodiversity and Human Health: The U.S. EPA’s Multidisciplinary Approach

Montira Pongsiri, Environmental Health Scientist

Joe Roman, AAAS Fellow