On March 29, 2018 EMPHNET Concluded its Sixth Regional Conference, following three days of roundtable discussions, pre-conference workshops and oral and poster presentations.

These sessions and presentations were given by FETP residents, graduates, and other public health professionals from the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Held under the theme “Innovative Approaches: Adapting to the Current EMR Context”, conference sessions provided a space for participants to discuss how innovative approaches can be adapted to improve public health practice in countries throughout the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR).

More specifically, the conference’s sessions created an opportunity for public health professionals from the region to present their accomplishments to a wide audience. Furthermore, it brought together public health officials, experts, and scientists who are keen on examining and discussing the most recent approaches attempted to strengthen public health in the EMR. It also provided an invaluable networking opportunity geared towards improving public health practice.

Abstract Presentations A total of 421 abstracts were submitted to be presented as oral and poster presentations in this edition of EMPHNET’s regional conferences. After being reviewed by a committee, 147 abstracts were accepted. Out of these, 111 were accepted for oral presentations while 36 were accepted for poster presentations. Presentations were given by Field Epidemiology Training Program residents and graduates as well as other public health professionals coming from Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Bangladesh, Palestine, Tunisia, Oman, and Sudan.

The abstracts presented covered the following areas; Respiratory Diseases, Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Surveillance Systems, Outbreak Investigation Foodborne Diseases, Maternal and Child Health, Field Epidemiology Training Programs and Activities, Vector-borne Diseases, Surveillance Systems and Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Innovative Surveillance, Anti-Microbial Diseases, Outbreak Investigation Waterborne Diseases, Zoonotic Diseases, NCDs, and others.

The Sixth EMPHNET regional conference also saw particularly important participations from Tunisia and Sudan, as both these countries saw new FETPs established in them this year. Additionally, other non-FETP countries were also represented in this edition of the conference. These countries included; Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Bangladesh, and others. The Opening Ceremony It was on the evening of March 26, 2018 that the Sixth EMPHNET Regional Conference commenced its sessions in an opening ceremony held under the Patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al- Hussein.

The ceremony included speeches given by Chairperson of the Board of Directors of EMPHNET Dr. Bashir Noormal, TEPHINET Director Dr. Dionisio Herrera, Branch Chief, Workforce and Institute Development Branch from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Henry Kip Bagget, EMPHNET Executive Director, Dr. Mohannad Al-Nsour, and representing Her Royal Highness Princess Muna Al-Hussein was Jordan’s Minister of Health His Excellency Prof. Mahmoud Al-Shayyab.

The ceremony also included a keynote address given by Prof. Salman Rawaf from Imperial College of London, who spoke about the status of public health in the EMR. Pre-Conference Workshops Prior to the conference’s official opening, six pre-conference workshops were held. These workshops covered the following topics” FETP Accreditation, Polio Transition and Country Routine Immunization, Innovative Disease Surveillance, Rapid Response Teams, and Human and Animal Brucellosis”.

Roundtable Discussions Between March 27 and March 29, 2018, the conference also hosted six roundtable discussions. These discussions held the following titles; “Towards the Consolidation of an FETP Network”, “One Health to Achieve Global Health Security “, “Polio Eradication Efforts and Transition Planning for Measles Elimination”, “Mobile Data Collection and other Innovative Tools to Enhance Decision Making”, “Confronting Candida auris: An Emerging Multidrug-Resistant Global Pathogen”, and “Functioning and Sustainable Country Public Health Emergency Response Operation Framework”.

The facilitators for these sessions included experts in their respective fields. In the first roundtable session titled “ Towards the Consolidation of an FETP Network” facilitators included Director of the GHD| EMPHNET Center of Excellence of Applied Epidemiology Dr. Mohamed Chahed, GHD| EMPHNET’s Executive Director Dr. Mohannad Al Nsour, Chief of the U.S. CDC’s Workforce and Institute Development Branch Dr. Kip Baggett, The current President of the EPIET Alumni Network (EAN) Dr. Amrish Baidjoe, the Executive Director of “Connecting Organizations for Regional Disease Surveillance” (CORDS) Dr. Christophe Longuet, and Professor at Ahfad University for Women Dr. Al Fatih Al Samani, and last but not least the Director of TEPHINET Dr. Dionisio Herrera. In the second roundtable session “One Health to Achieve Global Health Security “ facilitators included; Professor of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, at the Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST) Dr. Ahmad Al-Majal, Research Professor and Director of the King Abdullah Fellowship Program at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health Dr. Scott JN McNabb, Deputy Director/ Senior Scientific Officer Working in the Federal Agricultural Organization, and the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (PARC).

