| Hakim Hayat |
IN EFFORTS to share knowledge and inform health professionals in the latest developments in nephrology to combat the prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), the Department of Renal Services, Ministry of Health (MoH) is hosting the 5th Brunei International Nephrology Conference 2018.
Minister of Health Dato Paduka Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Jaafar hosted a gala dinner at The Empire Hotel & Country Club in Jerudong last evening to welcome international delegates to the three-day conference that concludes today.
Chairperson of the organising committee of the conference, Norliza binti Haji Johari, Head of the Renal Services Department, MoH in her welcoming speech said that due to the significant increase in the number of CKD and end stage renal disease in the population, they feel the need to stress the importance of prevention and delaying the disease’s onset, which should involve everybody; not only healthcare professionals, but also health professionals at primary care level and also individuals or patients themselves.
The conference, she added, is organised to bring together all the healthcare professionals involved in addressing the issue to share their knowledge and come up with better strategies to help in preventing CKD and its complications, as well as preventing the complication of other chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.
During the gala dinner, the Minister of Health as guest of honour presented certificates and appreciation gifts to the conference’s speakers, moderators and event supporters, and also launched a registry book, the 7th Brunei Dialysis and Transplant Registry 2017.
The event last evening also saw a keynote speech on CKD in Brunei Darussalam, delivered by Dr Lim Chiao Yuen, Consultant Nephrologist, Department of Renal Services, MoH and followed by a plenary talk on Opportunities and Challenges to Improve Outcomes in CKD Around the World’ delivered by Professor Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director at The George Institute for Global Health, India.
The conference serves to update knowledge of healthcare professionals treating patients with kidney diseases and to align local standards with those recommended by international bodies. It also aims to enhance knowledge of general practitioners to allow co-management of CKD patients at primary care level and equip nurses with knowledge and clinical skills to enable them to lead frontline services.
The conference also hopes to inspire students of healthcare courses to obtain experience in making presentations and receiving feedback on their work.
More than 200 participants are attending the conference, comprising doctors, nurses and allied health professionals in various specialties from Brunei and overseas. Distinguished professionals in the field of nephrology from Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, India and Brunei are also among the participants.
Also present at the gala dinner was Permanent Secretary at the MoH, Haji Abdul Manap bin Othman and other senior officials from MoH.
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