The President of the Republic of Uganda, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni will officially open the World Health Summit Regional Meeting Africa on Sunday 27^th June 2021. The Regional Meeting is hosted by Makerere University and the Government of Uganda and will run from 27^th to 30^th June 2021 at the Speke Resort Munyonyo.

During this meeting, the President is expected to have a one-on-one discussion with Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization, where he will advocate for vaccine equity and access for African countries including Uganda.

The World Health Summit held every October in Berlin, Germany is complimented by a Regional Meeting in a different part of the world. Health is a truly global challenge—most health issues affect people everywhere. At the same time, different regions and cultures have different health priorities.

At the World Health Summit Regional Meeting, these local and regional topics come to the forefront. Each meeting is hosted and organized by the M8 Alliance member holding the World Health Summit International Presidency, which rotates every year. M8 Alliance is a consortium of Academic Health Centres, Universities, and National Academies currently with 25 leading medical Schools in the world.

This will be the first time the World Health Summit Regional Meeting is held in Africa. The largely virtual meeting will be conducted under strict observance of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) outlined by the Ministry of Health. Only sixty international and local delegates have been cleared to attend the sessions physically at Munyonyo.

The Central topics of the Regional Meeting are: COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa; Non-Communicable Diseases; Universal Health Coverage; Global Health Security & Infectious Diseases; Advancing Technology for Health in Africa; Intersectoral Action for Health; and The Health of the African Youth.

In his welcome message to delegates, the Vice Chancellor Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe noted that the Regional Meeting is being hosted at a trying and therefore particularly important time for the whole world. As such, he said, discussions on the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to take center stage.

He therefore rallied Ugandans as hosts to attend and actively participate in the largely virtual event, which will also feature exhibitions by Makerere University Staff and Students.

“We are extremely delighted to be leading the preparations for the World Health Summit Regional Meeting. 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,” says Prof. Charles Ibingira, International President of the World Health Summit 2021 and former Principal of the College of Health Sciences (CHS), Makerere University.

Explaining how the 80% virtual event will proceed, Prof. Tonny Oyana, Finance Chairperson of the World Health Summit Regional Meeting said, “We have planned the technologies; ZOOM, YouTube and other means to be able to overcome the challenges that arise when you host virtually.

“And so, it is an opportunity to first of all inspire our young people that this is what can happen if you become the best in the country” added Prof. Oyana.

Highlighting the benefits that come with hosting the summit, Dr. Bruce Kirenga, Chairperson of World Health Summit Regional Meeting Scientific Committee says, “It is a very good platform for advocating for Global Health and it happening in Uganda and in Africa at this point in time is going to create an opportunity to bring experts from all over Africa and other continents to discuss the issues concerning how to deal with the pandemic.”

Picking up from where Dr. Kirenga left off, Prof. Damalie Nakanjako, Principal College of Health Sciences (CHS) notes that, “This World Health Summit will give an opportunity for African Scientists and African Investigators to engage on the international scene with scientists, pharmaceutical companies and industry to illustrate that what happens in Africa is of global importance.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely strained the delivery of essential health services. Talking about how the session she will participate in will address this, Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze, Dean School of Public Health says, “We have been doing a study in four countries in Africa including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda and we’ll have an opportunity to explore how these countries have performed and what they have done to ensure that we continue to deliver essential health services even as we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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.

More at: www.worldhealthsummit.org/m8-alliance.html

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 virtually.

With over thirty sessions lined up for the Regional Meeting 2021, participants should expect lively discussion, new ideas, and major progress for global health—in the region and around the world.

Please visit the conference website here: https://regionalmeetinguganda.com/