The Fifth EMPHNET Regional Conference, held in Marrakesh, Morocco, from December 6 to December 8, 2016, has officially come to an end. Here are some of the highlights:

The day before the official opening of the conference, EMPHNET held three pre-conference workshops at the Palm Plaza Hotel and Spa on December 5, 2016: Bio-Risk Analysis in Research for Public Health Scientists, FETP- Frontline in EMR, and Using Innovative Tools for Evolving Public Health Surveillance: EpiCore.

Many attendees of the Bio-Risk Analysis in Research for Public Health Scientists workshop were very involved in this workshop as it was the first time that they were exposed to the concept of risk assessment in scientific research, according to feedback received by Dr. Tarek Al-Sanouri, head facilitator of the workshop.

Ilham Abu Khader, moderator for the FETP – Frontline in the EMR workshop stated, “This workshop was more of a discussion among senior FETPs than a workshop, and the participants were very interested in talking about a curriculum that was adaptable to a more compressed three-month FETP Program.” She continued, “This means that, in addition to the main two-year training program, we will be able to qualify and deploy more health staff into the field which, in turn, will help us better meet the public health challenges that occur in today’s very volatile Eastern Mediterranean Region.”

The Using Innovative Tools for Evolving Public Health Surveillance: EpiCore workshop introduced participants to the EpiCore platform and how they can become EpiCore users in order to detect and respond to outbreaks and public health events in a timelier manner. Project Coordinator Diana Abu Baker said participants commented that the workshop “enhanced their knowledge of the various innovative tools used in evolving public health surveillance.”

On December 6, 2016, the 5th Regional Conference kicked off at 9:00 a.m. with much anticipation and fanfare as EMPHNET and the Mediterranean Program of Intervention Epidemiology Training (MediPIET) held a joint opening of their respective conferences at Hôtel Les Jardins de l'Agdal. The opening ceremony was chaired by Abderrahmane Maaroufi, Director General of the Ministry of Health of Morocco. The main speakers included Dr. Mohannad Al Nsour, Executive Director of EMPHNET; Karl Ekdahl, Head of the Public Health Capacity and Communication Unit at the ECDC; Dionisio Herrera, Director of TEPHINET; José Jaime de Domingo, Team Leader of MediPIET; and representatives from the European Commission, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

After the opening ceremonies, a joint roundtable discussion was also held in Hôtel Les Jardins de l'Agdal. Both the joint opening and roundtable discussions demonstrated the increasing interest in strengthening the bonds between EMPHNET and other public health organizations in an effort to develop a mutual response to global public health threats and to establish a collaborative community of experts from all public health related disciplines.

The conference program continued back at the Palm Plaza Hotel and Spa and included sessions for oral and poster presentations of abstracts accepted for the conference. Over the following two and a half days, both the oral and poster sessions covered a range of topics including Non-Communicable Diseases, Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Maternal Health, Child Health, Respiratory Diseases, Antibiotic Resistance, Hepatitis and HIV, and Surveillance Systems.

Presenters were FETP residents and graduates from Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen. Members not able to attend the conference made video and audio recordings of their presentations which were played during the sessions. Each presentation was followed by a Q&A session and remarks by evaluators who assessed presentations on delivery and content.

Based on the evaluations, one winner was selected for both best oral and poster presentations. Abdul Wahhab Jawad from Iraq won the Best Oral Presentation for his abstract Risk Factors of Low Birth Weight Among Newborns in Al-Zahraa hospital /Al Najaf Al Ashraf Province, Iraq, 2016. Abid Saeed from Pakistan won the Best Poster for his abstract Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) Cases Investigation Analysis Baluchistan Province 2016.

Besides oral and poster presentations, sessions were interspersed with six roundtable discussions. One roundtable discussion was Equipping and Mobilizing Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) to Rise to Current Challenges. In this roundtable, panelists provided an overview of rapid response capacities in the region, focusing on the technical and political challenges facing these RRTs and ways to improve their existing tools. Furthermore, a presentation was given on the RRT initiatives of CDC and EMPHNET and the achievements made through these initiatives.

