The 5th International Public Health Conference - organised by Albania's Institute for Public Health and funded partly by Switzerland - was held on May 9th to address issues of behavioural determinants of health and disease in Western Balkans and the wider Europe.
Specialists from international health organisations – one from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute – presented findings and conclusions from previous and current studies.
“Behavioral determinants of health and diseases need more attention in the Western Balkan region. Switzerland supports this public health conference - financially and content-wise. In the same line, Switzerland is also the main contributor for the realisation of the Albanian Demographic Health Survey (ADHS) that has started recently”, said Swiss Ambassador Christoph Graf at the opening.
Professor Elisabeth Zemp from the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute presented innovative ways on how to tackle behaviour determinants of health. She also spoke about the role gender plays in health determinants and specific approaches for women and men.
Several parallel sessions took place during the conference covering topics such as weight, smoking, alcohol consumption, sexual health and child nutrition.
In Albania behavioural or lifestyle risk factors account for approximately 70% of the burden of disease since 2010. Therefore public health efforts must focus on promotion and prevention. The conference is in line with the government reforms that aim at increasing health consciousness in the country.
Through ‘Health for All’ project the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation – SDC – is assisting in changes to the primary health care in the areas of Dibër and Fier.
