The 14th annual Wales and Africa Health Links conference is free and open to anyone interested in global health and partnerships between Wales and Africa.
Conference sessions will take place over two days and include: COVID-19 in BAME communities and vaccine hesitancy, promoting nurse Leadership in Africa, a showcase of active Welsh health partnerships, and exploring Global Citizenship: a potted history and the launch of the new NHS e-learning module. And much more!
We are delighted to welcome three keynote speakers:
- Sue Tranka, Chief Nursing Officer for Wales
- Dr Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer for Wales
- Jane Hutt MS, Minister for Social Justice in the Welsh Government.
#GlobalCitizenship2021
The 14th annual Wales and Africa Health Links conference is free and open to anyone interested in global health and partnerships between Wales and Africa.
Conference sessions will take place over two days and include: COVID-19 in BAME communities and vaccine hesitancy, promoting nurse Leadership in Africa, a showcase of active Welsh health partnerships, and exploring Global Citizenship: a potted history and the launch of the new NHS e-learning module. And much more!
We are delighted to welcome three keynote speakers:
- Sue Tranka, Chief Nursing Officer for Wales
- Dr Frank Atherton, Chief Medical Officer for Wales
- Jane Hutt MS, Minister for Social Justice in the Welsh Government.
#GlobalCitizenship2021
Keynote – Dr Frank Atherton
We are delighted to once again have Dr Atherton with us to open the Wales and Africa Health Conference. He is a supporter of the role of the health sector in global citizenship in Wales. He will reflect on the current global health activity in Wales and where we go from here while facing the triple challenges of COVID19 and Brexit and climate change. He himself brings the wisdom from a long career across many countries, including Sub-Saharan Africa.
Global Health Partnerships Review
Wales has a long history of positive engagement with low- and middle-income countries, and we are now at a moment of considerable opportunity. As we rebuild after a pandemic that has exposed global inequities and interconnections, the Welsh Government commissioned two reports. The first “Review of Welsh Health Partnerships” looked at activity between Wales and sub-Saharan Africa. In preparing the report, we searched for and reviewed existing information, surveyed those involved in international health work, and conducted over 30 stakeholder interviews. We identified 38 Welsh organisations actively engaged in international health work. the second Rapid Review of International Health Activity in Wales looked at the wider across the whole health sector with Europe and the rest of the world.
Keynote – Jane Hutt MS, Minister for Social Justice
Keynote speech delivered by Jane Hutt MS, Minister for Social Justice in the Welsh Government.
Wales’ Global Solidarity – a potted history
It’s often quoted that Wales has a ‘long and proud history of internationalism’ – but what is that story? As we mark the ‘15th birthday’ of the government’s Wales Africa programme, launched in 2006, this session will explore what came before: are there opportunities to learn from projects past? Do health links have a family tree ripe for research; and can understanding approaches of our past, inform our future practice? From the world campaign to eradicate Tuberculosis, to the shared learning of UNESCO, via a dairy in Bihar, India, a University in Nigeria, and a Biotechnology Lab in China… WCIA’s Heritage Advisor (and former Wales Africa Community Links Coordinator), Craig Owen, shares his archival research on Wales’ International Development story.
COVID-19 in BAME communities and vaccine hesitancy Wales & Africa
There is evidence of disproportionate mortality and morbidity amongst Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people, including our NHS staff, who have contracted COVID-19. There is now very good evidence that vaccination is highly effective in protecting against death and hospitalisation from coronavirus (COVID-19). Vaccine hesitancy is higher among some BAME groups than people from a white ethnic background, and uptake is lower. This workshop will review this conundrum with a panel of African diaspora Public Health experts Professor Edward Kunonga and Dr Kelechi Nnoaham.
Keynote – Sue Tranka
We are delighted that Sue Tranka will open the second day of our conference which has an emphasis on the crucial role of nurses and midwives in Africa and in Wales. She took up her post as the Chief Nursing Officer for Wales in August and brings a wealth of experience. She was born, raised and trained in South Africa and she says her guiding principle remains that of “Ubuntu”, sometimes translated as “I am because we are” and is about believing in the common bonds within a group. She will reflect on the role of nurses and midwives, as highlighted through the global Nursing Now! campaign, and in particular their potential for greater global citizenship in Wales.
NHS Global Citizenship e-learning module launch
The purpose of this training programme is to improve your understanding of the concept of global citizenship and to support you in your journey to becoming an active global citizen. The training package consists of a core module that provides an overview of global citizenship and five optional modules. The Core Module demonstrates the stages of global citizenship education:
- Being knowledgeable and informed
- Developing the skills to think critically, build empathy with others and evaluate situations
- Taking action on global citizenship issues which affect yourself and others.
A further optional five modules cover a range of themes and issues such as rights-based health, climate change and sustainability, peace and conflict, globalisation and interdependency, and aid and development.
Promoting Nurse Leadership in Africa
The session will give an overview of the Nursing Now Global campaign and Nursing Now Cymru/Wales Steering group, followed by a presentation on nursing and QI collaboration between Cardiff University and Namibia and Malawi.
Maternal health in Zambia – progress and challenges
This session will look at the progress year on year or against Sustainable Development Goal 3 to reduce global maternal mortality to less than 70 per 100,000 live births and some of the challenges that have, and continue to, hinder progress – including the effect of COVID19 and the recent cuts to the aid budget.
Anti-Racism at home and in partnerships
Hear how Swansea University are training people to become ‘Active bystanders’ and address racism withing medical schools. This session will also introduce the Hub Cymru Africa Anti-Racist Charter.
Showcasing Health Links
Teams4U, the Betsi Kenya Links, Life for African Mothers and Dolen Cymru share their experiences of how they adapted to the COVID19 pandemic.
One developed a needs assessment App with partners in Kenya, another adapted their existing programs to help children and healthcare workers facing COVID19 in Lesotho, another expanded their partnership from schools into healthcare settings for the first time in Uganda and another worked on raising COVID awareness in deprived communities in Liberia.
Watch to learn from their experiences!
Catch up on last year’s Wales and Africa Health Links Network Annual Conference – #HealthForAll2020 – on Hub Cymru Africa’s Youtube channel. Click the logo below to open the playlist!
