ECS: An Association Expected To Play Significant Role in Societal Health
Safety and quality of industrial products of different types and most importantly safety of food stuffs and drinks is a pre-requisite towards securing societal healthy lifestyle. Since, keeping both the physical and chemical environment is not only a necessity but a precondition to one’s well-being, the importance of conducting researches about chemicals and their impact in the day-to-day activities of any given society enables policy makers to find ways and means of tackling hazards or any sort of problem that may arise due to chemical contamination. It is based on this outlook that the Eritrean Chemical Society (ECS) has since its establishment been actively working to promote chemical know how in schools and more significantly to increase professionalism of its members. The ECS has conducted its 8th congress on 30 May 2014 at the hall of the Central region administration. The ECS which sets out from the very beginning to promote and develop chemical education and research, to establish close relationships between chemists and other related professionals and thereby to increase the role of chemistry in national development and also to accelerate the teaching of chemists and most notably to strengthen links with other national and internationals chemical societies has been working diligently to implement the envisaged goals through active participation of its members as well as its partners.
The papers presented in the 8th congress and the displays staged by different industrial plants are indicative of as to what extent the importance of chemistry in every aspect of human activity is. Hence, the displays of different products and posters by Red Sea Bottlers Share Company, Asmara Brewery, Red Sea Tannery and Barako Textiles Factory were indicative that chemicals may positively or negatively impact peoples’ living conditions.
A speech delivered by Mr. Haileab Seare, Chairperson of the ESC, shows that there is nothing that could not be covered under chemistry, but Eritrea’s society of chemistry is a young society with very limited human and material resources and thus the task that awaits to be accomplished is huge and it requires extra endeavor which makes the activity difficult and challenging.
The progress the ESC has registered so far as compared to the objects it sets out to accomplish was also discussed in the 8th congress. The very establishment of the chemical society by itself is a success story, but it is still expected to make achievements through making adjustments parallel to ever increasing technological breakthroughs.
Teaching practical science with limited resources, by Prof. Berhane Girmay from Asmara College of Health Sciences, application of chemistry in food laboratory, by Mr. Yossief Tekle also from Asmara College of Health Sciences history of Eritrean Chemical Society by Mr. Daniel Zemichael were among the papers presented in the congress.
Chemicals are indeed so important in leading a healthy life style but are also hazardous if misused or if are not handled with care and not properly stored. Thus, having a chemical society that could make researches on such positive and negative impact of chemicals and that find remedial solutions to unforeseen hazardous impacts of chemicals is a step forward towards achieving success stories in various development sectors.
Since chemical compositions in different products could affect people’s heath identifying the pros and cons of chemicals and meeting the challenges with accurate remedial solutions is what the ECS is relentlessly working for.
Chemical societies play a significant role in identifying the benefits one could harvest from different medicine manufacturing plants, food and drinks manufacturers, textile factories and different plants that manufacture and assemble electronic devices among other industrial plants, and the hazardous impacts that could deteriorate people’s health condition.
Present on the congress, Mr. Semere Rusom, Minister of Education, highlighted that the objectives and goals the ECS sets out to meet are equivalent to the country’s overall educational policy which is in favor of technological advancement, skill upgrading, and accelerating nation building process and registering economic advancement through enhanced competence of nationals in different domains.