The summit was held virtually on Oct. 19-21, 2021, and was hosted by ACCESS, the nation’s largest Arab American community nonprofit. The conference focused on promoting discussions on health rights, public health research, community engagement and more, among speakers and attendees representing the United States and several Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries.
The summit featured a presentation by Jane Meza, PhD, UNMC’s associate vice chancellor for global engagement and interim executive director for the office of health security as well presentations from other international experts who work as medical providers, public health professionals, academics and scholars, epidemiologists, policymakers, and mental health professionals.
Speakers and panelists focused on the following topics:
- Maternal and child health
- Healthy aging
- Chronic disease
- Substance use prevention
- Intimate partner violence and more
The Arab Health Summit also offered daily workshops and training focused on feminist approaches to public health research, early childhood health, and more.
"This conference is a unique opportunity to address global health disparities and will serve as a major platform for its attendees to share best practices as well as strategic solutions to improve health on a global scale," Mona Makki, director of ACCESS’ community health and research center and Arab Health Summit Conference chair says.
The office of global engagement secured free registration and access for seven University of Nebraska students to attend the conference. "As a doctoral scholar in the health sciences and health promotion field, it is essential to know about the health of invisible communities such as women from the MENA region and design health interventions to achieve equity in health and reduce disparities. We should learn from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that badly impacted such communities. Additionally, it will be essential to duplicate such an important event here in Nebraska among refugees from the MENA region who are considered invisible, including Yazidi, Kurdish, Jewish, Christian, and other minorities communities. It was such a great learning experience," said Falah Rashoka, MS, CPH, PhD, and MPH student.
"I’m thankful for the opportunity I got to attend the Arab Health Summit and learned a lot, from the advocacy work defining and representing the MENA region as an ethnicity in US policies and data collection, to efforts being made around the world – from Michigan to Lebanon – to help mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic among immigrant and refugee women," said Opeoluwa Oyewole, PhD student.
"The 9th Arab Health Summit was one of my favorites. My understanding of women’s health equality has expanded. The conference highlighted multi-dimensional issues and challenges that have arisen and that have disproportionately affected women during the current pandemic. Thanks to the Office of Global Engagement for allowing me to attend, which enhanced my knowledge and broadened my horizons about women’s health equity during the COVID-19 pandemic," said Rima Al Balushi, MD, MPH, and PhD student.