ANNOUNCING 3RD VANUATU HEALTH RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
The Ministry of Health has announced that the third Vanuatu Health Research Symposium will be held the 26th to 28th of October 2022 in Luganville.
The Symposium for 2022 will build on the overwhelming success of the second Symposium held in Port Vila last year. That earlier Symposium was attended by over 150 scientists with 32 high-quality presentations and 11 scientific posters covering a wide range of topics of importance. For instance, COVID-19 research presented was used to guide decisions of the Health Emergency Advisory Committee and helped protect Vanuatu from a community outbreak until March 2022.
According to Dr Vincent Atua, Convener of the 2021 symposium, “the high-level scientific event highlighted the wealth of local research available nationally to improve delivery of health services in Vanuatu. We must leverage and continue to build this capacity”.
Scientific contributions to the 2022 Symposium are invited from staff of the Ministry of Health, other Ministries and partner organizations. The focus is research on medical, nursing, public and allied health in Vanuatu. With the theme of “Evidence to impact”, presenters will be asked to reflect on how their research findings will improve the health of the population of Vanuatu.
Lead organizers of this year’s Health Research Symposium are Dr Ryan Kalsakau of Northern Provincial Hospital and Dr Crystal Garae of Vila Central Hospital. Dr Kalsakau notes, “We are excited to host this year’s event in Santo on 26 to 28 October submissions from health professionals across Vanuatu”. Dr Garae provides a reminder of key dates: “Abstracts must be submitted by 5 September for review and selection by the Scientific Committee. Travel scholarships will be awarded for high quality submissions to ensure presence at the Symposium in Luganville”. Abstracts can be submitted online at: https://auth.oxfordabstracts.com/?redirect=/stages/4419/submitter
Organisers are seeking support from local and international organizations and businesses to enable good attendance and strong impact of this year’s Symposium. Like last year, cash prizes will be awarded to outstanding research across a number of categories. Trainings are planned ahead of and following the Symposium, to assist with preparation and publication of research.
Further information is available at www.moh.gov.vu/healthsymposium or from