Hong Kong – Bhutan Humanitarian Medicine Training and Exchange Programme: Bhutan Trip 2017

A 3-person delegation led by Professor Emily Chan, CCOUC Director, and Dr Tony Yung, Senior Lecturer of JC School of Public Health and Primary Care (JCSPHPC), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, visited Bhutan from 20 to 26 April 2017 to carry out the Humanitarian Medicine Training and Exchange Programme funded by Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation. This is also the second time CCOUC conducted a public health lecture in the Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB), which marks the collaboration and knowledge transfer initiatives between the two parties.

A public health training session was held in KGUMSB, with lectures on “Climate change and health” and “Under-nutrition and over-nutrition – the double burden to the world” delivered by Professor Chan and Dr Yung respectively. Around 250 undergraduates and academics mainly from the Faculty of Nursing and Public Health in KGUMSB attended the lectures. To further enhance the local capacity on disaster preparedness and responses, the delegation also conducted training in the Ugyen Academy, the first and only authentic international school in Bhutan. Around 350 students have actively participated in the lectures on “Health impacts of disaster” and “Nutrition issues associated with disasters”. Teachers of Ugyen Academy revealed that the lectures were very informative and of great benefits to the students in preparing themselves for any natural calamities which might strike the country in the future.

CCOUC hopes that more capacity-building programmes will be conducted regularly as needs have been identified in this disaster-prone country. With the support of local institutions and the Bhutan government, CCOUC strives to train the existing and future personnel in response to disaster and public health challenges. 

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CCOUC visited Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan (KGUMSB).
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Professor Chan delivered a lecture on “Climate change and health”.