The first regional conference on health in the North East at Martin Luther Christian University (MLCU) ended on April 25.
The conference on ‘Advancing Health Equity: Bridging the Gaps’ was organised with the Indian Institute of Public Health, Shillong.
The theme of gender equity was set in the inaugural session by the chief guest, Sampath Kumar, Principal Secretary in the Health and Family Welfare Department. He spoke at length about maternal health and the steps taken by the department to reduce maternal mortality. Geographic isolation and logistics are major challenges, as 400 villages are accessible only on foot and 1,200 villages can be reached only by four-wheel drive vehicles in good weather.
He emphasised the need to find “local solutions for local problems”. One important example is to use traditional birth attendants (TBAs). TBAs have the trust of the people and can be trained to help mothers with care during pregnancy, spacing between births, contraception and institutional deliveries. Such use of culturally-acceptable healthcare based on indigenous knowledge is also cost-effective.
Dr Caleb Harris, professor of cancer surgery at NEIGRIHMS, spoke on out of pocket expenditure on healthcare. His data showed that family health expenditure often drove families into debt and penury.
Dr Shaibya Saldanha, consultant gynaecologist and trainer, spoke on the importance of health education and health literacy. Dr Alka Kharsati, traditional healer, shared the experiences of her busy practice and Dr Himashree Bhattacharyya of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Guwahati spoke on HIV and substance abuse.
Apart from lectures by eminent experts, short papers and posters were contributed by health science students from Sikkim-Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, IIPH Shillong and MLCU.
Prasanna Chettri of Sikkim Manipal College of Physiotherapy (SMCPT) and Susie Kurbah of IIPH Shillong bagged the best oral presenter awards. Siwani Agarwal of SMCPT and Quinnie Nongrum of the Meghalaya Health System Strengthening Project received the best poster presenter awards while a special award was given to Grace Ibakordor Thongney of MLCU.
The presentations on local issues such as role of food safety among the street vendors in Police Bazar, WASH practices in Iewduh, human-animal interactions in Meghalaya and challenges faced by Khasi individuals with substance use disorders were presented.
Traditional and cultural practices such as chewing of betel nut and traditional edible insects had interesting insights. Women and child health was discussed through topics on SHGs in women’s health in Meghalaya, gaps in the delivery of antenatal care in Meghalaya, sustainable menstrual hygiene in Meghalaya and birth preparedness and complications for women in East Khasi Hills.