Another roundtable discussion was held on Global Health Security. In this roundtable, Chief of CDC's Workforce and Institute Development Branch, Kip Baggett, discussed the Global Health Security Agenda, the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005), and the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) mission to evaluate the implementation of IHR. He also dedicated a section of his presentation to the role of FETP Benin in contributing to multiple JEE technical areas. Dr. Ezzeddine Mohsni, EMPNET’s Global Health Security Advisor, spoke about the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework and the Global IHR Implementation per Region. The National Focal Point of IHR in Morocco, Prof. Abderrahmane Maaroufi, briefed attendees on the situation of JEE and IHR in Morocco.

One roundtable discussion was dedicated to Viral Hepatitis. Prof. Maaroufi spoke about the situation of hepatitis in Morocco, especially concerning the Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Viral Hepatitis (2017-2021). Dr. Hamida Khattabi from the World Health Organization (EMRO) talked about the Regional Action Plan for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Viral Hepatitis. From FETP Pakistan, Rana Jawad presented a study on Acute Viral Hepatitis Sentinel Surveillance in Pakistan.

Another roundtable at the conference was Leadership and Management: A Critical Link in Public Health Workforce and Institutions Development. Prof. Ahmed Idrissi from the National School of Public Health Morocco gave a presentation on the school’s Leadership and Management Training, while Dr. Mohammed Essbou from the Jordanian Mutah University provided a presentation on the MED-HEALTH master’s degree program planned to be implemented at Mutah University. Dr. Bassam Jarrar from CDC highlighted CDC’s efforts in strengthening management in public health, while Erika Willacy - also from CDC- briefed attendees on the Improving Public Health Management for Action (IMPACT), a new training program led by Ministries of Health and supported by CDC. The program is designed to enhance existing management and develop a cadre of highly-trained public health managers. In this roundtable, Dr. Sa’ad Kharabsheh from EMPHNET remarked, “It is only through effective management that research, theory, and scientific innovation and disease control and prevention can be translated into successful public health action.” He also added a successful public health workforce must include skilled managers that can provide organization, direction, and oversight of public health initiatives, programs and institutes.

Panelists of the session Responsible Conduct of Science within Regional Biosecurity Policies and Capacities, were Dr. Tarek Al Sanouri and Dr. Nisreen Alhmood from EMPHNET, and Dr. Sapana Vora from the Biosecurity Engagement Program (BEP). The panelists discussed the need for multinational and national cooperation to create and put into practice standard biosafety and biosecurity measures.

Polio Eradication was the topic of the last roundtable session. It included presentations by Dr. Najibullah Safi, from the Ministry of Public Health in Afghanistan on Polio Eradication in the country. Rana Jawad from FELTP Pakistan gave a presentation on efforts to stop the poliovirus transmission in Pakistan. In this roundtable, panelists and attendees emphasized the prospective role of FETP graduates and residents assigned to EPI/PEI in improving routine immunization.

The conference ended with a closing ceremony at the Palm Plaza Hotel and Spa. Speakers included Dr. Ahmed Rguig from the Moroccan Ministry of Health, Dr. Mohannad Al-Nsour, Executive Director of EMPHNET; and Dr. Dionisio Herrera, Director of TEPHINET. In keeping with the theme of the conference, the speakers emphasized the need for future collaboration in the region in meeting global health needs. Dr. Robert Fontaine from the CDC then came to the stage to present awards for Best Oral and Best Poster Presentations, as well as to honor TEPHINET and the Moroccan Ministry of Health for their participation in the success of the conference. Awards were also presented to the winners of both EMPHNET’s Photo and Writing Contests. Afterwards, the conference was officially closed by EMPHNET’s Communications Manager and Master of Ceremonies for the evening, Gary Greer.