MUHIMBILI UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH AND ALLIED SCIENCES
Tanzania's Premier in Health Training, Research and Consultancy Services
The Permanent Secretary, Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Leonard Akwilapo addressing participants during the official opening of the 7th MUHAS Scientific Conference at MUHAS
The vice chancellor, Prof. Andrea Pembe giving his opening remarks during the official ceremony of the 7th MUHAS Scientific Conference.
Participants of the 7th MUHAS Scientific Conference listening to the guest of honor during the official opening ceremony at MUHAS
The Permanent Secretary, Dr. Leonard Akwilapo representing the Minister for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology officiated the 7th MUHAS Scientific Conference held on the 27th - 28th June, 2019 at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.
Speaking during the opening ceremony of the Conference, Dr. Akwilapo commended the management of the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) for seeing the need of conducting annually these very important scientific conferences and for being an institution that has made many significant contributions towards improving the health and lives of the Tanzanian population.
The Permanent Secretary further said that this is through training of appropriately qualified human resource for health, providing quality public services in health issues, and conducting research that is responsive to the needs of the country and the society at large.
This year’s conference, just like the previous ones, has drawn together scholars, young scientists, academicians, development partners, policy makers, and other stakeholders from within and outside the country. The conference provided the opportunity for these scholars to discussed, shared and exchanged scientific knowledge with the aim of improving human health practices and hence foster the nation’s socio-economic development.
Speaking from the government side, Dr. Akwilapo said “we are very glad knowing that this kind of knowledge exchange helps us in making informed decisions that can transform lives of millions of our people”.
He further said that the Government of Tanzania expects that research findings emanating from MUHAS and other research institutions and are disseminated in the MUHAS Annual Scientific Conferences will be translated into products and services that can be commercialized for the benefit of all Tanzanians.
Earlier on, the MUHAS Vice Chancellor, Prof. Andrea Pembe commented that research conducted at MUHAS addresses priority areas in line with the Tanzania’s National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) 2005, Tanzania Vision 2025, and global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that oversee the countries’ social-economic development.
“Currently our Research priority areas include: HIV and AIDS Tuberculosis, Malaria, Reproductive and Child Health, Non-Communicable Diseases, Injuries, Health Systems Research, Neglected Tropical diseases and Health Professions Education Research” He added.
The Vice Chancellor stated that in this conference, there is a total of 126 presentations to be presented over two days. Out of these, 98 will be oral presentations and 38 will be presented as posters.
He further commented that this year’s conference, the organizing committee has pulled together the best minds in the country to discuss four important health issues of public health importance though satellite session. Prof. Pembe said there are four-satellite sessions which brought together scientists, implementing partners, ministerial senior officials, international organizations, and academicians to discuss and find some common grounds regarding translating evidence for practice, to untangle the complex health challenges in the country.