Immpact recently welcomed three distinguished guests who were invited to take part in the University of Aberdeen's May Festival.
Taking time out of their busy schedules to attend were, Dr Kaosar Afsana, Director of Health, Nutrition and Population and Professor in James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh; Dr Ann Phoya, former Head of Planning and Director of Nursing at the Ministry of Health in Malawi and Professor Dileep Mavalankar, Director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar and international consultant to WHO, UNICEF and the World Bank. All three visitors are very well-known to Immpact having collaborated on various research and implementation projects over a number of years.
Immpact arranged a full integrated programme for the visitors throughout their week-long stay, which included a panel discussion in front of a large audience during the May Festival weekend with TV war correspondent Kate Adie and Immpact’s Dr Julia Hussein and a global health seminar which was held at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh a few days later. The visitors provided insights into the status of maternal, newborn and child health in their respective countries. The seminar was live-streamed and virtual delegates from as far apart as Bangladesh and Texas took part. Humza Yousaf, Scottish Minister for International Development and External Relations, joined the discussion in Edinburgh. He began by welcoming the visitors to Scotland and also commented on the importance of Immpact’s work in maternal health research in developing countries. The Minister also mentioned the project Immpact is overseeing in collaboration with partners Dr Ann Phoya and the Midwifery School at Robert Gordon University on the “sustainability of community midwives in Malawi” which is funded by the Scottish Government.
A tour of various health facilities in North-east Scotland was arranged for the guests while they were here. Their first stop was Aberdeen Maternity Hospital, followed by a visit to a GP practice in Turriff and Aberdeen Health Village. During their tour of the facilities the visitors were introduced to senior clinicians and managers from NHS Grampian and everyone involved welcomed the opportunity to share experiences. The visitors also managed to take time out of their schedule for some shopping and sightseeing.