On October 5^th 2010, the Faculty of Nursing organized the First National Conference on Health Promotion in Palestine titled "Promoting Health in Palestine; A Call for National Effort" at the Martyr Zafer Al-Masri Auditoriums at the Old Campus.

 

Attendees included Prof. Maher Abu Eid, Vice President for Academic Affairs at An-Najah, Dr. Aidah Al-Kaissi, Dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the University, Mr. Samer Al-Ramahi as representative of Jawwal (Palestine Cellular Communication Company) in addition to representatives from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), nursing departments at different Palestinian hospitals, as well as a number of faculties' deans and students.

  

Dr. Al-Kaissi started the conference by welcoming the guests and addressing Jawwal Company with gratitude for their efforts to support the conference. She said that the WHO has defined health promotion as a process that aims to enable people to enhance their abilities to control and develop their health by themselves. She explained that the term "Health" in this context does not mean that there is no disease nor does it relate to physical health only, but it also relates to mental health, emotional health, spiritual health and social well-being. She also said that many charters and agreements have emphasized the importance of health promotion as effective basis to renew first medical care the way the executive council of the WHO has decided.

 

Furthermore, Dr. Al-Kaissi emphasized that among the goals of the global health development is to eliminate poverty, curing diseases such as Malaria, Tuberculosis and AIDS, address global issues such as undernourishment, reproductive health, mother and child health, facing chronic diseases, mental disorders, fighting epidemiologies, especially in low-income countries since such diseases contribute to about 60 % of fatalities worldwide and leaves the rest either disabled.

  

She also pointed out the discrimination between people when it comes to the distribution of medical care on the basis of gender, social status, income, race, education and profession. She called for the reinforcement of developmental goals that would guarantee fair and equal distribution of medical care regardless of any considerations. Challenges can be faced if all sectors in the society work side by side to create a healthy environment that provide the best daily living conditions for the most deprived.

 

As to explain more on the topic, Dr. Al-Kaissi spoke about  the goals of the health promotion according to the 1986 Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion which called for the development of national health policies, development of personal skills of individuals through information, learning, enhancing the society's role in health awareness, as well as reorientation of health services and their resources towards the promotion of health and to share power with other sectors, other disciplines and with people themselves.

  

She also spoke about the Jakarta Declaration on Health Promotion in 1997 which aims to reinforce health, increase the society's level of commitment towards health promotion, increase investment in the field of health development, strengthening partnerships and cooperation regarding health issues, in addition to increasing individuals and societies' abilities with respect to health awareness and securing the needed infrastructure for health promotion.

 

On his part, Prof. Abu Eid delivered a speech on behalf of the University President, Prof. Rami Hamdallah, in which he welcomed the participants and said that the University is honored to have the opportunity to organize such event. He added that the Faculty of Nursing at An-Najah has always been working on providing the Palestinian society with qualified cadres who can contribute to the development of the health sector and ensure the best services are delivered to people. The Faculty is concerned with maintaining strong relationships with the different health institutions and organizations in Palestine.

 

Prof. Abu Eid also emphasized the importance of reinforcing equality and social justice between the individual and the family which is considered a basic element in developing medical care in Palestine. He also said that the University has put all its resources into bringing this conference to life and making sure it brings effective outcomes that would contribute to the development of health in the country. The University has always been committed to supporting health in Palestine and this is represented by the fact that it has established a number of faculties and departments that specialize in the field of health and medical care such as the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Nursing, the Faculty of Pharmacy, the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Optometry. It also provides researchers with specialized laboratories that are equipped with the latest technological devices that facilitate research work and projects implementation. A recent project that the University has been working on is the An-Najah National Teaching Hospital which would, upon completion, provide students with advanced training in the various fields of medicine by experts and professional trainers.

  

Prof. Abu Eid also stressed the importance of joint work and cooperation between different local and international organizations and institutions in order to develop the level of medical services and ensure that chronic and fatal diseases are wiped out. Having an adequate living condition means to have the best medical services delivered to people; health security ensures that people are able to perform properly in every aspect of life.

 

Several work papers were delivered on a number of topics related to health promotion including: Implementation of Health Promotion in Emergency Cases "The Palestinian Experience", "Health Promotion Approach at the Palestinian Ministry of Health", "Factors that Govern Health Promotion, "Health Promotion in the 21^st Century in a Lifetime and All Over the World", "Encouraging Breastfeeding", "The Role of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Health Promotion", "Treatment through Cupping", "The Impact of Family Violence on Health Promotion", "After Shock Psychological Disorders", "Practicing Sports and Physical Activity During Pregnancy" in addition to other topics.

 

The conference also included a special corner for posters that described several health issues such as food system, nourishment, prevention, health promotion and others.

  

At the end of the conference, the participants emphasized the importance of investment in the field of health as being one of the human rights that is related to medical care. There is much evidence that such investment can have very positive impacts and contribution to health promotion. They also recommended the development of leaderships in the field of medical care, the development of education and training in cooperation with the different educational institutions in Palestine, conducing more research in the field of health and health promotion, developing the medical care system to be able to meet the demands of the people, ensuring that all people can access to medical services and that there is no discrimination between them on the basis of gender, social status, religion, race…etc. Finally, they agreed on continuing work on improving the quality of medical services through activating the role of researcher and experts in medicine and health issues.