Media Release
Udupi, Jan 9: The International Conference on ‘Impact of Global Issues on Women and Children’ was organised by Manipal College of Nursing Manipal, Manipal University from January 9 to 12, at Dr TMA Pai Auditorium, Manipal.
The conference was inaugurated by Priyanka Mary Francis, chief executive officer, Udupi zilla panchayath, Manipal. The chief guest in her address emphasized on the initiatives taken by the district to manage malnutrition among pregnant woman and to reduce infant mortality rates. She briefed about the supplementation of nutritious food to the pregnant women through the ICDS scheme. She also highlighted on development of android applications on the same concern towards empowerment of women for the ASHA workers.
Dr H S Ballal , Pro Vice Chancellor, Manipal University, Manipal presided over the function and in his address, he highlighted the 'vision' of Late Dr TMA Pai in dealing with social issues like ill health, illiteracy, and poverty. He also said that it is the responsibility of every citizen to see that the women are empowered and are supported to achieve higher status. He commended the roles taken by women in various sectors has prominent leaders.
Dr Anice George, dean, Manipal College of Nursing Manipal, welcomed the gathering and introduced the chief guest of the inaugural function. Dr Basanti Majumdar, professor emeritus, McMaster University, Canada gave an overview of the conference and provided the statistics of conference participants. The conference had a total of 420 participant. The conference was collaborated with 24 institutions both national and international from 14 countries.
Dr Linu Sara George, professor, Manipal College of Nursing Manipal compered the program. All the heads of constituent institutions of Manipal University and about 420 National and International delegates around the world were present in the event.
The plenary sessions on 'Lessons learned from global disasters' (Flood, Tsunami and Earthquake) was held by Dr Mariko Ohara, Masako Saito and Dr Yoshiko Tsukada from Japan. They pointed out to how the country is affected with disaster and highlighted various steps taken for prevention and mitigation of the disaster, alongside speaking about various training programs on the same.
A session on 'Impact of Violence/War/Terrorism on Child and Women' was conducted by Meyenburg-Altwarg Iris Karin from Germany. In her speech, she spoke on various forms of violence among children and stressed upon teaching the children to ‘stop’ and talk openly about abuse.
The sessions on the theme, Biological Health Issues, were covered by Dr Majeda A AL- Ruzzieh, Dr Elissa Ladd, Dr Gugu Mchunu, and Dr Asha P Shetty speakers from Jordan, USA, South Africa and India respectively. They spoke on Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer, HIV and AIDS and impact of globalisation in children.