Global NCD Forum on Child and Youth Forum Brings Together 20 International Experts in Sharjah

High profile speakers, experts, global leaders in healthcare and policymakers and advocates will be converging at the Global NCD forum on Child and Youth in the emirate of Sharjah, at the Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre on 25 – 26 March 2019.

These prominent thinkers will explore strategies to tackle the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases during the first edition of NCD for Children and Youth, that will be held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, Founder and Patron of the Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP) and International Ambassador for the World Cancer Declaration of the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) and International Ambassador for Childhood Cancer for UICC.

The official ceremony will be inaugurated by welcome speeches from Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, Wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, HE Sawsan Jafar Chairperson of the Board of Directors, Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP), UAE and Dr Mychelle Farmer Chair - NCD Child Alliance, who is pediatrician specialising in adolescent health and has worked extensively in global health programs focusing on children.

The Forum will bring together a total of 20 speakers from several countries addressing over 200 delegates from different advocacy organisations and national and regional NCD Alliances. The prominent speakers are from eminent organizations in NCD advocacy and include, Dr Ibtihal Fadhil, the founder and chairperson of the eastern Mediterranean NCD Alliance. A medical doctor who has worked on NCD control at government and civil society organization’s (CSO) level. As WHO Regional Adviser non-communicable diseases, she has associated with most of the regional CSO and developed the core regional network of CSOs working against NCD; speaker, Kiran Patil, a Program Manager in the Department of Global Child Health & Life Support at the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Panelists also include George Msengi who is the founder and current chapter leader of Young Professionals’ Chronic Diseases Network (YP-CDN) Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam chapter. He is a medical student with a passion for reproductive and child health and has conducted research on combatting obesity in secondary school children.

Also speaking at the forum are, Luis Manuel Encarnacion, a Senior Capacity Development Officer in NCD Alliance, Mexico. Luis has also been the Director of Fundación Mídete, a Mexican non-government organisation working on prevention and control of obesity and diabetes; Victoria Watson is a health policy analyst working in Washington, D.C. at the Center for Health and Gender Equity where she conducts research on how foreign policy impacts reproductive justice, health, and human rights fulfillment; Dr Marie Hauerslev is a Danish physician with longstanding interest in global health. As Vice-President for External Affairs of International Federation of Medical Students' Associations (IFMSA), Dr Hauerslev was the global leader of IFMSA’s advocacy work and external representation. She was also the IFMSA Liaison Officer to the World Health Organization and worked closely with the WHO; Sidney Chahonyo is a Board Chair with Hope for Cancer Kids dedicated towards ensuring that the burden that cancer and other NCD’s put on the population, is significantly reduced.

As a first step, the two-day Global NCD Child and Youth Forum brings experts to convene the network of national and regional NCD alliances and to share experiences from lessons learnt, challenges, priorities and good practice in joint NCD advocacy efforts and multi-sectoral partnerships. Apart from having representatives from leading international health organisations, and Childhood NCD specialists, a group of youth from all around the world will also be present, to share their stories and experiences with childhood non-communicable diseases.

The speakers will be discussing during the course of these sessions the key features to identify WHO’s knowledge action portal; factors impacting families living with childhood NCDs; essential systems supporting family-centered, home-based care for childhood cancers; evaluating advocacy action campaigns to identify opportunities for young leader; describing antecedents to NCDs in youth; palliative care and pain relief; Young Health Advocates in Action. NCDs campaigns based upon personal stories will also be discussed; analysing the impact of data on national approaches to childhood cancer and palliative care and evaluating the role of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as determinants of health, are some of the key agendas of the sessions.