Hello again,
Well another day beginning bright and early at 8am. We started with a Symposium, I attended “Advocacy and the media: the good, the bad and the ugly.”
Presentations were delivered by:
Melissa Shi-Ling Kang, Australia “Understanding adolescent girls’ health concerns through teen magazines.”
Fiona Robards, Australia “The influence of new media on young people’s sexual development: How can we respond to internet-based games like Miss Bimbo?”
Lilian Wong, Hong Kong “Casual sex through internet dating: An emerging phenomenon among teens in Hong Kong. How can we create an entry point for early intervention?”
Melissa Shi-Ling Kang, Australia “Using the internet to educate young people and increase chlamydia testing: A randomised controlled trial.”
All presentations were exceedingly interesting and thought provoking.
Next was the Opening Ceremony officiated by the Minister of Health, Malaysia. Including speeches by Nazeli Hamzah, Malaysia, Chairperson, Local Organising Committee and Ueli Buhlmann, Switzerland, President IAAH.
In addition there were two fantastic performances from groups of Malaysian young people. One was a speaking group and the other was a hip hop performance. Both groups were excellent performers and very entertaining.
After morning tea were two Plenary sessions by:
Michael Furdyk, Canada “The globally connected generation: Unleashing the power of youth participation.”
Marcus Stahlhofer, Switzerland “Respecting and protecting the rights of adolescents: A pre-requisite for advancing adolescent health and development.”
Then a very spirited presentation by Wong Li Leng who delivered the Youth Response.
After lunch I spent a bit of time in a workshop delivered by Michael Resnick and Linda Bearinger, USA “Strategies for effective advocacy (even when you don’t really have the time).”
And the symposium “Health professionals education forum: Undergraduate and postgraduate approaches to building capacity in adolescent health.”
Which included presentations by:
Alam Sher Malik, Malaysia “Implementation of adolescent medicine in UiTM Faculty of Medicine.”
Rajesh Mehta, India “Introduction of adolescent health in undergraduate medical education in India.”
David Bennett, Australia “Enhancing general practitioners’ capacity to support young people from culturally diverse backgrounds.”
Jenny Proimos, Australia “Building physician competencies in adolscent health.”
Russell Viner, UK “Building multidisciplinary medical approaches to adolescent health.”
Andrea Krelle, Australia “Building multidisciplinary professional competencies in adolescent health.”
PH Maphanga, South Africa “Developing an innovative resource guide for youth-friendly services in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa.”
That was the end of the congress for the day, next I am attending an IAAH strategy/planning meeting and then this evening we have the congress banquet!
Bye for now.
