Vector Volume 11 Issue 2 - 2017

Four perspectives on
the World Congress on public health
[Conference report]
Michael Au, Ka Man Li, Helena
Qian and Michael Wu
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality”
– Warren Bennis
The World Congress on Public Health (WCPH) is held every
2-4 years and organised by the World Federation of Public
Health Associations (WFPHA). Attracting between 2000-
4000 delegates from over 80 countries, the main objective of
this international forum was to engage diverse voices, ideas,
vision and actions of committed professionals and citizens
to strengthen and transform the global public health effort
and influence decision makers.[1] With a comprehensive
academic program, field trips, World Leadership Dialogues,
satellite events and meetings, and a glitzy social program,
this is truly the ultimate conference for public health inclined
peers.
To apply, there was a simple online questionnaire and
requirement to volunteer at least 20 hours throughout the
conference. As this meant volunteering for four hours per day,
I wasn’t able to attend all the academic workshops/sessions.
I mainly worked with the media department whereby I sent
interesting quotes from plenary sessions to the team for
Twitter content. I also had the opportunity to directly converse
with speakers in a relaxed setting, after their interview with
the media team.
We evaluate the experiences of attending the WCPH,
the benefits of meeting like-minded individuals, the sense
of optimism in the face of challenge and the problems on
financial supports in four different perspectives: a volunteer,
a presenter, a medical student and a young researcher.
A Volunteer’s Perspective - Helena Qian
Helena is a third year medical student at the University
of Newcastle with a keen interest in improving global health
and aiding underserved communities. She hopes to work with
WHO and MSF in the future as a collaborative researcher,
advocate, field doctor and volunteer.
“When ‘I’ is replaced with ‘We’, even ‘Illness’ becomes
‘Wellness’.” - Malcolm X
As someone passionate about improving public health,
I noticed a curriculum gap in which public health was only
briefly touched upon. WCPH was the perfect meeting of
likeminded individuals, leaders and global health enthusiasts
from which I could gain a holistic understanding of public
health from a grassroots standpoint to a global perspective.
With a registration fee of $770 for students (excluding
accommodation and flights) and being on a uni student
budget, I opted to attend the conference for free as a
volunteer.
Despite the vast array of expertise and interests,
discussion points centred around the confluence of global
environmental degradation, differing political agendas,
civil unrest and widening inequities in health outcomes.
Interestingly, despite proven health detriments from excess
alcohol, tobacco and sugar consumption, Prof. Mike Daube
stated, ‘Where engagement has occurred, it has invariably
been counterproductive.’ Hence, a significant barrier
preventing implementation of effective public health policies
are the industry groups who place private profits over the
health of their consumers. As Dr Bronwyn King eloquently
encapsulated, “60% of the tobacco industry involves child
labour - is there no baseline standard below which we will
sink to raise money?” Where negotiations with industry have
failed, focus has shifted to the consumer. Exposing the fund
managers who invest in these corporations and highlighting
that indirect health and environmental costs rest with
taxpayers, whereas revenue stays with manufacturers, have
resulted in approximately $5 billion AUD being withdrawn
from investment in the tobacco industry alone.[2]
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