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Conference on the Future of Hospitals Biomedicine and Care: Perspectives from Africa

The Institute of African Studies (IAS) in collaboration with PRODIG UMR 8586, Paris, France, the French Embassy, the French Institute of Sustainability (IRD, France), ANRS and the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA), organized a 3-day symposium from 2nd to 4th December 2024 on The Future of Hospitals Biomedicine and Care: Perspectives from Africa. The symposium aimed at calling upon diverse fields like geography, sociology, history, economics, architecture, anthropology, literature, folklore, computer science, etc., to approach and dialogue hospitals, care and biomedicine which is emerging as an increasingly important determinant of health from historical, socio-political, economic, technological and cultural contexts specific to Africa. The symposium included insightful discussions on prospects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) use in healthcare, traditional medicine and research, maternal care, among others. 

The conference, as a bilingual one (English and French), provided an incredible avenue for knowledge sharing on different cultural persepctives surrounding health.

(Group photo of francohone and anglophone participants including key conference convenors; Dr. Benjamin Kwansa, Prof. Deborah Atobrah Director of CEGENSA and Prof. Josiane Tantchou)

The keynote speaker was Prof. Margaret Gyapong from University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), who shared valuable insights and a wealth of experiences with conference participants. 

(Prof. Gyapong second from the left with Director of CEGENSA, Prof. Deborah Atobrah, Senior Adminstrator for IAS, Mrs. Yvonne Lartey and some international conference participants)

The symposium concluded with a familiarization tour at the Centre for Plant Medine and Research, Mampong. This served as a valuable layer of learning for participants about traditional medicine and research, especially in the Ghanaian context. 

In all, the symposium was a valuable learning experience and great platform for knowledge sharing among academics and other professionals from around the globe.