Dr. Zahida Fatima. The third roundtable session “Polio Eradication Efforts and Transition Planning for Measles Elimination” was steered by the following facilitators; Director of the WHO Regional Center for Polio Eradication and Health Emergencies, and Manager of the WHO Polio Eradication Program for the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region Dr. Christopher Maher, Manager of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Polio Team Dr. Jay Wenger, Dean of the School of Medicine and Associate Professor of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the Jordan University of Science and Technology Dr. Wail Ahmad Hayajneh, and the Lead for Eastern Mediterranean Region Team in the Polio Eradication Branch in the Global Immunization Division Mr. Derek Ehrhardt Furthermore, the fourth roundtable session “Mobile Data Collection and other Innovative Tools to Enhance Decision Making” was steered by Secretary of the National Research Ethics Committee in Egypt Dr. Amr Youssef Ali, Immunization Specialist UNICDEF MENA Regional Office Dr. Chandrasegarar Soloman, Director of Field Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Dr. Abdulaal Chitheer Al-khumis, and Board Member of Rahma Cancer Care Association, Chief of Health and Nutrition in UNICEF Iraq Dr. SM Moazzem Hossain, and Operational Research Specialist for GHD| EMPHNET. Dr. Mirwais Amiri, MD, MPH.

In the fifth roundtable session titled ““Confronting Candida auris: An Emerging Multidrug-Resistant Global Pathogen” facilitators included included; American Society of Microbiology (ASM) Country Ambassador to UAE Dr. Adnan Alatoom, Resident Advisor of the FELTP in Pakistan Dr. Rana Jawad Asghar, Medical Epidemiologist in the Mycotic Diseases Branch at the CDC. Dr. Snigdha Vallabhaneni, and Founder of Integral Global Consulting Mr. Nabil Ahmed Finally, the roundtable session titled “ Functioning and Sustainable Country Public Health Emergency Response Operation Framework”. Was facilitated by; Professor of Community Health at the Community Health Department, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Sana'a University and Technical Advisor to the YFETP Dr. Abdel Wahed Al Serouri, Director of Public Health Department at the Ministry of Public Health in Qatar Dr. Mohamed Bin Hamad Al Than, Consultant for Global Health, Communicable Disease Control and Senior Medical Advisor Dr Mark Salter, Epidemiologist with the Global Rapid Response Team (GRRT) at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Tasha Stehling-Ariza, Public Health Consultant Dr. Elmuez Eltayeb, and former Coordinator for Communicable Diseases Control and Polio Eradication at WHO-EMRO Dr. Ezzeddine Mohsni.

Conference Highlights This conference saw the launch of EpiShares, a networking platform powered by GHD| EMPHNET. This platform was developed with the aim to increase opportunities for the exchange of knowledge amongst public health professionals. The platform was developed by GHD| EMPHNET’s team to ensure a mechanism for sharing information and experience and to be a space that can attract public health experts, FETP residents, FETP graduates, or any community of practice joined by mutual interest, cause or concern. It comes with a full host of features including a social media networking platform, the capacity for people with mutual interests to form groups, the capacity for members to start blogs, and a feature listing members within FETP directories or rosters of experts.

Furthermore, the conference also saw the launch of an Alumni Association aimed at bringing FETP alumni together from the region in a space where they can share experiences. A meeting was held to provide an opportunity for interested FETP graduates to meet and to lift this initiative off the ground. The meeting agenda included a presentation by President of the EPIET Alumni Network (EAN) Dr. Amrish Baidjoe who gave an overview of the work done by EPIET, and the challenges faced when initiating its launch. The presentation was deemed beneficial, as it allowed prospective FETP alumni members from the EMR to benefit from past experiences gained by their European peers. In his presentation, Dr. Amrish stressed that the success of an alumni association is based on several key factors the most important of which is having a passionate group of core committee members and a membership base willing to see this initiative succeed. The Closing Ceremony On March 29, the conference came to a close with a ceremony that saw speeches from EMPHNET’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Bashir Noormal, the Senior Advisor for the Field Epidemiology Training Program Branch at CDC Dr. Robert Fontaine,, EMPHNET Executive Director Dr. Mohannad Al-Nsour, and General Secretary of the Jordan Ministry of Health His Excellency Dr. Lail Al-Fayez .

In the ceremony awards of recognition were handed to the winners of the best oral and best poster presentation. Dr. Mohammad Ismail, from Pakistan, won the award of Best Oral Presentation for his presentation on Measles Outbreak Investigation in Village Bara, Khyber Agency, Pakistan-February 2017: A case Control Study, while Dr. Kenza Benani, from Morocco, won the award for Best Poster Presentation for her presentation on Epidemiological Profile of Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Morocco, 2007-2016. Awards of recognition were also handed to Dr. Robert Fontaine for his leadership in public health and field epidemiology, Dr. Fateh Al-Samani for his leadership in public health and field epidemiology, Dr. Abdelwahed Al Srouri for his leadership to public health and field epidemiology , and Dr. Dr. Ibrahim Iblan for his contribution to Jordan FETP1` Similarly, Director of Planning and Human Resources from Iraq Dr. Ali Al Tamimi, Head of the Surveillance and Epidemiology Unit in Morocco Dr Ahmad Rugaig, and Manager of EPI Somalia Dr. Othman Abdin, each representing his respective delegation handed awards of recognition to EMPHNET which was represented by its Executive Director Dr. Mohannad Al Nsour. Furthermore, awards of recognition were also handed to EMPHNET by the delegations of Pakistan and Sudan.