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*NOTE: Refer to the Conference Schedule for Workshop Slot times

Dr. Azad Mashari
"‘Going There to Help’: Questioning our experiences and impacts in Global Health"
Workshop Slot: 2A Outline: Wade Davis writes, we are "living through a time when virtually half of humanity's intellectual, social and spiritual legacy is being allowed to slip away... It is not change and technology that threatens... it is power... these peoples are not failed attempts at being modern, quaint and colourful, destined to fade away by natural law... these are dynamic living peoples being driven out of existence by identifiable forces..." As an individual striving to understand and improve the health of the world around me I have often found myself to be unwitting agent of these forces. In the name of 'help' or 'development,' other ways of life are devalued against my own fully 'developed' civilization. Traditional notions of charity and help are often based on a worldview with implicit assumptions that, in retrospect, I hesitate to affirm. These assumptions have shaped my advocacy, my research and my fieldwork. Most importantly they have shaped, in subtle and damaging ways, my interactions with and view of those I was striving to help. What motivates me to engage in global health? What constitutes “health” for a given people and place? How do I evaluate the impact of my activities on another place? What is my relationship to my hosts? How do they see me? Am I supporting or encouraging the aspirations of other peoples towards my own environmentally destructive and unsustainable life style and institutions? What does it mean to be "culturally sensitive"? "Polite respect for the amusing but dispensable quaintness of other cultures"? In this workshop I want to create a space for discussion of experiences, questions and arguments on these themes. Speaker Bio: Azad is currently a resident physician in Anesthesiology at the University of Toronto. His field experiences in global health include 8 months in Southern Cambodia as a senior medical and research student and a 2 month summer project as a junior medical student in Tamil Nadu, India. His current interests include the health of marginalized populations in Canada and environmentally sustainable models of health and health care.
Anna Miller
“Clinic by Clinic; Community by Community: Rebuilding and Restoring Maternal and Newborn Health services at lower tier health centres in Northern Uganda”
Workshop Slot: 3C Outline: This workshop will allow participants to explore, learn about and discuss various elements of what is needed to restore trusted community health services to some of the most vulnerable populations post-war (young women and children), using the case of CPAR’s work in Northern Uganda through the RAISE program. It will examine the slow restoration of critical maternal and newborn health outcomes at several rural health centres, and the types of community-based and integrated initiatives that have most meaning for communities themselves. Participants will discuss the role of Community Health Workers, referral linkages, Continuum of Care practices and the bare bones logistics of ensuring that essential maternal and newborn health services reaches those who require it. Speaker Bio: Anna Miller is the Director of Programs for CPAR (Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief), overseeing all of CPAR’s integrated health programming in Uganda, Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania. She began her field work in Zimbabwe and Malawi, and has since worked for a range of local and international organizations abroad and here in Canada, including Global Witness, Oxfam-GB, WHO and Save the Children-Sweden. Anna holds an MSc in Development Management from the London School of Economics, and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of Mines Action Canada
Dr. Diana Ahmed
“No Barriers to Health: Providing health care to Afghani refugee women in Hamilton - A Community Health Centre perspective”
Workshop Slot: 1B, 3B Outline: Community Health Centres (CHCs) provide a unique model for health care delivery and are particularly well-suited to meet the health care needs of marginalized clients such as newly arrived refugees. By working within a Health Promotion perspective that incorporates the broad determinants of health into the planning and delivery of health care, CHCs are able to address the various social, psychological as well as medical needs of their clients. This workshop will examine the multi-disciplinary approach that has been taken at one CHC (North Hamilton Community Health Centre) in working with the Afghani women who have been patients there since 2005. Some of the successful initiatives will be discussed (such as the Afghani women’s exercise group and the Transcultural Mental Health Team) along with the ongoing barriers and challenges in providing comprehensive and culturally competent health care services. Speaker Bio: Dr Diana R. Ahmed MD CCFP has been working as a Family Physician at North Hamilton Community Health Centre since 2005 with a focus on refugee women’s health care as well as the impact of poverty on health. She graduated from the McMaster University Family Medicine Program in 2000 and has worked in the Hamilton, Elora and Brantford area as well as in Northern Ontario, providing care to First Nations people on reserves. She is on staff at St Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton as well as Brantford General Hospital where she also works in the Emergency Room. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor Adjunct at McMaster University.
Dr. Lynda Redwood-Campbell
“How to get involved in global health - stages of engagement”
Workshop Slot: 1C, 2C Outline: This workshop is geared towards the person just starting out in global health. Degrees of involvement in global health will be discussed, guiding principles for global health involvement will be discussed, the essentials of what you need to know, and some resources will be identified. Group discussion will be encouraged. Speaker Bios: Dr. Redwood-Campbell has research and scholarly interests in the areas of immigrant/refugee health and global health. After completing her medical degree (1992) and residency, she earned a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from The London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (UK). She also completed her Masters in Public Health (International Health) at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and was elected into the Delta Omega Honorary Society in the USA. Dr. Redwood-Campbell has worked in many resource- poor countries. Some examples include; Indonesia, Rwanda, DRC (Congo), Kenya, Honduras and Bangladesh. She worked with the ICRC Red Cross field hospital in Banda Aceh, Indonesia after the December 2004 Tsunami. She also did relief work in November 2005 after the Kashmir earthquake in Pakistan. She is now working together with the University of Syiah Kuala and the Rotary Clubs to build capacity in health personnel resources in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Her research has included immigrant woman's barriers to cervical cancer screening, the health of the Kosovars and immigrants in Canada, HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean, and the health issues of the post Tsunami survivors. She is Chair, International (Global) Health Committee at the Canadian College of Family Physicians, is on the International Advisory Committee of the World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine and a board member, International Women and Children’s Network, McMaster University. Dr. Redwood-Campbell has acted as a consultant to the WHO, Health Action in Crisis cluster during her sabbatical time 2008-9. Her interest is how to integrate Primary Health Care (including equity and social justice concepts) into disaster preparedness and response in policy and in reality, particularly in low income countries where the most vulnerable are most affected. Dr. Redwood-Campbell has a clinical practice at McMaster University at the West End Clinic in Hamilton, Canada where she teaches and provides a range of primary care services.
