Staff Reporter
A THREE-Day workshop that will focus on challenges in the health and environment sectors in the Middle East started yesterday with the participation of more than 50 professionals, academics and policy makers from across 40 institutions and 12 countries.
The workshop titled ‘Human Health and Environmental Challenges in the Middle East’ spearheaded by the US-based Fullbright Academy of Science and Technology (FAST), is being held in conjunction with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and supported by the College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q), Qatar Science and Technology Park, Texas A & M University at Qatar (TAMUQ), University of Calgary -Qatar as well as Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q).
FAST is a global organisation created by Fullbright scholars to support international collaborations and advancement of science, technology, business and government.
The topics to be addressed by the workshop include environmental issues such as water air and noise pollution changes in the Middle East and how they are likely to change over the next 20-25 years, the effect of the changes on the health of inhabitants of the region, as well as the future implications for the size, shape and purpose of the Middle East’s nursing workforce.
Speaking at the opening and welcoming ceremony held yesterday at the WCMC-Q, the executive director of FAST Eric Howard, who gave a background into the workshop and brief history of FAST, said the goal of the workshop was to discuss and consider issues in health and environment, as well as to serve as the opportunity to build networks for quick connections between participants.
“We had a meeting about some of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are related to health, environment and sustainability and poverty reduction in Panama last year, and then we decided that a follow-up meeting like this should be held to further engage more discussions and networking,” he said.
He mentioned that the working groups in the workshop would focus on regional collaborations in education, environment and health care implementation at the hospital level, as well as regional programme for nursing.
Answering a question on why there has been so much stress on nursing, associate dean, Research and Graduate programme at the Azusa Pacific University, California, and one of the brains behind the workshop, Marianne Hattar, said it was in response to the dearth of nurses worldwide.
“There is a shortage of nurses around the world and as we know nurses are an integral part of the health system, which is why we think it is important to focus more in research works aimed at empowering them.”
“And because Qatar is fast developing, we are advocating that nurses should be trained and employed locally instead of investing hugely in importing their expertise from abroad,” she added.
Other speakers at the opening session included the vice dean for Research, WCMC-Q Javaid Sheikh, who gave a vivid description of the institution, Abdelali Haoudi vice- president, Research, QF presented activities, interests and future plans of the foundation and Dr. Saif al-Hajari vice-chair, QF and chairman of the Friends of the Environment Centre. |
