The First MUHAS Scientific Conference: Program and Book of abstracts

Abstract

The theme of the conference was “Health Research Towards Poverty Alleviation”. The theme was timely in the sense that Tanzania like many other developing countries is implementing various strategies aiming at alleviating poverty including the National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (NSGRS), commonly known as MKUKUTA. The government is also committed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which include among others: halving extreme poverty rates (MDG 1), reducing infant mortality rates (MDG 4), combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases (MDG 6), promoting gender equality and empowering women (MDG 3) and improving maternal health (MDG 5). This conference aims therefore to set a forum to discuss health research findings on the achievements and challenges facing the implementation of different strategies towards poverty alleviation in Tanzania and beyond. In addition to the main them of the conference there will be four sub-themes and one symposium on different subjects. The sub-themes and symposium covered the following subjects: 1. Emerging major health challenges 2. Crisis on human resource for health 3. Translating health research findings into policy and practices 4. Progress in addressing health related MDGs