Margaret MacDonald
“Cultural relativism and community perspectives: The question of traditional birth attendants in reproductive health development.”
Workshop Slot: 2B Outline: What happens when community perspectives and experience clash with western-based knowledge and practice in development settings? This workshop begins with a presentation arguing for the potential of anthropological research to inform international reproductive health development policy and implementation to identify and bridge such gaps. The controversy surrounding the incorporation of Traditional Birth Attendants in Safe Motherhood activities will serve as a case study with time devoted to small group discussion within the workshop. Speaker Bio: : Margaret E. MacDonald is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at York University. She is a medical anthropologist specializing in gender and health with particular interests in women's reproductive health. Her new book At Work in the Field of Birth: Midwifery Narratives of Nature, Tradition and Home (Vanderbilt University Press 2008) is an ethnographic account of contemporary midwifery in Ontario in the wake of its historic transition from the margins as a grassroots social movement to a profession within the public health care system. She is also engaged in a study of the Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) a high profile, international reproductive health policy launched by the WHO, the World Bank and UNFPA with the goal of significantly reducing maternal mortality worldwide. Her focus in this study is on how ideas about women, culture, and tradition are produced and circulated in this arena of health development and the ways in which they inform policy.
Dr. Andrea Hunter
“Global Child Mortality – Why are nearly 10 million children dying every year?”
Workshop Slot: 1A Outline: We will have an engaging discussion exploring the common causes of global child mortality, and the interventions that are proven to be effective along with the barriers (particularly at a community-health level) to their implementation. In an interactive format, we will discuss how Canadian medical professionals can advocate for global child health.
“Children & Youth New to Canada – An approach to clinical management of a refugee/immigrant child”
Workshop Slot: 2D Outline: We will explore the health issues that may affect refugee and immigrant children who have newly arrived in Canada. This will include a discussion of the process of arriving to Canada and the potential barriers to health care that this population may experience. We will focus on key health issues specific to refugee/immigrant children and outline an approach to their investigation and management, including risk-based screening recommendations and immunization catch-up. Speaker Bio: Dr. Andrea Hunter is a Consultant Paediatrician at McMaster Children’s Hospital and St. Joseph’s Healthcare, Hamilton, and an Assistant Clinical Professor at McMaster University. She completed both medical school and pediatric residency training at McMaster University and recently a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in London, UK. Her clinical interests include pediatric refugee & immigrant health and global child health. Dr. Hunter coordinates a community-based pediatric refugee/immigrant health clinic in north Hamilton, in operation since 2004. She is Interim International Electives Coordinator for the MD programme, and involved in organizing pre-departure training for MD students participating in international clinical experiences. She has been involved in the Ugandan-McMaster collaboration since a clinical elective in Uganda during residency. She has also recently been selected as President-Elect of the International Child Health Section of the Canadian Pediatric Society.
Danny Richmond and Hilary Keachie
“Eradicating Malaria: Global Solidarity from a Multi Faith Perspective.”
Workshop Slot: 3A Outline: An interactive, multi-media workshop examining the complexities of Malaria prevention and treatment in Africa. We will look at the various barriers to health care including lack of infrastructure and education, the key role of faith communities as well as how and why this illness disproportionately affects young children and pregnant mothers. Our workshop will focus primarily on the work of a local health NGO in Yirimadjo, Mali however, it will be informed by similar efforts around Africa. The workshop will also present numerous opportunities for participants to get involved in the global movement to eradicate Malaria. Speaker Bio: : Hilary and Danny have just begun a 10 month fellowship with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. The Faiths Act Fellowship brings together thirty young people from the UK, the USA and Canada to build interfaith cooperation in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, in particular eradicating deaths due to malaria. They have completed a two month intensive training programme which included leadership and skills development in Chicago and London and working with a local health NGO in Mali. Their goal this year is to develop a sustainable hub of diverse youth dedicated firstly to eradicating malaria, but also to targeting the other MDGs. Hilary recently graduated from U of T’s Teacher’s College and is particularly interested in the issues surrounding access to education. Danny has worked intensively with Jewish youth on issues on development and social action.
Abir Alsaid and Sana Khairo
“Services and Programs at the Immigrant Women’s Centre”
Workshop Slot: 1D Outline: The Immigrant Women’s Centre delivers skills-development and settlement programming to immigrant and refugee women. Services and programs include English language training, employment readiness and support, driving instruction, and computer classes. These programs are designed to build skills, independence, integration and empowerment for immigrant women and their families. Speaker Bio: : Abir Alsaid: I immigrated to Canada on 1999, I am the LINC Site coordinator at the Immigrant Women’s Centre – Mountain Site. I am helping immigrant women to improve their language skills and supporting their needs. Sana Khairo: I immigrated to Canada on 2002, I am ISAP Counselor at the Immigrant Women’s Centre – Rebecca Site. I am helping newcomer families to settled and integrated in the community.