by Marie Kauna – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
Pasifica Medical Association (PMA) is a network of Pacific health professionals who work collaboratively to strengthen the Pacific health workforce.
The 18th Pasifika Medical Association Annual Conference for 2015 will be hosted by Vanuatu.
The conference will take place from September 30 to October 2, with the theme for this year being “Culture, Community and Healing: Children, Youth and Family Mental Health in the Pacific”.
In partnership with the Vanuatu Medical and Dental Association, and in conjunction with the Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the event is organised each year by the PMA.
The conference will bring together Pacific-based health professionals to discuss health issues and challenges faced by the Pacific people.
More than 300 health professionals will gather for the conference. Pacific Island representatives attending the conference include New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
A one-day workshop on disaster management training will be held focusing on Cyclone Pam, and a showcase on solutions will be shown regarding pressing problems that were encountered during the aftermath of natural disasters.
Based on this, solutions and measures will be discussed to help improve the health challenges faced by the people in the region.
