Guest Post: From Another AuthorAID Travel Grant Recipient

[This post is from David Musoke, Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda. David received an AuthorAID grant to attend the 3rd All Africa Congress on Environmental Health, held 11–14 November 2012 in South Africa. Thank you, David! —Barbara]

The congress took place at the International Conference Centre in Durban. Participants from a variety of African and other countries attended. Distinguished speakers included the president of the International Federation of Environmental Health (IFEH) and the South African minister of health.

The congress had a wide range of presentations on research and best practices, mainly from Africa. I gave 2 oral presentations: “Integrated approach of malaria prevention at household level in Uganda” and “Water, sanitation and hygiene status of 2 urban slums in Uganda”. Both were well attended. These presentations elicited lively discussion, mainly because malaria and urban slum sanitation are relevant topics in most African countries.

After I acknowledged and briefly described AuthorAID during my 2 presentations, many people showed interest in joining. I noted the AuthorAID website in my slides, making it easy for those interested to access the site.

The main benefit from attending the congress was the wealth of environmental health knowledge I gained from the various presentations. This knowledge will aid in my teaching of environmental health. It also will be important in my future research and consultancy work.

During the congress, I attended the IFEH Africa Group meeting. At this meeting, I represented the Environmental Health Workers’ Association of Uganda. Also, as a member of the Executive Committee (EXCO) of the Africa Academy for Environmental Health (AAEH), I participated in an AAEH EXCO meeting.

In conclusion, participating in this congress was very beneficial in enabling me to share my research with a wide audience and learn about the work of other professionals. The experience will benefit not only me but also my students, fellow faculty, and institution. I therefore thank AuthorAID for giving me a travel grant to attend this conference.