It was indeed ‘Ladies night’ on Thursday in Kigali, Rwanda, as women coasted home with the three awards up for grabs at the end of 2nd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA).
The event, which started on Dec. 13 in Kigali, ended with the announcement of Zambia as the host of 2023 edition.
In an event to end the three-day activities, Ugandan Ms Goretti Marie Zalwango, won the award of Best Oral Abstract Presentation.
Cameroonian Dr Mutia Kehwalla Aza was awarded the CPHIA 2022 Best Abstract Poster Presentation.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kehwalla currently practices in the HIV Treatment Centre at Mfou District Hospital in Cameroon.
Prof. Rose Leke of the University of Yaoundé won the award in ‘Achievement in Global Health Leadership’.
Leke is a professor of Immunology at the university.
The winners were picked among over 1400 abstracts received and presented in the three official languages of the African Union- English, French and Arabic.
Dr Ahmed Ouma, the acting Executive Director of the Africa Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), noted that excellent science would always be the foundation of strong public health.
“And the exciting new research that we have seen in the abstracts that were presented at this conference tells us that excellent science is not a visitor to Africa.
“Excellent science lives here. We’ve got so many different disciplines.
“I’ve seen surveillance of antimicrobial resistance, human resources with regards to health coverage.
“We have seen point of care ideas. We have seen COVID-19 from very many angles we are seeing hands that have been shared by Africa and our friends elsewhere,” Ouma said.
Leke is a member Cameroon Academy of Sciences, the African Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Sciences.
Her research focused on the immunology of parasitic infections. She has also chaired the Africa Regional Certification Commission since its inception in 1999.
