Press Release:
International meet on neglected diseases in Bengaluru
Over 200 delegates from 30 countries to deliberate health systems and neglected diseases
Bengaluru, November 18, 2013: Come November 20th and Bengaluru will host an international scientific event to deliberate one of the important but often-neglected public health challenges of our times. The city-based Institute of Public Health (IPH) in collaboration with the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium (ITM) will be organizing the Colloquium 2013 with the theme “Health systems and control of neglected diseases in Asia” from Nov 20 to Nov 23 at the Hotel Park Plaza. Over 200 delegates from 30 countries – from Uganda to China and Belgium to India – representing governments, academic institutions and NGOs will participate. The term ‘neglected diseases’ is a political one to highlight a wide array of diseases that are not given due attention and that in fact have become drivers of poverty. These include the so-called ‘big three’ (HIV, TB and malaria) but also 23 neglected tropical diseases that still impoverish and kill people but hardly get attention from health services and policymakers. As per the World Health Organization these “diseases are a proxy for poverty and disadvantage, affect populations with low visibility and little political voice, cause stigma and discrimination…are low on many research funders’ agenda…”
Shri U.T. Khader – Hon’ble Minister of Health & Family Welfare (Government of Karnataka) will be inaugurating the event in the august presence of Dr. L S Chauhan, Director of the National Centre for Disease Control (New Delhi, Government of India), Prof. Marleen Boelaert, Head of Department of Public Health at the ITM (Belgium) and Dr. N. Devadasan, Director of the IPH (Bangalore).
Dr. Werner Soors, a public health researcher at the ITM, Belgium said, “the long-standing collaboration between ITM and IPH Bangalore is known for its shared expertise and important advances in health systems research. We have robust evidence today that stronger health systems can enhance effectiveness of disease control programmes and vice versa. I am confident that the Colloquium, with its deliberations and experience sharing by delegates from across the world would optimize the interface between disease control programmes and national health systems, in India and elsewhere”.
Dr. Devadasan, Director at IPH, Bangalore opined that “with sessions on the state of the art of neglected diseases in Asia, design and evaluation of disease control programmes, disease control and health systems strengthening, and disease control and social determinants of health, the Colloquium is a firm step towards effective disease control, strengthened health systems and – hopefully – health for all in a better world.” Shri U T Khader (Honourable Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka), Dr. L S Chauhan (Director of the National Centre for Disease Control, Government of India) along with other eminent leaders have kindly consented to inaugurate the Colloquium on evening of Nov 20.
All documents related to the Colloquium will be freely available at the dedicated website
For further information, please contact Dr. Upendra Bhojani of IPH @ 9342349121, upendra@iphindia.org
Find below some images from the Press Meet on November 18 at the Press Club of Bangalore.