Experts Discuss Health Care in Africa at CSUN Symposium

The event, which is themed “Building Health for Life in Africa,” will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the University Student Union, Thousand Oaks Room.

The keynote speaker is Margaret Hercules, a public health adviser of the Global Immunization Division at the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). She will talk about infectious diseases in Africa and the new Ebola vaccine trials.

“At the symposium we will highlight the institutional, economic and cultural challenges of health care in Africa,” said Tom Spencer-Walters, a professor in the Department of Africana Studies. “It’s important that we examine possibilities for building sustainable health-care systems that are feasible and more responsive to the needs of the people.”

Other presentations include Louis Rubino, CSUN professor and director of the health administration program, on “Health Challenges in Kenya;” Martha Highfield, director of CSUN’s nursing program, on “Challenges of Providing Health Facilities in Nigeria;” Dr. Olamide Jarrett, an assistant professor of medicine in the department of infectious disease in the UIC College of Medicine on “Health Infrastructures in Sierra Leone;” Nina Smart, a human rights advocate and author on female genital mutilation; and Carol Shubin, professor in the Department of Mathematics and other faculty in the department will examine “Big Data and Health Issues in Africa.”

The event is sponsored by the Office of the Provost, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Humanities, Departments of Africana Studies and Anthropology, the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MIES) program, the African Studies Interdisciplinary Minor program and the African Students Organization. It is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Tom Spencer-Walters at (818) 677-7819.