America Nepal Medical Foundation (ANMF) successfully conducted its 23rd Annual Meeting of Members in Washington DC on May 10-12, 2019. The theme of the conference was Health Policy of Nepal. Over 250 attendees from the United States, Nepal, UK, and Germany attended the conference. Over the three days, members of ANMF discussed about its achievements and future plans, discussed on health care policy in Nepal and listened to speakers from various parts of the globe. The conference organizing committee members under the leadership of Dr. Guna Raj Subedi and Dr. Sunil Sharma worked diligently to make this event one of the most memorable and successful in the ANMF history.
The program kicked off with an early morning cycling event coordinated by Dr. Rajesh Subedi on Friday, May 10, 2019. In the evening, registration of the attendee was initiated followed by dinner and networking events.
On May 11th, 2019, the conference started with a welcome speech by ANMF President, Dr. Santosh Sapkota. He summarized the work, vision, and goals of ANMF. Dr. Ramesh Kharel, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Population of Nepal, updated the audience on the current state of health policy of Nepal and shared Nepal Government’s plans and policies. Dr. Sandhya Chapagain, Associate Professor of Oncology at the Nepal Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS), Vice President of Maiti Nepal and executive member at Nepal Health Research Council and Cancer Care Nepal discussed the challenges of cancer diagnosis and treatment in Nepal. Dr. Arne Drews, from NepalMed, Germany spoke on the work that was done by his organization and shared his experiences of working in rural Nepal. Dr. Shreedhar Paudel, from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, founding executive director of Health Foundation Nepal (HFN) spoke on Psychiatric Care and Mental Health Policy in Nepal. H.E. Ambassador of Nepal Dr. Arjun Karki spoke on overall health care policy and collaboration opportunities.
During the lunch session, Dr. Dinesh Neupane, research associate form the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health presented his research on epidemiology of Non-Communicable Diseases in Nepal; Dr. Pranav Koirala, emergency medicine resident spoke about emergency and prehospital Care while Dr. Maniraj Neupane, internal medicine resident highlighted on the Mountain Medicine Society of Nepal and their diploma program on mountain medicine.
Afternoon session included presentations by Prof Dr. Narayan Thapa, Vice President, Nepal Medical Council. He talked about health care policy in Nepal and the role of the Nepal Medical Council. Dr. Keshab Paudel, President of NRNA-USA, presented on future opportunities to collaborate with ANMF. This was followed by an interactive Panel Discussion on Healthcare Policy in Nepal, moderated by Dr. Subash Pyakurel. The panel included Dr. Ramesh Kharel, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health. Dr. Shabin M. Joshi, President of Nepalese Doctors’ Association UK, Dr. Libby Wilson from ANMF US and Dr. Subhash Acharya from ANMF Nepal. The session concluded with ANMF US treasurer report and report from ANMF Nepal.
A fundraising dinner was organized which concluded successfully with donation pledges of more than USD $150,000. More than 250 guests attended this event. During the dinner, ANMF Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Dr. Gaury Adhikary.
The meeting concluded on Sunday, May 12, 2019, with the formation of the new executive committee and several other working committees. The next annual conference will be on May 1-3, 2020 in Cleveland, Ohio. Drs Elina Shakya, Dixa Dhital, Ganesh Chaudhary, Anu Shrestha, Shalin Shakya, and Shreebatsa Dhital will lead the organizing committee.
A new board comprising of 19 members was formed which unanimously elected new President, Dr. Santosh Sapkota along with Vice President Dr. Bhupesh Khadka, Secretary, Dr. Binod Khadka, and Treasurer, Kalpana Shrestha. Other members include Anil Suwal MD, Binod Dhungana MD, Bishnu Sapkota MD, Chandra P. Chataut MD, Dinesh Mainali MD, Dinesh Subedi MD, Ganesh Chaudhary MD, Julia Shepardson, Libby Wilson MD, Marvin Brustin JD, Narayan Dharel MD, Prakash Thapaliya MD, Richard Katzman MD, Subodh Mallik MD, and Sunil Sharma MD.
Know more about our work at http://www.anmf.org
Comment