Monday, 3 June 2019

Following the application of the Department of Primary Care and Population Health to become a member of the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER), Dr Ourania Kolokotroni, Chair of the Department, and Dr Alexandros Heraclides, MPH Director, were invited to attend the 55th ASPHER  Deans’ and Directors’ Retreat in Sicily, Italy. The event was hosted by Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in the historic city of Erice from 26-29 May.

The event opened with the General Assembly, where Dr Heraclides gave a short presentation, and the School was formally accepted into the ASPHER community. In the days that followed, Dr Kolokotroni and Dr Heraclides had the opportunity to network with 200 delegates from Schools of Public Health in Europe, USA and the Middle East and to exchange ideas and experiences in good practice in Public Health education. Furthermore, they attended a number of sessions on important and emerging public health issues such as antimicrobial resistance, environmental health and climate change, vaccinology and ways to deal with vaccine hesitancy and the digital transformation of health. The Erice meeting focussed also on Public Health professionalization and ways in which to develop the public health workforce.

 

The Old Town of Erice in Sicily