KUCHING: About 800 participants and delegates are attending the 5th Asia Pacific Conference on Public Health at Riverside Majestic Hotel here.
The conference was declared open by Chief Minister, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg on Monday night.
The four-day conference with the theme, “Realising the Sustainable Development Goals Aspiration on Health” takes place from September 10 and ends today.
“This conference will explore diverse topics through many renowned eminent and respected local and international public health professionals.
“I am confident that this conference will be a great platform for public health professionals, academicians, researchers, stake-holders and key players with a passion for public health agenda to share their expertise and experiences.
“Complex challenges faced by the global population require complex solutions. It is my hope that this exchange will contribute towards the advancement of knowledge and practice of public health to achieve the goals of the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals),” said Johari.
He added: “The faster we achieve the targets of controlling and eliminating communicable diseases today, the more will we be saving our precious resources for tomorrow.
“Currently, we are faced with the enormous burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, complications of tobacco use, cancer and many more.
“Therefore, we have numerous tasks ahead of us in fighting this together and I truly hope that this conference will be able to provide solutions for Sarawak, our nation and even at the regional level,”
The international delegates come from Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Brunei, Thailand, Philippines and other countries.
Also present at the opening ceremony were the President of the College of Public Health Medicine, Academy of Medicine Malaysia, Datuk Dr. Lokman Hakim Bin Sulaiman, State Health Director, Dr. Jamilah Hashim, Organising Chairman of the conference, Dr. Sha’ari Ngadiman, Minister of Local Government and Housing, Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian and the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) Speaker, Datuk Amar Mohd Asfia Awang Nassar.
