The national health ministry on Friday announced that it is set to host the 10th East African Scientific Conference, which aims at promoting scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange among East African countries from 25 to 27 June in Juba.
The East African Scientific Conference is a regional platform that brings together scientists, researchers, policymakers, academic institutions, and development partners from across East Africa to present and discuss scientific research, innovations, and solutions to the region’s pressing challenges.
Addressing a press conference, National Health Minister Sarah Cleto Rial said this year’s conference will host about 300 delegates from across the region.
“This conference will bring together important delegates, keynote speakers, researchers, and participants to share regional scientific health research, concerns, and interests,” she said. “Guests and participants will come from all the eight partner states of the East African Community (EAC), including their respective ministers of health, ministers of the EAC affairs, senior dignitaries from the EAC organs, other relevant dignitaries, academicians, health professionals, students and invited international experts and friends of the EAC.”
Minister Cleto also emphasized that the conference will provide an opportunity for her ministry to collaborate with scientific researchers in addressing diseases in South Sudan that have yet to receive adequate attention, such as cancer.
“We have to tackle other fronts in food security, safe water, airborne enzymatic diseases, environmental hazards, cross-border transmissions, traffic accidents, regulation of food and drugs entering the country, the list is long,” she said. “The education sector plays a fundamental role in the knowledge base and is key to the future of health.”
According to Cleto, other benefits of the East African Scientific Conference include showcasing research findings and innovations relevant to health, agriculture, environment, education, and development; influencing regional policy through evidence-based research; and strengthening regional research networks and capacity, among others.
As host of this year’s conference and a member of the EAC, South Sudan is required to contribute USD 385,000, a commitment the Ministry of Health has already fulfilled.
For his part, Ben Gideon, Undersecretary of the East African Community, said the conference will also assess South Sudan’s readiness for the East African integration agenda. He noted that under the EAC integration framework, all member states are expected to meet specific conditions, including the establishment of health research centers, and that South Sudan is currently in the process of setting up such a center.