Annual Conference 2007 - Toronto

ANMF Eleventh Annual Conference
CNMS First Annual Conference
June 22-24, 2007

Toronto, Ontario
Canada
 

Advancement of Healthcare in Nepal through Collaboration
 

Friday, June 22nd

7:00 pm - 8:00 pm   Dinner Reception

8:00 pm - 10:00 pm   Special Meeting of Board of Directors (open to all)

Saturday, June 23rd

The meeting was called to order by Ian Macmillan at 9:00 am EST.

 

SESSION I

Ian Macmillan welcomed everyone to the joint ANMF and Canadian Nepal Medical Society conference.

Don Blair provided the opening remarks and congratulated the Canadian team for establishing the CNMS .

Gaury Adhikary provided general information on prospective partners for collaborative projects in Nepal, including the National Institute of Neurological and Allied Sciences, Sahid Gangalal National Heart Center, Nick Simons Institute and the Dhulikhel Hospital. He ended by asking whether ANMF can partnership with these institutions in manpower and education development.

Patty Weisenfeld represented the Simons Foundation and the Nick Simons Institute. She gave an overview of its activities in building the new Maternity Ward at Patan Hospital and in educating rural health providers.

Andrew Howard, MD from The Office of International Surgery (University of Toronto) gave the keynote address: “Surgical Experience in Developing Nations”. He explained the important role of surgical education and training in helping to alleviate the disease and disability burden in developing countries.

SESSION II

Richard Katzman gave an overview of the Nyaya Health Project (an ANMF funded project) whose goal is to provide basic maternal child health services in the extremely impoverished Accham and Doti districts of far western Nepal.

Sangita Basnet Koirala gave an overview of her efforts to establish a state of the art Pediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Patan Hospital.

 

Shiva Gautam described a proposed pilot study for the first comprehensive epidemiological study of cardiovascular heart disease in Nepal (Nepal Heart Health Survey). This will be in cooperation with the Gangalal Heart Center.

 

Nabin Shrestha spoke of his enjoyable and challenging experiences of returning to Nepal as a western trained infectious disease specialist at the B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences.

Julia Shepardson spoke of her work as an interpreter for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights traveling to various parts of Western Nepal and also during the revolutionary protests of April 2006.

SESSION III - Annual Meeting of ANMF Members

Janak Koirala provided a summary of the ANMF’s activities for 2006/2007.

On behalf of Dr. Saroj Dhital of ANMF/Nepal, who was delayed in arriving to the meeting due to visa problems, Bhargab Dixit presented a report on ANMF/Nepal activities for 2006/2007.

On behalf of Treasurer Rupa Hamal, who was not able to attend the conference, Julia Shepardson presented the Treasurer's report.

Bill Brewster reviewed the projects that have been approved by ANMF for 2006/7. Some future projects are for developing a clinic proposed by Karing For Kids, development of a PICU/NICU at Patan Hospital and proposals by the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital. A need to provide project selection and discussion in June during the Annual Conference when more Board members are available was recommended.

Bhargav Dixit summarized the activities of the Hospice Nepal Education Project’s effort to educate Nepalese in understanding the needs of terminally ill patients for palliative and dignified care.

Gaury Adhikary provided information on ANMF's collaboration with the efforts of the UK Nepalese in raising funds for a memorial building for the Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital.

Fred Shepardson reviewed the progress and activities of the ANMF Website Committee.

Rekha Hamal-Chetry provided a summary of a health fair organized by local Nepalese of the New York City metro area.

GENERAL MEMBERS VOTING

The sessions were interrupted for a brief meeting of the Board and General Members to discuss administrative issues.

A general vote approved the reelection of Marvin Brustin, Shiva Gautam, Subarna Pradhan, Julia Shepardson, and Brendan Thomson to Board for another three year term. Sachin Mudvari, William Brandt, Ed Bartlett, and Roshan Shrestha were elected to the Advisory Board.

Nabin Shrestha was elected a new member of the Board.

An amendment to the Bylaws to change the name from "America-Nepal Medical Foundation, Inc." to "America Nepal Medical Foundation" was approved.

The Members Meeting Minutes for Newark, NJ were approved by the general membership.

SESSION IV

Ian Macmillan introduced the newly formed Canada Nepal Medical Society which is a sister organization to ANMF with similar goals and objectives with more of an emphasis in the training of paramedical health workers.

Tulsi Dharel gave an overview of the Nepalese Americas Council (NAC) which is an umbrella organization of all Nepalese related organizations in North America. NAC has invited ANMF to be represented in their Board as members who can advise NAC in health and social service matters.

Murari Suvedi gave a lively presentation of the projects in building a school, drinking water project and green space park design. The lessons learned in making these projects successful can be translated to any development project and are as follows:

1. People respond better when real needs addressed
2. Informal local leaders are more credible than formal leaders
3. Outsiders should facilitate but locals should lead
4. Capacity building takes time and consistent effort
5. Fund project piece by piece
6. Leave decision power, management, and dispute resolution to local people

Dibesh Karmacharya, Director of Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN) gave a background of this organization that provides state of the art molecular diagnostic services for a variety of pathogens in Nepal. He discussed a proposed large scale country wide epidemiological study to accurately assess the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Nepal.

The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm.

Sunday, June 24th

8:30 am - 11:00 am    SESSION V

    Annual Meetings of ANMF Members and Board of Directors (open to all)

• Approval of Minutes
• Election of Board of Directors
• Election of Officers - Chair, Chair Elect, Executive Director, Secretary, Treasurer
• Handover to new ANMF Chair
• Appointment of Committee Coordinators
  • New committee: “ANMF Center for Collaboration and Exchange” Objective: to coordinate research, scholarly activities and projects
• Committee coordinators meet in small groups for 15 minutes and prepare objectives for the year
• Objectives for 2007-2008: CME, Projects, Fundraising, Membership, Outreach
  • CME - projects by year for 2007, 2008, 2009
  • Projects – timeline, review of received projects
  • Fundraising
  • Membership
  • Outreach
• Approval of Budget 2007-2008
  • Consolidation of ANMF Bank Accounts
  • Official Address of ANMF
• Future Conferences 2008 & 2009 - Selection of Site, Coordinator and Theme
  • Selection of Site, Coordinator and Theme
• New proposal for partnership - NAC
• Other Business
• Adjournment  

7/8/07