Eritrean Association of Public Health holds annual meeting

The Eritrean Association of Public Health held its regular annual congress on 01 March here in Asmara under the theme “Focusing on Development of Scientific Public Health”.

Asmara, 02 March 2019 – The Eritrean Association of Public Health held its regular annual congress on 01 March here in Asmara under the theme “Focusing on Development of Scientific Public Health”.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Dr. Zerabruk Tesfamariam, president of the association, stating that one of the main objectives of the establishment of the Eritrean Association of Public Health is to organize scientific researches and encourage members to undertake practical and tangible initiatives, said that papers presented at the congress focused on timely health challenges and possible solutions.

Dr. Andeberhan Tesfazion, D.G. of Public Health in the Ministry of Health, on his part, indicating that in 1998 the prevalence of malaria was very high and owing to the integrated effort exerted nationwide, nowadays no life is lost due to malaria.

Pointing out that vaccination coverage that could not exceed 90% in 2012 has reached 98% this year, Dr. Andeberhan further stated that encouraging result has been registered in tackling female genital mutilation (FGM), mother and child mortality rate, HIV/AIDS as well as other communicable diseases’ infections. He also indicated that strong effort will be exerted in tackling non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, kidney and other diseases.

At the congress several research papers were presented including self cure, the situation of families that take care of patients with mental and developmental disabilities, FGM and other related issues.

The Eritrean Association of Public Health was established in November 2017 under the umbrella of the Ministry of Health.