TNMU Held the VI Scientific Symposium with International Participation “Public Health in the Social and Educational Space – Challenges in Emergency Situations and Development Prospects”
On September 25-26, 2024, I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, together with the Akkon University of Human Sciences and the Center for Public Health of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, held the VI scientific symposium with international participation “Public Health in the Social and Educational Space – Challenges in Emergency Situations and Development Prospects.”
For the Public Health and Health Care Management Department of TNMU, it has become a good tradition to hold such an international event in September for the sixth year.
In his introductory speech, the Rector of TNMU, Professor Mykhailo Korda, emphasized the importance and effectiveness of cooperation with the Akkon University of Human Sciences. He also outlined the challenges faced by the public health system: the deterioration of the demographic situation, the high incidence of non-communicable diseases, and the tendency to aging of the population, which could lead to a further increase in the number of chronic diseases and a significant burden on the health care system. In martial law conditions, the public health system faced challenges regarding the development of health-saving programs, programs for supporting veterans’ mental health, strengthening the population’s health through vaccination, and combating risk factors for the development of non-communicable diseases.
The fact that in the conditions of a full-scale war, the public health system of Ukraine faced complex challenges was emphasized in the congratulatory speech by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Director of the Institute for Research in International Assistance (IRIA), Vice-President of the Akkon University of Human Sciences, a Head of Studies on International Disaster Relief, Timo Ulrichs (Prof. Timo Ulrichs, Akkon University of Human Sciences, Berlin).
The symposium focused on the importance of medical education and professional exchange through podcasts, highlighted in the report of the Co-Head of the Institute for Research in International Assistance (IRIA)/the Akkon University of Human Sciences, Dr. Gaby Feldmann.
The report of Philipp Endler, a student of international health sciences at Fulda University of Applied Sciences and student assistant of the Institute for Research in International Assistance (IRIA)/the Akkon University of Human Sciences, “Adherence of Internally Displaced People to the WHO-supported tuberculosis-control program in the Oblast Ternopil of Ukraine” was dedicated to fighting tuberculosis in the conditions of war in Ukraine. A leading idea that requires further investigation is the study of patient choices between treatment and safety.
Natascha Makarova from Hamburg, in her speech “Researching Resilience in Ukrainian Cities in the Context of the War to Provide a Rapid Reconstruction of Ukraine,” emphasized the issues of the social dimension of the resilience of cities in emergencies and offered to join international projects to study those problematic issues.
Professor of the Social Medicine, Public Health and Health Care Management Department of Dnipro State Medical University Valeriia Lekhan spoke about the “State of Financial Protection of Ukrainian Population When Receiving Primary Medical Care” and highlighted specific successes in the financial protection of patients in the primary care system. However, economic security in this field remains extremely low due to chronic underfunding within the medical guarantee program of the “Primary Medical Care” package.
Professor, Head of the Public Health and Physical Education Department of the National University of Ostroh Academy Ihor Hushchuk, in his report “Actual Issues on the Training and Employment of Graduates of the Specialty 229 “Public Health,” focused on problematic issues regarding the employment of graduates of the first (bachelor’s ) and the second (master’s) degree of higher education in the specialty “Public Health” and proposed the development of the National Plan for the development of human resources for the public health system in an inter-branch and inter-sectoral direction, and the expansion of cooperation with the relevant European associations, as ASPHER, APHEA, EUPHA, Euro Health Net, EPHA, EHMA.
The report of Nataliia Volotovska, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Physiology with the Basics of Bioethics and Biosafety Department of TNMU, was about the continuation of the study “Analysis of the Risks of the Modern Educational Process as a Factor Influencing the Psycho-Emotional State of Future Doctors.” The presented information proved a significant tension in the tone of the sympathetic nervous system, severe disturbances in sleep quality, and parallels were drawn with the presence of hobbies. The speaker argued why it is necessary to implement a conscious attitude toward one’s health actively, identify students who are in borderline states, and familiarize them with physiological methods of stress relief and sleep improvement, and thus prevent the development of malfunctions in the work of internal organs.
The report of Oksana Chaychuk, the Director General of the Ternopil Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, and the chief state sanitary doctor of the region, highlighted the issue “On the State of Immunoprophylaxis in Ternopil Region for 2023-2024”, was very relevant. The speech raised topical problems in immunoprophylaxis and ways to overcome them.
The report by Leonid Vlasyk, Professor and Head of the Hygiene and Ecology Department of Bukovinian State Medical University, on “Quarterly Prevention in Postgraduate Education,” was relevant and informative and sparked a lively discussion.
Master of the National University of Ostroh Academy Yuliia Yukhymchuk spoke on “Implementation of Epidemiological Surveillance and Analysis of Viral Hepatitis B and C for 2019-2023 in the Territory of Lviv Region”. She noted that the incidence of chronic hepatitis B and C in the Lviv region remains an urgent problem that requires constant attention from specialists, expanding access to diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis B and C using modern and effective diagnostic methods and medicines.
In the context of the challenges the mental health care system in Ukraine faces in the conditions of a long war, it is necessary to implement effective monitoring and evaluation tools to adapt psychosocial support programs to the needs of the population. The work “Adaptation of the Scheme of Monitoring and Evaluation of Mental Health Programs in Ukraine,” which was presented by Vsevolod Borovets, a graduate student of the Public Health Department of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University, was devoted to this question. He emphasized that one of those tools was the “General Scheme for Monitoring and Evaluation of Mental Health Programs” developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee of the UN General Assembly. The authors of the scheme noted the existence of gaps and limitations of quantitative measurements; therefore, adaptation involved the development of a new version of an existing measurement tool/verification tool to ensure that it was better suited to the culture and/or context where the measurement tool/verification tool was used.
Volodymyr Shevchuk, Master of Public Health at TNMU, presented a report on integrating modern technologies with AI to improve public health using AI algorithms and clinical genomics. The report noted that combining data and applying modern algorithms using AI helps improve the efficiency of diagnosis and treatment, which is extremely important for public health. This provides an opportunity to carry out targeted preventive measures and support patients at all stages of their treatment and rehabilitation.
At the end of the event, the participants listened to the resolution of the symposium, which was read by Nataliia Terenda, Professor of the Public Health and Health Care Management Department at TNMU.
In total, about 100 participants took part in the VI Scientific Symposium with international participation “Public Health in the Social and Educational Space – Challenges in Emergency Situations and Development Prospects”, including global partners of TNMU from Germany, professors, teachers, organizers, and industry experts of public health of Ukraine. Ukraine was represented by more than 15 institutions of higher education and scientific, medical, and preventive institutions.
The exchange of experience and knowledge gained during the discussion will create a scientific basis for forming strategic decisions in public health in conditions of war and developing educational activities to train public health specialists in Ukraine in emergencies.
Further discussions of public health problems took place at sectional meetings.
Ukrainian-English and English-Ukrainian translation of the Symposium reports was provided by Yuriy Petrashyk, Associate Professor of the Public Health and Health Care Management Department at TNMU. Nataliia Slobodyan, Associate Professor of the Public Health and Health Care Management Department at TNMU, provided technical support for the event.